The King in Yellow Reads Hamlet

February 4, 2024

The chambers of our hearts conceal a poison that courses the soul of mankind. Those who feel its disease seek the antidote but find none. The venom bathes the body and mind and bids us break bad. What cure for the poor naked ape, drunk on the forbidden fruit? Is it madness or perfect lucidity that beckons? The sirens call, haunting, wholy whoring, horrible. On another shore, the Saints march through a misty night toward certain salvation while above, the Moirai watch with disinterest.

I still know a hawk from a handsaw….mostly.

Thucydides, Civilization, and Barbie

February 5, 2024 4:31pm

“Overwhelmed by the disaster, people could not see what was to become of them and started losing respect for laws of god and man alike,” Thucydides.

In related news….Russian courts now regard the supporters of DEI as extremists. In the US, it is the opponents of DEI who are the extremists. When Cornwallis surrendered, the music played “The World Turned Upside Down.” Perhaps it’s time for a reprise.

Recently, in order to better understand the zeitgeist, we watched the Barbie movie. How else will one grok the minds of the Oscar judges and indeed the unwashed masses?

It was as I expected with one odd Easter egg thrown in. Barbie steps into her plastic packaging and calls the smell a “Proustian memory”. The director says she added that “Easter egg” (I swear I didn’t know she said this when I wrote the previous sentence!) for “one person.” I guess she correctly surmised that those who watch Barbie were unlikely to have read “Swann’s Way” much less the entire 4,000+ page, seven volume work called “In Search of Lost Time.” – Previously known as “Remembrance of Things Past. Full disclosure….I have only read “Swann’s Way” myself but I have all seven volumes and the first was enough for me to call Proust the greatest wordsmith I have read or at least the equal of the best.

Many who read Proust acknowledge that you enter another universe when you begin, and it takes some…. recalibration. But those who can make the adjustment find a lyrical calm unlike anything else. Suffice it to say that the first 50 pages of “Swann’s Way” are devoted to Proust’s preparation for bed when a child. Yes, 50. Recalibrate, remember? You’re no longer in the Kansas of Marvel action heroes. Breathe deeply, breathe slowly and immerse yourself in Proust’s world. You may smell a madeleine if you close your eyes.

Now, back to Barbie. The funny thing about the Easter Egg is the unknown connection to the Oppenheimer film that released the same day. The movie world (I learned) was all atwitter over the “Barbenheimer” phenomena but what Barbie’s director didn’t know was that Oppenheimer himself was a fan of Proust and had he watched the movie (NO FREAKIN’ WAY), the director says he would have appreciated the reference. We’ll leave that for our more learned readers to decide.

Anyway, one more movie tidbit. When Oppenheimer was released, I did note that the Hindu world was triggered by the quote used by the titular character when the first bomb was tested.

“Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.” – Bhagavad Gita (quoted by Oppenheimer July 16, 1945 at the Trinity test site in Nevada)

The Hindus thought that the line made their faith sound like some violent, apocalyptic cult. Well, isn’t that the way. Many Christians would like to expunge parts of the Old Testament too. It don’t work that way.

Carlson/Putin Interview

February 15, 2024 1:05pm

Tucker Carlson interviews Putin and the analyses are all over the place. Many don’t even think the interview should have been “allowed.”

My first thought was that regardless of anything learned from the interview, the military industrial complex, above all else, needs enemies. Without them, there is no profit. Even if Putin had agreed to destroy all his nukes, stand aside while NATO marches into Moscow, and humbly agree to become a vassal state to the US, the MIC would accuse him of dissimulation and lobby for increased military spending to counter the threat of the deceptive Russians.

Yes, it always comes down to money and the age-old question: CUI BONO? Who profits?

Much more on this later……

Best Analysis of Putin Interview?

February 17, 2024

What Everyone Is Missing About the Putin/Carlson Talk – Gold Goats ‘n Guns (tomluongo.me)

The Extraterrestrials Come for Coffee

February 28, 2024 9:45am

Early morning half dream, half-awake state, I consider what the extraterrestrials would say about our species and the reality we have created. So, imagine the craft lands in your back yard and they emerge, obviously seeking to communicate on friendly terms. You invite them in for coffee, hoping to get the latest news on what’s happening around the universe….and their take on what this living is all about. They tell you we worry too much about things that don’t matter and too little about things we could improve if we could just focus our attention in the right places.

You move on to the eternal questions but…..it turns out they are as clueless as we, regarding where we came from, why we’re here, and where we’re going.

So much for coffee with the aliens!