1. The big takeaway from my history classes this week was the story of St. Patrick engaging in a battle of the miracles against the druids of Ireland, including a memorable incident where the chief druid levitated with the aid of devils, whereupon St. Patrick prayed and sent the guy plumetting to his death. In … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Miracles, Art, Anime, Etc.
Art
Friday Flotsam: No History this Time
1. Had a break from schooling this week, tried to use it to get a clearer idea of how to proceed. Sort of worked; I still feel disorganized and like little is getting done, but I have a bit of a better idea of what I'm doing. 2. It occurs to me that the main … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: No History this Time
Happy 4th
Happy 4th of July, Everyone! By Alex Ross
Friday Flotsam: AI and Sentience, Goldfish, and More
1. I've never read Song of Ice and Fire or seen Game of Thrones, but I have to pay congratulations to George R.R. Martin: Well done, sir; you have become the new Duke Nukem: Forever. 2. Do people actually take what AI bots say seriously? I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, but still; you do … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: AI and Sentience, Goldfish, and More
Good Friday
No flotsam today.
Happy Easter
The Lord is Risen Indeed Piero della Francesca
Some Bouguereau Art
One of my Christmas gifts this year was a book of Monsieur William A. Bouguereau's paintings: William Bouguereau: The Essential Works (note: this is an affiliate link to Bookshops.org, supporting local bookshops). It's especially interesting since it also contains a brief biography and some background information on the various categories of paintings that M. Bouguereau … Continue reading Some Bouguereau Art
An Architectural Fisk
Dipping a little into politics with this one. Kind of. I recently learned that President Trump has drafted an executive order entitled Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again. Basically, it orders that “classical and traditional architectural styles” should be the default for constructing new Federal Buildings in the future, specifically saying that styles like ‘brutalism’ and … Continue reading An Architectural Fisk
Musical Interlude
I'm not musician, but I firmly believe that future generations will consider music composed for film and video games as among our century's chief contributions to the art. Below are a few examples of why: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wkg8C4sWfp0&t=67s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RC9SNyRpbso https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20gRi6xgEQo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qyz1irTV_nc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiiUOcfv58M
Thought of the Day
Once you get beyond the veneer of complexity and broken conventions, you generally find in modernism only an inferior and more limited attempt at something earlier artists were already doing.
Serpent's Den 