While reading about Lotte Lanya in Wikipedia, they used the term Diseuse: “French for “teller”, also called talkers, storytellers, dramatic-singers or dramatic-talkers is a term, at least as used on the English-speaking stage, that appears to date to the last decade of the 19th century. ” Lotte Lanya as Rosa Klebb in From Russia With … [Read more…]
Irredentism – (Italian: irredentismo)[1] is one state’s desire to annex the territory of another state. I’m surprised I haven’t seen this term used in the context of the Ukraine war by Russia. I found in at the end of chapter 14 of V. by Pynchon: “Rumor had it that a week or so later the … [Read more…]
John Martin, devoted publisher of literary rebels, dies in Santa Rosa at 94 In 1966, John Martin founded Black Sparrow Press, a shoestring operation that he ran out of his home for years with the help of part-time assistants and Barbara Martin, who designed the books. John Martin, an adventurous independent publisher who brought out … [Read more…]
Just finished reading I’m Running Out of Ways to Explain How Bad This Is What’s happening in America today is something darker than a misinformation crisis. (gift link) and realize now that there is a brain eating fungus out there that has manifested itself in key spore producers like MTG and Loomer et al. At … [Read more…]
In praise of failure : four lessons in humility by Costic? Br?d??an, 2023. I just finished this quirky little book (273 p) and am left with more than a few things to think about – birth, death, humility, human frailty, hubris, genocide, madness, disease, senility, poverty and wealth to name a few. He uses the … [Read more…]
John Walker, Tech Executive Who Popularized AutoCAD, Dies at 74 He avoided the spotlight, but he helped bring to market an explosively popular computer program that revolutionized the architecture and design industries. Rest In Peace, man. He was irascible, never got along with his electric shaver, wore a short sleeved shirt, no matter the weather … [Read more…]
In an article written in 2016, 40 years after the Running Fence was erected, Sonoma Magazine ran this article: Christo’s Running Fence
Finished this “classic” a few nights ago. Feynman is quite a story teller and if you haven’t read this and like zany, bongo playing Nobel winners, it’s for you. I wasn’t sure what to expect but he writes in short stories about his life and his opinions on a lot of subjects, he is brilliant … [Read more…]
In The Guardian, an essay on recent findings of historian Hannah Durkin showing the arrival of slave ships in Cuba as late as 1872. Historians have generally assumed that the transatlantic slave trade ended in 1867, but it actually continued into the following decade, according to new research. Dr Hannah Durkin, an historian and former … [Read more…]
This is a small book, in the genre of possible science. Rovelli has his ideas about the existence of “white holes” and explains the development of the theory in a rather charming way, citing Dante most of the way through the process. While I was able to follow along with his reasoning I wasn’t … [Read more…]