Action in Thought

Cormac McCarthy, The Road (2006)

2008-03-10T15:17:00.000-07:00

Perhaps the ultimate novel about trash - a novel in which trash is the main character. Some prefer Kerouac's version, but to me it's even more sentimental and bleak.

Chardin, Monkey Antiquarian

2007-12-07T16:44:00.000-08:00

Paintings of monkeys cultivating the arts and sciences were all the rage in Europe in the 18th century, a sort of classical "Far Side". This one seems "absorbed" in numismatics - oriental numismatics, we hope.

Infinite Jest (1996)

2007-10-11T14:08:00.000-07:00

Another of the best books about trash, as deep and insinuating as trash itself. Wallace is like Fielding: his niceties become the object of their own parody, and this would seem like mere cleverness, except that it so insistently displays the limits of self-consciousness.

Springfield, Ill. 2007

2007-09-15T12:57:00.001-07:00

Booth at the White House, beyond the pale.

Sweet Movie (1974)

2007-09-15T12:43:00.000-07:00

A daring expose of the excesses of the confection industry, in the spirit of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971). Stanley Cavell has rightly said of director Dusan Makavejev, "If you can think like this, nothing is beyond mattering to you."

Coelacanths of L. A.

2007-03-15T07:29:00.000-07:00

At the Neon Museum. What's in them? On the right, two fried eggs, or a vizard. On the left, an antenna of some sort? or a liturgical impliment? or both?

Scarface (1932)

2007-03-15T07:20:00.000-07:00

Why is that coin-flipping gesture so repugnant? The coin-flipper takes pleasure in touching money.

The Lonely Guy (1984)

2007-02-13T12:40:00.000-08:00

A curious kind of proto-Seinfeld, with Steve Martin as Jerry and Charles Grodin as George. The movie features several crude attempts at the technique Seinfeld mastered: "New York in-jokes" that make just enough sense so that non-New Yorkers can feel included in insider knowledge while still laughing at the sophisticated ways of city folk. Is it possible that the original concept for Seinfeld was that George and Jerry were just regular guys who couldn't find love in the big city? This movie could use a Kramer, not to mention an Elaine.

Obamarama in Chicago, February 2007

2007-02-13T12:34:00.000-08:00

Homemade Obama shirts at a rally at UIC, Feb. 11, 2007. The front of the red one said: "The most important race is the one for the presidency".

I've Sold Out

2007-01-20T10:02:00.000-08:00

According to the Blogspot people, if I agree to have ads on my blog, then the ads will be "targeted" to my blog. So I've agreed, as an experiment in self-knowledge. My first ad has just appeared: a solicitation for hurricane relief. I guess that's because of my Mardi Gras World photo. They also say that I'll be paid for the ads, on a "per-click" basis. Do you think I get a cut of the charity clicks? I'm too proud to accept charity.

Burrito Truck. Portland, Ore. 2004

2007-01-20T09:39:00.000-08:00

What is the horse thinking?

Charles Dickens, Our Mutual Friend (1865)

2007-01-20T09:11:00.000-08:00

The Victorians didn't throw stuff away like we do, but they did burn a lot of coal, and they left behind a lot of ashes. They called these ashes 'dust'. Dickens set himself the task of sifting this dust. As a result, this is also Dickens' most technical novel: how do you describe something whose chance to be something is gone?

The Gay Divorcee (1934)

2007-01-10T13:12:00.000-08:00

This Astaire-Rogers outing suffers from the fact that Ginger is never a divorcee, and only briefly gay. Be that as it may, it features a classic nutty waiter turn from the inimitable Eric Blore, and a use of revolving doors that Matthew Barney has yet to top.

Heaven Can Wait (1943)

2006-12-31T16:21:00.000-08:00

Lubitsch's version of the Faust myth - the inability of a man to damn himself. Charles Coburn and Eugene Pallette delightfully reprise (in reverse) their senex roles from "The Lady Eve".

Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando Furioso (1516-1532)

2006-12-13T07:55:00.000-08:00

In our current global struggle, we should draw freely on the experience of our Carolingian and Estensian anscestors. Maybe the Hippogriff can get us out of Iraq!

Marshall Sahlins, Culture and Practical Reason

2006-12-12T18:08:00.000-08:00

Chapter 4, "La Pensee Bourgeoise", contains an edifying discussion of the American clothing system, complete with an appreciative reference to Bernard Rudofsky and an argument for the priority of culture over physiology in color.