The moon is a friend for the lonesome to talk to.
CARL SANDBURG
February 25th, 2012
June 15th, 2011
Unions, America, Barack Obama, Elvis Presley, Port, Cinema
At what stage do we lose the essence of what “it” is. It’s summed up quite nicely below:
“Concepts, like individuals, have their histories and are just as incapable of withstanding the ravages of time as are individuals. But in and through all this they retain a kind of homesickness for the scenes of their childhood”
SOREN KIERKEGAARD
June 3rd, 2011
April 30th, 2011
Against Vain, Secular Learning, and of a Humble Knowledge of Ourselves
“A humble farm laborer who serves God is more acceptable to Him than an inquisitive philosopher who, considering the constellations of heaven, willfully forgets himself”
Learning. knowledge. study. philosophy. The tendency to dismiss the positive effects of these endeavors of the mind and the body is duly noted. However, it is also critical to consider the glory and praise that is heaped upon those who attain great status, wealth, privilege, and power. Multitudes of the powerful and wealthy will be damned. Let’s keep this all in perspective.
January 23rd, 2011
My top 20 albums of 2010
Well, I missed the deadline by at least three weeks. But here we go. My favourite albums of 2010:
1. Sufjan Stevens - All Delighted People
2. Delorean - Subiza
3. Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz
4. Eluvium - Similies
5. Sam Amidon - I See the Sign
6. Wild Nothing - Gemini
7. The National - High Violet
8. Beach House - Teen Dream
9. The Radio Dept. - Clinging to a Scheme
10. Matt Pond PA - The Dark Leaves
11. Owen Pallet - Heartland
12. The Album Leaf - A Chorus of Storytellers
13. Strand of Oaks - Pope Killdragon
14. Midlake - The Courage of Others
15. S. Carey - All We Grow
16. She and Him - Volume Two
17. Neon Indian - Psychic Chasms
18. J. Tillman - Singing Ax
19. CEO - White Magic
20. The Tallest Man on Earth - The Wild Hunt
Too many Honorable Mentions to list.
All the best.
October 28th, 2010
Netflix and $.36 or The Way to Magnify Something so Trite as $.36 or Let’s Support our Troubled Corporations
So, as many of you know, Netflix has been undergoing some massive changes. Increased selection of “watch instantly” films, a re-haul of their gaming systems streaming set-up and many other improvements.
Well, the stock price jumped and the technical issues started.
So, I received an email 5 days ago that stated that their service had been unavailable for a short window of time a few days prior to that. They apologized for the inconvenience and offered a 3% credit if you had attempted to use their service and were unable.
What a dilemma.
See, I didn’t attempt to use the service when it was down. Therefore, I suffered no disruption and should not choose to accept the credit. In some ways, it’s as if the event never occurred since I felt no personal impact. However, it would be extremely easy to click the link and have the credit applied to my account. My justification could go something like this: Well I wasn’t inconvenienced “this time” around but I do remember when there was a lag when I was watching “Wall Street” or when ”The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” arrived a day later then promised.
In other words, I was not inconvenienced this time (when the 3% credit is available)…but I was at other times (and wasn’t offered a 3% credit)…so I can justify using the credit, right? I mean it’s only $.36. No one will ever know. Netflix is a billion dollar company. It’s not a big deal. The Creator of the planet won’t strike me down. Cary Grant won’t rise from the grave on Halloween and let me rot with his two well-meaning but murderous grandmothers.
Alas, Netflix can keep its $.36. Certainly this has something to do with morals (though from time to time they are inconsistent and contradictory).
Oh, the guiding power of the Holy Spirit!
Plus, an extra $.36 in my bank account really only amounts to a future swig of peach brandy or the first 18 pages of a sci-fi novel.
All the best.
October 11th, 2010
The Social Network
The Social Network: West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin is unleashed in Fincher’s dark, ominous and modern world. 8.8/10
August 9th, 2010
August 8th, 2010
Too many liberals and radicals have a tender-minded, overly romantic image of the poor; they glamorize the povertystricken slum dweller as a paragon of justice and expect him to behave like an angel the minute his shackles are removed. That’s crud. Poverty is ugly, evil and degrading, and the fact that have-nots exist in despair, discrimination and deprivation does not automatically endow them with any special qualities of charity, justice, wisdom, mercy or moral purity. They are people, with all the faults of people — greed, envy, suspicion, intolerance — and once they get on top they can be just as bigoted as the people who once oppressed them. But that doesn’t mean you leave them to rot. You just keep on fighting.
August 7th, 2010
Auditing the remote corner of my brain
I’m considering what it is that I want this to be.
I suspect that the odds are favourable for these areas:
Music
Film
Religion
Sports
Books
Politics
World Affairs
Elections
Plight of the poor
Writing
Science Fiction
History
The “Economy”
All the best to you.
