1. We’re approaching the part of the year where I start shifting from thinking how I can make this year better to thinking how I can make next year better. 2. Last week’s movie night, courtesy of one of my co-workers, was Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. To say “they don’t make them like this … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Classic Films and Some State of the Union
Politics
Wednesday Politics: Post-Election Thoughts
First I have to get this out of the way: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgWr3hNXPhk And this: My main reaction has been simply an appreciation of the storybook quality of the events. Six months ago I would have said that Trump didn't stand a chance in Hell of being re-elected, and that the smartest thing he could have done … Continue reading Wednesday Politics: Post-Election Thoughts
Friday Flotsam: 5th Century Italy, Manga, and Election Songs
1. Lately I've been learning some about the 5th-7th century in Italy, which is really a criminally under-discussed time period. Most popular histories more or less just jump from "sack of Rome" to "Dark Ages," as if nothing happened in between. But boy, did it ever! Like how we have a rare instance of one … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: 5th Century Italy, Manga, and Election Songs
Civil War Parallels at the Everyman
My first Everyman post in a while is now up. It's a foray into contemporary politics, looking for historical parallels. Specifically, I look at the likelihood of America dissolving into another civil war by comparing it to one of our previous ones: More and more the idea is in the air that the United States … Continue reading Civil War Parallels at the Everyman
Wednesday Politics: A Summary of My Political Views
It took me a while to settle on a political ‘name’ for myself that I liked. I'm not a Conservative, since most of what I would have wanted to conserve has already been destroyed (and I differ from most American Conservatives on a lot of points). I don’t like ‘Reactionary’ because it makes it sound … Continue reading Wednesday Politics: A Summary of My Political Views
Wednesday Politics: On America’s Military Record and Its Consequences
"America has never lost and will never lose a war" says Patton in the opening speech of the classic film. This, of course, rang sadly ironic to audiences in 1970 as the Vietnam War wound down, and is even more so today, though as someone pointed out, even at the time it required Patton to … Continue reading Wednesday Politics: On America’s Military Record and Its Consequences
Friday Flotsam: Grammar, Super-Heroes, and Socio-Political Stuff
1. I'm learning grammar at the moment. I figured after five books, a few short stories, and dozens of articles published, it was probably time. Don't want to rush into these things. Obviously, I already knew a fair bit of grammar, but I knew it either instinctively, simply out of use, or from distant recollections … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Grammar, Super-Heroes, and Socio-Political Stuff
Friday Flotsam: Political Mobs and Some Other Stuff
1. Is it just me, or do most motivational speeches sound exactly the same? “I had something I wanted to do, and I worked hard every single day, and I’m committed, and I have my teammates' backs,” etc. It is as if they are all made to pattern, formed by the same teacher or following … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Political Mobs and Some Other Stuff
Flotsam: Of Kings, Clothes, and Inspiration
1. Yesterday was the anniversary of the martyrdom of King Louis XVI, so I made sure to go to Mass to ask his intercession, and that of all the royal saints, that we might have good leaders in Church and State. Or, failing that, at least leaders who aren't brain-dead swine. Appropriately enough, the first … Continue reading Flotsam: Of Kings, Clothes, and Inspiration
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
Serpent's Den 