[This is part of a longer series – previous post ("Book IV") - next post ("Joyce, Vico and the Homeric Question")] [A page from The Sigla of Finnegans Wake by Roland McHugh.] I realized at some point today that somethings gone a bit wrong in my head when pages of text like this start to make sense. To take … Continue reading Deeper Into the Night
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Epicurus on Death
Epicurus famously said: Death does not concern us, because as long as we exist, death is not here. And when it does come, we no longer exist. When I teach this gem in Introduction to Philosophy, I like to run the argument as follows: 1) If my death is bad for me, it is either … Continue reading Epicurus on Death
The Rings of Saturn and the Harmony of the Spheres
“And there, in the middle of the light, they saw stretching from the heavens the ends of its bonds—for this light is what binds the heavens, like the cables underneath a trireme, thus holding the entire revolving thing together. From those ends hangs the spindle of Necessity, by means of which all the revolving things … Continue reading The Rings of Saturn and the Harmony of the Spheres
You down with OPP!?!?
Hoping some of you remember Naughty by Nature....in any case, 'OPP' here stands for Original Positions Podcast, an idea I'd like to introduce and (partially) pitch in this post. Basically, the idea is that regular OP-ers convene in a spectacular live podcasting event once a month or once every two months to have a two-hour long … Continue reading You down with OPP!?!?
The Art Institute Project
Brooke got me an Art Institute of Chicago annual membership for Christmas, and I finally got there Thursday (it's only open late on Thursday). I'm going to shoot for a blog about a painting or two once a week. Art is something I haven't written about very much at all, so don't get your hopes … Continue reading The Art Institute Project
My Three Favorite Philip Seymour Hoffman Roles
I'm certainly not an expert, nor was I his biggest fan or anything, but for me, Philip Seymour Hoffman was the sort of "character actor" who could really lift a movie from good to great by finding a understated way to embody a role that otherwise might have been smaller, and left the movie feeling … Continue reading My Three Favorite Philip Seymour Hoffman Roles
The Last Glenn Gould Records – Beethoven, Scarlatti, CPE Bach, Gould, Scriabin, Haydn, JS Bach, Brahms, Strauss
These weren't the last recordings Gould planned; they weren't meant as some sort of departing "testament" to the world. Gould's death, though predictable in hindsight, wasn't something he had planned for or desired (at least not consciously). These last seven recordings just happen to be the final ones he made before dying. #56 - Beethoven Piano … Continue reading The Last Glenn Gould Records – Beethoven, Scarlatti, CPE Bach, Gould, Scriabin, Haydn, JS Bach, Brahms, Strauss
Enough with this “Golden Age of Television” stuff already!
Big confession I'd like to make: I'm way, way over the upper middle class's current infatuation with television. This is probably more just curmudgeonliness, or an in-born contrarian impulse than anything else, but I'd still like to say a few things. For one, I'm tired of boring conversations about binge-watching. I don't think most people … Continue reading Enough with this “Golden Age of Television” stuff already!
Three “Open-World” Video Games
I've just had two unexpected snow days, which has finally given me the time needed to finish the "main quest" of Skyrim. I thought I'd write a little bit about how video games (at least roleplaying game video games) have evolved since I was younger. The biggest thing that exists now (at least in video … Continue reading Three “Open-World” Video Games
Drugs, Liberty and Justice
After yesterday's post I wanted to flesh out the consequences of my argument more specifically for the context in which it arose - an argument about drug legalization. I won't do much more work here to defend justice over libertarianism per se (we're arguing about that on the other thread). That's not because I think I've … Continue reading Drugs, Liberty and Justice
Original Positions 