Barbette Bienpensant, professor of quantitative metaphysics |
Aug 15, 2015
Quantitative metaphysics --- scribble, scribble, scribble, Mr. Ampersant (4) (reposted)
The GREEN EYES (Part I) have finally been published, and we are starting to re-post earlier material regarding the book. Find underneath the Amazon link...
We knew beforehand that This Is Heaven (the sequel to the Green Eyes) wouldn't be a picnic, because marketing has replaced logic at all levels. Yes, that's what This Is Heaven is all about. It's about bullshit, or, more precisely, about the substitution of bullshit for other residues of meaning left on this planet. John with his addiction to Alex, Alex with his humongous dick, Godehart with his crotch shorts? It's all very well, we're not lying on anything, but it's just a ploy to keep your attention span spun while we are milking Professor Barbette Bienpensant and her Armageddon-nonsense, or taking cheap digs at vampire crazes, or the Wall Street Journal, or FOX news, or...
Aug 14, 2015
Aug 9, 2015
Aug 7, 2015
There you sit and munch on your pen --- The Donald, reality, and so on
Yere you sit and munch on your pen and try to think up something funny, something hilarious---it doesn't matter, reality will always beat you. Here's a fragment from The New Yorker about last night's Republican primary debate:
Trump did make it clear that, if Trump were the nominee of the Republican Party, he would support Trump. The debate opened with a call for candidates to raise their hands if they couldn’t commit to supporting whomever the Republican nominee might be and who might consider running as an independent. It yielded what was, no doubt, the intended result: Trump, stage center, standing alone, hand raised, wondering why he should “respect” anyone given his position in the race. (“I’m, you know, talking about a lot of leverage.”)
Maybe that’s when he decided that the moderators didn’t like him. Megyn Kelly asked about his tendency toward misogynistic insults: “You’ve called women you don’t like ‘fat pigs,’ ‘dogs,’ ‘slobs,’ and ‘disgusting animals.’ ” Trump interrupted to say that it was “only Rosie O’Donnell”—an unparalleled moment in drive-by ad-hominem debate attacks. But O’Donnell (who tweeted, “try explaining that 2 ur kids”) wasn’t the woman in front of him, and so, after barking something about political correctness, he said, “And honestly, Megyn, if you don’t like it, I’m sorry. I’ve been very nice to you, although I could probably maybe not be, based on the way you have treated me.”
Trump did make it clear that, if Trump were the nominee of the Republican Party, he would support Trump. The debate opened with a call for candidates to raise their hands if they couldn’t commit to supporting whomever the Republican nominee might be and who might consider running as an independent. It yielded what was, no doubt, the intended result: Trump, stage center, standing alone, hand raised, wondering why he should “respect” anyone given his position in the race. (“I’m, you know, talking about a lot of leverage.”)
Maybe that’s when he decided that the moderators didn’t like him. Megyn Kelly asked about his tendency toward misogynistic insults: “You’ve called women you don’t like ‘fat pigs,’ ‘dogs,’ ‘slobs,’ and ‘disgusting animals.’ ” Trump interrupted to say that it was “only Rosie O’Donnell”—an unparalleled moment in drive-by ad-hominem debate attacks. But O’Donnell (who tweeted, “try explaining that 2 ur kids”) wasn’t the woman in front of him, and so, after barking something about political correctness, he said, “And honestly, Megyn, if you don’t like it, I’m sorry. I’ve been very nice to you, although I could probably maybe not be, based on the way you have treated me.”
Aug 6, 2015
I work in PR --- Tristan Verran
ANGRY WOMAN AT HOLLAND PARK TUBE: - 'I work in PR and, like, sometimes I have to work weekends, like, I mean, I wouldn't go on strike. I think it's just, like, sOOOOOOooo selfish!"
ME: "That's because if you went on strike nobody would care..."
ANGRY WOMAN AT HOLLAND PARK TUBE: - "Actually, I play, like, a pivotal role in cosmetic marketing, so, like, yeah..."
ME: "HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH!"
Jul 26, 2015
Jul 23, 2015
Phaedrus in the Symposium
This is the Phaedrus part of our version of the Symposium, which we put up here temporarily (we'll explain later):
(Phaedrus)
Panel 2:
PH, in upper corner (half-stylized?),
blending into the next panel
PH: Eros is a great and
wonderful god…
Panel 3:
Chaos as background, Gaia
rising, Eros hovering overhead
Pictures
PH (cut into the panel, speechifying (arms raised)): Eros is a great
and wonderful god, for he is one of the oldest gods. Hesiod says that Chaos
came first---followed by Gaia, and Eros…
CAPTION (bottom): Hesiod
goes on: “…who is the most beautiful among the immortal gods. He is the
dissolver of care, he who overpowers the mind and the thoughtful council of
gods and humans alike.”
Panel 4:
Dark background, PH stylized
(black and white), holding on to a canted erastes-eromenos scene that borders
into the next panel.
PH: Eros is also the source
of the greatest benefits. I know of no greater blessing for a young man than to
have a good lover, and for a lover, to have a beloved.
Jul 14, 2015
The analysis of the psycho
This is just for the record. There's a new neologism, finally, sort-of, and we need to justify it by a fragment, yes, a fragment of some text where it appears, the neologism.
And here it is. Michael answered a anthology call for Jules Verne fan fiction with an erotic twist----nothing to do with the Green Eyes, so far, but he'll somehow manage that the
And here it is. Michael answered a anthology call for Jules Verne fan fiction with an erotic twist----nothing to do with the Green Eyes, so far, but he'll somehow manage that the
Analysis of the Psycho
will somehow appear on the pages of a forthcoming installment of the Green Eyes.
For the time being, however, you have to do with a few paragraphs from our short story The Darker Side of Lunar Engineering.
Here goes:
(Hold on, let's explain...The call was for Jules Verne fan fiction with an erotic twist. So we're in Jules Verne's From the Earth to the Moon, and one of the main characters of that story, Michel Ardan, sets the record straight:)
(Hold on, let's explain...The call was for Jules Verne fan fiction with an erotic twist. So we're in Jules Verne's From the Earth to the Moon, and one of the main characters of that story, Michel Ardan, sets the record straight:)
(Hold on, Michel Ardan managed to happen upon Dr. Sigmund Freud in the meantime, whom he has invited to Haussner's, a historic Baltimore restaurant (now closed), in the vicinity of the Baltimore Gun Club, the originator of the plan of a lunar voyage:)
We walked the twenty minutes to the restaurant, Freud
still holding on to the pointer, and when we arrived thither he knew everything
about my mother, father, penis, gardener Hérault, Hérault’s penis, and (my) refractory
period (the minimal lapse time between two male ejaculations—Freud made
appreciative noises).
“What is your problem, then,” he asked while we were
being seated (he had deposited the pointer in the corner) at yesterday’s table
below Franklin’s portrait. “You have no need for sexual amnesty.” So I
explained about my crush on Barbicane—the flood-gates were open anyhow—interrupting
myself only when the waiter approached or the lady at the next table adjusted
her ear trumpet (which was often). During those intervals I learned that Freud
had traveled hither in the footsteps of Oscar Wilde, the Irish poet who had
built his career on the notoriety afforded him by a lecture tour across the New
World. “I want to make a name for myself,” Freud said, “I have designs for a revolutionary
theory of the human psyche based on sexuality. They are on the drawing board, my
plans, but one day they shall bloom, and the analysis of the psycho shall rule
the world.” As he said this his stare rose to the Franklin above us, and—you
guessed right—the founding father returned the attention, impatient lips
softening, eyes smiling, head cocking a bit. He even managed to effect a minor
toss with his bad-hair-day hair, Franklin, I swear.
Freud, unimpressed, lowered his gaze back to me and
resumed the conversation. “I am still in the exploratory phase of my work, but
I can advise you that sexuality is not only fundamental, it is also malleable. The
sex drive, libido I call it, is best
compared to hunger, a faceless urge that will consume anything and everything
when starved, like a ravenous beast. A ravenous beast.”
“We have supped well,” Freud continued after an
introspective pause—his stare now directed at the empty plates of the afters
course—“but we have not”—the stare wandering to the pointer in the corner
which, under his attention, appeared to grow in girth and size—“we have not
fucked for hours. Would you not say?”
I motioned the waiter and settled the bill.
Jul 12, 2015
Why Conservatives are wrong --- because they are always wrong (2)
Let's not forget:
For anybody born after 1970: this was a Southern Lynch Brigade in full armor.
And, yes, God's word worked to protect them (we quote):
"After two non-consecutive terms as governor, Bilbo won a U.S. Senate seat campaigning against “farmer murderers, corrupters of Southern womanhood, [skunks] who steal Gideon Bibles from hotel rooms” and a host of other, equally colorful foes. In a year where just 47 Mississippi voters cast a ballot for a communist candidate, Bilbo railed against a looming communist takeover of the state — and offered himself up as the solution to this red onslaught.
Ku Klux Klan |
For anybody born after 1970: this was a Southern Lynch Brigade in full armor.
And, yes, God's word worked to protect them (we quote):
"After two non-consecutive terms as governor, Bilbo won a U.S. Senate seat campaigning against “farmer murderers, corrupters of Southern womanhood, [skunks] who steal Gideon Bibles from hotel rooms” and a host of other, equally colorful foes. In a year where just 47 Mississippi voters cast a ballot for a communist candidate, Bilbo railed against a looming communist takeover of the state — and offered himself up as the solution to this red onslaught.
Spot the difference --- Plato's Symposium (3)
By popular demand: here's the next painting, one that's spot on when it comes to Plato's Symposium. It's by Raphael and depicts The School of Athens, i.e., Plato's Academy, the first university in the world.
Jul 11, 2015
Jun 30, 2015
"How I tried to seduce Socrates" --- Plato's Symposium (1)
Michael is working on the text side of a comic strip/graphic novel about Plato's Symposium. Yes, the philosopher, and, yes, the canonical text on male homosexuality since more than 2,000 years.
Not easy, actually, the work. You have to condense the text ruthlessly (19 k words in English translations) and somehow maintain authenticity. Deep thoughts are occasionally expressed and need to be conveyed---the text also provides, ironically, the basis (or pretext) for the Renaissance-idea of Platonic love.
You know about the Symposium ("banquet"), right? A choice of Athenian characters---including Aristophanes (the leading antique writer of comedy), Agathon (a writer of tragedies) Alcibiades (the city's leading bad boy cum politician at the time), and Socrates---gather to celebrate Agathon's victory in the drama competition of 416 BC two days ago. They had partied all night the previous day, they are laboring under a serious hangover, and somebody thinks it would be wise to drink less. How do you do that? Eryximachus, the attending physician, has the idea that you should praise Eros; everybody should give and encomium about the God of Love. And so they do.
Here's our condensed rendering of the arrival of Alcibiades, Socrates is about to finish his speech (this is done per panel, so the same speaker may appear sequentially):
Not easy, actually, the work. You have to condense the text ruthlessly (19 k words in English translations) and somehow maintain authenticity. Deep thoughts are occasionally expressed and need to be conveyed---the text also provides, ironically, the basis (or pretext) for the Renaissance-idea of Platonic love.
You know about the Symposium ("banquet"), right? A choice of Athenian characters---including Aristophanes (the leading antique writer of comedy), Agathon (a writer of tragedies) Alcibiades (the city's leading bad boy cum politician at the time), and Socrates---gather to celebrate Agathon's victory in the drama competition of 416 BC two days ago. They had partied all night the previous day, they are laboring under a serious hangover, and somebody thinks it would be wise to drink less. How do you do that? Eryximachus, the attending physician, has the idea that you should praise Eros; everybody should give and encomium about the God of Love. And so they do.
Anselm Feuerbach: Alcibiades arrives at the banquet, Agathon welcoming him (click for a larger image, please) |
Here's our condensed rendering of the arrival of Alcibiades, Socrates is about to finish his speech (this is done per panel, so the same speaker may appear sequentially):
Socrates: This is what I wanted to say, O Phaedrus; call it an encomium of love, or anything else. (Applause)
Aristophanes gets up, wants to say something, is interrupted by…
WHERE IS AGATHON! (Big EXPANDING letters (voice)):
Alcibiades (appears in door): Hail friends.
Alcibiades: I’m excessively drunk already, but I’ll drink with you, if you will.
Alcibiades (removing ribands from his hair fillet): If not, I’ll leave after I crowned Agathon, for which purpose I came.
(Everybody): Stay, stay.
Aristophanes gets up, wants to say something, is interrupted by…
WHERE IS AGATHON! (Big EXPANDING letters (voice)):
Alcibiades (appears in door): Hail friends.
Alcibiades: I’m excessively drunk already, but I’ll drink with you, if you will.
Alcibiades (removing ribands from his hair fillet): If not, I’ll leave after I crowned Agathon, for which purpose I came.
(Everybody): Stay, stay.
Jun 29, 2015
Jun 26, 2015
Why conservatives are wrong...
...because they are always wrong.
Viz:
Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. 393 (1857) People of African descent that are slaves or were slaves and subsequently freed, along with their descendants, cannot be United States citizens. Consequently, they cannot sue in federal court. Also, slavery cannot be outlawed in the western territories before they access statehood.
Which side do you think the Conservatives took?
Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896) Segregated facilities for blacks and whites are constitutional under the doctrine of separate but equal.
Which side do you think the Conservatives took?
Self-explanatory
And here are a few words from today's decision, composed by Justice Anthony Kennedy:
"No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right."
"From their beginning to their most recent page, the annals of human history reveal the transcendent importance of marriage. The lifelong union of a man and a woman always has promised nobility and dignity to all persons, without regard to their station in life. Marriage is sacred to those who live by their religions and offers unique fulfillment to those who find meaning in the secular realm. Its dynamic allows two people to find a life that could not be found alone, for a marriage becomes greater than just the two persons. Rising from the most basic human needs, marriage is essential to our most profound hopes and aspirations."
"The nature of injustice is that we may not always see it in our own times. The generations that wrote and ratified the Bill of Rights and the Fourteenth Amendment did not presume to know the extent of freedom in all of its dimensions, and so they entrusted to future generations a charter protecting the right of all persons to enjoy liberty as we learn its meaning. When new insight reveals discord between the Constitution’s central protections and a received legal stricture, a claim to liberty must be addressed."
Jun 22, 2015
Jun 21, 2015
Jun 11, 2015
Christopher Lee (1922 - 2015)
(This is a deep post in a literal sense, so don't hesitate to scroll down:)
“To be a legend, you’ve either got to be dead or excessively old!” |
Anything the Green Eyes have to add to this? They usually do. So, just for starters, John's last name, Lee, is not a coincidence, as we'll learn early on in Part II ("This is heaven"):
(Chapter 3, John narrating): Let me get this in before the plot thickens: it’s a good thing that Alice (“Dr. Dyke”) heads an emergency room, since only people who’ve seen it all are able to sit as if nothing has happened next to a forty-five year old man—slight, Caucasian, symmetrical features except for the nose—who’s wearing a pair of Bavarian leather shorts with an image of an aroused Christopher Lee (the actor, fangs) emblazoned on the crotch part of said garment. (I’m a bit disingenuous here. These shorts, I’ve seen them before with the image of Richard Wagner in place of Christopher Lee. They are part of a Richard-Wagner-themed merchandize line, Godehart’s business; he’s from Germany and family of the composer, somehow).
Godehart has noticed my glance, points with one index finger in the direction of his adult parts, and asks “Family?”
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