When Artemis II looped around the Moon a few days ago, the astronauts aboard captured a photo of the Moon as it eclipsed the Sun from the astronauts' perspective. Jules Verne had described such an eclipse in his 1870 novel, "Around the Moon," the sequel to his earlier "From the Earth To the Moon." In … Continue reading Artemis II Around the Moon
There’s a popular belief that Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” is a warning about science “going too far”. But she actually presents Victor Frankenstein as something of a pseudo-scientist, at least when left to his own devices. In his resting state, or when working in isolation, Victor Frankenstein is a romantic more inclined to enjoy nature than to study it, and disinclined to the unglamorous work that scientists must do.
I dreamt about 9-11 early this morning, having watched Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining” last night. I don’t know why, because there’s nothing in the movie that obviously connects to such an event. And I didn’t think or read about 9-11 yesterday, so I think in some way this movie did something. I'm not even a … Continue reading Dreaming with classics
My favorite read of 2024 was actually my re-read of The Lord of the Rings. But sticking to new works as usual: I read 28 works of fiction and nonfiction for the first time in '24, and of those I've picked out again my favorite ten. For each book, I've listed some excerpts, not necessarily … Continue reading My favorite reads of 2024
At one point in Frank Capra's "It's A Wonderful Life," George Bailey tells Mr. Potter, "the meanest and richest man in town," what he really thinks of him. You sit around here and you spin your little webs and you think the whole world revolves around you and your money. Well, it doesn't, Mr. Potter. … Continue reading It’s A Wonderful Life
Below are my ten most memorable reads of 2023, fiction and nonfiction, out of my 33 first-time reads. Actually I've thrown 11 chariots into the race, and an honorable runner-up. For each book, I've listed some excerpts, not necessarily the "best" -- there are countless great quotes in all of these -- but just a … Continue reading Favorite reads of 2023
Ivan Karamazov issues the following challenge to his devout brother Alyosha, before sharing with him the now-famous parable about the Grand Inquisitor, in Fyodor Dostoevsky's "The Brothers Karamazov": Tell me straight out, I call on you—answer me: imagine that you yourself are building the edifice of human destiny with the object of making people happy … Continue reading The Grand Inquisitor and Rebellion
I've recently finished "The Brothers Karamazov", a book that's tough-to-chew, frustrating, blasphemous, hilarious, delirious and puzzling: in short, a great book. I want to start with just a few *brief* remarks about the Grand Inquisitor story, the parable that Ivan Karazamov composes and shares with his brother Alyosha. The parable is so well-known that I … Continue reading The Grand Inquisitor and Exodus
My son has been reading a lot of Greek mythology so I pulled up this 1981 flick for our family movie night. The kids' favorite character was Bubo, the mechanical owl. My son was disappointed with the depiction of Poseidon, and he said this movie made him hate Zeus. He was also ready with small … Continue reading Clash of the Titans Movie Night
During my convalescence this past winter I watched a lot of movies. I've gotten busy making YouTube playlists of my favorite music and movies. I started one playlist privately just to collect some of my favorite concluding scenes from movies, and I threw in a few scenes from old movies that marked the Intermission break. … Continue reading Favorite movie endings
