Colannoisseur

 I got this idea to become a  consultant that recommends  what  sodas  match with each type of sandwich. 

welcome AI

 Welcome AI  and all other cyber assistants. Welcome! No more afraid of losing my mind in old age. Just one fear remains -forgetting my password to the app.

Missing Wife

 If she will ever find this blog, my wife will wonder how come I did not mention her. True, but she should not worry. She is the main character in my stand up comedy.

March Myths and Conspiration ...

 Was telling my wife - my grandmother died on the same march date I. My father was born and died in March. She said -Oh well, the ides of March!

Tension in the nation

 For a good number of weeks the nation was tense. Who would the bachelor chose? Surprise, he chose the beautiful blonde!

Eurussia

 

from 

Russian Exceptionalism

Dugin stresses Eurasianism’s apocalyptic element. Russians face a final battle of good and evil, a “cultural, philosophical, ontological, and eschatological struggle.” Evil is variously identified as Atlanticism (opposed to Eurasianism “in everything”), modernity (“an absolute evil”), America (“a country of absolute evil”), and above all liberalism, which he says is powerful today because evil is strongest at the end of days. Gumilev imagined he was doing science, but Dugin expresses animus toward “materialistic physics,” Francis Bacon, and “the supremacy of quantitative concepts and secular theories.” In his introduction to Eurasian Mission he also rejects “homogenous space,” “linear time,” and “progress.”

The Russian Idea (1946), the philosopher Nikolai Berdyaev argued that Bolshevism owes as much to Russian messianism as to Marx. Medieval Russians, he and many others emphasize, often considered themselves the only true Christians. The Byzantines had, at the Council of Florence in 1439, recognized the pope to secure Western aid against the Turks, thereby betraying the Orthodox faith, which is supposedly why they succumbed to the Ottomans in 1453. From that point on, Moscow, the capital of the only independent Orthodox country until the nineteenth century, became the “Third Rome,” the heir to both Rome and Byzantium as the seat of Christendom. Russians were destined to save the world because, as the monk Philotheus explained, “a fourth Rome there will not be.”

from The New Leviathan

quotes

 “the university campus is the model for an inquisitorial regime that has extended its reach throughout society”—resorting to some of the same inquisitorial and dictatorial measures employed by the totalitarian regimes that most of the self-professed “woke” would vigorously deplore.

the rise of an antinomian intelligentsia, which professes to instruct society by deconstructing its institutions and values

When some human beings are identified as being less human than others, it is a small step to eliminating them.

sexcess

 This word has so many uses, so many possibilities'. For instance, AI will not get traction as long as it is not used for sexcenes. Like all things internet only then it will make big money, will  have sexcess. Wonder if this pun is used in other Latin languages or I will have to introduce it myself. Like merchandise the urban dictionary.

Qualifying centuries.

 Camus described the XX th century as of "newspaper readers".  You don't have to be a deep philosopher to qualify our times as of cellphone...Up to now!

Obits

 I have started to read obits. The best part of the NYT. I read not to check who died, at what age, etc. Just to see what they had accomplished and feel bad for myself. Masochism!

Fascinating Rime

 Probably like most people I had read in my youth only several strophes of the Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Today I ran into it on YouTube and listened half hour to Ian McKellan. Magical. Ensorcelling. Maybe because in the meanwhile I took sailing? and could understand more words? Or just Coleridge...

NYT without NY

I remember years back when I was going out at 8 pm to get the early edition of the Sunday NYTimes. Sometimes there was even a line with people getting agitated when the delivery truck was not showing up.   To survive in the internet era you looked for  subscribers away and abandoned  your home base. You used to be the newspaper of record. No more. Prisoner of the newsroom opinion, you only fake unbiased reporting.  You are just a publisher of games.

no check

 Yesterday I wrote about posting. Today I was annoyed by a friend's comment on fb. Why did he post it? Living alone he writes whatever crosses his mind. No self control. No minimal self censure. Otherwise he thinks he is toe most important living composer in Holland.  

oralize

Why do  I post? Mainly because there is no one I can actually tell  stuff, have a conversation. Je Seme a Tout Vent. Start something new? a new topic? Maybe I should start working on the haiku I will publish on the last day of my life. 

Man on top

 Fretting  that AI can replace, displace or best human intelligence, but when the top founder and salesman leaves everything seems to collapse

Buttered

 Started to read this list, afraid my favorite croissant bakery was not named. It is. Under Your local breakfast cart. Was happy, but then I noticed the mentioned cost was $2 and I pay $2.50. So should I be satisfied or not? Does it mean I have an expensive taste?

Barbers a-changing

Went for a hair cut and discovered that my barber  takes appointments by phone. A new era! As a matter of fact almost all the barber shops were taken over by barbers from Uzbekistan or other stan countries that talk in Russian among themselves. Wonder how barber shop choirs sound now and what they think about Ukraine. 

Bon pour l'Orient

 A stamp on diplomas issues in French colleges. Good for a place where people have lesser needs? Was it colonialist concedncence or just a way of acknowledging that even not perfect,  the absolvent could still  provide some level of help?

Feeling the age.

 In my twenties I  practiced yoga. No teacher, just from a book instructions. And I succeeded to lower my heart beats. I could relax and  feel separately each major muscle. Now, at the age of wisdom, I feel each bone. 

Face recognition

 My cell did not recognized my face (5 times) today. I brushed my teeth and shaved. Still nothing, Maybe I should change my thoughts as well.

who?

It's Liz I am talking about, not Michelle. You are getting so old you are mixing up women. Thought it was a sign of virility.

filled with air

Beignets, only few places still offer them.

...and statistics

A long article in the NYT about a dubious study on dubious scientific papers has by now close to 600 comments, More edifying and enjoyable than the article itself.

Mark Twain identified the weakness of statistics. All the soft sciences rely on statistics. The mistake made is in calling them "science" because they cannot stand the scrutiny of science. One work around is to call these "results" as correlations. Or better still, call them coincidences and leave it to Malcolm Gladwell to write an entertaining book.

Under suspicion

 There is this notice -post was put behind a warning for readers because it contains sensitive content as outlined in Blogger’s.  (March 2023)

Strange, a 2008 post on Madonna and A Rod   violated the community. Maybe they did. So now I will not be able to get any position in any university in most educated states. Or maybe there I can hope that id a few years...Note that the references are from the NYT, a publication not stranger to some past woke policies.

Community standards?  Community standards  are permanently evolving, but this is lost on the activists or some university managers. Strange. They forgot about the Chinese red guards public shaming methods.. 

Yves Montand-Les feuilles mortes/Dead leaves

My wife watched this clip and commented: "He had bad teeth"

Zapotek DNA

 According to  my Ancestry DNA  I have a very close cousin by this name. Started to look. First there is a major confusion in searches and the first offering is Zatopek, the famous Czech runner.  Stupid mispells! After the next offering that is a brand of batteries, I hit in  music - a song by Zapotek called Blood Offering. Of course! probably related to the ancient  Zapotec -the Cloud People - this picture from a wiki (in Turkish?). this scary one from the MET. Luckily I found some intelectual.

tearing eyes

 Listening to Kotkin talking about  kleptocrats with tearing eyes about Mother Russia, made me think about the Russian women -  eager  to get money and jewelry, but with a soft, romantic soul molded by Anna Karenina and War and Peace.

Recent conservative history

 Found this article interesting in that it provides a clear history of the conservative movement or of the movements that elected republican presidents. The most popular comments (as counted by the NYT) are from the left and refuse to acknowledge the  unpopular positions (yes, elitist) that had allowed the victories of Bush and Trump. Funny, these comments are as woke as one could be.

East and West

 My democratic friends went beyond gerrymandering. No wonder the first electoral map was rejected by a democratic  judge. Now, the new idea of  merging the East and West Side of Manhattan is beyond imaginable.  Who do they want to eliminate? These two sides of NYC have a traditional rivalry, like Mets and Yankees....

Bad feelings today

 It seems there is an uptick of the expression "I feel like" especially in the usage of the younger generation. The incidence of expressions in the language, the   meaning or importance of such incidences s not something I am familiar with. So maybe I should not comment...

 The author of the NYT article argues that "there is no problem here", even when the expression is used instead of I think. I feel he may be right, but I don't think so.  This is a generation that avoids feeling unconformable, or unsafe.  Seems that in their view feelings may replace reasoning. I feel  thus I am?  I "feel" this is another nail in the coffin of the Enlightenment.

After break-up

 The black hole is a space empty of suns,  only a field that attracts. Like human passion...sometimes called love..after break-up

Good sense of humor

Almost not to be recognized following  a good number of esthetic procedures, Kellyanne declared " I don't want an old white guy tell me what to do with my body....

I can hope

 I was imagining myself in old age confused and desperate to remember passwords. kept away for hours from my favorite sites, But there are good news. No more passwords.....

Eastern Front

 They did not stop fighting on Easter day, maybe they would stop today, May 1st, the international...

Thermidor

  In early 1794 Robespierre and his allies started to accuse Tallien of “moderationism,” or an insufficiently hard-line attitude when it came to the guillotine. For the moment, his status as a deputy shielded him, but not Cabarrus, who was imprisoned on Robespierre’s orders. By 8 Thermidor her trial and execution looked imminent. Frantic to save her and fearing for his own life, Tallien spent the early-morning hours of 9 Thermidor crisscrossing the center of the capital, visiting deputies and imploring them to join him in attacking Robespierre in the Convention.

https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2022/03/10/the-end-of-the-terror-robespierre-jones-bell/

SURPRISE! the reaction, the contra-revolution occurred only because Tallien was desperate to save his beloved beautiful Spanish lover

civil

Just left civil service. 

Till I was 22 and left my parent's house, everyday my father used to wake me up with a sentence he had taken from Saint Simon: "Levez vous Monsieur le vicomte car vous avez des grand services a rendre a l'Humanité!" No vicomte, no great services, but I did serve....

wise till the end

 There’s no point discounting a worst-case outcome because nobody will be around to benefit from a wise investment decision.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-the-ukraine-war-can-only-end-happily-for-the-stock-market-russia-invasion-crash-putin-11650058476?mod=opinion_featst_pos1

Before he expires

 I read with pleasure the NYT article. For a long time I was telling friends about being surprised   that Americans do not keep or do not display their books. I had noted this fact even before the books went digital or e-something.on line, Yes, I have my own 1,000 books library. The bookshelves are probably the most expensive piece of furniture in my apartment. Have books in several languages, including a collection of Rilke poems  in German, hoping that one day I will learn that language. I look at the unread books  and wonder if I will ever.... Standing crowded on the shelves, they give me some kind of purpose to live to get to consume them. Like the exlibris quoted in the NYT piece 

This book belongs to the
Rev. Reid Byers,
Who still hopes to read it
Before he expires.

A couple of days later, I heard in a  podcast, a personality I respect explaining that after a certain age you don't need to read new books. Just keep a few to read again and again. Strange statement, as the guy is the Chief Editor of a select publishing house...When asked what are his few books, he mentioned Cioran (sure) and Seneca (come on! pretentious).  Not impressed! I stand by my books. For full disclosure  - I get them from my building's laundry room, where they are discarded by other tenants.

Kagan

 Couple of days ago Donald Kagan died. His lectures on Athenian democracy  gave me goose bump.  His introduction to the course, his defense of Western culture, needs to be carried on, like the Olympic torch.  

Dostoyevky, the misunderstood and misquoted

 Facebook is full of  posts with a picture of Dostoyevsky and the caption Tolerance will reach such a level that intelligent people will be banned from thinking so as not to offend the imbeciles. This site states that Dostoyevsky is being misquoted. (note that his name is misspelled). Of course, he is a heavy read and at times hard to understand; fragments sometimes are pure philosophical discourse.  But if one would like to misquote  to reflect on today's culture it should be.. INTOLERANCE will reach etc.

Is this another example of Russian interference on FB?

Heine, the poet in Paris

 This article reminded me again  why Heine is one my favorite poets. Elegant irony, simple vocabulary that I can follow with my pitiful German. Quotable and put on songs by many. Oscillating between a rich uncle and Karl Marx. An admirer of Saint-Simon...Seeing clearly the march of history .... A German poet in Paris, with almost no statue but still with us.  

Cuore. abridged

My wife asked me to translate a sentence from Italian. I asked her what you don't know cuore? Never read Cuore? Read the book when I was in second or third grade. Someone gave me a slim booklet, probably published around early 1940s. Later leafed Cuore - selected stories by the communist regime in late 50s. 

I checked today and to my surprise it was published in 1887 and has over 200 pages. Talking about cultural appropriation! Fighting over the heart of little kids in the dark century.

Plagues on your house

 Surprisingly there are just a few articles that parallel Covid-19  and the Antonine Plague. This article talks about resilience after the plague and Commodus. But does not mention that for the first time in 75 years a  natural son of  the emperor had succeeded him.  In prior years years emperors were picked (from the family), adopted sons. It does not reflect to the fact that Marcus Aurelius was a philosopher prince but mediocre as emperor...And  the historian does not mention the despondency that led to the emergence of Christianity, that became a state religion only about 150 years later. Other articles talk also about climate change or trade China...Everything was there...

Going South

 All these solid fences are not stopping ideas to cross the border North and politicians to go South. To bring the caudillo back. Or is it a Duce?

smoke talk

 Found in an MIT publication from 1917 that an architect gave a smoke talk. That meant an after dinner presentation.  Now smoking would bring an R rating to a movie. Smoke means trouble. I would  interpret a smoke talk as blowing smoke such as trying to  hide reality or as per Urban Dictionary Just another saying meaning to chirp or insult someone.

Warning. naming the blog

The subtitle of this blog is  - grumbling in subway and elevators. Turns out this where one is most at risk for catching  this virus.

heterononconformity

Almost Right. I  agree with Brooks. Almost. But why does he call not adhering to exclusionary extremism - nonconformity? 

The righteous going after comics! For exclusionary methods - you may retrieve Al Franken on Sirius. 

Not clear?  silent majority or silenced majority....

Human nature and predisposition for (bad) politics.

Polarization is the biggest obstacle to social distancing! Seams contradictory -being apart keeps one from standing apart from each other -but it is true. Why would republicans not don masks? they could paint a MAGA   white on red, on top.

Faithless

SCOTUS ruled that  states can require members of the Electoral College to cast their votes for the presidential candidates they had pledged to support.. To "vindicated voters expectations". What world are the Justices living in? Where do politicians meet voters expectations?

Admiral, stand up.

Take down statues of traitors, of  politicians who were outrageous in their life. Change names or flags. But Columbus? he lived 500 years ago and never set foot in continental North America. A courageous sailor who believed in scientific advances. Bet his life on it. Is this stupidity or lack of understanding of history? 

Have you ever sailed in the fog?