Really shocking news; Chadwick Boseman, most famous as T'Challa / Black Panther in the Marvel Cinematic Universe passed away on Friday August 27th from colon cancer at the age of 43. Apparently, he'd been battling the disease for four years. Which means, in retrospect, that most of his involvement in the MCU was done while … Continue reading RIP Chadwick Boseman: The First Fallen Avenger
Talking Confession at Catholic Match
My latest Catholic Match post is up, talking about why you need to go to Confession: This brings us to the second point: besides your eternal salvation (if anything can be ‘besides’ that), Confession, along with the other Sacraments, conveys a very useful lesson. Namely, that we do not get to set the terms of … Continue reading Talking Confession at Catholic Match
Christopher Lee Reads ‘The Raven’
With accompanying illustrations by Gustave Dore. https://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=MyxsPHWSxlY
RIP John Saxon
At the same time that the last leading lady of old Hollywood passed away, another veteran actor joined the great majority. Most people probably don't recognize the name John Saxon, but I guarantee you know some of his films. Saxon was one of those reliable character actors who throve in the world of B-pictures, with … Continue reading RIP John Saxon
The Last Star has Gone Out
Olivia de Havilland, star of Gone with the Wind, The Adventures of Robin Hood, and dozens of other classic films, has passed away at the age of 104. She was Errol Flynn's chief leading lady -- they starred in eight films together, including his star-making role Captain Blood -- one of the principle leads of … Continue reading The Last Star has Gone Out
Sunday Thoughts: The Treasure in the Field
Deconstructing fairy tales is like deconstructing a ming vase; it's easy to do, but it says more about you than about the subject itself. When some wag sniffs at the 'love at first sight' trope, or writes smarmy novels about Cinderella realizing how shallow her love for Prince Charming really is, it only shows the … Continue reading Sunday Thoughts: The Treasure in the Field
On Narrative
As noted, I’m reading Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s The Black Swan at the moment. One of the things he talks about early on is the narrative fallacy, which involves our need to create narratives and see patterns to explain the world around us. This seems a good chance to talk about the meaning and purpose of … Continue reading On Narrative
Fantastic Schools vol. 1
The first volume of Fantastic Schools is now live! Have you ever wanted to go to magic school? To cast spells and brew potions and fly on broomsticks and—perhaps—battle threats both common and supernatural? Come with us into worlds of magic, where students become magicians and teachers do everything in their power to ensure the … Continue reading Fantastic Schools vol. 1
Friday Flotsam: Black Swan
I'm reading The Black Swan by Nicholas Nassim Taleb at present. I haven't gotten very far, but it's quite interesting. A Black Swan event is one that is an outlier with a heavy impact which was predictable in retrospect, but not in prospect (that is, you can see where it came from with hindsight, but … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Black Swan
On the Purpose of Fiction
Actions are largely driven by emotional responses, which in turn are created by thoughts. Now, a man may, of course, act a given way through cool reflection: because he sees it is the thing to do. But he will not do so reliably. The head rules the hands through the heart. A man becomes moral … Continue reading On the Purpose of Fiction
Serpent's Den 