29 March, 2006

qotd

Fernando Marino-Aguirre

One of the generals of the Argentine army said to the International Herald Tribune in 1977, “First we will kill terrorists. After that, we will kill collaborators. Later we will kill the supporters. And, finally, we will kill hesitant people.”

[pilfered most shamelessly from WarrenEllis, as was this.]

28 March, 2006

hey hey hey yeah yeah hey



B and Miller Tim (Jared) at the Quarterback last night, celebrating Jared's 21.

(also)

music: Mahler 9

23 March, 2006

fussing & flapping in priestly black

So, I've thought my alternator was dead for, what, just over a month now. Today I finally resolved to replace the damn thing (yesterday being finals day was out of the question), and as I'm looking under the hood to see what tools I need (read: where's the alternator at?), I notice the little guy, way at the back, with no belt attached. Guess it disintegrated from pure rage, or sadness; that must have been that sound I was hearing for the last 3 months. Heh! hm. Anyway that's a filthy dirty job; both my arms came out covered in dense black slud. After intense scrubbing I've whittled it down to just the unavoidable goth-black fingernails. It'll do.

music: a Sting-ly medley

22 March, 2006

"my lady is desired in highest heaven"



Reading Vita Nuova hot on the heels of Naked Lunch brightens Dante's colors a little, maybe.

For the first 15 chapters I tried to read Beatrice purely as an allegory of some perhaps spiritual mode or desire (Harold Bloom says The Divine Comedy is the true Third Testament... heh). So many spiritual traditions emphasize the fe/male relationship as such an allegory, after all. But after continuous reading, the ado about losing his faculties in her presence doesn't seem a capable container for anything but intense romantic love. Which idea initially made me uncomfortable. But he's writing wide outside the romantic tradition; complication, intriguing as a mystery.

What could restrain me dies out of my mind
when I stand in your presence, my heart's bliss;
when I am near you Love is there to warn:
'Run, run the other way if you fear death.'
My blanching face reveals my fainting heart,
which growing fainter looks for some support,
and as I tremble in this drunken state
it seems that every stone is shouting 'Die!'
He sins who witnesses my desperate state
and does not try to comfort my torn heart,
though it were but the slightest show of grief,
for pity's sake, that by your mocking dies,
once brought to life within my dying face,
whose yearning eyes call death to take me now.
(from XV)

"Surely, the purpose of such love must be strange indeed."

Dante's oscillations and swooning aside, his object in exploring the role of love is stated in XX: "Love and the gracious heart are but one thing." So then, Beatrice is a fleshy-real person (mortal, certainly); it is Dante's own love for her that concerns him. Something beyond the common conceptions of eros and agape, and which clearly matures & develops throughout the work.

So for anyone desiring a penetrating meditation on poetry and love in all its forms, from biochemical to abstract and well beyond the scope of Hallmark, I recommend yon book. Good springtime reading, anyhow. 5 tentacles of five.

music: Andras Schiff playing bk I of WTC

21 March, 2006

At the still point of the turning world

Great sleep for the last two weeks: the world moves so fast that keeping up is exhausting. One final done, one final tomorrow morning and the final final on Friday; following a weekend of nine-hour shifts I am ecstatic to have today to sit and read and not worry about school (Tuesday-class is over), relax and fight the urge to be "productive." H & I are talking about seeing Zizek tonight at the Pickford, and I'm looking forward to that quite a bit.

I was going to post a lengthier, deeper review of V for Vendetta, because I did like it so much; just keep in mind my criteria for being wowed by a movie, which is deep-thinking + catharsis. Not a perfect movie, but certainly a great one. Quite tall. Realized I haven't been posting much lately other than pretty things I find. Just busy this quarter, working more and schooling harder. Next quarter should be more conducive to bloggery. Spring break next week! Wooooo! Hav & B's is this week, seemingly sucktastic for planning anything in groups, although for the best, as B gets to see Anna (oh, and Europe ;-), and H will be getting in some good quality time with her mom in P-Town.

Speaking of next quarter: Geology, another Speech class, and French. Yes! I need more languages! Once I hit 10,000, then I become a real girl. JOY!!



music: Tom Waits, Rain Dogs

17 March, 2006

remember remember

V for Vendetta is fucking good. See it as many times as you can before... something happens to it. Pay cash.

music: 1812 Overture

15 March, 2006

And eyes disclosed what eyes alone could tell



Picasso - Woman Sitting Nude (1905)


[ Her eyes, like marigolds, had sheathed their light,
And canopied in darkened sweetly lay
Till they might open to adorn the day.
- William Shakespeare, The Rape of Lucrece (l. 397) ]

13 March, 2006

deep [space] thoughts



Doesn't Enceladus look eerily like Vader's head? Hmmmm.

11 March, 2006

see the sun when day is done

Whatcom Chorale is doing Mozart's Requiem tomorrow night. I wish I could go, but fie: work. The weather is beautiful up here today, which made it a great choice for my mum & Casey to come visit, totally spontaneously. They bought B & myself Boss Tweed food and then we went to Value Village, then they had to flee back south. I need to figure out how to get pictures off my phone, because I got a great one there of an LP of German Marches. So disturbing.

Feeling very potential. Have a lot of studying to do; alone in a cleaned apartment until work at 6. Can't wait to be done with these classes.

music: Nick Drake, Pink Moon

06 March, 2006

Demilune

Looking for some quietly reflective chick-folk with beautiful vocals and meandering violin? Why not try Demilune, the band of a friend's ex, about which absolutely no details are extant on the internet.

Link [20Mb zip] good for 7 days or 10 downloads. Let me know if it doesn't work.

04 March, 2006

saturday morning infotainment



Hilarious and practical! Roughly 8 minute slideshow.

01 March, 2006

a red-letter day for polish folk everywhere



Happy Birthday to THIS GUY. Drunken festivities called for, as per usual.

music: Nocturne op.9 no.2, followed by Boris, Ibitsu, then more Chopin again.