1. School still going okay. Started getting into the weeds of the Revolution with my Government class; they were surprised to learn of some of my clarifications (i.e. that the amount of taxes weren't the issue, but rather the question of jurisdiction). Actually, the idea that the British government had a case at all seemed … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Mostly School and Language Matters
Author: DBreitenbeck
September 12, 1683: The Lifting of the Second Siege of Vienna
We remember In September... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxlRJsQ7p2k "Don't worry, everyone; I'm here to save the world. Again."-State motto of Poland
Poem – “The Beleaguered City”
I have read, in some old, marvellous tale, Some legend strange and vague,That a midnight host of spectres pale Beleaguered the walls of Prague. Beside the Moldau's rushing stream, With the wan moon overhead,There stood, as in an awful dream, The army of the dead. White as a sea-fog, landward bound, The spectral camp was seen,And, with a sorrowful, deep … Continue reading Poem – “The Beleaguered City”
Friday Flotsam: Corniness and ‘Shadows on the Rock’
1. Thinking of 50s-era educational shorts this week made me wonder: they're usually described as 'cheesy' or 'corny'. What does this mean? What constitutes corn? The heirs of Webster define it as "mawkishly old-fashioned : tiresomely simple and sentimental". Fair enough, but what is the positive contrary? Up-to-date, sophisticated, and rational, I suppose. Though that … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Corniness and ‘Shadows on the Rock’
“You’re Not Talking to the Founding Fathers Again, Are You?”
With the course of study I'm teaching, this short came to mind, as riffed by Mike and the Bots. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmjegYYYlUE&t=342s "What money?""Don't smart-mouth me, boy." Like most '50s educational shorts, this one's a stagey, stolid affair, but with some pretty solid information and a point that's hard to argue with: about keeping a budget and … Continue reading “You’re Not Talking to the Founding Fathers Again, Are You?”
Revolution Analogies
Sorry; again, it just keeps coming up! Today I happened to come across the following in an old comments section: “Imagine that a father gave his teenage son every liberty, so that the son was accustomed to making all his decisions for himself and living his life as he chose. Then suddenly one day the … Continue reading Revolution Analogies
‘Godzilla: Minus One’ Trailer
I had barely been aware of this film until I saw the trailer today. Wow, this looks good! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y58x0QOmdb8 From what I can tell, it's a semi-remake of the original with modern effects, taking Godzilla back to his origins as a post-war embodiment of the atom bomb and the general devastation Japan suffered. I note … Continue reading ‘Godzilla: Minus One’ Trailer
Poem – “London: A Poem in Imitation of the Third Satire of Juvenal”
———Quis ineptæTam patiens Urbis, tam ferreus ut teneat se?Juv. Tho’ Grief and Fondness in my Breast rebel,When injur’d Thales bids the Town farewell,Yet still my calmer Thoughts his Choice commend,I praise the Hermit, but regret the Friend,Resolved at length, from Vice and London far,To breathe in distant Fields a purer Air,And, fix’d on Cambria’s solitary … Continue reading Poem – “London: A Poem in Imitation of the Third Satire of Juvenal”
Sunday Thoughts: The Pull from Outside
A few Sundays ago, I felt the 'pull from outside.' I won't say it was the first time, but it was the first time I gave it that name. I had just watched a video on the Spanish Civil War, which spoke of how much of the Spanish population in those days were dead-set against … Continue reading Sunday Thoughts: The Pull from Outside
‘Spy x Family’ at the Everyman
My latest piece for The Everyman went up today, where I get to talk a bit about Spy x Family: Following a devastating conflict some decades prior, a tense cold war persists between the nations of “Westalis” and “Ostania” (fictionalized versions of West and Easy Germany circa the 1960s). Ace Westalis spy ‘Twilight’ works tirelessly … Continue reading ‘Spy x Family’ at the Everyman
Serpent's Den 