A series of video interviews about Thomas Sowell’s recent book.
(The same site also has videos of interviews with other conservative-leaning authors by Peter Robinson.)
Arts & Letters
Excerpts from ‘The Devil’s Dictionary’ by Ambrose Bierce
The Devil’s Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce was published almost a century ago, but it makes for enjoyable reading. Bierce really merits a post of his own, for now just some excerpts from the DD at Project Gutenberg:
ABDICATION, n. An act whereby a sovereign attests his sense of the
high temperature of the throne:Poor Isabella’s Dead, whose abdication
Set all tongues wagging in the Spanish nation.
For that performance ’twere unfair to scold her:
She wisely left a throne too hot to hold her.
To History she’ll be no royal riddle —
Merely a plain parched pea that jumped the griddle.
ABRIDGE, v.t. To shorten.
When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for
people to abridge their king, a decent respect for the opinions of
mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel
them to the separation.Oliver Cromwell
ADAMANT, n. A mineral frequently found beneath a corset. Soluble in
solicitate of gold.
APOSTATE, n. A leech who, having penetrated the shell of a turtle
only to find that the creature has long been dead, deems it expedient
to form a new attachment to a fresh turtle.
Cloverfield
Go see it. Five stars. I loved it.
New York gets whacked again, this time by some kind of alien assault. If you remember 9/11, this will look familiar.
The movie gives a picture of what it would look like if open conflict occurred in America. Could happen.
The movie harks back to many classics: Alien, War of the Worlds, Godzilla, Poseidon Adventure, Earthquake, others I haven’t thought of yet. There is definitely an H.P. Lovecraft element to it, as well. In its way it is a cinematic homage to the unhallowed but totally great B-List of Hollywood SF and disaster films.
Hollywood lost a fortune depicting the American Army as a bunch of rapists and war criminals. This movie shows the Army going straight on against some God-awful things from outer space (I suppose), with cold professionalism. The fantasy film is closer to the reality of what the Army does — put its life at risk to kill America’s enemies, whether human or alien.
The (main) monster was cool. Query: If tank main-gun rounds couldn’t put the thing away, maybe it is made of some kind of alien gelatin, like Cthulhu, and the shells just go throught it? Only directorial misstep: showing the monster too clearly. Better to have left it at glimpses.
The movie also has a good depiction of a metrosexual yuppie guy acting like a man amidst danger and destruction, when the chips are down. Nice to see that, too.
This movie says more things about America that are true than most of what is packaged as slice-of-life drama.
I hope it makes a fortune for the people who made it. I am sure it will do a raging business in the Middle East, where the sight of New York being blown-up is a proven crowd-pleaser, and the audiences can cheer for the monsters.
Katyn & Nationalism
Arts & Letters links to Anne Applebaum’s “A Movie that Matters”, a review of Andrznj Wajda’s Katyn, published in the NYRB. (The review is worth reading.) Katyn was a tragedy – compounded by the fabric of lies so unconvincingly told during the long Soviet occupation. Applebaum also explores the nature and need for that great passion, patriotism. She quotes Wajda, who argues that the movie was made for those who didn’t remember – the generation that did is mostly gone.
Instead, he said, he wanted to tell the story again for young people—but not just any young people. Wajda said he wanted to reach “those moviegoers for whom it matters that we are a society, and not just an accidental crowd.”
Cool Photo Site
Mirror World — Photographs Of Unknown Origin. This site is packed with interesting found photos, many of them old. I recognize some of them (e.g., von Richtofen) as published works, but many appear to be postcards or obscure snapshots.
The site reminds me a bit of the snapshot exhibition at the National Gallery, except that Mirror World is less edited, more diverse, more profane and full of interesting surprises. Worth a look.
(Lex found it at Coming Anarchy)