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Beethoven string cycle
We just finished attending all six concerts of Beethoven’s string quartets, performed by the Fry Street Quartet. Their performances were truly splendid: very charged and aggressive, but also tightly coordinated. I have recordings of some top quartets performing these pieces, but found myself enjoying the Fry’s interpretations more — just more passion in them. Along… Continue reading
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“You always run away from trouble in a butcher shop.”
From “Butcher,” Tom Chiarella, Esquire, September 2008: One morning, tossing trim onto the tray, he turned on the grinder and said: “Look, the rule is, if you feel anything tug, anything at all, you hit the button and run.” He poked the rubber-covered stop button with his thumb. We stood in the walk-in, the compressors… Continue reading
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Helping Jerry with his trailer
We finished the supportive substructure, installed the milking machines on the roof, and tuned the sensitive measuring devices on the front. The circular harmonizers on the side were my idea. Lots of work yet to do, but lots of shiny promise. Continue reading
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Nz on Xianity
Nietzsche’s most sustained account of the west’s great death-traditions is in one of his last works, aptly titled The Anti-Christ. The work offers a relatively detailed Nietzschean account of Jesus’s own psychology, and how his teachings were transformed into a means for suppressing life’s instincts. We can provide a brief sketch of the account. Jesus,… Continue reading
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Nietzsche’s values
I just wrote this this morning, and am hoping to get some feedback on it. I think it’s pretty self-explanatory: This distinction, between the life-affirming and the life-denying, is the basis for Nietzsche’s revaluation of values. To get a sense of how this revaluation works, imagine somehow being put in charge of some intergalactic zoo… Continue reading
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Kolakowski, Why is there something rather than nothing?
I recently read this great little book by Leszak Kolakowski. He is one of my favorite contemporary philosophers: he’s amazingly learned, and he takes a bemused, skeptical stance toward the human ability to plumb The Great Deep, while at the same time admiring the many attempts to do so. A representative quote: “In all the… Continue reading
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Climbing the Wellsvilles with Felix and Sammy
A steep climb, but we made unbelievably good time. The Wellsvilles are among the steepest mountains of the world, given their relatively small base. Continue reading
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The American political divide
This article by Jonathan Haidt seems to me the most sensible thing ever written on the political divide in the U.S. (Thanks to Mike for the pointer.) Continue reading
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New phrase: “jumping the shark”
I was reading a post about the great philosopher Thomas Nagel, who recently published an article arguing that Intelligent Design should be taught in school, since it is in fact “science,” though it is bad science. Indeed,very bad science. Anyway, the poster was wondering if Nagel had “jumped the shark,” a phrase which I had… Continue reading
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Team Ben
Nephew Nathan and friend Flavia visited us from California, and Ben led us on a killer ride: straight up “Lord have mercy!” hill, and (as if that wasn’t enough), then straight up to “Pope Sweet Jesus!” summit. We then rode home and recuperated. Then Nathan, Flavia, and I rode up Blacksmith Fork canyon, which is… Continue reading
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Hiking with Jane
My sister Jane has been visiting, and we’ve gone on four killer hikes this week. Yesterday we hiked to Naomi Peak, to my mind the most stunning hike in the area. Some pics: Continue reading
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Marriott’s The Lost Tribe
I just finished this account of a journalist’s encounter with a “lost tribe” in New Guinea, that is, a group of people who had not encountered Europeans prior to 1993. The book is riveting, almost despite itself. Marriott strikes me as naive, foolish, and often obtuse, but, boy, can he write a story. He decides… Continue reading
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Woody Allen’s philosophy
resonates with me. Here is an excerpt from an article (Konigsberg = Allen): Konigsberg states that his reading of philosophy and literature is mainly an attempt to help him answer the ultimate question about life: its purpose and values in its relation to death. “I think the most important issues to me are what one’s… Continue reading
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More Oregon pics
We had a great time visiting the Oregon coast and Portland with family. Some more snapshots: Continue reading
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For me? 13, it turns out
How many five year olds could you take in a fight? Continue reading
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“24” does more than “reflect” government policy….
… it shapes it. Check out this Newsweek piece by Dahlia Lithwick about 24‘s influence on those who design and sit in judgment of the US’s torture practices. An excerpt: According to British lawyer and writer Sands, Jack Bauer—played by Kiefer Sutherland—was an inspiration at early “brainstorming meetings” of military officials at Guantánamo in September… Continue reading
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Handey vs. Heidegger
Check out the contest over at cliché reality. And while you’re at it, read how Handey wants to be remembered in this New Yorker piece. An excerpt: No one is really sure how old Jack was, but some think he may have been born as long ago as the twentieth century. He passed away after… Continue reading
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New meaning to moronic comic strip
I just love it when someone unlocks the secret to find meaning in an otherwise moronic comic strip. Like Nietzsche Family Circus, Garfield minus Garfield brings an existential dimension to idiocy. In this case, the effect is achieved by simply removing the damn cat, and everything he says, from the strip. (Thanks to nephew Matt… Continue reading
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No country for old men
Finally saw the film last night; I read the book months ago. No one equals Cormac McCarthy in portraying a pitiless, random, violent universe, occupied by pitiless, random, violent human beings. The film is great, and captures the novel perfectly. In one respect it’s better: Chigurh’s speeches aren’t as long and preachy. The best line… Continue reading
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Nietzsche’s illness
The last few months I’ve been working away at an essay for the Oxford Handbook to Nietzsche. The essay is on Nietzsche’s illness; it’s been a surprisingly hard one to write — difficult to get it right. Here it is, for anyone interested. UPDATE: New and improved (final?) version here. Continue reading
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Doing what you love
Here is a great, widely-circulated essay by Paul Graham on how to do what you love. I’m posting it here now so that, hopefully, I’ll remember to post it also on usuphilosophy.com after the start of Fall semester. Continue reading
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