August 2012
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Here's some actual testimony in support of my view that people do see in Rand's novels something much less sinister than is exhibited in her philosophy as a whole. Following are excerpts from the comments thread on this CNN story, which itself is a pretty conventional view. Just to make it clear: I think Rand's…
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Weekend Music I probably should have waited for the weekend to write the Krautrock post. So here’s a sort of footnote to it, a Krautrock Klassik. This tune is often compared to Kraftwerk’s “Autobahn,” and one can see why, though in my opinion not as good. I reviewed the album on which it appears back…
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A few months ago I posted something about the curious and (I think) inconsistent affection some Christians have for Ayn Rand. My conjecture was: I’ve suspected that what they, the Christians, do is to separate Rand’s economic ideas from her metaphysics. They read Atlas Shrugged or The Fountainhead and are thrilled by the achievements of the heroes, and filled…
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I sort of want to post something serious, but I had a bad day at work, and the serious stuff going on here in the U.S., mainly the presidential campaign, is profoundly disheartening. It's not just the campaign itself, but the people baying from the sidelines. So I'd rather think about something else. It's a…
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You couldn't pay me….
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Father Oddie and Me From 1984 until 1990 I lived in Huntsville, Alabama, and my parish there was St. Mary of the Visitation, or, as it was generally called, simply Visitation. It was the oldest parish in town, and was therefore located near the original center of what had been a very small town until…
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Weekend Music A couple of Saturday nights ago my wife and I watched a movie–actually we watch a movie almost every Saturday night–and after it was over I switched to Turner Classic Movies, which is a sort of idle habit of mine. There was a 1940 musical called Too Many Girls playing. It featured Lucille Ball,…
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An ignorant man who is not fool enough to meddle with his clock, is however sufficiently confident to think he can safely take to pieces, and put together at his pleasure, a moral machine of another guise, importance and complexity, composed of far other wheels, and springs, and balances, and counteracting and co-operating powers. Men…
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Which countries lead the world in heavy metal bands per capita? Not surprisingly–well, not surprising if you know anything about metal–the Nordic countries lead the way, with Finland way out in front at 54.3 metal bands per 100,000 people, Sweden next at 37.3. I was just a bit surprised by the details. I would have…
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Blessed With a Dark Turn of Mind Some girls are bright as the morning Some girls are blessed with a dark turn of mind –Gillian Welch Some boys, too. As far back as I can remember I've been troubled by an inability to get very dark things out of my mind, or to keep them…
Light On Dark Water 