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Better Fictions, Lesser Truths
[Image: one of various digital collages in the "Fictions" series by Flemish photographer/artist Filip Dujardin. (Click to enlarge.) These buildings and landscapes do not actually exist (although he starts with images of buildings in and around Ghent, Belgium).] From whiskey river: While I was sitting one night with a poet friend watching a great opera [...]
The Calm at the Core of Disorder
[Lyrics] [Video: "Saints & Liars," by Pony Boy. See the note at the foot of this post for more information.] From whiskey river: There is tremendous power in unearthing, in recognizing distracted, scattered mind, the mind which would rather be anywhere but here, and spending some time there, with that mind. Rather than being an [...]
Conversations, Sacred and Profane
[Image: photograph of a massive (115" x 53") jigsaw puzzle, by Clementoni, of Titian's Sacred and Profane Love (also known as Venus and the Bride, but subject to various other interpretations as well). The puzzle contains over 13,000 pieces. I almost used this image instead, for no other reason than (a) the title and (b) its depiction, [...]
Real-Life Dialogue: Vita Brevis Edition
[The scene: North Florida, USA, the interior of a car -- not their own -- currently occupied by a human couple and a micro-canine. It is around 6:00 pm: He and She, with The Pooch, are on their way home from work. They left work early today in order to rent a car (this one) [...]
Surprise, Surprise
[Video: high-speed footage (1000fps) of an "eagle owl" in flight. This film has apparently been around for a while, but I don't think I've seen it before this week. Chief virtue, for me: shows me something I couldn't have imagined on my own!] From whiskey river: I cannot help you understand. In the realm of [...]
More Than Enough Room
[Image: postcard, "The Big Shot" (the Big Room, Carlsbad Caverns, NM). For more information, see the note at the bottom of this post.] From whiskey river: Freedom means being able to choose how we respond to things. When wisdom is not well developed, it can be easily obscured by the provocations of others. In such [...]
Sitting, Silent, Open-Minded
[Caption: Vicar's wife (sympathisingly): "Now that you can't get about, and are not able to read, how do you manage to occupy the time?" Old Man: "Well, Mum, sometimes I sits and thinks; and then again I just sits." For more information, see the note at the foot of this post.] From whiskey river: Meditation has nothing to [...]
Midweek Music Break: The Playmates, “Beep Beep”
I’ve been thinking for a while of doing theme-type Midweek Music Breaks for a little variety, such as one on car music: songs about cars. As opposed to conventional “road trip” music, I mean, or songs by groups named after cars (like The Fleetwoods, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, and, uh, The Cars). I may still do [...]
“Basking in the Glow of an Imagined Future”
[Image: illustration from a December 20101 post, "The Time Travelling Brain," at the Neuroskeptic blog. The orange-highlighted region of the brain is apparently used both in remembering the past, and imagining the future. See also this article in Discover.] in spite of everything which breathes and moves, since Doom (with white longest hands neatening each crease) will [...]
A Face Only a Mother Could Love
We’re thinking of physically reconfiguring our network equipment here at the house. Currently, the DSL modem and router are upstairs in my office — at the far end of the house — where they’ve been since we moved here ten years ago. Since then, things have changed: The Missus no longer has a desktop computer. [...]
