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| gromit |
 Posted: Sun Aug 20, 2017 10:44 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9008
Location: Shanghai
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In terms of heroes depending on perspective and interests, Gavril Princip, the young assassin who sparked WWI has been considered a nationalist hero in Yugoslavia and the successor states. The house he lived in has been rebuilt several times and used as a museum. For decades there were footprints in the cement sidewalk from which he fired the fateful shots. Recently, in 2014 a Princip statue went up in Sarajevo (Bosnia), and another in Belgrade (Serbia) in 2015.
I read a pretty dramatic Princip quote recently:
“There is no need to carry me to another prison. My life is already ebbing away. I suggest that you nail me to a cross and burn me alive. My flaming body will be a torch to light my people on their path to freedom.”
―Gavrilo Princip
Prison conditions were harsh and became worse during the war. Princip contracted tuberculosis and died before the war ended.
he brought down 3 empires (Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman & Russian), not bad for a guy initially told he was too small and weak to join the secret resistance. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Wed Aug 23, 2017 9:21 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
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Watching Trump's speech in Phoenix last night, I came up with another metaphor. The guy is a vampire. He can't live without the applause and cheers of his supporters; they energize him and give him the encouragement he needs to continue his destructive course. Making teleprompter speeches with banalities about bringing everyone together is what living on animal blood did to Lestat--he may stay alive but he feels that he's withering away.
Wish I had time to re-read Rice's "The Tale of the Body Thief." I never understood why nobody made a film of that one, a wonderful stand-alone thriller. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2017 4:34 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9008
Location: Shanghai
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I found it weird that Trump's ballyhooed big speech on Afghanistan turned out to be a vague promise to win the 16 year old war (we already won the war, just in danger of losing the peace). And a commitment to a small few extra thousand troops.
Trump seems to listen to generals as they are forceful and not idiots like his main advisors and hangers-on.
I've always found it interesting how conservatives love the military, the most wasteful and destructive element of gov't. I guess it's the authority aspect and the vast opportunity for corporate enrichment. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2017 10:22 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6948
Location: Black Hills
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Bombs are the perfect commodity - quite expensive, per unit, and after you use them once they have to be replaced. And, of course, there's the jobs thing - if you cannot create a genuinely robust peacetime economy, just bloat out the military and soak up some of those unemployed young people who couldn't afford college.
Then create some new enemies so that the military expansion can be justified as necessary.
It's interesting to me that Trump's base applaud either getting Mexico to pay for the wall or Trump shutting down the government until Americans pay for it. One more contradiction that the base seems willing to swallow, with python-like swallowing skills. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2017 11:30 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12894
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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Some things which sort of make me understand why Trump still gets 34% approval rating:
1) I don't give a damn how much money the Secret Service has spent protecting the President and his family. Actually, if Trump were to stay off Twitter, I'd encourage him to spend as much time on vacation as he wants.
2) Especially, I don't give a damn that the Secret Service spends a few thousand dollars on port-a-potties.
3) Every "negative" story about Melania Trump has me saying so what? She's not eloquent, but English isn't her native language, and she seems to be a more decent person than her husband.
4) I've even seen an attack piece on Tiffany, who seems to be a totally unexceptional person who happens to be related to a president. Is Barron next? (I understand the attacks on Eric, Donald Jr., Jared Kushner and Ivanka, who are more closely involved with the administration.) Did you even know Tiffany existed?
There's enough negative stuff to focus on than to scream about trivia, It makes you look silly.
Oh, and Trump isn't going to get impeached over Joe Arpaio, no matter how loudly Robert Reich shouts. Trump may very well get impeached, but not over using the pardon power, unless he does it on himself. |
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I had a love and my love was true but I lost my love to the yabba dabba doo, --The Flintstone Lament |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2017 11:54 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
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I hardly ever see any media mention of Tiffany Trump, though I was a bit surprised lately to read that she's in law school. If I think about her at all, it's between feeling sorry for her being ignored and feeling that she's lucky to be out of the spotlight.
I seldom see anything about the other kids either these days, except for Don Jr. and occasionally Eric, who of course are running the family business. Trivial media talk about Melania is only to be expected, and I mostly ignore it--as far as I know, she hasn't done anything egregious. And I try to remember that this is a family who must deal with a seriously dysfunctional patriarch.
It does piss me off that he and the family are burning up taxpayer money on not just the Secret Service agents' protection but charging for use of Trump properties when they stay in them. And to think my sister told me that although she didn't particularly like Trump, she voted for him because he was so rich that he wouldn't be greedy. Honestly, you'd think she was 12 years old. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Wed Aug 30, 2017 7:19 am |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12894
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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| The Secret Service protection is going to go up anyway since Trump has five children, not all of whom live at the White House. (I don't know if Kushner gets protection as well.) I imagine Tiffany probably has an agent or two going to law school with her, like Obama's children did when they went to school, and Bush's children and Chelsea Clinton. |
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I had a love and my love was true but I lost my love to the yabba dabba doo, --The Flintstone Lament |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2017 7:04 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
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| R.I.P. Shelley Berman, 92. I didn't realize he had played a number of TV roles, including Larry David's father in "Curb Your Enthusiasm." According to the Times, his death was due to Alzheimer's. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2017 11:24 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12894
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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| I've been getting a bit of fuss from an ex-girlfriend because I mentioned a bit of what the new N. K. Jemisin novel is about (from the first chapter and the dustjacket). Now this is the third volume of a trilogy of which the first two volumes won the Hugo for best sf novel of the year, and the third novel looks to be equally good. But apparently this is outrageous because she hasn't read the first two novels and I'm not allowed to mention them for fear of spoilers. |
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I had a love and my love was true but I lost my love to the yabba dabba doo, --The Flintstone Lament |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Sun Sep 03, 2017 9:36 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6948
Location: Black Hills
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| I started The Obelisk Gate, and found the nomenclature enigmatic (the first novel was checked out), so I had to wiki The Fifth Season and look at the glossary for a while. Hard to drop into the series in the middle, if you have no idea what orogenes or stone-eaters or stills are. Some terms, like "comm" were more self-explanatory and I could get them from context. I'm liking it enough (though not as much a fantasy fan as some) that I may put it down and wait until I have a copy of T5S. I can tell already there is a satisfying complexity of character, motivation, and settings. Though nothing could be more complex than an EX-GF relationship. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Sun Sep 03, 2017 11:02 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12894
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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The three volumes are a continuous narrative and pretty complex, so, yes, you do need to read The Fifth Season first. Although if you now understand what orogenes and Stone Eaters are, the first chapter will make more sense. I had to go back and re-read it after I'd gotten a few chapters in.
I did make the mistake of saying "orogenous" aloud.
She has a couple of other series, and they're all really good. Only eight books total. |
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I had a love and my love was true but I lost my love to the yabba dabba doo, --The Flintstone Lament |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Sun Sep 03, 2017 10:06 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6948
Location: Black Hills
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Writes beautifully. Am looking forward to backtracking to the first novel. Careful of the orogenous zones...
RIP Walter Becker. Creative force behind Steely Dan. 67 is pretty young, no cause of death is given in the obit I saw. "Deacon Blues" was a favorite. And most of their hits endured pretty well. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2017 8:45 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12894
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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| I really liked Steely Dan. "Show Biz Kids," "My Old School" and "Rikki" were favorites, but there was a lot of good music. |
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I had a love and my love was true but I lost my love to the yabba dabba doo, --The Flintstone Lament |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Tue Sep 05, 2017 9:38 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6948
Location: Black Hills
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sat Sep 09, 2017 12:51 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| This weekend at Bard College in upstate New York they are presenting a live performance of the score to Vertigo. Fitting IMO, since it's my favorite film score of all time and Bernard Herrmann's masterpiece. |
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