Category: Posts
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Links of the moment
An ongoing series A coder recreated the “digital rain” from The Matrix. A flautist playing Lord of the Rings music in a giant tunnel. Folding clothes is a scam.
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Recent Views
More photography here and on my Instagram. The view of the capitol building in Madison from the Madison Children’s Museum rooftop: Mr. 3 Year Old and his cousin on the slide at the Madison zoo: Stumbled upon this view atop a slide at a nearby suburban park: Ascending a magically wooded tunnel of stairs adjacent…
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In praise of microhistories
Clive Thompson on the appeal of microhistories: When you drill down deeply into a single subject, you nearly always realize: Holy crap, this is more complex than I’d have thought. This is true of just about any subject, right? And it’s exactly the opposite feeling you get from a “big” book, which strives to make…
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Maybe join a book club instead
Adam Mastroianni, in an article on the myths of political hatred: I think there is one very good reason to cap our political hatred: it makes us miserable. Not because we’re always coming to blows with our political enemies—the data suggests that doesn’t happen very often—but because we’re always thinking about them. I’ve seen perfectly…
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On the arts as blunt instruments
Alan Jacobs, considering a John Adams letter on the usefulness of the arts: Everyone in power, or aspiring to power, in this country seems to be studying Politics and War, though they will sometimes cover that study with a flimsy disguise. On the so-called Left we see surveillance moralism (and often enough the sexualization of…
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Links of the moment
An ongoing series Why Chicago’s skyline is so well designed. In praise of microhistories. Hark, Mr. Autumn Man has returned! Well hello Neptune, you big, beautiful, ringed ice giant.
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Live Text, Reader View, No-Signup Tools
Three techie things I’m loving. 1. Live Text Live Text, available in iOS 15 and beyond, feels not far off from magical. The ability to copy text from photos or through the camera app has completely transformed my book notetaking process as a print-book partisan but digital notetaker. I can just point the camera at…
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The Legend of Ball Under Table
The above is a screenshot from a video on my phone that’s come to be known in my family as “Ball Under Table.” Recorded shortly before the first COVID lockdown, the video documents a little game our (at the time) freshly minted one-year-old created. He would roll the little squishy soccer ball under our table,…
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Media of the moment
An ongoing series Barbarian. Despite being a big baby about horror films, I went to see this opening weekend when I came into some unexpected free time. To say it’s surprising in many ways is a gross understatement. The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Thus far it’s managing to strike the right…
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On learning and vibes
Experimental psychologist Adam Mastroianni wrote an interesting (if long) consideration of why we forget most of what we learn, and how “vibes” are more important than knowledge in that learning process. That sounds a lot more woo-woo than it really is. An example he gives: Here are things I don’t remember from high school: –…
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The High School Movie Party: That’s L-I-V-I-N
Originally published at Cinema Sugar. Too many unsupervised teenagers at a fancy house. Red Solo cups strewn about. A couple making out. A skater kid sliding down the stairs into a tower of beer cans. Someone throwing up at just the wrong moment. Welcome to a high-school movie house party. Despite seeing this kind of…
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A spoonful of Cinema Sugar
I’m very excited to share a new thing I’m part of that’s now live on the internet: Cinema Sugar, a website/newsletter/social media destination for people who love to see, think about, and talk about movies. Our mission statement: We are not interested in celebrity culture. We are not interested in hate-watching, takedowns, or tasteless criticism.…
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Links of the moment
An ongoing series A photographer defends his photos people think are fakes but aren’t. Get what you want by saying the subtext aloud. How the US Postal Service reads terrible handwriting. Old maps online. Nobody wants to work anymore?
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Four Favorites
With my Greatest Films of All Time freshly established, I figured it was a good time to update my Four Favorites on Letterboxd, which haven’t changed since I started using it. The old 4: The new 4:
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Our Art, Our Lives: On ‘Salty’ and ‘The Last Movie Stars’
When we make our art, we are also making our lives. And I’m sure that the reverse is equally true. That line is from Look & See, the beautiful documentary about the life and work of Wendell Berry. I think about it often, and I thought about it again recently as I feasted on two…
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The Actor’s Vow
“The Actor’s Vow” by Elia Kazan (via The Last Movie Stars on HBO Max): I will take my rightful place on stageand I will be myself.I am not a cosmic orphan.I have no reason to be timid.I will respond as I feel;awkwardly, vulgarly,but respond. I will have my throat open,I will have my heart open,I…