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 17 Nov 2005 @ 10:52
Mauve takes offense at my having said, "I am an artist"---which I do not take back, because that word included, of course, the meaning: always seeking without absolutely finding. As far as I know, that word means: "I am seeking, I am striving, I am in with all my heart."
---Vincent Van Gogh
As soon as a man does not take his existence for granted, but beholds it as something unfathomably mysterious, thought begins.
---Albert Schweitzer
Freedom is when the people can speak,
democracy is when the government listens.
---Alastair Farrugia
A coal pile at the Egan Mountain mine, operated by Mountainside Coal Co. © Kari Lydersen 2005
The subject title belongs to Dan Tokaji, assistant professor of law at Ohio State, who maintains often maddeningly sensible commentary on election law at this site [link] . He's referring to the national election last week...and in particular of course to our experience---again---in Ohio. On our state ballot were 4 issues meant to reform the way we run them, motivated largely by what happened in the presidential election last year. All 4 issues were defeated...maybe...probably...well, that's what this is about.
I meant to get into this earlier, but I got involved in the premiere of that Wal-Mart movie and just haven't found the time. Per a request from the West Coast to tell you how it went, I'm happy to report last night's showing at the Athens Library packed the room we'd reserved to twice what we thought its capacity was. We set up the 60 chairs they have for the room, then emptied out the rest of the library of chairs for the tables and even pillows for the kids section. Besides that, people brought their own chairs from home. And what an audience! Even if there'd been no movie, we'd have had a great time. More >
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 16 Oct 2005 @ 07:55
The individual becomes perfect when he loves his individuality in the all to which he belongs.
---D.T. Suzuki
Value judgments are destructive to our proper business, which is curiosity and awareness.
---John Cage
When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.
---John Muir
Playwright Harold Pinter in a rare appearance at the Orange Word Screenwriters Programme, at the British Library, in 2004.
Bruno Vincent/Getty Images
I don't remember how I stumbled across Harold Pinter. It must have been in the mid-60s sometime, but I don't know if it was a live performance of a couple one acts or that terrifying Dirk Bogarde movie The Servant. It might have been Anne Bancroft and Peter Finch duking it out in The Pumpkin Eater. All I know is his plays grabbed me by the throat instantly. I already was a fan of Samuel Beckett, and had staged Waiting For Godot as a student in 1960. Pinter was trickier. For a production of The Homecoming in 1974, my colleagues and I felt we had to build a 2 story house in the theater. Getting the pauses right required actors literally to count off seconds to themselves. One of the eeriest moments of my life occurred in the late 60s as I walked along Fifth Avenue, and Pinter and his wife at the time, Vivien Merchant, came towards me, each on either edge of the sidewalk, obviously in the midst of an argument and issuing forth icy silence. In the instant they passed on each side I was living a Pinter play. O why hide it, my whole life has been a Pinter play. Isn't everybody's? More >
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 5 Aug 2005 @ 09:53
People travel to wonder at the height of the mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long course of rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars; and they pass by themselves without wondering.
---St. Augustine
To begin with oneself, not to end with oneself;
To start with oneself, but not to aim at oneself;
To comprehend oneself, but not to be preoccupied with oneself.
---Martin Buber
The only difference between me and a madman is that I'm not mad.
---Salvador Dali
Regular readers of my online ramblings expect something close to fun on Saturday mornings. True, sometimes there's a Friday evening release from the White House, meant to be overlooked, that I try to underline, but usually I try to spread the happiness of reaching another weekend...and maybe even some cash in the pocket from payday. It's difficult today though. The past 2 hours of reading the papers and the blogs have left me grim...and I'm preparing to share.
If that's not your cup of tea or coffee today, allow me to refer you to the delightful op-ed piece in this morning's Times about a novelist's revery of a very cold lake in the summertime. [link] And the Internet is buzzing with lots of coverage of Novak's stomping off the set of a live CNN broadcast yesterday as Carville began tightening the screws. Wonder what could be bothering him. [link] More >
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 14 Nov 2004 @ 12:06
Like a dream,
Whatever I enjoy
Will become a memory;
The past is not revisited.
---Shantideva
That moment you leap free of yourself, the wine of the friend, in all its brilliance and dazzle, is held out to you.
---Jalal Al-Din Rumi
Everything is true just as it is:
Why dislike it?
Why hate it?
---Zen saying
Painting by Paul Charles Chocarne-Moreau (1855-1931): The Cunning Thief
So where are we on this Sunday? How are the Ohio Boards of Election proceeding and did Kerry's lawyers find anything? Various blogs are on fire with incidents and speculation, but the media is quiet---except an occasional report about the blogs. JohnKerry.com is virtually retired, with his concession speech being the most recent item.
David Cobb and Michael Bednarik (learn those names!) of the Green and Libertarian parties respectively issued a joint statement calling for a recount in Ohio. [link] They're well on the way to getting the fee together ($113,000) and Cobb said before the election that a Bush victory will ensure the Greens a major voice in the restructuring of the Democratic party. You're probably aware that they and Ralph Nader, of course, are demanding recounts in other states as well. At this point, I have not heard the Democrats have done so anywhere. More >
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 19 Jul 2004 @ 03:46
It is the very energy of thought
Which keeps thee from thy God.
---John Henry Newman
The thing we tell of can never be found by seeking, yet only seekers find it.
---Bayazid Bistami
Each man is in his Spectre's power
Until the arrival of that hour,
When his Humanity awake
And cast his Spectre into the Lake.
---William Blake
Clockwise from top left, Brit Hume, Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, Page Hopkins
I'm a neutral observer, of course, here to give you a fair and balanced report. But some people would say that Fox News Channel is nothing more than the private right-wing propaganda machine of a sneaky right-wing billionaire who is -- now these are just the facts, people -- not an American at all but some kind of Down Under, funny-accented, shrimp-on-the-barbie-eating, crocodile-hunting, profoundly un-American Australian, for goodness' sake.
And while I know Australia is not obviously very much like France -- treasonous, untrustworthy France -- let's look under the surface a little, OK? Do you know what one of Australia's top agricultural products is? That's right, it's wine. Draw your own conclusions, people, that's all I ask. And when you get right down to it, isn't there something French about Shep Smith, if you know what I mean? Isn't that "mousse" in his hair? Does that sound like an American word to you? Isn't there something about him that suggests the French government of, say, 1943? Something a little Vichy French? Nazi-collaborator French, possibly? I don't know, I'm only asking. You decide. More >
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