Posted on May 17th, 2012 by Winston
This post could have several titles like “the unreality of reality” or “the end game of postmodernism.”
(1) All the Presidents’ Heads (Futurama)
Local
(2) Breaking the tax and spend cycle (Fairfield Minuteman)
“In fact, in our three years as members of the RTM, the Democrats have yet to propose a single budget reduction for vote on the floor of the RTM.”
National
(2a) Three years and no Senate budget (Washington Times)
“April 29 will mark three years since Senate Democrats passed a budget. This dereliction of duty flagrantly violates the 1974 Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act.”
(3) Brand Takes a Tweeting (WSJ)
(3a) The Great Barry: Self-invention on shifting postmodern sands by Mark Steyn
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Posted on May 15th, 2012 by Winston
I have nothing to post but wanted an excuse to use this image from Clannad After Story. I have one episode left which I plan on watching tonight. I’m not sure I entirely understood the storyline but could grasp the bits about fate/destiny, human suffering (and M-theory). There was a fantastic quote in episode 15 about prayer (really) I have to transcribe.
“…of course that doesn’t mean you can pray and magically have all your wishes come true. But still, I think if you push and shove with all you got until the bitter end, even if it ain’t a miracle, the results won’t be all that bad.”
I wonder if the writer(s) of Fringe watched this anime?
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Posted on May 13th, 2012 by Winston
“Detailing his stories in meticulous and carefully crafted artwork, Chris Ware lays out an irresistibly beautiful world of deficits and defects. While nowadays a seemingly endless archive of superhero comics is shamelessly exploited for bland 3D animated blockbusters, Chris Ware set out to prove the narrative potential of visual writing. In stark contrast to the loud colors and simplistic world of action figures, he proposes a quiet and introverted vision in muted shades of nostalgia, exploring topics of social isolation, emotional pain and personal failure in modern life.”
— MOMO.KULTUR #30 WINTER 2011/12
Related
The Wild World of Imagination (WSJ)
“Even amid his creative cohort, as represented here, Sendak stands out for his unusual bluntness and the way in which his picture-book career seemed less a source of artistic delight than an extended exorcism.”
‡ Image is from Clannad After Story, Episode 21 “The End of the World”.
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Posted on May 12th, 2012 by Winston
Are the benefits of a bike ride negated by a sweet crêpe?
(1) The Dead Dream of the Dirigible
(2) Lichtenstein Before (and After) the Pop Hits (WSJ)
“At the same time, the show suggests that much of Lichtenstein’s mature work flowed out of the impulse that animated his Pop masterpieces of the 1960s: a desire to critique the present moment in art by offering fresh perspectives on the forgotten, devalued and/or mass-produced art of the past.”
(3) Cadillac, Chevy Finally Crack Japan, but Not With Cars: American Brands Push Cachet to Pedal Bikes in Tokyo (WSJ)
Mama-chari: a term for the ubiquitous transport used by homemakers to run errands.
(4) Frozen Sublimity, Louring Sky (WSJ)
“What happened next is one of those art-history tales that make you wonder what other great pictures might lie in hiding somewhere, waiting to regain the light of day. Sir Edward Watkin, a railway magnate in Manchester, England, who later became a Liberal member of Parliament, bought the painting after it was shown in London in 1863. He kept it at Rose Hill, his country place. Watkin died in 1901, and then Rose Hill became a boys’ school.”
(5) Paul Smith: The eccentric English designer on his addiction to bicycling and Post-its, his sugar lump collection and how he earned those colorful stripes (WSJ)
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Posted on May 9th, 2012 by Winston
The real meaning of eternal life is a life that can face anything it has to face without wavering. If we take this view, life becomes one great romance, a glorious opportunity for seeing marvelous things all the time.
— Oswald Chambers
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Posted on May 8th, 2012 by Winston
Under the spreading chestnut tree, I sold you and you sold me.
— George Orwell
I haven’t written about politics (and have been happier for it) but have to mention ‘Julia’ since the study of ‘welfare states, planned economies, and all manner of bureaucracies’ has been a lifelong passion (dystopia). What is so rich is that ‘Julia’ could have been written by a conservative espousing the risks of the welfare state. It was also released at a time when the ‘end game’ (apologies to Krugman) of the welfare state is on display in Europe.
(1) The Party of Julia (NY TIMES)
(2) The Lonely Life of Julia: In Obama’s ideal world, men are replaced by bureaucrats. (WSJ)
(3) A Nation of Julias (National Review)
(4) O’s campaign gets creepy (NY Post)
(5) “The Life of Julia” And Obama’s Orwellian Vision for a Fundamental Change In the Relationship Between Citizen and State (Ace)
(6) Romney: Clinton Said Big Government Era Over, But Obama Brought It Back
“Julia progresses from cradle to grave, showing how government makes every good thing in her life possible. The weak economy, high unemployment, falling wages, rising gas prices, the national debt, the insolvency of entitlements – all these are fictionally assumed away in a cartoon that is produced by a president who wants us to forget about them.
What does it say about a president’s policies when he has to use a cartoon character rather than real people to justify his record? What does it say about the fiction of old liberalism to insist that good jobs and good schools and good wages will result from policies that have failed us, time and again?”
Update
Julia’s world (The Economist)
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Posted on May 7th, 2012 by Winston
If you are a student of history (or if you ever read Berlin by Jason Lutes) this quote from Ambrose Evans-Pritchard just gave you chills.
Paris has a strange atmosphere right now. It is hard to get a table at the bistros of Saint-Germain, yet people have a sense of foreboding.
They know austerity has hardly begun. The press is full of stories that the biggest property bubble ever known in France has begun to deflate. Yet the party goes on. Perhaps this is what it felt like in May 1931, avant le déluge.
Source
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Posted on May 6th, 2012 by Winston
…and all the rest from the weekend (and a superb one at that). Also, composing a post on ‘Julia’ but it will have to wait until I blow the dust off The Future As Nightmare by Mark R. Hillegas.
(1) Found a copy of the Winter 2011/2012 issue of MONO KULTUR that features the interview (A SENSE OF THERENESS) with Chris Ware.
(2) Walt Disney Family Museum (Wired)
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Posted on May 6th, 2012 by Winston
I attended Bike Expo New York on Saturday and rode the Brompton from Grand Central to Basketball City (Pier 36). This was the inaugural show and the venue/format/programming was good. I also believe this show will look very different (more exhibitors and bigger crowds) in 2013+ because of the growing popularity of cycling.
The biggest complaint- my British Racing Green Brompton was a bit of a show stopper. And this HAS nothing to do with conceit. This is a beautiful machine and I was stopped several times and asked the following:
(1) Did you purchase that here?
(2) Are they exhibiting?
(3) Is it heavy?
(4) How much did it cost?
(5) Where can I get one (NYCeWheels)?
(6) Where was it made?
My only regret? I missed the BE Chic, BE NY fashion show and some of the other programming (A Cargo Course: Packs, Racks, and Baskets). And this was my own fault…I planned poorly because the emails for the event were informative (and sent it perfect volume).
Notable Exhibitors
(1) Nutcase Helmets of Portland Oregon
(2) The Pedal Pushers Club
(3) Loving Life, Rolling Orange
(4) Timbuk2 and Bike Friday also had booths
Sites (the trek from Grand Central)
(5) The Complete Traveller Antiquarian Bookstore
(6) Picture of the Freedom Tower (One World Trade Center) from the West Side. This was taken with an iPad II.
Swag
(7) New York City Cycling Map
(8) A New Version Of London’s Bike Map, Inspired By The Tube
(9) Concept art by Anna Shukeylo. This has a very urban sketch kind of feel
(9a) BONUS: Cathedral by Anna Shukeylo
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Posted on May 5th, 2012 by Winston
(1) How to Live Unhappily Ever After: Augusten Burroughs on the upside of being downbeat, and embracing loss and anger
“But holes are interesting things. As it happens, we human beings are able to live just fine with many holes of many sizes and shapes. Pleasure, love, compassion, fulfillment; these things do not leak out of holes of any size. So we can be filled with holes and loss and wide expanses of unhealed geography—and we can also be excited by life and in love and content at the exact same moment.
This is among the oldest, deepest, most primal truths: The facts of life may be, at times, unbearably painful. But the core, the bones of life are generous beyond all reason or belief. Those things which ought to kill us do not. This should be taken as encouragement to continue.”
(2) The Myth of Fingerprints by Paul Simon
He said there’s no doubt about it
It was the myth of fingerprints
That’s why we must learn to live alone
(3) Nests Drawn From Heartbreak (WSJ)
(3a) Graceland by Paul Simon
And I see losing love
Is like a window in your heart
Everybody sees you’re blown apart
Everybody feels the wind blow
(4) A related quote from Arise from Darkness by Fr. Benedict J. Groeschel, C.F.R.
“In contemporary society, we deny the existence of the mysterious. Many things are mysterious—life, love, darkness—but what is more mysterious than eternity? If you can’t cope with mystery, this life is going to drive you mad or make you cynical or terribly depressed. Life is filled with many unanswered questions. To be honest, if we did not seek answers to these questions, we’d all be sheep. Mystery gives suffering humanity its greatest gift.”
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