1. First and foremost is some pretty big life news: after much searching and many applications, I've been offered a full-time teaching job with a traditional Catholic, classical education school. The only slight catch is that it's, ah, rather far. I live in Metro Detroit, and the job is in Phoenix, Arizona. Which means that … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: 26 to 48, America Lists, and ‘Godzilla x Kong’
Movies
Friday Flotsam: Caesar and ‘Scarlet and the Black’
1. Starting a much-needed break for Easter time. Don't have much time left in school after that; only about ten or twelve class days. It's rushed by faster than I thought, and I've really enjoyed my first year teaching. Right now the plan is to figure out a way to keep doing it and earn … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Caesar and ‘Scarlet and the Black’
Friday Flotsam: Mostly Movies, Some Space
1. Movie night a few weeks back was Ride the High Country, one of the great 'twilight westerns' made at a time when everyone knew that the genre was a dying breed. The stars who were most associated with it were getting older and the country was losing the classical values that had animated it. … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Mostly Movies, Some Space
Friday Flotsam: ‘Short Circuit’, Sick, More Economics, and Lent
1. My tastes have been skewed in a 1980s direction lately. This week's movie night was Short Circuit (at least most of it; the copy I watched had a section missing that I couldn't find elsewhere, between when the jerk boyfriend shows up and the fight with the other three drones), about a military robot … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: ‘Short Circuit’, Sick, More Economics, and Lent
Friday Flotsam: History, Economics, and RIP Carl Weathers
1. From my Classical History course this week, I learned that during the First Punic War a certain Roman consul wanted to attack the Carthaginian fleet, but the augurs warned him that it would be a disaster. The sacred chickens weren't eating, and that was a bad omen. The consul replied, "They won't eat? Let … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: History, Economics, and RIP Carl Weathers
Friday Flotsam: US History, Nintendo Games, and Dialogue
1. My US History classes this week have been entirely consumed by summarizing the course of the Civil War, and we've only gotten to the end of 1863. That's after about two weeks of going over the lead-up to the war. There is just so much to go over, even from my relatively superficial knowledge … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: US History, Nintendo Games, and Dialogue
Some ‘Batman Returns’ Thoughts
This year's Christmas film with the family was Batman Returns, my first time seeing it. My immediate reaction is that this film feels like a fever dream, or like a piece of fan fiction written by someone who is very enthusiastic about the 1960s Batman TV show and is more than a little insane (which, … Continue reading Some ‘Batman Returns’ Thoughts
Friday Flotsam: A Lot of Variety and a Bollywood Clip
1. Ember Friday of the Third Week of Advent. Enjoy your fast and penance before Christmas! 2. It's been a pretty good week for me; I maintained my intended schedule, for the most part (I tend to fall off toward late afternoon, but I'm likening that to being out-of-shape and will trust that I'll get … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: A Lot of Variety and a Bollywood Clip
50 More Quotes for AFI
It's hardly definitive, but I still like the AFI '100 Years, 100 Quotes' list, especially this excellent montage someone put together of it. It's a fun sort of quick summary of film history. That said, it was definitely missing a lot of lines I would have wanted to see included. So, I decided to take … Continue reading 50 More Quotes for AFI
Friday Flotsam: Immaculate Conception, Hapsburgs, and More
1. A blessed Feast of the Immaculate Conception! 2. This is, of course, the national feast day of the United States, as instituted in 1846 by the US Bishops and confirmed by Pius IX. This seems primarily based, historically, on the fact that Christopher Columbus's flagship was the Santa Maria de la Inmaculada Concepción, and … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Immaculate Conception, Hapsburgs, and More
Serpent's Den 