tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34931013966747673172024-03-28T12:12:37.627-04:00The Screaming PopeRants and reactions to contemporary politics, art and culture.Francishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07981546907877838890noreply@blogger.comBlogger3689125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3493101396674767317.post-71992886596973087682024-03-28T12:10:00.003-04:002024-03-28T12:12:04.953-04:00Bewitched<p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6UADeCEStKWIWwmgJX8kaJ-XAi9fsqRZmNFjRnrr1PrejWOkNzQGHAYCk0Xhiap_DQxJvGew-T28GK-muiE6AhJ0Lw_5i3A6yAbSAul5Xp4Miev32kKshnkyOwodnzg55yYriKPB5gFDqXi8kIqOfwYHbcYd3g0ssKJV7Uu2OgngtMfV1moV8nBc1JHE/s356/Bewitched_color_title_card.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="270" data-original-width="356" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6UADeCEStKWIWwmgJX8kaJ-XAi9fsqRZmNFjRnrr1PrejWOkNzQGHAYCk0Xhiap_DQxJvGew-T28GK-muiE6AhJ0Lw_5i3A6yAbSAul5Xp4Miev32kKshnkyOwodnzg55yYriKPB5gFDqXi8kIqOfwYHbcYd3g0ssKJV7Uu2OgngtMfV1moV8nBc1JHE/s320/Bewitched_color_title_card.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br />Is the next rank up from gerontocrat, a thanatocrat?</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">f This may all sound like an episode of that 60s TV show </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><i>Bewitched. </i>However, weegees, seances and the occult--</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">it’s still possible to look into the world of non-sentient non-corporeal beings. The Germans have a compound word<i> Vergangsheitbewatagung</i> roughly "the burden of the past"-- which deals with such generationism. In other words your repository of grandfatherly aspiration will in turn be passed down to your grand kids. So don’t fret writers, all those inquiries which begin “I was wondering about the status of my submission “ You questions will outlive you.</span></span><div><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: large;">read Joan Baum's NPR review of <i><a href="https://www.wshu.org/podcast/baum-on-books/2023-06-29/book-review-the-kafka-studies-department">The Kafka Studies Department</a> </i>by Francis Levy</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: large;">and listen to "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSaC-YbSDpo">Borderline</a>" by Madonna and <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=liebestod+and+video&client=sa&sca_esv=10e9cf505b4d02e6&sxsrf=ACQVn081pcA2BCcHhIaOarOvR-fus-TUlA%3A1711395706402&source=hp&ei=etMBZs6gFq-JptQP9dywoAE&iflsig=ANes7DEAAAAAZgHhiqiungHn280KXOw51vjm9ij9662Y&ved=0ahUKEwjOxZfplZCFAxWvhIkEHXUuDBQQ4dUDCBY&uact=5&oq=liebestod+and+video&gs_lp=Egdnd3Mtd2l6IhNsaWViZXN0b2QgYW5kIHZpZGVvMgUQIRigATIFECEYoAEyBRAhGKABSMk5UABYijRwAHgAkAEAmAFboAGiC6oBAjE5uAEDyAEA-AEBmAIToALuC8ICChAjGIAEGIoFGCfCAgQQIxgnwgILEC4YgAQYigUYkQLCAgsQABiABBiKBRiRAsICChAAGIAEGIoFGEPCAgoQLhiABBiKBRhDwgINEC4YgAQYigUYQxjUAsICChAuGEMYgAQYigXCAhEQLhiABBixAxiDARjHARjRA8ICEBAuGIAEGIoFGEMYsQMYgwHCAggQLhiABBixA8ICCxAuGIMBGLEDGIAEwgIIEAAYgAQYsQPCAgsQABiABBixAxiDAcICCxAuGIAEGLEDGIMBwgIREC4YgAQYxwEYrwEY1AIYjgXCAhkQLhiABBiKBRixAxiDARjHARivARiOBRgKwgIOEC4YgAQYsQMYxwEY0QPCAgsQLhiABBjHARivAcICDhAAGIAEGIoFGLEDGIMBwgIOEC4YgAQYxwEYrwEYjgXCAgUQABiABMICBhAAGBYYHsICCBAAGBYYHhgKmAMAkgcCMTmgB56KAQ&sclient=gws-wiz#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:a587dd90,vid:n4bqRlNSQQE,st:0">The Liebestod</a>"<br /></span><p></p><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></span></div></div>Francishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07981546907877838890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3493101396674767317.post-72025958180920638552024-03-27T09:35:00.003-04:002024-03-27T09:35:33.910-04:00Minutes of the Congress of Associationists<p><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnFeF6pZGaUOW7CCwp4k4pciNwnHBYk7r_uwsGstHQYOLlYK7unuiI4pljOwz3adX3d8Ra5oLajQ-HDlfv8j2DvC64JRpCqYVjfQA2gMGk0CW-evCr9CD88kFTq70WeL76fc9DrEHXxqF4BZ0vTd5mzbJttuuldfKZatn7fORvtI6aeiqnjr3qoIRPjXU/s300/'Natura_Morta',_oil_on_canvas_painting_by_Giorgio_Morandi,_1956,_private_collection.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="199" data-original-width="300" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnFeF6pZGaUOW7CCwp4k4pciNwnHBYk7r_uwsGstHQYOLlYK7unuiI4pljOwz3adX3d8Ra5oLajQ-HDlfv8j2DvC64JRpCqYVjfQA2gMGk0CW-evCr9CD88kFTq70WeL76fc9DrEHXxqF4BZ0vTd5mzbJttuuldfKZatn7fORvtI6aeiqnjr3qoIRPjXU/s1600/'Natura_Morta',_oil_on_canvas_painting_by_Giorgio_Morandi,_1956,_private_collection.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Natura Marta by Giorgio Morandi (1958)</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: large;">The centennial meeting began with a digression from <i>The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman</i>. Wipes in movies belong on windshields. L. Wittgenstein's proposition #1 from his <i>Tractatus,The world is that which is the case. </i>Cheers from audience bank. Chair uses his gavel to call the meeting to order. Godard appropriated the title of his 1969 film from Rousseau 's <i>Emile or the Joy of learning</i>--<i>Le Gai Savoir</i>. "Object Relations" is not the title of the famous nude by Corbet. Shuddup! <i>A Clear and Present Danger</i> is not the movie at the Angelika. It's the decision in Schenck v. U.S. Caden Cotard is dying of "life." The actor who played him died because he killed himself. The Objectivists won the ping pong match. Ayn Rand shrugged. OxBridge debating society: "Do Eating and Talking Fulfill the Need to Masticate?"</span></p><div class="separator" style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large; text-align: left;">Listen to <a href="https://www.wshu.org/podcast/baum-on-books/2023-06-29/book-review-the-kafka-studies-department" style="color: #cc6600; text-decoration: none;">Joan Baum's review</a> of <i>The Kafka Studies Department</i> by Francis Levy on NPR</span></div><div class="separator" style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="text-align: left;">and read Mark Segal on Hallie Cohen's "Mi Ricordo: Roman Watercolors" show in</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><i style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.easthamptonstar.com/arts/2024313/hallie-cohen-living-vita-dolce" style="color: #cc6600; text-decoration: none;">The East Hampton Star</a></i></span></div>Francishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07981546907877838890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3493101396674767317.post-40828075902911357322024-03-26T11:07:00.007-04:002024-03-27T13:01:55.082-04:00Privacy<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQTZ1nldtjTUq6zb4fUp5BGD5o2RVoaqG-bvO0_yWedbSykkpoVVxodwlGWT5bCadQxDa5XpqHCLw5Lo2T_g1ongRxWp3s7MBBE0J5OWEB5BUPnDRuSVj5_ilQ-62aM9ZXNn0ItDQ0sDLE5NIiKGjrvUl3S9bwoAfVBi0ECHnIa_i15BZJh4CDSyWhgJc/s1024/Pussy_Riot_performing_at_Texas_Capitol.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="996" data-original-width="1024" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQTZ1nldtjTUq6zb4fUp5BGD5o2RVoaqG-bvO0_yWedbSykkpoVVxodwlGWT5bCadQxDa5XpqHCLw5Lo2T_g1ongRxWp3s7MBBE0J5OWEB5BUPnDRuSVj5_ilQ-62aM9ZXNn0ItDQ0sDLE5NIiKGjrvUl3S9bwoAfVBi0ECHnIa_i15BZJh4CDSyWhgJc/s320/Pussy_Riot_performing_at_Texas_Capitol.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pussy Riot in Austin (photo: Jno. Skinner)</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span>What was formerly the province of intimacy has been politicized. Expressing oneself sexually is tantamount to showing up at a demonstration. Did you bring your </span><i>cis gender</i><span> placard to the rally? Art has become political. Remember the storm of controversy about the depiction of Emmett Till by a white artist Dana Schutz or the cancellation of the Philip Guston retrospective due to Klansmen paintings? What's even more bedeviling is the politicizing of the political. There are no more micro positions. Oh for the days of the secret ballot! You're either for or against. Don't try to express an opinion on the Columbia University campus! You'll be detained for simply having one. Did anyone learn anything in the light of the mattress protest in which the accused and the accuser ended up switching places? BTW New York State has "affirmative consent" laws. Don't go to bed with anyone unless you've put your "position" in writing! </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">read Mark Segal on Hallie Cohen, <i><a href="https://www.easthamptonstar.com/arts/2024313/hallie-cohen-living-vita-dolce">The East Hampton Star</a></i></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">and listen to "<a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=madonna+vodeps&client=sa&sca_esv=10e9cf505b4d02e6&sxsrf=ACQVn0-mOqy8XMCpQcfmyqs1qg_BrKOEQQ%3A1711397217241&ei=YdkBZoGhDqymptQPqfeEkAw&ved=0ahUKEwjB1c-5m5CFAxUsk4kEHak7AcIQ4dUDCA8&uact=5&oq=madonna+vodeps&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiDm1hZG9ubmEgdm9kZXBzMgoQABiABBgNGLEDMgcQABiABBgNMgcQABiABBgNMgcQABiABBgNMgcQABiABBgNMgcQABiABBgNMgcQABiABBgNMgcQABiABBgNMgcQABiABBgNMgcQABiABBgNSIQ1UMkCWMorcAF4AZABAJgBYKABtQ6qAQIyNrgBA8gBAPgBAZgCG6AC7g_CAgoQABhHGNYEGLADwgIEECMYJ8ICBhAAGBYYHsICCxAAGIAEGIoFGIYDwgIFEAAYgATCAgUQLhiABMICCxAuGIAEGIoFGJECwgILEAAYgAQYsQMYgwHCAgsQABiABBiKBRiRAsICDhAAGIAEGIoFGJECGLEDwgIIEAAYgAQYsQPCAg4QLhiABBiKBRiRAhjUAsICDhAuGIAEGMcBGK8BGI4FwgIOEC4YkQIYsQMYgAQYigXCAgoQABiABBgUGIcCwgIvEC4YkQIYsQMYgAQYigUYlwUY3AQY3gQY4AQY9AMY8QMY9QMY9gMY9wMY-APYAQHCAgcQABiABBgKwgIHEC4YgAQYCsICBxAuGIAEGA2YAwCIBgGQBgi6BgYIARABGBSSBwQyNi4xoAeu5AE&sclient=gws-wiz-serp#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:6902969a,vid:G333Is7VPOg,st:0">Papa Don't Preach</a>" by Madonna</span></p>Francishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07981546907877838890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3493101396674767317.post-81036519107063557562024-03-25T10:54:00.001-04:002024-03-25T10:58:59.154-04:00I'm Scared of Laird<p><span style="font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8z05I32aAXvL7RddF9AIhNq6IpeiCvsBEYUDscxSbqQZXFuvXXan0EXVfQ79eTaQuiurDYqMmmx0dfIQxI-Dnr7HKyXQfB7howBfFXgbkXuplrVvtKdJZn0AWWeNp0JnRZBBh6KQWzlz40xsWbk15G0559be-M7q3os2gaNJ5v927PYyBIpo4rdIxuF0/s550/Melvin_Laird_official_photo.JPEG.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="550" data-original-width="440" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8z05I32aAXvL7RddF9AIhNq6IpeiCvsBEYUDscxSbqQZXFuvXXan0EXVfQ79eTaQuiurDYqMmmx0dfIQxI-Dnr7HKyXQfB7howBfFXgbkXuplrVvtKdJZn0AWWeNp0JnRZBBh6KQWzlz40xsWbk15G0559be-M7q3os2gaNJ5v927PYyBIpo4rdIxuF0/s320/Melvin_Laird_official_photo.JPEG.jpeg" width="256" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Who remembers Melvin R. Laird, secretary of defense under Nixon? He coined the term "Vietnamization"--which meant the South Vietnamese should take care of their own dirty laundry. Laird rhymes with "scared" and his name can produce outbursts of doggerel. <i>I'm scared I'm scared. I'm scared of Melvin R. Laird. </i>The<i> </i></span><span>sensibiliy of a Laird is more than 360 degrees from that of your average West Side Jewish intellectual of the 60s, even those who'd adopted the neocon sensibilities of William Phlliips of <i>The Partisan Review </i>or famously Norman Podhoretz of<i> </i></span><i><span>Commentary.</span></i><span><i> </i>Remember Woody Allen's famous quip from </span><span><i>Annie Hall</i> about<i> </i><i>Commentary</i></span><span> and</span><span> </span><i><span>Dissent</span> </i><span>merging to form {dysentery} BTW, you might want to ask why Caravaggio hasn't been #MeTooed, when you realize there's no one left to make culture heroes of otherwise minor intellectuals. Podhoretz, if you are still alive to remember, famously tore into <i>Portnoy's Complaint</i> in the pages of <i>Commentary.</i> </span><span><i> </i>Remember Midge </span>Decter? If you nod in the affirmative, you're lying, but back to Laird. While other Hoofers were planning the bombing of a government facility on the campus of the state's top institution of higher learning, proud Wisconsinites like Laird, alumnae of Joseph McCarthy's support team, were caught in snowdrifts of Papers while strutting the halls of the Pentagon. Daniel Ellsworth would turn out to be blameworthy.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">read "Francis Levy's Divine Comedy" in <i><a href="http://www.corpse.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=838&Itemid=32">Exquisite Corpse</a></i></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">listen to "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJ9r8LMU9bQ">Rock the Casbah</a>" by The Clash</span></p>Francishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07981546907877838890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3493101396674767317.post-75720100042458560842024-03-22T10:20:00.000-04:002024-03-22T10:20:34.180-04:00Car Wash<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidmJ8WceoHQqA8M7RomEOZMeuDqf6hypPk6QwMN16-dY5E3BQm43bax1HEqGwwt9jqZRqELAZ3CVjRsWAiBflkeLQx7ZgQQOu2cPRPvHl9jouHUJ9NN7fDRis5ix4tyBHJ2vbeymGeTDcrZLtNBuAH5EskFQwhsdr0K9GKsiYNhJhyphenhyphen0ZODbd9owsAPJP0/s394/Car_wash_1976.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="394" data-original-width="252" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidmJ8WceoHQqA8M7RomEOZMeuDqf6hypPk6QwMN16-dY5E3BQm43bax1HEqGwwt9jqZRqELAZ3CVjRsWAiBflkeLQx7ZgQQOu2cPRPvHl9jouHUJ9NN7fDRis5ix4tyBHJ2vbeymGeTDcrZLtNBuAH5EskFQwhsdr0K9GKsiYNhJhyphenhyphen0ZODbd9owsAPJP0/s320/Car_wash_1976.jpg" width="205" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">It's morbid but true that the older people get, the more they require medical care. People are like cars with older models requiring part replacement, ie hips, knees and back vertebrae. Looking at life as a balance sheet, society is investing a good deal of capital in mechanisms that have an increasingly short half life. Anecdotal evidence would suggest that more people over 70 have joint and heart procedures than the rest of the population combined. From an actuarial point to view, aging gerontocrats are a bad bet. Most repairs are quality of life issues in which populations in a certain demographic are made to feel comfortable for rest of the ride aka life. However, the effectiveness of such procedures on a cost basis is questionable. It's like throwing good money after bad. In societies where the elderly are venerated there's no question about making the necessary repairs. But many materialistically inclined consumers may look skeptically on the notion of replacing parts when enticing trade-ins are ubiquitously available.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica;">Listen to </span><a href="https://www.wshu.org/podcast/baum-on-books/2023-06-29/book-review-the-kafka-studies-department" style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #cc6600; font-family: Helvetica; text-decoration: none;">Joan Baum's review</a><span style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica;"> of </span><i style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica;">The Kafka Studies Department</i><span style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica;"> by Francis Levy on NPR</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">and listen to "<a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=car+wash+and+song&client=sa&sca_esv=591553bf2b9a7dbe&sxsrf=ACQVn08XZne_UyEnp5ubDMxk1r4-M5TYpQ%3A1711055698836&source=hp&ei=UqP8ZZGlMJKe5NoPv7un4A0&iflsig=ANes7DEAAAAAZfyxYq1DrZweXBwSKyu4ledTAdVDAISg&ved=0ahUKEwiRlviYo4aFAxUSD1kFHb_dCdwQ4dUDCBY&uact=5&oq=car+wash+and+song&gs_lp=Egdnd3Mtd2l6IhFjYXIgd2FzaCBhbmQgc29uZzIEECMYJzIGEAAYFhgeMgYQABgWGB4yBhAAGBYYHjIGEAAYFhgeMgYQABgWGB4yBhAAGBYYHjIGEAAYFhgeMgYQABgWGB4yBhAAGBYYHki_KFAAWKIhcAB4AJABAZgB6QGgAZgNqgEGMTEuNS4xuAEDyAEA-AEBmAIPoALoCsICChAjGIAEGIoFGCfCAgoQABiABBiKBRhDwgILEAAYgAQYigUYkQLCAgoQLhiABBiKBRhDwgILEAAYgAQYsQMYgwHCAgsQABiABBiKBRiSA8ICDRAAGIAEGIoFGEMYyQPCAhcQLhiABBiKBRiRAhixAxiDARjHARjRA8ICEBAAGIAEGIoFGEMYsQMYyQPCAgsQLhiABBiKBRiRAsICERAuGIMBGJECGLEDGIAEGIoFwgIIEAAYgAQYkgPCAg4QABiABBiKBRiRAhixA8ICDRAuGIAEGIoFGEMYsQPCAgUQABiABMICDhAAGIAEGIoFGJECGJIDwgILEC4YgAQYxwEYrwHCAggQABiABBjJA8ICCxAuGK8BGMcBGIAEmAMAkgcEMTEuNKAHoq4B&sclient=gws-wiz#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:f678c707,vid:eB0aROCl530,st:0">Car Wash</a>"by Rose Royce</span></p>Francishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07981546907877838890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3493101396674767317.post-59074692937764654452024-03-21T12:18:00.000-04:002024-03-21T12:18:11.232-04:00Tim's Vermeer<p><span style="font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijTRjrsAGZDY8XwIoQvzu7AvCfNADzUUBAXFyUMlxSWV_wOxWMW6T8hg1ajb4NIEJFUjrJMnOfT20D8Cn31Ef1QWLY5moQ1nHgx23NmOxZVN_Av0KMzu5YG2-1tcOLSVQCU3TVD5wTWnNlmoypg-J-i0EXCWFWzkE5dD3quNpV-uIIfe_TC43l-rVTk-A/s326/Tim's_Vermeer_2013.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="326" data-original-width="220" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijTRjrsAGZDY8XwIoQvzu7AvCfNADzUUBAXFyUMlxSWV_wOxWMW6T8hg1ajb4NIEJFUjrJMnOfT20D8Cn31Ef1QWLY5moQ1nHgx23NmOxZVN_Av0KMzu5YG2-1tcOLSVQCU3TVD5wTWnNlmoypg-J-i0EXCWFWzkE5dD3quNpV-uIIfe_TC43l-rVTk-A/s320/Tim's_Vermeer_2013.jpg" width="216" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><p><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Van Gogh painted Arles, Manet, the bar at the opera. Mondrian "Broadway Boogie-Woogie." Is that where the title of the famous Johnny C Song, "Boogaloo Down Broadway" comes from? The next time you stay over at the Connaught on a jaunt to England, lie back on your four poster and stare out the window. Before you decide you are waking up, going to sleep or </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">any of the activities in between stop to create your work of art. Painters usually buy their frames after they have finished their work. Framing will be the first thing you want to do. You don't need to go to the Orangerie or if you're in Washington, The National Gallery since a work of art is staring right in front of your eyes, a signature piece that will have the hallmark of your style. No one sees the world the way you do.</span></p><div class="separator" style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); clear: both; color: #333333; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large; text-align: left;">Listen to <a href="https://www.wshu.org/podcast/baum-on-books/2023-06-29/book-review-the-kafka-studies-department" style="color: #cc6600; text-decoration: none;">Joan Baum's review</a> of <i>The Kafka Studies Department</i> by Francis Levy on NPR</span></div><div class="separator" style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); clear: both; color: #333333; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); clear: both; color: #333333; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">and read Mark Segal's piece on Hallie Cohen's "Mi Ricordo: Roman Watercolors" show in</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><i style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.easthamptonstar.com/arts/2024313/hallie-cohen-living-vita-dolce">The East Hampton Star</a></i></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><p><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></p></span></span><p></p>Francishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07981546907877838890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3493101396674767317.post-22273076154105654052024-03-20T11:34:00.000-04:002024-03-20T11:34:14.135-04:00Life Ass<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlT3Ng96tKjpOBLSe4uBywxcyLL7xxuvcmIo0l-sZOFE3zRDN2Y6Bx6rpaw8RQud4uZ1Je9aWRyDJKAmRmr8LKLXabWm2r8RNKLr3hQ0WdTQWid-EKI72E2PGKhCG97tREzc8oJ3NISSSTYrWIrkcClIx6kuj6NsC5ylJChlFVa3AJ77V7KjDSG_drEM8/s1285/(King1893NYC)_pg677_THE_EQUITABLE_LIFE-ASSURANCE_SOCIETY_OF_THE_UNITED_STATES._BROADWAY,_BETWEEN_PINE_AND_CEDAR_STREETS_(cropped).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1285" data-original-width="1001" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlT3Ng96tKjpOBLSe4uBywxcyLL7xxuvcmIo0l-sZOFE3zRDN2Y6Bx6rpaw8RQud4uZ1Je9aWRyDJKAmRmr8LKLXabWm2r8RNKLr3hQ0WdTQWid-EKI72E2PGKhCG97tREzc8oJ3NISSSTYrWIrkcClIx6kuj6NsC5ylJChlFVa3AJ77V7KjDSG_drEM8/s320/(King1893NYC)_pg677_THE_EQUITABLE_LIFE-ASSURANCE_SOCIETY_OF_THE_UNITED_STATES._BROADWAY,_BETWEEN_PINE_AND_CEDAR_STREETS_(cropped).jpg" width="249" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Equitable Life Assurance Building (1890)</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: large;">Are you in the life assurance business or do you take an actuarial attitude towards your life in 5 yrs you're blah, in 15 with a "touch of the poet," "my name is might have been no more, too late, farewell." This "Alas, poor Yorick" stuff is touching, earnest and moribund at the same time. On the other hand, there's nothing more disconcerting than those gluttons for life who live forever at the expense and happiness of others. Sometimes it's good to close up shop and declare, to quote the poet, "it's curtains for me." Beckett said it even more eloquently in <i>Endgame. </i>"Nice day" is the observation.<i> </i> "It almost makes you want to live," is the reply. "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation" because of the fact they possess consciousness.</span></p><div class="separator" style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large; text-align: left;">Listen to <a href="https://www.wshu.org/podcast/baum-on-books/2023-06-29/book-review-the-kafka-studies-department" style="color: #cc6600; text-decoration: none;">Joan Baum's review</a> of <i>The Kafka Studies Department</i> by Francis Levy on NPR</span></div><div class="separator" style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large; text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="text-align: left;">and read Mark Segal on Hallie Cohen's "Mi Ricordo: Roman Watercolors" show in</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><i style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.easthamptonstar.com/arts/2024313/hallie-cohen-living-vita-dolce"><span>The East Hampton Star</span></a></i></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>Francishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07981546907877838890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3493101396674767317.post-89690474537411335562024-03-19T00:18:00.000-04:002024-03-19T00:18:58.522-04:00 Jumbo<p><span style="font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK6Vn9QuXmqITwFjzi0bIaXTPzNnlxjsWmGXjZ7RmwG_iv-XhyS-dQ-CbI_wYjQxB0VW22DIYZj1NM_YR85LyB2Y4rZKfVlNloxeX-hOTUNdfnV8kDr1pqAKwThvogVLK8ZxbCu5xsgygvl5nKjS3GtsyfvPd-3g9H-l3fpeb_UE6yJARlXtIC0fhJ8Fk/s585/440px-37_Lyndon_Johnson_3x4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="585" data-original-width="440" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK6Vn9QuXmqITwFjzi0bIaXTPzNnlxjsWmGXjZ7RmwG_iv-XhyS-dQ-CbI_wYjQxB0VW22DIYZj1NM_YR85LyB2Y4rZKfVlNloxeX-hOTUNdfnV8kDr1pqAKwThvogVLK8ZxbCu5xsgygvl5nKjS3GtsyfvPd-3g9H-l3fpeb_UE6yJARlXtIC0fhJ8Fk/s320/440px-37_Lyndon_Johnson_3x4.jpg" width="241" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Without being lugubrious or sententious, it could be argued that this is a messy business, full of potholes and trolls who hide under bridges. You don’t need the human propensity for extrasensory self-implosion to realize the tightrope one walks. Within an increasingly short period of time, you have to negotiate morality and mortality. Why not like the character of Kurosawa’s</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><i>Ikiru, </i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Mr. Watanabe--hit the town when you know you’re going to die? Remember Jimmy Stewart’s</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><i>Walpurgisnacht</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">in</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><i>It’s a Wonderful Life?</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> Even members of the Hemlock Society might be too scared to take the leap into the unknown (which btw is the absolute nothingness of no longer being a sentient being). Do doctors or lawyers drop their caseloads of suffering clients when they realize time is running out? Do the dying more actively covet their neighbor’s wife and husbands? Do you finally knock his block off? Do you tell the couple talking at the top of their voices in the airline lounge to shut the fuck up? Do you inform them that all their chatter is about drowning out feeling? Wouldn’t it be fun to say “fuck you” to the friendly neighbor who's about to enter the elevator? And what about all those thoughts, all the weird non-printable thoughts about all the things people could do if they didn’t matter and if they didn’t give a shit—such as hosing down your guests the way Lyndon Johnson did his colleagues with his beloved “Jumbo?”</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;">read </span><a href="https://www.mmm.edu/live/news/4728-professor-hallie-cohen-illustrates-new-book-with" style="background-color: white;">Hallie Cohen's interview</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;"> on collaboration</span></p><p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="color: #202124;"><span style="background-color: white;">and see the invite for her show, <i><a href="https://www.mmm.edu/calendar/event/16078-mi-ricordo-roman-watercolors" style="color: #cc6600; text-decoration: none;">Mi Ricordo: Roman Watercolors</a></i></span>, on exhibit until April 27</span></p></span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>Francishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07981546907877838890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3493101396674767317.post-83562876169282132042024-03-18T09:38:00.000-04:002024-03-18T09:38:03.867-04:00Forte dei Marmi<p><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCfETDjoVUQFUuknWQzqhk_LdLIqm9jI_juvIkscuroNhDez6M5bHf6000K7_65iN5pKPsOXwqz9A3nSWZClODFQ-D0SG4c0YfdjZfnX3V1L6wNa4z2K1NY2uTNW1Z7bcsh01kaEdA-VMja8Qw4DEY765-BI2JL42mw8L7KVj1CSCBBESsU1FaZjZpoVc/s1080/licensed-image.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="624" data-original-width="1080" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCfETDjoVUQFUuknWQzqhk_LdLIqm9jI_juvIkscuroNhDez6M5bHf6000K7_65iN5pKPsOXwqz9A3nSWZClODFQ-D0SG4c0YfdjZfnX3V1L6wNa4z2K1NY2uTNW1Z7bcsh01kaEdA-VMja8Qw4DEY765-BI2JL42mw8L7KVj1CSCBBESsU1FaZjZpoVc/s320/licensed-image.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Forte dei Marmi</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />"A cat has nine lives" is almost as trite as the eponymous play--Eliot notwithstanding (btw one is flummoxed in understanding the appeal of such a piece of trash). Still "Cat Person" became one of those short stories that epitomizes a sensibility, earning a $1million advance for its author, Kristen Roupenian. Not literally #MeToo but humans have at least 5 if not more. Remember Jaques "Seven Ages of Man" speech which ends "sans teeth sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything?" Piaget, Erickson all delineated stages of development that are tantamount to lives. "Live a today don't think a tomorrow" said a teenaged Swiss boy named Philippo to his alcoholic American alter ego aka Mr Lowenbrau in of those ineffably timeless stages of life that took place one afternoon in the half empty square of the seaside town of Forte deli Marmi--sixty years ago.</span></span><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #202124; font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #202124; font-family: Helvetica;">see the invite for Hallie Cohen's show, <i><a href="https://www.mmm.edu/calendar/event/16078-mi-ricordo-roman-watercolors" style="color: #cc6600; text-decoration: none;">Mi Ricordo: Roman Watercolors</a></i></span><span style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #202124; font-family: Helvetica;">, on exhibit until April 27</span></span></div><div><p style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="color: #202124; font-size: large;">and listen to "<a href="read Hallie Cohen's interview on collaboration and see the invite for her show, Mi Ricordo: Roman Watercolors, on exhibit until April 27">Secretary</a>" by Betty Wright</span></p><p></p><div><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-422530622160563837" itemprop="description articleBody" style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em;"><div class="separator" style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); clear: both; color: #333333; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); clear: both; color: #333333; text-align: justify;"><i style="text-align: left;"></i></div><p></p><div style="clear: both;"></div></div><div class="post-footer" style="color: #999999; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 10.14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; letter-spacing: 0.1em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0.75em 0px; text-transform: uppercase;"></div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /></span></span></div></div>Francishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07981546907877838890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3493101396674767317.post-4225306221605638372024-03-15T10:05:00.002-04:002024-03-15T10:05:53.381-04:00Safety Last!<p><span style="font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf8Q-9ZWO5Zl-qfNXYGTOsWDQZkSUPYYysrWbo-swIDIHaxNdWxnXavBT9ZJyFrIUg4XiOfTHCo2JsO5x7qNcj769cdsJbJ0yjmKOgU8pQRK80Xfs9S41KxJYjGQ1UAphyphenhyphenRFJR8vq8EmACcbvwNtX3DMgJE6R_CKsYhVjN1dyO8WpHwf8rkDjItsiAVys/s1406/1024px-Safetylast-1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1406" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf8Q-9ZWO5Zl-qfNXYGTOsWDQZkSUPYYysrWbo-swIDIHaxNdWxnXavBT9ZJyFrIUg4XiOfTHCo2JsO5x7qNcj769cdsJbJ0yjmKOgU8pQRK80Xfs9S41KxJYjGQ1UAphyphenhyphenRFJR8vq8EmACcbvwNtX3DMgJE6R_CKsYhVjN1dyO8WpHwf8rkDjItsiAVys/s320/1024px-Safetylast-1.jpg" width="233" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><p><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Time. H.G. Wells wrote<i> The Time Machine</i> and Steven Hawking <i>A Brief History of Time</i>--famous for its inscrutability. Lately there has been a controversy, Standard v Daylight. Zeno paradox, with the tortoise triumphing over Achilles raises questions about the perception of both distance ad time. "Slow and steady w</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">ins the race" is the old adage. <i>Mad Men</i> the series set in the early 60s advertising world, earns its title because everyone is in a rush. "Stop the world, I want to get off" is another one. Do you have time? Everybody has all the time in the world--albeit on a finite basis. Remember Harold Lloyd hanging from the clock hand in <i>Safety Last! </i>(1923)? </span></p><div class="separator" style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); clear: both; color: #333333; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">Listen to <a href="https://www.wshu.org/podcast/baum-on-books/2023-06-29/book-review-the-kafka-studies-department" style="color: #cc6600; text-decoration: none;">Joan Baum's review</a> of <i>The Kafka Studies Department</i> by Francis Levy on NPR</span></div><div class="separator" style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); clear: both; color: #333333; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); clear: both; color: #333333; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">and read Mark Segal's review of Hallie Cohen's "Mi Ricordo: Roman Watercolors" show in</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><i style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.easthamptonstar.com/arts/2024313/hallie-cohen-living-vita-dolce" style="color: #cc6600; text-decoration: none;">The East Hampton Star</a></i></div></span></span><p></p>Francishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07981546907877838890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3493101396674767317.post-57452937509047594432024-03-14T10:51:00.001-04:002024-03-14T10:51:43.790-04:00Seven<p><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRcZdO2LR0NoMPRsP4eWFZYTfEzLVNkgF5YvavaVfQ4JgHXrKWZ54qZb8uhtWQupG4FUbnZtVWVCOjPfZ6CAoWtbGHGOO2yMaeOl17S4Dtr4cmCGtEve0tFHLDb4qThEB0aQbj9XOc4vK2jXNYO2ZHjtv41mgeARF4CQzdjPo3ATuVrtfJ_OkkXSHYTo0/s344/Seven_(movie)_poster.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="344" data-original-width="220" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRcZdO2LR0NoMPRsP4eWFZYTfEzLVNkgF5YvavaVfQ4JgHXrKWZ54qZb8uhtWQupG4FUbnZtVWVCOjPfZ6CAoWtbGHGOO2yMaeOl17S4Dtr4cmCGtEve0tFHLDb4qThEB0aQbj9XOc4vK2jXNYO2ZHjtv41mgeARF4CQzdjPo3ATuVrtfJ_OkkXSHYTo0/s320/Seven_(movie)_poster.jpg" width="205" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span><p><span style="font-size: large;">The knight (Max von Sydow) playing chess with death (Gunnar Bjornstrand) is one of the most iconic scenes in the history of cinema. The "Odessa Steps" sequence from <i>Potemkin,</i> replete with the nurse's silent scream, is another. You know when an icon has become a cultural meme when it begins to be parodied, as Woody Allen did in his famous<i> New Yorker</i> piece "Death Knocks." Is there a modern day Odysseus who returns home once again, only to be recognized by his dog Argos? Everyman today navigates the medieval world of an inquisition (QAnon) within a plague (the pandemic). Remember the movie <i>Seven</i>, with its garish retribution? Are Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong-un and yes Donald Trump, today's <i>Terminators</i>?</span></p><div class="separator" style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); clear: both; color: #333333; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large; text-align: left;">Listen to <a href="https://www.wshu.org/podcast/baum-on-books/2023-06-29/book-review-the-kafka-studies-department" style="color: #cc6600; text-decoration: none;">Joan Baum's review</a> of <i>The Kafka Studies Department</i> by Francis Levy on NPR</span></div><div class="separator" style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); clear: both; color: #333333; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large; text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); clear: both; color: #333333; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">and read Mark Segal's review of Hallie Cohen's "Mi Ricordo: Roman Watercolors" show in <i><a href="https://www.easthamptonstar.com/arts/2024313/hallie-cohen-living-vita-dolce">The East Hampton Star</a></i></span></div><p><span style="font-size: large;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /></span></p></span></span><p></p>Francishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07981546907877838890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3493101396674767317.post-48909492632248728932024-03-13T09:18:00.002-04:002024-03-13T09:18:58.828-04:00Rebel Without a Cause<p><span style="font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; text-align: left;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXbP35Noyz89Q9vc0USRup2fTljfXxR_FJdCsr9avIPsfj37upjEyS7vCA6BCj4nxo8ivRCuevy8K1itxV6wQ_KxGrVxaFii8HnesUbnwarHUFnjhm3T1oSv5lyjwbv6cleOoxcbHxo9XU4u14U_8GMKyJURqt91v7cQG1EJsWGExtymr5tBIQDUc0hWw/s1229/800px-Rebel_Without_a_Cause_(1955_poster).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1229" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXbP35Noyz89Q9vc0USRup2fTljfXxR_FJdCsr9avIPsfj37upjEyS7vCA6BCj4nxo8ivRCuevy8K1itxV6wQ_KxGrVxaFii8HnesUbnwarHUFnjhm3T1oSv5lyjwbv6cleOoxcbHxo9XU4u14U_8GMKyJURqt91v7cQG1EJsWGExtymr5tBIQDUc0hWw/s320/800px-Rebel_Without_a_Cause_(1955_poster).jpg" width="208" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; text-align: left;">There's the old saw that every American boy wants to be president and after that a policeman or fireman. If they're lucky they won't win the swing states, but in reality most boys and girls want to be James Dean right down to becoming super novas before they cross the event horizon to the black hole of obscurity and oblivion. "Girls just want to have fun" sang Cindy Lauper and boys like to plow the field (s). Who wouldn't want to be Keith Richards (whose autobiography was brilliantly titled <i>Life</i>) </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; text-align: left;">or Mick Jagger. Yes even at the age of 75 with 29 years of psychoanalysis, 31 years of karate and 37 years of Recovery you're still thrilled by the guy who has wild sex with in the backseat of his car--at the eternal drive-in of the mind.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; text-align: left;">Listen to <a href="https://www.wshu.org/podcast/baum-on-books/2023-06-29/book-review-the-kafka-studies-department">Joan Baum's review</a> of <i>The Kafka Studies Department</i> by Francis Levy on NPR</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">and listen to<a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=beachnut+4+and+song&client=sa&sca_esv=febbb2d9e55257df&sxsrf=ACQVn0_xxaS_6ydthe51_-7WR4fLDX3dbw%3A1710335807425&ei=P6fxZfnQGcevptQPhsaVsAY&ved=0ahUKEwi57P2xqfGEAxXHl4kEHQZjBWYQ4dUDCA8&uact=5&oq=beachnut+4+and+song&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiE2JlYWNobnV0IDQgYW5kIHNvbmcyBxAhGAoYoAFIsiJQ1gpYnx5wAXgAkAEAmAFvoAHSB6oBBDExLjG4AQPIAQD4AQGYAgygApYIwgIEECMYJ8ICCBAAGAgYHhgNwgIKEAAYCBgeGA0YCsICCxAAGIAEGIoFGIYDwgIFECEYnwXCAgQQIRgVmAMAiAYBkgcEMTEuMaAH3kY&sclient=gws-wiz-serp#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:9ef35c0e,vid:Us18AUBM2RI,st:0"> Beechnut 4-5789</a> by The Marvelettes</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; text-align: left;"><br /></span></div></span></span></div><p></p>Francishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07981546907877838890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3493101396674767317.post-21186865958622567612024-03-12T08:15:00.000-04:002024-03-12T08:15:46.648-04:00The Information Highway<p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"></span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5IRueKt04-RTSoi0ZV81ug51cTayZlyXxPmTuA_LyV20FlvSIqvg5tBjtaFekmaqBv8Be2rL4ohosBI8kBZGW6JvUjkSyzJ4GuFu8lIaynqw89lBN5-Uv2RHCKL70MY61y-Iou5qQHfhznt_WvwHzyU1Cak-t4EpPQfqlmwsL9qvXb1Tea_ouuHMRfsA/s1536/Samuel_Johnson_by_Joshua_Reynolds.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="1252" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5IRueKt04-RTSoi0ZV81ug51cTayZlyXxPmTuA_LyV20FlvSIqvg5tBjtaFekmaqBv8Be2rL4ohosBI8kBZGW6JvUjkSyzJ4GuFu8lIaynqw89lBN5-Uv2RHCKL70MY61y-Iou5qQHfhznt_WvwHzyU1Cak-t4EpPQfqlmwsL9qvXb1Tea_ouuHMRfsA/s320/Samuel_Johnson_by_Joshua_Reynolds.jpg" width="261" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Samuel Johnson by Joshua Reynolds (1772)</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br />Bandwidth and wheelhouse are increasingly popular words. Both register capacity. The preponderance of such iterations is a reflection of the nature of the information aka data universe in which we live. You're register a kind of barometric pressure. Credit card companies social media even avatars in alternate play universes like Second Life have to be attended to. Have you ever gotten telephone messages from somone who is dead and whose dial back number is out of service? Sorry it is not a sign of anything. In fact, nothing is a sign and there are no wise old prophets telling you which way to turn at the crossroads. In other words today's human</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> is wired into networks it takes a lifetime</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">to escape. It's a far cry from Boswell's <i>Life of Johnson</i>. </span></span><p></p><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><div><span style="font-size: large;">Listen to "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMEz0lB6hBI">The Tears of a Clown</a>" by Smokey Robinson</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #202124;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #202124;">and see the invite for Hallie Cohen's show, <i><a href="https://www.mmm.edu/calendar/event/16078-mi-ricordo-roman-watercolors" style="color: #cc6600; text-decoration: none;">Mi Ricordo: Roman Watercolors</a></i></span></div></span></span></div>Francishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07981546907877838890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3493101396674767317.post-45913617220066618602024-03-11T10:16:00.006-04:002024-03-11T10:16:56.879-04:00On the Nature of Things<p><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaxOsVdRAqhltsEakfgve0woTfmfDKpuo6GbGSs5K3tnPSXR0eJBGIMGykNd3qQJ0KJaqjFrenXB58FJigNQpHQ9tl47wYRvJu4zmniEHgEOK6lKU5amBqPJpM2DlVAzgMcgbbOl9b8lVvc3U22Xd7lJq6vPCcP4EdB-eEQFy1A9hxZQEI0hDyr2FSVT4/s500/51eUbCpr8TL.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="322" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaxOsVdRAqhltsEakfgve0woTfmfDKpuo6GbGSs5K3tnPSXR0eJBGIMGykNd3qQJ0KJaqjFrenXB58FJigNQpHQ9tl47wYRvJu4zmniEHgEOK6lKU5amBqPJpM2DlVAzgMcgbbOl9b8lVvc3U22Xd7lJq6vPCcP4EdB-eEQFy1A9hxZQEI0hDyr2FSVT4/s320/51eUbCpr8TL.jpg" width="206" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: large;"><p><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: large;">The deduction at the end of one of those globall treatise on human behavior like Lucretius' <i>De rerum natura</i> is that the micro and macro worlds mirror each other. There is one exception: the quantum world of subatomic particles and even in this realm, you conveniently discover the notion of <i>quantum entanglement</i>. Interestingly president Biden and his "predecessor" (the word Biden used 13 times</span></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: large;"> to describeTrump his State of the Union) perfectly illustrate the above principle since their selves are both individualized personae and symbols of a greater whole. Trump is not a real politician. He practices sandbox politics which he learned as a little boy. There haven't been too many studies of his pre-oedipal behavior but one can assume he was a bully who immediately accused some other kid of doing it first, On a macro level Biden has been accused of using his State of the Union to barnstorm. Talk about sandboxes, his "predecessor" tried to steal the president's pail and shovel. However, being a nice guy, he only spoke up when it was almost too late.</span></p><p>read the review of Francis Levy's <i>The Kafka Studies Department </i> <i><a href="https://booklife.com/booklife-review/9781956474275">Booklife</a></i></p><p>and listen to "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Alo7U0S_VPU">Mr. Pitiful"</a> by Otis Redding</p><p><br /></p></span></span></span><p></p>Francishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07981546907877838890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3493101396674767317.post-47447931121639973422024-03-08T08:04:00.004-05:002024-03-08T08:11:10.207-05:00Tarkovsky's Nostalghia<p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMxS2M4NdoVOCU1p06ZcuZM8iSF5C7rnjxy6CNV0yi4sAYBj7P6KbZIqZsbZxwVS0IgoHCdd8O2hssdE94JOLmfqai200NNUNRSeqF27Vn6bT2PapV2s5JnbBSfYdAAo9ZAqeQfnkQ3A_mfPNt0OK5tuWI5bP5ibhUHpPqQLAZozGFGa2DLYpL7fnJ7Kg/s1000/NOSTALGHIA_slideshow.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="621" data-original-width="1000" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMxS2M4NdoVOCU1p06ZcuZM8iSF5C7rnjxy6CNV0yi4sAYBj7P6KbZIqZsbZxwVS0IgoHCdd8O2hssdE94JOLmfqai200NNUNRSeqF27Vn6bT2PapV2s5JnbBSfYdAAo9ZAqeQfnkQ3A_mfPNt0OK5tuWI5bP5ibhUHpPqQLAZozGFGa2DLYpL7fnJ7Kg/s320/NOSTALGHIA_slideshow.png" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br />Andrei Tarkovsky's <i>Nostalghia</i> (1983), currently in revival at Film Forum, s<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">tarts with a Russian couple pulling into a town in Italy. Her partner, a poet, tells her to speak Italian. It's a town where there are baths and a Felliniesque fog. This section is named "Limbo" the first circle of Dante's hell. Many of the supernumeraries are submerged in water. Piero della Francesca's "Madonna del Parto" is caught by the camera.There are also black and white scenes which are plainly memories of the poet's childhood in this place. "I'm tired of your beautiful things" he says as his partner dashes off into a landscape filled with rivulets of water at the beginning. Later she says, " I can't remember you, if you don't exist." There are groups of unidentified characters poised on a staircase. The scene recalls <i> Last Year at Marienbad.</i> There is also a crazed man who has locked his family up for 7 years. He's a violent Christ figure who sets himself on fire when his imprecations about the unreality of the present are ignored.</span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">read "Menus-Plaisirs Les Trois Gros" by Francis Levy, <i><a href="https://www.screamingpope.com/2023/12/menus-plaisirs-les-troigros.html">TheScreaming Pope</a></i></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">and listen to "<a href="https://www.screamingpope.com/2023/12/menus-plaisirs-les-troigros.html">Tell it Like It is</a>" by Bonnie Raitt, Aaron Neville and Gregg Allmann</span></span></div>Francishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07981546907877838890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3493101396674767317.post-74596139150265916362024-03-07T10:16:00.006-05:002024-03-07T10:16:58.821-05:00The Big Reveal<p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF82gbUdRUDVCU_BlIjRS9QUzu61tpER5fJzac2WpAWFdvoNkFZdA2pIF74WPMN8yWnO9i3MGCyTiM0d1bKlhic4VIXiBQTnnPBeJTPmW6s1_N5WdL5DufDtEmkIOrx2pYg4Y_d6S8uRKa-3_GPm7XEe2cmoSlF5DWA16dK72hq8kmMCjXtkfDOnGyI48/s648/51OMAiIRJaL.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="648" data-original-width="537" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF82gbUdRUDVCU_BlIjRS9QUzu61tpER5fJzac2WpAWFdvoNkFZdA2pIF74WPMN8yWnO9i3MGCyTiM0d1bKlhic4VIXiBQTnnPBeJTPmW6s1_N5WdL5DufDtEmkIOrx2pYg4Y_d6S8uRKa-3_GPm7XEe2cmoSlF5DWA16dK72hq8kmMCjXtkfDOnGyI48/s320/51OMAiIRJaL.jpg" width="265" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">The novelty of nudity is dissipated by familiarity. What’s extraordinary about marriage is the way it murders intimacy. People dress, undress and go to the bathroom in front of each other, while managing to extinguish the thrill of revelation. Roommates are rarely as casual as married couples who live in the state of coddled infants who are wiped and diapered and fed with only the one-sided communication of mother or caregiver to child. You might say that married couples create a womb in which they recreate an oceanic feeling of connection that's at the same time pre-conscious. Wake up lest familiarity also breed contempt! The perpetuation of the infantile state of innocence in mature couples is a form of regression—that can only lead to rebellion. Men and women seek the thrill of individuation and differentiation that’s often eradicated by the security of the marital bond. A relationship can be like a work of art that suddenly opens up the world, returning the feeling of strangeness and beauty to the most quotidian aspect of the persona whether it’s a secondary sex characteristic or merely gesture--or, in fact, death.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></p><p style="font-family: -webkit-standard;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #202124;">See the invite for Hallie Cohen's show, <i><a href="https://www.mmm.edu/calendar/event/16078-mi-ricordo-roman-watercolors" style="color: #cc6600; text-decoration: none;">Mi Ricordo: Roman Watercolors</a></i></span><span style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #202124;">, February 29-May 1</span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></p><p style="font-family: -webkit-standard;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #202124;">and listen to <a href="https://www.wshu.org/podcast/baum-on-books/2023-06-29/book-review-the-kafka-studies-department">Joan Baum's NPR review</a> of <i>The Kafka Studies Department</i> by Francis Levy</span></span></span></span></p></span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>Francishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07981546907877838890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3493101396674767317.post-24949834115503098742024-03-06T08:56:00.000-05:002024-03-06T08:56:37.744-05:00The Eye of the Beholder<p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghlbVfGuK8lSOmXcTnZR1zXa8ftDqfCgXQIWFShexyTODlSJk49WoXYE_Teq9jPDw30bsL8B3augebh2oDBZOQQwM-NvUWsjbJAiMT4QbH773vXVAVTcSc3RHWPNiClRRKsrbHRqxGcDYB3ridrtKLemq6ILmoOErJ2jxHqtcea1DHyo8CfOH3bfdVdxc/s2400/P20210303AS-1901-cropped.jpg.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="2400" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghlbVfGuK8lSOmXcTnZR1zXa8ftDqfCgXQIWFShexyTODlSJk49WoXYE_Teq9jPDw30bsL8B3augebh2oDBZOQQwM-NvUWsjbJAiMT4QbH773vXVAVTcSc3RHWPNiClRRKsrbHRqxGcDYB3ridrtKLemq6ILmoOErJ2jxHqtcea1DHyo8CfOH3bfdVdxc/s320/P20210303AS-1901-cropped.jpg.webp" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><p><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">It always seems unfair when people.are liked for their looks. Remember the velvet ropes of the 80s club scene. You're not being admitted to any inner chambers due to the humanity of your tortured soul. Erving Goffman once wrote <i>The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life</i>. Then there was the famous <i>Twilight Zone</i>, "The Eye of the Beholder." But sometimes the inner and outer worlds are conjoined. The beautiful woman who's loved for her looks repays society for her gift by becoming generous and particularly attentive to those who don't have her advantages. Which brings us to the election. Biden's appearance of being a doddering old man is belied by his productivity. He has been one of the most successful presidents in modern history. Truth or Dare? But he's now on the verge of doing something that could be as perilous as Ruth Bader Ginsberg. <i>Notorious RBG </i>is another book. Everyone praised her tenacity and yes her longevity. But that's the hard thing about being a gerontocrat. You may not know when to let go. Sure it's great that you can ride a bike at </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">80. You also run a greater risk of taking a fall.</span></p><p>read the review of <i>The Kafka Studies Department </i>by Francis Levy in <i><a href="https://booklife.com/booklife-review/9781956474275">Booklife</a></i></p><p>and listen to "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSosQRiXiPw">(I'm a) Roadrunner</a>"by Jr. Walker and the Allstars</p></span></span><p></p>Francishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07981546907877838890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3493101396674767317.post-81879038809695410352024-03-05T10:00:00.001-05:002024-03-05T10:00:39.385-05:00The Male Gaze <p><span style="font-size: large;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia7DHCJP9Z5-8e3u20JQMGLoeDW_ZCcbHIPWVOhoJsAw09_P5g0xzJBVQp4KHHNuM0ZdJZUWc2l_8eVlkUIYOmFjx9ogrBPfa85hIqBVWmxcNGvJ7HiGQxks27VBd77vAR1V158uDvi1fmSA6dW0rCoqIigWYEYUAaVH6Y85GjJxXmE5DUhVvxnk0old4/s600/Origin-of-the-World.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="497" data-original-width="600" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia7DHCJP9Z5-8e3u20JQMGLoeDW_ZCcbHIPWVOhoJsAw09_P5g0xzJBVQp4KHHNuM0ZdJZUWc2l_8eVlkUIYOmFjx9ogrBPfa85hIqBVWmxcNGvJ7HiGQxks27VBd77vAR1V158uDvi1fmSA6dW0rCoqIigWYEYUAaVH6Y85GjJxXmE5DUhVvxnk0old4/s320/Origin-of-the-World.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">L'Origine du monde by Courbet (1866)</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"></span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">The wanton pose of Courbet's model in "The Origine du monde" provokes leering as well as lust. It superannuates discussions over the male gaze. Is it the model herself--whose identity has long been a subject of speculation--or the painting that's the siren luring Odysseus? The feeling Courbet created is too loud to be sublime but it's nevertheless disconcerting and disturbing both in a good way. Sexuality of an overpowering sort (one that, say, makes a viewer want to have sex with a painting) is usually not associated with estheticism. The viewer is left with a </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">feeling of stimulation that's the opposite of repose. It's akin to Scottie in Vertigo who has actually fallen for someone who doesn't exist, for an apparition. Have you ever had a dream of yearning for a creature who's nothing more than an invention of your imagination? When you wake up and attempt to chase it, there's no clue, no footprint. It's almost demonic since</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">it crosses the line into desire--a desire which can be embodied but ultimately never satiated. </span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #202124;">and see the invite for Hallie Cohen's show, <i><a href="https://www.mmm.edu/calendar/event/16078-mi-ricordo-roman-watercolors" style="color: #cc6600; text-decoration: none;">Mi Ricordo: Roman Watercolors</a></i></span><span style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #202124;">, opening on February 29</span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #202124;">and listen to <a href="https://www.wshu.org/podcast/baum-on-books/2023-06-29/book-review-the-kafka-studies-department">Joan Baum's NPR review</a> of <i>The Kafka Studies Department</i> by Francis Levy</span></span></span></span></p><p></p>Francishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07981546907877838890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3493101396674767317.post-89591424322295227942024-03-04T09:38:00.004-05:002024-03-04T09:38:34.309-05:00Is Loving Someone's Mind a Paraphilia?<p><span style="font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNHgrRZxmT-OS6rmUZc-3vR26gJ1QG5HuPtmBHJ8y8lv3rOXnr0PPCrTpy3oBKuVtVVjayAcZ6slVdPH2tgLyxG6_mP0StI7OgTFbOM8kyZpe_qEqyLbBPaOHJteDvJcLeBuQUfnKk3SO_buJhm-NvDQVxxfFVhcv9RUoi7ZeaehS_z1u-TCN1p6c0Cnk/s1000/61t8k2X+fZL._SL1000_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="702" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNHgrRZxmT-OS6rmUZc-3vR26gJ1QG5HuPtmBHJ8y8lv3rOXnr0PPCrTpy3oBKuVtVVjayAcZ6slVdPH2tgLyxG6_mP0StI7OgTFbOM8kyZpe_qEqyLbBPaOHJteDvJcLeBuQUfnKk3SO_buJhm-NvDQVxxfFVhcv9RUoi7ZeaehS_z1u-TCN1p6c0Cnk/s320/61t8k2X+fZL._SL1000_.jpg" width="225" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><p><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Is loving someone for their mind a paraphilia? The feminist art historian Linda Nochlin once defined fetishism as synecdoche. Kim Kardashian's ass is an urban legend and Jennifer Lopez's would make a great bride. The mind is recused from these discussions because it's not a bra--which is too bad, since it's a mind that confers on breasts so much imagined power.The shape of this secondary sex characteristic with its aureole and nipple so dear to the creation of volition itself is endowed in the imagination with supernal value. Of course a breast is only fatty tissue with alveoli which facilitate lactation, the livelihood of the baby and the source of its desire to suck. But returning to mind, what makes it such a turn on? Is it words? </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Or is it images and ideas? After all you can't have dirty thoughts without a brain in which to breed them!!!</span></p><div><span style="font-size: large;">Listen to "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMEz0lB6hBI">The Tears of a Clown</a>" by Smokey Robinson</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #202124;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #202124;">and see the invite for Hallie Cohen's show, <i><a href="https://www.mmm.edu/calendar/event/16078-mi-ricordo-roman-watercolors" style="color: #cc6600; text-decoration: none;">Mi Ricordo: Roman Watercolors</a></i></span><span style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #202124;">, opening on February 29</span></div></span></span><p></p>Francishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07981546907877838890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3493101396674767317.post-16483603113162486632024-03-01T11:11:00.003-05:002024-03-01T11:13:57.286-05:00Query Tracker<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6Ss92VyrYa6MxUEVMdI2MooVku7w0w4Thhp58t5JHzlriA8pdyUdwdBd5DkzV6t1FHYImFTZ8WclQ2M0-qG1Rxc_Kpvs2N-_vSqlGqI0c3wRkZAWG8AbiTR22VqRn9ghUQvM-QDKdaHz1zBEXQwtiEC0HEW1bklmL5tBtSXnFXG1QEUE177sRXJrpyA0/s406/My_Life_and_Loves.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="406" data-original-width="245" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6Ss92VyrYa6MxUEVMdI2MooVku7w0w4Thhp58t5JHzlriA8pdyUdwdBd5DkzV6t1FHYImFTZ8WclQ2M0-qG1Rxc_Kpvs2N-_vSqlGqI0c3wRkZAWG8AbiTR22VqRn9ghUQvM-QDKdaHz1zBEXQwtiEC0HEW1bklmL5tBtSXnFXG1QEUE177sRXJrpyA0/s320/My_Life_and_Loves.jpg" width="193" /></a></div><br /><p><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: large;"><b>In </b></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: large; font-weight: bold;">words please describe the nature of your project? You may also add a brief bio. </span></p><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">My project is titled <i>Your Cis Gender Thanksgiving . </i>It's the<i> </i>companion volume to the <i>LBGTQ Guide to Meatloaf </i>and<i> Souffets toTransition For</i>. My overarching idea is to conceive the world as one vast soup </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">kitchen. Below also find a chapter of <i>Fuck Me</i> a fictional work about an author who uses Queery Tracker instead of Grind. <i>Fuck Me</i> poses the question confronting most writers: Who cares since we're all going to die? <i>Fuck Me </i>is aimed at all the writers who never heard the words "quality control."</span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">***While we're here would you like to get together to discuss my writing while I still have openings in my schedule?<br style="font-family: Helvetica;" /><br style="font-family: Helvetica;" /><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">What is the length of your manuscript in words? How long will it take the average reader to finish?</span></b><br style="font-family: Helvetica;" /></span><div><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: large;">1,030, 264 which is roughly 1863pp. If you take it to the beach you're going to get sunburned.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: large;"><b>What is your website?</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.screamingpope.com/">https://www.screamingpope.com/</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><b style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: large;">What is your Twitter handle?</span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: large;">@philoctates</span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Query Reply:</b></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span face="Arial, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(116, 120, 126); color: #74787e;">Thank you for querying me with <i>Cis Gender Thanksgiving.</i> I'm sorry that I haven't sparked to it in the way I'd need to in order to request more. I'm grateful for the opportunity to consider your work and wish you the best in your search for representation.</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span face="Arial, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(116, 120, 126); color: #74787e;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Reply to Query Reply:</b></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><a href="https://www.easthamptonstar.com/guestwords-opinion/202223/guestwords-ultimate-rejection">https://www.easthamptonstar.com/guestwords-opinion/202223/guestwords-ultimate-rejection</a></b></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: x-large;">listen to</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span><a href="https://www.wshu.org/podcast/baum-on-books/2023-06-29/book-review-the-kafka-studies-department" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Joan Baum's NPR review</a></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: x-large;">of</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> </span><i style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Kafka Studies Department</span> </i><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: x-large;">by Francis Levy</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: large;"><p><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #202124;">and see the invite for Hallie Cohen's show, <i><a href="https://www.mmm.edu/calendar/event/16078-mi-ricordo-roman-watercolors" style="color: #cc6600; text-decoration: none;">Mi Ricordo: Roman Watercolors</a></i></span><span style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #202124;">, opening on February 29</span></p></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span face="Arial, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(116, 120, 126); color: #74787e;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span face="Arial, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(116, 120, 126); color: #74787e;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><br />Francishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07981546907877838890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3493101396674767317.post-64046282671088765532024-02-29T10:23:00.000-05:002024-02-29T10:23:30.487-05:00Conatus<p> </p><p><span style="font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnDWrE_UCojRVjFGbv41Ez4B7CNZJyDhbXuKjfMWPqSaq6bTmgs9plSCPbB06hzy4Q9VL8Jpgk0fLtr8wBK0NdI80UiQFQ12zg-lo4iFpHHRk_h-KydgqFy9g5phxeRRAQcWRf9_ZzQPczkYu3k9n4CB7sEqMnptlEHWEpaNY5X6KPyUaGJ0STk3xKmqE/s1487/Spinoza.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1487" data-original-width="1280" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnDWrE_UCojRVjFGbv41Ez4B7CNZJyDhbXuKjfMWPqSaq6bTmgs9plSCPbB06hzy4Q9VL8Jpgk0fLtr8wBK0NdI80UiQFQ12zg-lo4iFpHHRk_h-KydgqFy9g5phxeRRAQcWRf9_ZzQPczkYu3k9n4CB7sEqMnptlEHWEpaNY5X6KPyUaGJ0STk3xKmqE/s320/Spinoza.jpg" width="275" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><p>You may never have heard of Conatus and if you have heard of the notion coined by a certain Mr. Baruch Spinoza of Amsterdam who was not a member in good standing of his congregation due to his pan rather than theism... A run-on sentence is required to onomatopoeically render the amount of power of the knowable. God is not punishing nor answering nor benign as the vista of a sylvan sand sunny shore--the Eden that's ready to turn on you as the skies darken and your tsunami looms on the horizon. A huge piece of space debris hits earth and voila The Ice Age. You don't want to be a pterodactyl on the way to be becoming a legendary fossil.</p><p>listen to <a href="https://www.wshu.org/podcast/baum-on-books/2023-06-29/book-review-the-kafka-studies-department">Joan Baum's NPR review</a> of <i>The Kafka Studies Department </i>by Francis Levy</p><p><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #202124;">and see the invite for Hallie Cohen's show, <i><a href="https://www.mmm.edu/calendar/event/16078-mi-ricordo-roman-watercolors" style="color: #cc6600; text-decoration: none;">Mi Ricordo: Roman Watercolors</a></i></span><span style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #202124;">, opening on February 29</span></p><p><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /></p></span></span><p></p>Francishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07981546907877838890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3493101396674767317.post-50100666795695938342024-02-28T10:38:00.002-05:002024-02-28T10:51:29.093-05:00Pleasure Domes<p><span style="font-size: large;"></span></p><br /><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF1E0aTmZH5NchhYSWrTxXX48m_773Cuj7635o8qm6A8FBw5wL33eo5aCi-MOo28J0aUUfYiAKPYh8K20CMfHj7YNq4vaKq6wIZ7k0bQTm-fC1ZykFUFf4_ysmSteJlCweewekoLomNOmEOiDVIKFTbrECd0UYflamBoSEK2w3YDszqoyRlvLhxthUKLc/s400/%D0%9A%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%81%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%8F_%D0%BF%D0%BB%D0%BE%D1%89%D0%B0%D0%B4%D1%8C_(Moscow_clad_in_snow).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="400" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF1E0aTmZH5NchhYSWrTxXX48m_773Cuj7635o8qm6A8FBw5wL33eo5aCi-MOo28J0aUUfYiAKPYh8K20CMfHj7YNq4vaKq6wIZ7k0bQTm-fC1ZykFUFf4_ysmSteJlCweewekoLomNOmEOiDVIKFTbrECd0UYflamBoSEK2w3YDszqoyRlvLhxthUKLc/s320/%D0%9A%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%81%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%8F_%D0%BF%D0%BB%D0%BE%D1%89%D0%B0%D0%B4%D1%8C_(Moscow_clad_in_snow).jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">St. Basil's (1908)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; text-align: left;">The Shavian "life force" and Freudian "death i</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; text-align: left;">nstinct" constitute the intrinsic polarity of all human life. Will flirts with creation and destruction. Consider the cost of</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; text-align: left;">Putin's dream of Empire. It's ironically the same dream entertained by Peter the Great in the mirage of gold cupolas still gracing Moscow's skyline today? On a microcosmic level human appetite totters precariously between pleasure and pain while beauty and good intentions swerve down the drain. Take desire itself as a template. Is it love? Is it mere lust? Is it only selfish or can one selflessly desire the best for the other?</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; text-align: left;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-size: large;">Listen to "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMEz0lB6hBI">The Tears of a Clown</a>" by Smokey Robinson</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #202124; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #202124;">and see the invite for Hallie Cohen's show, <i><a href="https://www.mmm.edu/calendar/event/16078-mi-ricordo-roman-watercolors" style="color: #cc6600; text-decoration: none;">Mi Ricordo: Roman Watercolors</a></i></span><span style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #202124;">, opening on February 29</span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #202124;"><br /></span></span></div></span></span></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />Francishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07981546907877838890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3493101396674767317.post-55670278471493804442024-02-27T10:03:00.001-05:002024-02-27T10:03:46.009-05:00Filet of Soul<p><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgueYjUL-5YKCzYGbtek3pkxzj272q5ew_TVLyWyzKpcNaiQxU4JmYBkfp5JsEo7J876rFp2RA0NsZHUzzRDp-cx-kE-NQaOdsrvJxfK3WYVa_GVIhSGrYVSR6C-iKAWw4yJhmN9MvIN8dlPCN4prNAhczgckVTenBU5ObDasRk_wsFzYuabOIDzCYKtjY/s405/Zenartarcherycover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="405" data-original-width="246" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgueYjUL-5YKCzYGbtek3pkxzj272q5ew_TVLyWyzKpcNaiQxU4JmYBkfp5JsEo7J876rFp2RA0NsZHUzzRDp-cx-kE-NQaOdsrvJxfK3WYVa_GVIhSGrYVSR6C-iKAWw4yJhmN9MvIN8dlPCN4prNAhczgckVTenBU5ObDasRk_wsFzYuabOIDzCYKtjY/s320/Zenartarcherycover.jpg" width="194" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span><p><span style="font-size: large;">Sickness is a form of recusal. You stay away from others to heal and also to protect those others from picking up what you have. The latter is particularly the case with Covid which is highly contagious. In the case of some mental disorders the point of the illness is to facilitate isolation. The sickness whether depression or anxiety is a symptom of a deeper dis-ease to which an affect calls attention. Terminology has changed over time. In the 50s when Miltown was prescribed "nervous breakdown" was a much-used soubriquet. Patients were "institutionalized." Now they are sent to rehabs because of another ailment "alcoholism" (not "wasim" btw). It's not that there weren't always alcoholics, it's that awareness of the condition and its effects took time to register in the consciousness of both the lay and medical communities. Practitioners of Zen attend monasteries. Is the spiritual retreat taken in response to spiritual sickness? Or is it that the soul must go into hiding, before it can come back to life?</span></p><div><span style="font-size: large;">Listen to "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMEz0lB6hBI">Tears of the Clown</a>" by Smokey Robinson</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #202124; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #202124;">and see the invite for Hallie Cohen's show, <i><a href="https://www.mmm.edu/calendar/event/16078-mi-ricordo-roman-watercolors" style="color: #cc6600; text-decoration: none;">Mi Ricordo: Roman Watercolors</a></i></span><span style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #202124;">, opening on February 29</span></span></div><div style="font-size: xx-large;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #202124;"><br /></span></div></span></span><p></p>Francishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07981546907877838890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3493101396674767317.post-9206430820033287162024-02-26T09:43:00.000-05:002024-02-26T09:43:00.063-05:00Debbie Does Dallas<span style="font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlvu4Ns98CQEBMw5i3UPoRcIp_iAs_oFjbnvZodXC0IjKq2tBGpl_sL29aleHrlC45OX4BeIfeJ8Y6tvYAG_B0eVNYlKuPY6PXcsJtEA88t4bsu8CjMsqfjdPjd_nziypwKe2uDZ5xHY_RtWeqcb4DHc5SceBgs0luGCHAOgGoUkRqKiZcImoBAbPHhis/s1205/Debbiedoesdallas.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1205" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlvu4Ns98CQEBMw5i3UPoRcIp_iAs_oFjbnvZodXC0IjKq2tBGpl_sL29aleHrlC45OX4BeIfeJ8Y6tvYAG_B0eVNYlKuPY6PXcsJtEA88t4bsu8CjMsqfjdPjd_nziypwKe2uDZ5xHY_RtWeqcb4DHc5SceBgs0luGCHAOgGoUkRqKiZcImoBAbPHhis/s320/Debbiedoesdallas.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><div><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Donald Trump has said he will be dictator for a day. Doesn't that remind you of all the pathetic oaths you have taken about "taking" or not "taking the cake." As an adolescent you may have sworn off masturbating since it would cause blindness. You were just going to spank the monkey one last time. BTW signing a "declaration of independence" is akin to masturbating, from the carpal tunnel point of view. The collective unconscious of American society just wants to do away with due process and checks and balances one last time. Then they have every intention of getting back on the wagon--unless they succumb to Fentanyl and it's curtains for everybody!</span></div><div><br /></div><div>read "Making the Graphic Novel Graphic" by Francis Levy, <i><a href="http://vol1brooklyn.com/2024/02/14/making-the-graphic-novel-graphic/">Vol.1 Brooklyn</a></i></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #202124;">and see the invite for Hallie Cohen's show, <i><a href="https://www.mmm.edu/calendar/event/16078-mi-ricordo-roman-watercolors" style="color: #cc6600; text-decoration: none;">Mi Ricordo: Roman Watercolors</a></i></span><span style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #202124;">, opening on February 29</span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></span></span>Francishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07981546907877838890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3493101396674767317.post-48692186048257435752024-02-23T10:40:00.002-05:002024-02-23T10:40:19.733-05:00Heureusement ou Vachement?<p><span style="font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqJ7cJBE_U-ZesntufCmC9DFWr8_tvx_qUchlkVQlDrPRhNnl5EI94gnrdmHd6KYVVRnMwrN0Z-g16l3NPTFkiwY7UZdeuYJTAh8SOfXopAIbzQUfjuirYAWK3vBWIZej4xMs9UIDdZ1aj8u03I0s4EiPeFyjP8MsLEKb4XJqxfC3MxSgLGt6YzxD4jEE/s500/41jd+GlO44L.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="347" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqJ7cJBE_U-ZesntufCmC9DFWr8_tvx_qUchlkVQlDrPRhNnl5EI94gnrdmHd6KYVVRnMwrN0Z-g16l3NPTFkiwY7UZdeuYJTAh8SOfXopAIbzQUfjuirYAWK3vBWIZej4xMs9UIDdZ1aj8u03I0s4EiPeFyjP8MsLEKb4XJqxfC3MxSgLGt6YzxD4jEE/s320/41jd+GlO44L.jpg" width="222" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><p><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">It's probably a sign of the times that "vachement" has taken the place of "heureusement" as most popular French adverb. The former implies that everything is bad. Similarly you hear a ton about "fellatio" but relatively little about cunnilingus, the more politically correct form of oral sex. It's hard to get one's hands around why blow jobs are more in the news, despite their negative connotation. When you go down on someone it can be to administer fellatio or cunnilingus but that's where the similarity ends. <i>All happy gonads are alike but all unhappy gonads are unhappy in their own way. </i>Several prominent sexologists have remarked that fellatio is more au courant simply because it's easier to perform. The shaft of the erect </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">penis is easy to locate, creating a tent that's embarrassingly visible, for instance, on a subway or bus, but the clitoris is notoriously hard to find. Surely an aroused clitoris produces the equivalent of an erection but a penis gets more bang for its buck <i><b>ce qui est vachement la verite!</b></i></span></p><p>read "Why Big German Words Like Vergangenbangenheit Carry Weight" by Francis Levy, <i><a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/big-german-words_b_1962449">HuffPost</a></i></p><p>and watch the animation of <i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6IAufdSbTI">Erotomania</a></i></p><p><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><i><b><br /></b></i></span></p></span></span><p></p>Francishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07981546907877838890noreply@blogger.com0