A new 'Everyman' post went up yesterday, talking about Rudyard Kipling's Gunga Din and what it reveals about both his perspective and ours: Now, you cannot think sense about morality unless you get this idea of principles clear, and you cannot get it clear until you can identify what is and is not an equivalent case. The … Continue reading Gunga Din at ‘The Everyman’
Author: DBreitenbeck
“Norman and Saxon”
“MY son,” said the Norman Baron, “I am dying, and you will be heir To all the broad acres in England that William gave me for my share When we conquered the Saxon at Hastings, and a nice little handful it is. But before you go over to rule it I want you to understand … Continue reading “Norman and Saxon”
Two Philosophers, Two Critics
I've heard it said (though I can't know remember from whom) that there are two kinds of philosophers; those who try to explain why a thing is so and those who try to explain that it is so. Aristotle, for instance, took it as a rule that the common understanding of mankind is itself a fact that … Continue reading Two Philosophers, Two Critics
An Architectural Fisk
Dipping a little into politics with this one. Kind of. I recently learned that President Trump has drafted an executive order entitled Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again. Basically, it orders that “classical and traditional architectural styles” should be the default for constructing new Federal Buildings in the future, specifically saying that styles like ‘brutalism’ and … Continue reading An Architectural Fisk
Some thoughts from ‘The Infidelity of the Future’
Today at lunch I refreshed my mind by reading St. John Henry Newman's sermon The Infidelity of the Future. Some of his main points, with brief thoughts: *The great evil of our time is the Spirit of Infidelity itself. Has it never struck you as odd that we consider terms like 'unorthodox' or 'unconventional' to … Continue reading Some thoughts from ‘The Infidelity of the Future’
Musical Interlude
I'm not musician, but I firmly believe that future generations will consider music composed for film and video games as among our century's chief contributions to the art. Below are a few examples of why: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wkg8C4sWfp0&t=67s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RC9SNyRpbso https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20gRi6xgEQo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qyz1irTV_nc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiiUOcfv58M
Ballade of Moderns
(Meant to have a post today, but ran into last-minute problems with my coding project, so instead here's a Chesterton poem:) On deserts red and deserts grey The temples into sand have slid; Go search that splendour of decay To find the final secret hid In mummies' painted coffin-lid In hieroglyphs of hunt and play. … Continue reading Ballade of Moderns
“The Rebel”
I know the actor Nick Adams (who died tragically young, much like his friend and co-star James Dean) from the Toho films he did in the 1960s: Frankenstein Conquers the World and Invasion of Astro Monster. He was the first notable western actor in the Godzilla franchise (and, perhaps not coincidentally, was part of the series' … Continue reading “The Rebel”
The Ordinary King
In a far-off land, there lived young prince. He was very forward thinking in his views, having read much and mixed much among the common people, whom he loved dearly. He swore that, when he became king, he would make their welfare and their happiness his first priority. In the meantime, he thought less and … Continue reading The Ordinary King
Paul Scofield does Macbeth
Really, what else needs to be said? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljZrf_0_CcQ
Serpent's Den 