I have known him profess himself a man-hater, while his cheek was glowing with compassion; and, while his looks were softened into pity, I have heard him use the language of the most unbounded ill-nature. Some affect humanity and tenderness, others boast of having such dispositions from nature; but he is the only man I ever knew who seemed ashamed of his natural benevolence.
From
"The Man in Black," by
Oliver Goldsmith, author of
She Stoops to Conquer and
The Vicar of Wakefield.
posted by Iridic
on Dec 25, 2012 -
2 comments
"The prominent literary critic Marjorie Perloff has recently begun using the term 'unoriginal genius' to describe this tendency emerging in literature. Her idea is that, because of changes brought on by technology and the Internet, our notion of the genius—a romantic, isolated figure—is outdated. An updated notion of genius would have to center around one's mastery of information and its dissemination. Perloff has coined another term, 'moving information,' to signify both the act of pushing language around as well as the act of being emotionally moved by that process. She posits that today's writer resembles more a programmer than a tortured genius, brilliantly conceptualizing, constructing, executing, and maintaining a writing machine." --
Kenneth Goldsmith on why "genius" is an archaic concept, and how literature in English has fallen half-a-century behind advances in visual arts and music
posted by bardic
on Sep 22, 2011 -
44 comments
Spy music! Whether it's
Lalo Schifrin's theme for
Mission Impossible, or
Jerry Goldsmith's theme for
Man from U.N.C.L.E., or the greatest of them all,
John Barry's iconic
James Bond theme, you know it when you hear it. Now, for my money, the best spy music in
recent years wasn't from a spy movie at all, but an animated superhero film: the action-packed
theme and soundtrack for
The Incredibles, in which the very talented
Michael Giacchino was clearly (and brilliantly)
channeling John Barry. And of course, you'll all want to head over
here and see what your fellow MeFiers have lately been doing with the genre.
[note: see hoverovers for link descriptions] [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Aug 1, 2008 -
54 comments
Damning leak for Blair / Bush! A leaked transcript of a senior British government meeting indicates that the Bush administration viewed war with Iraq as
"inevitable" as of July 2002, even though the rationale for war was
"thin" and that
"Saddam was not threatening his neighbours, and his WMD capability was less than that of Libya, North Korea or Iran." It further states that the desire to bring about regime change was
"not a legal base for military action", and that the only legitimate reason to declare war was with UNSCOM approval. Most disturbingly, it indicates that there were
"strategies for dealing with Libya and Iran. If the political context were right, people would support regime change."
posted by insomnia_lj
on May 1, 2005 -
139 comments
