Huenemanniac

Getting distracted by ideas

January 2009

  • Wim Klever’s “Locke’s Disguised Spinozism”

    Wim Klever is a great scholar of Spinoza. His work over the years has traced significant influences upon Spinoza (say, by Francis van den Enden) and surprising influences of Spinoza on others. I am providing a pdf copy of a paper he recently sent me (“Locke’s Disguised Spinozism”) about Spinoza’s influence on Locke. It is… Continue reading

  • TRUTH vs. truth

    Pardon me if this post ends up being obvious to everyone but me, but I’m trying to work out the relation between Nz’s perspectivism and truth, and I need to go back and retrace some steps. Let’s start with a Kantian/Schopenhauerian division between the phenomenal and the noumenal. In other words, there is the apparent… Continue reading

  • The invisible book I’m credited with … um, mentioning?

    Find out more here. Continue reading

  • Clark’s Nietzsche on Truth and Philosophy (1990)

    I should have read this book ages ago. I have read a lot about it — you can count on seeing it cited and discussed by any good recent book on Nietzsche. So I have learned from others what Clark says. But this is my first time reading the book, and I am extremely impressed… Continue reading

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  • Scrappin’ with Jerry

    We went up to a salvage yard in Idaho, hunting for stainless steel. Along the way, we stopped at an antique store, where I bought 20 or so 78s, including the one you’ll hear on the video: “One Alone,” performed by Nat Shilkret and the Victor Orchestra. Continue reading

  • Charlie Bowers’ metal-eating bird

    There’s weird, and there’s weirder. It’s weird to think of a metal-eating bird, who then lays an egg which hatches into an automobile. It’s weirder, I submit, to think of living in a rural western state, and going out at night to hear gypsy jazz performers play along to silent movies that are almost forgotten.… Continue reading

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  • Pacifica Quartet

    Last night we enjoyed a performance by the Pacifica Quartet. This group is fantastic. They have perfected a blending of their voices, so that no single voice overpowers the rest (unless or until the music requires it). And the program was stimulating. They started with a Mendelssohn quartet (op. 44, no. 2), which I gather… Continue reading

  • The Columbia Grafonola

    I had such a great time with Chris (see below) that I concluded, “gotta get me one.” She’s not a true Victrola, but a Columbia Grafonola, of Columbia Record Company. I haven’t really explored thoroughly, so I’m not sure of year or model, but it seems to fall in the 1911-1925 range. Found her at… Continue reading

  • Victorola and scones

    What a splendid afternoon! Chris and I descended into the Music Department archives and loaded ourselves up with vintage 78s: Wagner, Caruso, Berlioz, etc. Then we went to his house, cranked up the Victorola, and had a proper tea with raisin scones and jam. Next time we hope to have cravats and waistcoats! Continue reading

  • Steampunkery

    Tami and Pete enlightened me as to the existence of the “steampunk” genre — folks who write books and make stuff that celebrate the kind of victorian machinery of Jules Verne and H. G. Wells.  Check out this website to see all sorts of steampunked computer stuff — really impressive. Continue reading

  • Strange, dreamy, techno film

    If you have 10 minutes, and (like me) enjoy surrealism and machinery, check out this short film. Continue reading

  • His Dark Materials

    I recently finished the trilogy by Philip Pullman, “His Dark Materials.” It is a set of books aimed at young adults, but when I saw the film of “The Golden Compass,” I found the ideas appealing enough to give the books a try. I was not disappointed. Most of the action takes place in a… Continue reading

  • Memory image retriever

    After successfully getting the Monarch Pricemarker to work, Jerry rewarded me with a more difficult task. He presented me with some sort of device (made by Haag-Streit, Bern, early 20th century)  with movable arms, multiple lenses, a light source, and calibrated adjustment knobs. The task was more difficult since neither of us knew what it… Continue reading

  • IT WORKS!

    (Thanks to Jeannine for the excellent camera work.) UPDATE: Here, by the way, is the charmless current model of the Monarch Pricemarker (I think). Continue reading

  • Insight into German culture

    A very intriguing post over at Forschungsjahr about hidden swastikas in a German clothing store. Continue reading

  • Price marker

    This, my friends, is a Price Marker, made by the Monarch Tag Company, circa 1916, given to me by my friend Jerry, weighing in at about 25 lbs. A little tinkering with it reveals how it is supposed to work. You select the type from the wooden drawer, arrange it in the magazine, and decide… Continue reading

  • Darwin books

    I recently finished two good books about Darwin. I haven’t known all that much about the man, apart from scattered biographical references and documentaries. I am embarrassed to say I have never read The Origin of the Species, expecting it to be filled with the retelling of facts about bird beaks, snail shells, etc. Nothing… Continue reading