1. A bout of insomnia this week left me only half-rational, hence why this is extra late. 2. Unity – ‘Oneness’ – is one of the transcendentals: qualities of Being that transcend the Ten Categories. It is the ability to speak of something as a single unit or concept. Coupled with this is Distinction: that … Continue reading Sunday Sundry: Principles of Unity
Poem – “Yarrow Visited”
And is this—Yarrow?—This the streamOf which my fancy cherished,So faithfully, a waking dream?An image that hath perished!O that some Minstrel's harp were near,To utter notes of gladness,And chase this silence from the air,That fills my heart with sadness! Yet why?—a silvery current flowsWith uncontrolled meanderings;Nor have these eyes by greener hillsBeen soothed, in all my wanderings.And, … Continue reading Poem – “Yarrow Visited”
Sunday Sundry
My father's out visiting, so my schedule is a little off (as far as I have one). That means no Flotsam this week. Sorry.
Poem – “Marius Amongst the Ruins of Carthage”
Twas noon—and Afric's dazzling sun on high,With fierce resplendence fill'd th' unclouded sky;No zephyr wav'd the palm's majestic head,And smooth alike the seas and deserts spread;While, desolate, beneath a blaze of light,Silent and lonely, as at dead of night,The wreck of Carthage lay—her prostrate FanesHad strew'd their precious marble o'er the plains;Dark weeds and grass … Continue reading Poem – “Marius Amongst the Ruins of Carthage”
Friday Flotsam: ‘The Running Man’ and ‘Epic’
1. Last week's movie night was The Running Man, starring Ahnold. It was more or less your typical action-sci-fi film of the 1980s: over-the-top violence, bitingly funny satire, mounds of creative energy, and a charismatic cast (Arnold Schwarzenegger, Maria Conchita Alonzo, Richard Dawson, Yaphet Kotto, Jesse Ventura, Jim Brown, etc). It's not brilliant, but solidly … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: ‘The Running Man’ and ‘Epic’
Friday Flotsam: Mostly Politics, with a Godzilla Chaser
1. The supreme law is the well-being of the people. It is not the well-being of the economy. 2. The Right Wing - Left Wing dichotomy is a product of Revolutionary politics and does not exist outside them. They mean the same thing today as they meant in 1793: Right Wing means favoring a limited … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Mostly Politics, with a Godzilla Chaser
Payoffs and Ripoffs at Noble Cobra Magazine
As promised, the written version of the talk I gave (to a tiny, self-selected audience) at Legend Haven is up at Noble Cobra Magazine: There is a passage in C.S. Lewis’s seminal essay On Stories which has informed a lot of my approach to fiction. It comes when Prof. Lewis is trying to describe what he calls … Continue reading Payoffs and Ripoffs at Noble Cobra Magazine
Saturday Sundry: US History, Politics, Strategy
1. There are two possible readings for the American Revolution: either it was a matter of sincere, but politically incompetent idealists blundering their way into civil war or it was a matter of men who had settled on rebellion from the start taking every opportunity to deliberately escalate the situation (or, most likely, a combination … Continue reading Saturday Sundry: US History, Politics, Strategy
Poem – “The Sword of Robert Lee”
Forth from its scabbard, pure and bright, Flashed the sword of Lee!Far in the front of the deadly fight,High o'er the brave in the cause of RightIts stainless sheen, like a beacon light, Led us to Victory! Out of its scabbard, where, full long, It slumbered peacefully,Roused from its rest by the battle's song,Shielding the feeble, smiting the … Continue reading Poem – “The Sword of Robert Lee”
Friday Flotsam: Happy Halloween!
1. Happy Halloween! I love Halloween; the day of horror, macabre, the spooky and gothic. 2. For Halloween, I think it's healthy to have this particular day to contemplate the darkness, the evil, the veil of life and death (not too closely or too realistically, of course). It's the day of horror, the day of … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Happy Halloween!
Serpent's Den 