Sunday, October 31, 2010

Shirley Jackson: The Haunting of Hill House, novel and film

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Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House is the best "haunted house" novel I have read. I realize there may be those who...
10 comments:
Saturday, October 30, 2010

The parable of pilgrims

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"Two monks on pilgrimage came to a river bank. There they saw a girl dressed in fine clothes and at a loss to know how to proceed, for ...
Saturday, October 23, 2010

What good are books?

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Books delight us when prosperity smiles upon us; they comfort us inseparably when stormy fortune frowns on us. They lend validity to human ...
6 comments:
Friday, October 22, 2010

Robert Frost: October

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Since this is October, it seems apt to post this poem by Robert Frost. October O hushed October morning mild, Thy leaves have ripened ...
Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Mishima: A LIfe in Four Chapters, a film

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Yukio Mishima has been a favorite writer of mine for some time now. I've read a number of his novels, including "The Sea of Fertil...
2 comments:
Friday, October 15, 2010

The Rubaiyat: Quatrain XXXIII

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This is one quatrain that FitzGerald apparently was not too happy about, for he made several extensive changes over the five editions--and ...
Sunday, October 10, 2010

Lin Yutang: October 10, 1895--March 3, 1976

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I can no longer remember how I was first introduced to Lin Yutang, but it just might have been simply seeing one of his books and getting in...
Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Something to think about

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No. 8 "A man without passion, the pledge of great loftiness of spirit which by its very superiority redeems a man from the yoke of vagr...
Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Arthur Guiterman: a poem

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While browsing through a collection of poetry, I came across this old familiar favorite by Arthur Guiterman. I think I first read it when i...
Sunday, October 3, 2010

Blade Runner: Five film versions

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Blade Runner is one of my favorite SF films, but it has taken multiple viewings to get me to the point where I begin to understand why. Th...
6 comments:
Thursday, September 30, 2010

Something to think about

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VI.10 People who make moral compromises in order to achieve good ends find that their compromises irrevocably alter the ends achieved. Thus...
Wednesday, September 29, 2010

The Rubaiyat: Quatrain XXXII

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First Edition: Quatrain XXXII There was a Door to which I found no KEY: There was a Veil past which I could not see: Some little Talk awhi...
Sunday, September 26, 2010

T. S. Eliot: Sept. 26, 1888--Jan. 4, 1965

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I realize that it's a bit early for T. S. Eliot's "The Journey of the Magi," but the Magi were probably on their journey ...
Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Fall Equinox

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Today is the First Day of Autumn, although it's a bit hard believing that here in Tucson where the temperatures are still in the high 90...
Sunday, September 19, 2010

Something to think about

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Some people claim that self-sufficiency is a myth. A person is a social animal, they declare; people cannot successfully live outside of so...
Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Basho: Sept. 15?, 1644--Nov. 28, 1694

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While there are no records that gives us the exact date Basho was born, Jane Reichhold, editor and translator of Basho: The Complete Haiku ,...
Sunday, September 12, 2010

Combination Plate 16

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Warning: I will discuss significant plot elements and endings Fred Saberhagen : Octagon , an SF novel A Walk in the Sun , film ...
23 comments:
Sunday, September 5, 2010

Something to think about

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From India: Do not give your attention to what others do or fail to do, give it to what you do or fail to do . -- The Dhammapada -- Eknath ...
4 comments:
Friday, September 3, 2010

Loren Eiseley: September 3, 1907--July 9, 1977

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Perhaps more than any other writer, Loren Eiseley has impressed upon me certain truths about evolution that are both fascinating and frustra...
8 comments:
Wednesday, September 1, 2010

The Rubaiyat: Quatrain XXXI

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First Edition: Quatrain XXXI Up from Earth's Centre through the Seventh Gate I rose, and on the Throne of Saturn sate, And many Knots...