1. So another Lent begins. This year I'm focusing on purgation, clearing out habits that have been a drag on my mind and attention span. In particular I'm giving up most video media: no perusing YouTube, no movies, no shows, etc. I'll still work on my own videos some, and still use 'ambience' videos (which … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Lent and Reading
History
A Little ’80s Love
I happened across this video the other day; a well-made bit of nostalgia that really does capture a lot of the cultural tone of the era (apart from a severe lack of Jason Voorhees). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATFM5Oq_oCI Same guy also has one for the '90s. Also very good, though serious lack of Beast Wars. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93g_40atCgA
Friday Flotsam: Everyman, Top Gun, Bofuri, and Sabaton
1. First off, my latest piece is up on The Everyman, where I talk about how the world doesn't change (and slip in a little plug for Gentleman Instructed): Again and again, it was the same pattern, and rarely did I find a point that had been genuinely left behind since the 18th century (e.g. … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Everyman, Top Gun, Bofuri, and Sabaton
Thought of the Day: On Darwin’s Popularity
The standard narrative for On the Origin of Species is that it changed the way people saw the world and rocked the intellectual foundations of Christian civilization. The truth is, it didn't change anything. People didn't abandon their faith and shift their paradigms because they read Darwin; they ate up Darwin as a perfect narrative … Continue reading Thought of the Day: On Darwin’s Popularity
TCM Remembers – 2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IxrVWs80Zw The big one for me, of course, is Akira Takarada; the last major player, either in front of or behind the camera, from the original Godzilla. He was a mainstay of the series ever since, and I'll always be sorry that his cameo in the 2014 film was cut. Other notables include, of course, … Continue reading TCM Remembers – 2022
Some Christmas Music
In the words of Ross Scott, "I've got some good Christmas music for you this year!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPdHkHslFIU
‘A Gentleman Instructed’ Now Available!
My freshly-edited edition of A Gentleman Instructed in the Conduct of a Virtuous and Happy Life, by William Darrell S.J., is now available on Amazon! And just in time for the Christmas shopping season. "For what can even fancy paint more charming and more glorious than grandees neither abject in adversity nor insolent in prosperity; … Continue reading ‘A Gentleman Instructed’ Now Available!
Friday Flotsam: Voting, Veterans, Video, and a Gospel Verse
1. I voted this past Tuesday. Might be the last time I do, since I reject the liberal paradigm that the practice represents and I find the whole thing to be frankly absurd anyway. Though I'll probably still vote in local elections, once I settle down somewhere, since I think those are the only ones … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Voting, Veterans, Video, and a Gospel Verse
Flash ‘Apollo 13’ Reaction
The other night I finally got around to seeing Apollo 13, and it was the most enthralling and satisfying film experience I've had in a very long time. Damn, I'd almost forgotten we used to make movies like this; gripping accounts of actually worthwhile true events, focusing on intelligent, mature, professional men working to solve … Continue reading Flash ‘Apollo 13’ Reaction
Friday Flotsam: Mostly On Halloween
1. "The spirit of wickedness in high places is now so powerful and so many-headed in its incarnations that there seems nothing more to do than personally to refuse to worship any of the hydra's heads."-J.R.R. Tolkien (from a letter written in late 1969) 2. Our problem with Halloween is that we miss half the … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Mostly On Halloween
Serpent's Den 