1. My latest addiction has been police body cam videos. Partly this is to study what real violent incidents look like for safety and awareness purposes, though there also something perversely fascinating of watching just how stupid some people can be. What I find most impressive is when the cops remain calm and unflappable when … Continue reading Saturday Sundry: Police, ‘Beowulf’ and Miscellaneous
Literature
‘Animal Farm’ at the Everyman
My latest is up at the Everyman, discussing Animal Farm and the lie of equality: It is said that you should never judge a book by its cover or a film by its trailer. This is fair, except that covers and trailers both exist to be judged; to give the potential audience some idea what … Continue reading ‘Animal Farm’ at the Everyman
Sunday Sundry: End of the Semester and ‘Animal Farm’ Hypocrisies
1. Another semester done at last! And exams were mostly pretty fun this year. For my English students (all high schoolers this time around), I opted for a discourse method in which students had to give a verbal answer to a question regarding one of the books we read, followed by a general class discussion … Continue reading Sunday Sundry: End of the Semester and ‘Animal Farm’ Hypocrisies
Sunday Sundry: Principles of Unity
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
Friday Flotsam: Washington, ‘Dorian Gray’ and ‘The Odyssey’
1. My judgment is that the American Revolution was one of the stupidest, most asinine and unnecessary revolts in history. And yet, the figure of Washington gilds this absurdity with such sublime heroism that it nearly outweighs every other consideration. I think that might be a good summation of the American character: objective absurdity overlaid … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Washington, ‘Dorian Gray’ and ‘The Odyssey’
Sunday Sundry: A Little Politics and The Little Prince
1. This year was my first time reading The Little Prince, at least in full (I'd read sections of it before). That has already become one of my Golden Books; one of the most beautiful, dream-like descriptions of love and innocence that I've ever read. It's short, but as dense as solid gold. 2. "And … Continue reading Sunday Sundry: A Little Politics and The Little Prince
Sunday Sundry: Politics and Some ‘Pride and Prejudice’
1. It has been that kind of week: the ones where you wonder if you will be telling young people some day "I remember when that happened." Things seem to be escalating, and though I pray I'm wrong, I suspect they'll get worse before they get better. 2. All states have factions. States tend to … Continue reading Sunday Sundry: Politics and Some ‘Pride and Prejudice’
Friday Flotsam: Last Fortnight’s Post
1. This post was originally going to come out a couple weeks ago, before the shadow intervened. So, back-date every reference by a couple weeks. Only update is that I'm back in Arizona and back to work. The main persistent after effect is that I'm very tired most of the time. 2. Movie night the … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Last Fortnight’s Post
Saturday Sundry: ‘Lusitania’, ‘Dorian Gray’, and ‘Starship Troopers’
1. A YouTube channel I've discovered recently is Oceanliner Designs, which provides extremely detailed documentaries on famous ships and disasters at sea, illustrated with some very pretty animation. Of course Titanic is a regular feature, but the host also examines other famous liners, including Titanic's two sisters, Olympic (the one survivor) and Britannic (which was … Continue reading Saturday Sundry: ‘Lusitania’, ‘Dorian Gray’, and ‘Starship Troopers’
Sunday Flotsam: New Apartment and Classics
1. Last week I took possession of my new apartment and have been moving in piecemeal ever since. I won't be able to get most of the furniture until next week, unfortunately, but I have almost all of my books moved. In the meantime I live among chaos, my worldly goods vomited out upon the … Continue reading Sunday Flotsam: New Apartment and Classics
Serpent's Den 