1. Tomorrow I leave for the desert of 48, so this week's flotsam comes a day early. 2. Yesterday was moving (out) day, when men came to cart all my worldly goods off into a truck. It also just so happened to be the day that Michigan was hit by the tail-end of a hurricane. … Continue reading Thursday Flotsam: Moving, Politics, and Bueller
Movies
Annual Praise for ‘Independence Day’
For newcomers, I watch 'Independence Day' every year on the Fourth of July: the following is (mostly) an old post on my great fondness for the film. When Independence Day came out, it was a huge hit, but ever since then it’s kind of become the poster-child for the big, dumb, CGI-fueled blockbusters of … Continue reading Annual Praise for ‘Independence Day’
Saturday Flotsam: Moving, A Book, A Film, and Economics
1. Was packing yesterday and lost track of the time, so this is Saturday Flotsam again. 2. As of this writing, I still haven't gotten final confirmation on my apartment. Last time I spoke to them the application is in the final stages, but that was a day or so ago. I don't anticipate it … Continue reading Saturday Flotsam: Moving, A Book, A Film, and Economics
The End of an Era
Roger Corman, the King of the B-Movies, has passed away on May 9, 2024 at the ripe age of 98, and with him has died an entire epoch of film making. It would take a book - a multi-volume book - to fully describe Corman's career and impact on the film industry. He produced his … Continue reading The End of an Era
Friday Flotsam: Legal Rebellion and Written Law, and ‘Monkey Man’ Impressions
1. Among the many absurdities of the American mind is the notion that a revolution can be legal. Consider the incessant quibbling over whether, say, Southern secession was 'legal' or not under the Constitution. In the first place, the question of whether leaving the Constitution is or is not permitted under the Constitution you are … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Legal Rebellion and Written Law, and ‘Monkey Man’ Impressions
Friday Flotsam: Various and Sundry
1. The weather is warming up, which means my middle schoolers were extra rowdy this week. I am increasingly convinced that children are, in truth, reptiles. 2. For recreation I started re-reading The Ball and the Cross for the first time in quite a while. Chesterton's way with words is of the sort that is … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Various and Sundry
Friday Flotsam: 26 to 48, America Lists, and ‘Godzilla x Kong’
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’
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
Serpent's Den 