Wow …

… The Best of Mexico City

Hmm …

… “When Robert Frost was Bad” or How a 21st Century Critic reads Poetry (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

From somewhere on the Yough …

… Chinese Restaurant.

One refrains from swatting the fly …

… … When one has lived a long time alone

A note to readers …

i am having technical problems with Blogger. I also have a serious doctor's appointment this afternoon. so I won't be blogging for awhile.

A poem for this morning …

… John Miles —Escape Story

Interesting …

… Trump Names COVID Contrarian to Head NIH, Restore Faith in Science In 1928 , Dr. Alexander Fleming was investigating the properties of Staphylococcus bacteria. He grew some in a petri dish before leaving for vacation. When he got back, a strange mold had attacked the bacteria, destroying it. He noticed the mold seemed to be preventing the bacteria around it from growing. He correctly deduced that the mold must have been secreting a substance that acted as a self-defense chemical. Fleming also had some good luck. The preferred lab animals at the time were dogs. but for some reasonreason, none were available at the tupime. so he had to settle on white rats. Luckily for him and us. dogs are allergic to penicillin. White rats react as we do. hHence, we have penicillin.

A poem for this morning |

… Emily Fragos — The Suicide of Cesare Pavese

Sounding the alarm …

… One of the most famous orations of the Cold War

Appreciation …

… In Loving Memory of Alexander Waugh

I’m certainly not …

… Who’s Afraid of Tom Wolfe? (Hat tip, Dave Lull.) He seemed very nice when I met him at the White House when I was the Inquirer's book editor. Laura Bush had invited us to talk to some school kids.

Dark brown is the river …

… Where go the boats.

Remembering …

Paul Davis On Crime: A Look Back At 'The Onion Field,' The Book The Late Joseph Wambaugh Said He Was Born To Write

Keeping the light on late at night …

… Searching

Remembering First Time

… Congressman on the cover in 1923

Worth noting …

… Battle beings with first amphibious landing of U.S. Marines

How interesting …

Irish flourish at the New Yorker (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Appreciation …

Maugham the Master - Chronicles [Hat tip, Dave Lull.) Maugham happens to be one of my favorire authors. Of course, I'm so old, I remember watching the TV show of his stories that was on in the early '50s, which he appeared on.

Q&A …

… Dana Gioia is one of the world’s greatest living poets. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Appreciation …

Gene%20Hackman%u2019s%20Unsentimental%20Grit%20-%20WSJ (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

RIP …

… Joe Wambaugh Dies

A must read

Reining In District Courts - by Glenn Harlan Reynolds Glenn knows what he's talking about.

Mark th calendar …

Events | Center for the Art of Translation | Two Lines Press

We’re all in danger …

… Assaulted by AI (Hst tip, Dave Lull)

Being too full of sleep to understand …

… How far the unknown transcends the what we know<

A lesson worth learning …

… A Christian Message in ‘Inside Out 2’? The Surprising Lesson Found in the Popular Disney Film Who we are is not about what we do, not about what we own, and not about what we accomplish. Who we are is really about whose we are.

A poem for this morning …

… João Cabral de Melo Neto — The Word Silk

Centenary …

… The New Yorker and the American Voice. [Hat tip, Dave Lull)

It looks brand new …

… Even though it must be sixty years old

It starts again soon …

… The controversy of Daylight Savings Time. (Hst tip, Dave Lull.)

Worth remembering …

… IMPROBABLE

A poem for this morning …

… A. Alvarez — The Vigil

Stay up late …

… Life is too short to sleep through

James Agee’s poetry …

Hometown Literary Hero | Chapter 16 (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

His darker themes …

%u2018Love%20and%20Need%u2019%20Review%3A%20Robert%20Frost%u2019s%20Dark%20Journey%20-%20WSJ (Hat tip,Dave Lull.)

A poem for this morning …

… Alice Mattison — During the Night

Short changed?

… The tally of years added up so rapidly

Worth remembering …

… Unforgettable Moments in Baseba

The man behind the diary …

The Humming Poet | V.S. Pritchett | The New York Review of Books [Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Disappointed …

zmkc: What I Have Been Reading Lately: The Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazzard (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

One night stand …

… Notorious Moose Murders.

Only yesterday …

… Ah, yes, I remember it well

Hmm …

Stephen%20King%20Is%20Proud%20Maine%20Gov.%20Janet%20Mills%20Will%20Fight%20to%20Let%20Men%20Bully%20Women%20%u2013%20Twitchy No guy better try mess with my daughters. He'll learn very quickly what it's like run into a guy whomstarted life in North Philly — and is the son of a cop.

See ya …

7%20celebrities%20planning%20to%20leave%20the%20US%20after%20Trump%u2019s%20election%20win%20%u2013%20from%20Cher%20and%20Only%20Murders%20in%20the%20Building%20star%20Eva%20Longoria%2C%20to%20Sophie%20Turner%2C%20trans%20actress%20Laverne%20Cox%20and%20America%20Ferrera%20%7C%20South%20China%20Morning%20Post

RIP …

… Geoff Nicholson obituary (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Makes perfect sense to me …

… Nonsense Song

Only yesterday …

… Secret peace talks begin in Paris

Pretending …

… Getting Old.

A poem for this morning …

… Rowan Ricardo Phillips — Over the Counties of Kings and Queens Came the Second Idea

Kazuo Ishiguro

 

It had been quite some time since I last read a novel by Kazuo Ishiguro, but over the past week, for whatever reason, I found myself reading -- and enjoying -- An Artist of the Floating World. 

This is one of Ishiguro's earliest novels, and while it may not be as evolved as Remains of the Day, say, it is a succesful work in its own right. Much of that success owes, in my estimation, to Ishiguro's narration: this is book which embarks on a series of tangents and asides, and for every step forward, there are several backward or to the side. The result, though, is not confusion: it is a holistic sense for the primary character, his history and evolution, and his relationships with family and friends.

If I had a critique of Floating World it would focus on its politics: Ishiguro flirts with Japan's imperial past and its authoritarian governments leading to the Second World War. But he never fully exposes this: his characters reference the war -- and Japan's eventual defeat -- but they do so from a distance: all of the politics here are cloaked in generalities or innuendo. It is the art which seems to draws Ishiguro's attention.

I recognize, of course, that Floating World was not strictly intended as a political novel: nor, specifically, as a history of Japan. Instead, it is a novel about reputation, apprenticeship, and advancement. Ishiguro's central character -- the aging Masuji Ono -- represents the arch of artistic fulfillment. (That fulfillment may have achieved a sort of transcendence, but it is also checkered with regret and contrition.) At the same time, however, Ono represents the sum of his memories, which take him from one story to the next. I hesitate to use the word "fractured" -- because that is not what this is novel is about: instead, it is about, perhaps, the potential for memories to come together to forge something profound: something approaching identity. 

An Artist of the Floating World has lots of interesting things to say about art and its interplay with personal identity (and yes, politics too). This is an eminently readable novel worthy of thought and reflection.

Searching …

… Important date in the history of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Just so you know …

Dakota Fanning - The American Conservative (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

A poem for this morning …

… May Sarton — Rinsing the Eye

Growing old

… A Goddam Stone Wall You Butt Your Head Into. I turn 84 in October. My view is the same as Bette Davis's: "Growing old sure in hell ain't for sissies."

Launching his career …

… Groundbreaking theory about human speech.

Golden anniversay …

… A HOUSE CALLED TOMORROW- FIFTY YEARS OF POETRY

Good news …

… Lost and Found: A Newly Discovered Poem by Robert Frost | The New Yor… [Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

It’s late…

… Wake, butterfly—

RIP …

… Counterculture author Tom Robbins, known for his irreverent bestselling novels, dies at 92 (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Annoying, to say the least …

if they want to have all sorts of crap prior to the Superbowl,fine. but how about keeping it pre-game. it is nearly 6:30.

Time passes …

… Hitting The Links: 2/9/25

Change …

… Post critic Michael Dirda turns a page

Forgive me …

… I have eaten the plums.

A poem for this motning …

… Imants Ziedonis — from Epiphanies.

Pivotal moments …

… A Retired Sergeant's Unofficial History Of The Philadelphia Police Department

Not exactly charming …

… Kingsley Amis. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.' Amis was always misogynistic and chauvinistic. Take a Girl Like You, for example, published in 1960, is about how the arrogant Patrick Standish is “justified” in behaving as he behaves if the female in question, Jenny Bunn, is beautiful and provocative.

Sounds like a good idea …

… Give the National Endowment for the Arts Back to the Public (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Sad …

… Epistle to a Former Friend (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Rumbling through the dark city …

… I saw the figure 5 in gold

Enjoy …

Chicory and daisies …

… Flowers by the sea

A poem for this motning

… Acquainted With the Night — by Robert Frost (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Of course they can …

… Can Bad People Do Good Work (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Listen in …

… Episode 624 – Witold Rybczynski

Interesting question …

… Donald Trump, the libertarian President?

Complete destruction …

… It was an icy day when we buried the cat

Just so you know …

… AI-Generated Slop Is Already In Your Public Library

Pondering a classic …

… A Look Back at the James Bond Film "You Only Live Twice"

A poem for this morning …

… Nikos Engonopoulos — Four and Ten Subjects for a Painting

All the complicated details …

… Wise trees sleeping in the cold

The tempo of a master …

… The meteoric rise of Louis Armstrong [playlist]. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Another poem …

… For Mohamed Bzeek. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Margaret Atwood’s “February” …

… Time to eat fat and watch hockey.

A poem for this morning …

… Daniel Tiffany — Sappho’s Tantrum

Another ignorant legislator ~

I just saw a video of Maryland congressman Jamie Raskin going on about how Congress created USAID. JFK created it by executive order. Hence, it can be ended by executive order.

News from Nevada …

… The day that Samuel Clemens became Mark Twain.

Appraisal …

… 12 Novels Considered the “Greatest Book Ever Written”.

Appraisal.

… Tyler Cowen on Atlas Shrugged (Hat tip, Dave Lull)

A poem for this morning …

… Molly Bendall — Thin Air

There are many things to be done today …

… inaction of shoes.

Today’s hero …

… 6 Facts About Groundhog Day That Bear Repeating.

The right fellow for the Bard …

… Shakespeare with Van Doren (Hat tip, Dave Lull,

Chance encounter …

… Daimon With a Black Hand

This they apparently do not welcome …

… Finality in sparrowdom

Tough job …

… “I Was Hounded, Day In, Day Out”

A poem for this morning …

… Carol Frost — Ardors

Special occasion …

… Old age, I’m told, has a discernible odor.

Oh my …

… Plane crash in Northeast Philadelphia leaves multiple houses on fire, causes explosion. i grew up not far from North Philly airport. My brother worked there for awhile. Can't recall anything kike this happening back then.

Pathetic …

… British university puts trigger warning on Greek mythology for ‘distressing’ content. They've only been around for more than two millenia.

Been there…done that…

… I have looked down the saddest city lane