tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-140132192024-03-14T03:10:36.579-07:00Search for EmesEmes is the Yiddish word for truth. Truth is hard to find.e-kvetcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11235994048517019317noreply@blogger.comBlogger1295125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14013219.post-70787295206788717492016-12-15T15:03:00.002-08:002016-12-15T15:03:22.188-08:00The Doomed City - Nicholas Roerich<img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7e/Roerich_GradObr.jpg/300px-Roerich_GradObr.jpg" />e-kvetcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11235994048517019317noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14013219.post-32884108108027881092015-12-10T06:52:00.002-08:002015-12-10T06:53:22.721-08:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ib9OdQG-VDs/VmmQbTozQxI/AAAAAAAAAls/kO977T5B55o/s320/Pirosmani_kutezh.jpg" />"Both the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamada" target="_blank">tamada</a> and the other guests are expected to propose a toast to every person at the Georgian table. Every speaker tries to distinguish the most interesting, original and praiseworthy features of a person toasted. The Georgians do not consider this flattery, but a way to encourage the good traits. <span style="font-size: large;">They believe when a person is told that he is kind and honest he will find it difficult to do evil; when he is told he is generous he will try not to be greedy</span>."</div>
<br />
[The painting - <em>Begos' Friends </em>- by Niko Pirosmani] - Side Note (from Wikipedia) <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Pirosmani is known in Russia for the legend of a romantic encounter with
a French actress who visited his town; he was deeply in love with her,
to demonstrate it he sold his house and bought her enough flowers to
fill the square in front of her hotel window (allegedly bankrupting
himself).</blockquote>
<br />
<br />e-kvetcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11235994048517019317noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14013219.post-52669456437500027132015-08-25T09:19:00.003-07:002015-08-25T09:20:41.525-07:00Best Book Review Ever?<b>Lobster, by Guillaume Lecasble, translated by Polly McLean (Dedalus, £6.99)</b>
This is part of a new series from Dedalus, the publisher of odd stuff, called Euro Shorts, which the publisher defines as "short European fiction which can be read from cover to cover on Euro-star or on a short flight." Well, if you are going to start with Lobster, you are going to have an interesting journey.
<p>
As you will not believe me if I summarise the book's plot myself, permit me to quote the first paragraph of the blurb. I assure you this is not idleness; it is to establish maximum veracity. "Aboard the Titanic, Lobster watches Angelina devour his father, before being plucked out of the aquarium himself. Just as he is put in the boiling pot, the ship hits the iceberg and the pot is thrown to the floor. Lobster survives, with some changes; he finds himself sexually attracted not only to a human, but to the very human who ate his father. He gives her one life-changing orgasm before their tragic separation, following an ugly incident in one of the lifeboats."
<p>
You are now probably saying one of two things. "You have got to be kidding," or, more urbanely, "French, is it?" No and yes. I am not kidding, and, yes, it is indeed French. It could be nothing else. Moreover, all the events described above have taken place by page 24; we have not even got to the frankly appalling incident on page 32 when Angelina makes an ill-fated attempt to reproduce Lobster's amatory prowess with another, less gifted crustacean.
<p>
[<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2005/jul/09/featuresreviews.guardianreview33?CMP=share_btn_tw">Full article here</a>]e-kvetcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11235994048517019317noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14013219.post-57390791881934555742015-06-12T11:46:00.004-07:002015-06-12T11:46:50.546-07:00Grzegorz Brzęczyszczykiewicz<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GlOoSsfU6cM?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>e-kvetcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11235994048517019317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14013219.post-47185417949667849752015-06-09T21:40:00.001-07:002015-06-09T21:41:04.357-07:00A jelly doughnut, a stream of bat's piss and a dose of clap<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3tagEIRYALU/VXeejMQDdUI/AAAAAAAAAlQ/skxMgfJbQj0/s1600/640px-The_Peacock_Room_%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="262" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3tagEIRYALU/VXeejMQDdUI/AAAAAAAAAlQ/skxMgfJbQj0/s400/640px-The_Peacock_Room_%25282%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
The Peacock Room was originally designed as a dining room in the townhouse located at 49 Prince's Gate in the neighbourhood of Kensington in London, and owned by the British shipping magnate Frederick Richards Leyland. Leyland engaged the British architect Richard Norman Shaw to remodel and redecorate his home. Shaw entrusted the remodelling of the dining room to Thomas Jeckyll, another British architect experienced in the Anglo-Japanese style.<br />
<br />
Jeckyll conceived the dining room as a Porsellanzimmer (porcelain room).
He covered the walls with 6th-century wall hangings of Cuir de Cordoue that had been originally brought to England as part of the dowry of Catherine of Aragon. They were painted with her heraldic device, the open pomegranate, and a series of red roses, Tudor roses, to symbolise her union with Henry VIII. They had hung on the walls of a Tudor style house in Norfolk for centuries, before they were bought by Leyland for £1,000. Against these walls, Jekyll constructed an intricate lattice framework of engraved spindled walnut shelves that held Leyland’s collection of Chinese blue and white porcelain, mostly from the Kangxi era of the Qing dynasty.
To the south of the room, a walnut welsh dresser was placed in the centre, just below the large empty leather panel, and flanked on both sides by the framework shelves. On the east side, three tall windows parted the room overlooking a private park, and covered by full-length walnut shutters. To the north a fireplace, over which hung the painting by American painter James McNeill Whistler, Rose and Silver: The Princess from the Land of Porcelain, that served as the focal point of the room. The ceiling was constructed in a pendant panelled Tudor-style, and decorated with eight globed pendant gas light fixtures. To finish the room, Jekyll placed a rug with a red border on the floor.<br />
<br />
Jeckyll had nearly completed his decorative scheme when an illness compelled him to abandon the project. Whistler, who was then working on decorations for the entrance hall of Leyland’s house, volunteered to finish Jeckyll's work in the dining room. Concerned that the red roses adorning the leather wall hangings clashed with the colours in The Princess, Whistler suggested retouching the leather with yellow paint, and Leyland agreed to that minor alteration. He also authorised Whistler to embellish the cornice and wainscoting with a "wave pattern" derived from the design in Jeckyll's leaded-glass door, and then went to his home in Liverpool. During Leyland's absence however, Whistler grew bolder with his revisions.<br />
<br />
"Well, you know, I just painted on. I went on ―without design or sketch― it grew as I painted. And toward the end I reached such a point of perfection ―putting in every touch with such freedom― that when I came round to the corner where I started, why, I had to paint part of it over again, as the difference would have been too marked. And the harmony in blue and gold developing, you know, I forgot everything in my joy in it."
—James McNeill Whistler<br />
<br />
Upon returning, Leyland was shocked by the "improvements." Artist and patron quarrelled so violently over the room and the proper compensation for the work that the important relationship for Whistler was terminated. At one point, Whistler gained access to Leyland's home and painted two fighting peacocks meant to represent the artist and his patron, and which he titled "Art and Money: or, The Story of the Room".
Whistler is reported to have said to Leyland, "Ah, I have made you famous. My work will live when you are forgotten. Still, per chance, in the dim ages to come you will be remembered as the proprietor of the Peacock Room."<br />
<br />
The dispute between Whistler and Leyland did not end there. In 1879, Whistler was forced to file for bankruptcy, and Leyland was his chief creditor at the time. When the creditors arrived to inventory the artist’s home for liquidation, they were greeted by The Gold Scab: Eruption in Frilthy Lucre (The Creditor), a large painted caricature of Leyland portrayed as an anthropomorphic demonic peacock playing a piano, sitting upon Whistler’s house, painted in the same colours featured in the Peacock Room. He referenced the incident again in his book, <i>The Gentle Art of Making Enemies</i>. Adding to the emotional drama was Whistler's fondness for Leyland's wife, Frances, who separated from her husband in 1879. Another result of this drama was Jeckyll who, so shocked by the first sight of his room, returned home and was later found on the floor of his studio covered in gold leaf; he never recovered and died insane three years later.<br />
<br />
Having acquired The Princess from the Land of Porcelain, American industrialist and art collector Charles Lang Freer, anonymously purchased the entire room in 1904 from Leyland's heirs, including Leyland's daughter and her husband, the British artist Val Prinsep. Freer then had the contents of the Peacock Room installed in his Detroit mansion. After Freer's death in 1919, the Peacock Room was permanently installed in the Freer Gallery of Art at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. The gallery opened to the public in 1923.
<br />
[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Peacock_Room" target="_blank">source</a>]e-kvetcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11235994048517019317noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14013219.post-22383371585868691592015-05-05T11:21:00.001-07:002015-05-05T11:21:17.567-07:00Admiral of the Narrow SeasFound this on line: <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/5402/pg5402.html" target="_blank">1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue</a>:<br />
<br />
My favorite may be:<br />
<br />
ADMIRAL OF THE NARROW SEAS. One who from drunkenness<br />
vomits into the lap of the person sitting opposite to<br />
him. SEA PHRASE.e-kvetcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11235994048517019317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14013219.post-8518880470613139512015-04-29T07:45:00.001-07:002015-04-29T07:45:33.314-07:00Deutschland, 1933<span style="font-weight: bold;">Let others speak of her shame, <br />I speak of my own. <br /><br />O Germany, pale mother! <br />How soiled you are <br />As you sit among the peoples. <br />You flaunt yourself <br />Among the besmirched. <br /><br />The poorest of your sons <br />Lies struck down. <br />When his hunger was great. <br />Your other sons <br />Raised their hands against him. <br />This is notorious. <br /><br />With their hands thus raised, <br />Raised against their brother, <br />They march insolently around you <br />And laugh in your face. <br />This is well known. <br /><br />In your house <br />Lies are roared aloud. <br />But the truth <br />Must be silent. <br />Is it so? <br /><br />Why do the oppressors praise you everywhere, <br />The oppressed accuse you? <br />The plundered <br />Point to you with their fingers, but <br />The plunderer praises the system <br />That was invented in your house! <br /><br />Whereupon everyone sees you <br />Hiding the hem of your mantle which is bloody <br />With the blood <br />Of your best sons. <br /><br />Hearing the harangues which echo from your house, <br />men laugh. <br />But whoever sees you reaches for a knife <br />As at the approach of a robber. <br /><br />O Germany, pale mother! <br />How have your sons arrayed you <br />That you sit among the peoples <br />A thing of scorn and fear!
</span><br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><br />
<div align="right">
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Bertold Brecht</span></div>
e-kvetcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11235994048517019317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14013219.post-52967658713475410742015-04-14T12:48:00.000-07:002015-04-14T12:52:56.260-07:00Pistols at DawnIt is common knowledge that the great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin was killed in a duel by the French military officer Georges d'Anthès, who happened to be his own brother in law. Pushkin accused him of having an affair with his wife, Natalya.<br />
<br />
I've always heard the duel framed as essentially a murder - unlike d'Anthès, Pushkin was not a soldier. Furthermore, the situation has always been framed as something Pushkin had to do to save face. <br />
<br />
Then I found this list. I think some people just have it coming.<br />
<br />
1816. Pushkin challenges his own uncle, Pavel Gannibal to a duel.<br />
Cause: Pavel "stole" a lady at a ball away from the 17-year-old Pushkin.<br />
Outcome: The duel was cancelled.<br />
<br />
1817. Pushkin challenges Petr Kaverin, his friend, to a duel.<br />
Cause: Kaverin composed some mocking poems.<br />
Outcome: The duel was cancelled.<br />
<br />
1819. Pushkin challenges the poet Kondratiy Ryleev.<br />
Cause: Ryleev tells a joke about Pushkin in a salon.<br />
Outcome: The duel was cancelled.<br />
<br />
1819. Pushkin challenged by his friend Wilhelm Küchelbecker. Ironically, Küchelbecker's most famous poem is an elegy on Pushkin's death.<br />
Cause: Mocking poems about Küchelbecker, specifically the use of his name as an adjective in the phrase "feeling küchelbeckerish and nauseaus"<br />
Outcome: Wilhelm fired at Pushkin. Pushkin did not shoot.<br />
<br />
1819. Pushkin challenges Modest Korf, a civil servant in the Ministry of Justice.<br />
Cause: Pushkin's servant was drunk and was bothering Korf's servant, who beat him up.<br />
Outcome: The duel was cancelled.<br />
<br />
1819. Pushkin challenges Major Denisevich.<br />
Cause: Pushkin was acting provocatively in the theater, yelling at the actors and Denisevich criticized him.<br />
Outcome: The duel was cancelled.<br />
<br />
1820. Pushkin challenges Fedor Orlov and Alexei Alexeyev.<br />
Cause: Orlov and Alexeyev criticised Pushkin for being drunk while playing billiards and bothering the other players.<br />
Outcome: The duel was cancelled.<br />
<br />
1821. Pushkin challenges Avis DeGuilly, an officer of the French service.<br />
Cause: A quarrel with unclear circumstances.<br />
Outcome: The duel was cancelled.<br />
<br />
1822. Pushkin is challenged by Lt. Colonel Semyon Starov.<br />
Cause: Fought over the restaurant band in the casino where they were both gambling.<br />
Outcome: Both fired and both missed.<br />
<br />
1822. Pushkin challenges 65 year old civil councilor Ivan Lanov.<br />
Cause: Quarrel during a celebratory dinner.<br />
Outcome: The duel was cancelled.<br />
<br />
1822. Pushkin challenges the Moldavan nobleman Todor Balazs, the owner of the manor where he was a guest.<br />
Cause: Balazs' wife Maria did not answer a question of Pushkin's politely enough.<br />
Outcome: Both fired and both missed.<br />
<br />
1822. Pushkin challenges Skartl Prunkulo, a Bessarabian landowner.<br />
Cause: Both served as seconds at a duel and could not agree on the rules of the duel.<br />
Outcome: The duel was cancelled.<br />
<br />
1822. Pushkin challenges Severin Potocky. <br />
Cause: Dinner discussion about serfdom.<br />
Outcome: The duel was cancelled.<br />
<br />
1822. Pushkin is challenged by staff captain Rutkovsky.<br />
Cause: Pushkin did not believe that a hail ball could weigh three pounds and laughed at the retired captain.<br />
Outcome: The duel was cancelled.<br />
<br />
1822. Pushkin challenged the wealthy Kishinev merchant Inglezy.<br />
Cause: Pushkin was sexually harassing his wife, the gypsy Lyudmilla Shekora.<br />
Outcome: The duel was cancelled.<br />
<br />
1822. Pushkin was challenged by ensign of the General Staff Alexander Zubov.<br />
Cause: Pushkin caught Zubov cheating in a game of cards.<br />
Outcome: Zubov fired and missed, Pushkin refused to shoot.<br />
<br />
1823. Pushkin challenges young writer Ivan Rousseau.<br />
Cause: Personal animosity towards him.<br />
Outcome: The duel was cancelled.<br />
<br />
1826. Pushkin challenges Nicolai Turgenev, one of the leaders of the Union of Salvation, member of the Northern Society. <br />
Cause: Turgenev denounced Pushkin's poems, especially his epigrams.<br />
Outcome: The duel was cancelled.<br />
<br />
1827. Pushkin is challenged by artilery officer Vladimir Solomirsky.<br />
Cause: A certain lady named Sophia in whom Pushkin expressed an interest.<br />
Outcome: The duel was cancelled.<br />
<br />
1828. Pushkin challenges National Education minister Alexander Golytsin.<br />
Cause: Pushkin wrote a daring epigram about the minister and in return the minister questioned him extensively.<br />
Outcome: The duel was cancelled.<br />
<br />
1828. Pushkin challenges the secretary of the French embassy in St. Petersburg, Lagrene.<br />
Cause: Unknown lady at a ball<br />
Outcome: The duel was cancelled.<br />
<br />
1829. Pushkin challenges Khvostov, an official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.<br />
Cause: Khvostov expressed his displeasure at Puhkin's epigrams, particularly the ones where Pushkin compares Khvostov to a pig.<br />
Outcome: The duel was cancelled.<br />
<br />
1836. Pushkin challenges Prince Nicolai Repin.<br />
Cause: Repin was unhappy about Pushkin's poem about him.<br />
Outcome: The duel was cancelled.<br />
<br />
1836. Pushkin challenges Semyon Khlyustin, an official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.<br />
Cause: Khlyustin was unhappy about Pushkin's poem about him.<br />
Outcome: The duel was cancelled.<br />
<br />
1836. Pushkin challenges Vladimir Sologub.<br />
Cause: Unpleasant comments about Pushkin's wife Natalya.<br />
Outcome: The duel was cancelled.<br />
<br />
1836-37. Pushkin challenges French officer Georges d'Anthès .<br />
Cause: Anonymous letter which stated that Pushkin's wife was unfaithful to him with d'Anthès.<br />
Outcome: Pushkin is wounded in the abdomen. ies of his wound January 29, 1837e-kvetcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11235994048517019317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14013219.post-47261650765477405092015-04-13T10:52:00.006-07:002015-04-13T11:41:18.973-07:00If there is a man on the moon, he's probably an Anti-Semite<blockquote class="tr_bq">
By the end of 1909, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel_Zangwill" target="_blank">Zangwill</a> had failed in all of his much-publicized efforts to find land to house an autonomous Jewish polity. When told that "a politically virgin territory can be found only in the moon," he responded, "Not even there, I fear. For there is a man in the moon, and he is probably an Anti-Semite."</blockquote>
<br />
[<a href="http://www.amazon.com/In-Shadow-Zion-Promised-Before/dp/1479817481" target="_blank">In the Shadow of Zion: Promised Lands Before Israel</a>]e-kvetcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11235994048517019317noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14013219.post-27046558052737971252015-04-09T13:59:00.001-07:002015-04-09T13:59:34.991-07:00Gastronomical Perversion, et al.I dedicate this paragraph to <a href="http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">ATBOTH</a>, who runs a blog at the intersection of gastronomy and sex:
<br />
<blockquote>
Let us approach the matter by asking whether we can imagine anything that would qualify as a gastronomical perversion. Hunger and eating are importantly like sex in that they serve a biological function and also play a significant role in our inner lives. It is noteworthy that there is little temptation to describe as perverted an appetite for substances that are not nourishing. We should probably not consider someone's appetites as perverted if he liked to eat paper, sand, wood, or cotton. Those are merely rather odd and very unhealthy tastes: they lack the psychological complexity that we expect of perversions. (Coprophilia, being already a sexual perversion, may be disregarded.) If on the other hand someone liked to eat cookbooks, or magazines with pictures of food in them, and preferred these to ordinary food- or if when hungry he sought satisfaction by fondling a napkin or ash- tray from his favorite restaurant-then the concept of perversion might seem appropriate (in fact it would be natural to describe this as a case of gastronomical fetishism). It would be natural to describe as gastronomically perverted someone who could eat only by having food forced down his throat through a funnel, or only if the meal were a living animal. What helps in such cases is the peculiarity of the desire itself, rather than the inappropriateness of its object to the biological function that the desire serves. Even an appetite, it would seem, can have perversions if in addition to its biological function it has a significant psychological structure. </blockquote>
[<a href="http://faculty.cbu.ca/sstewart/phil205/nagel%20perversion.pdf" target="_blank">Source</a>]e-kvetcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11235994048517019317noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14013219.post-72336987697708795132015-03-19T12:04:00.001-07:002015-03-19T12:04:25.068-07:00Everything's Awesome and Camille Paglia is Unhappy!Great interview!<br />
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/88_3AhU0-B0?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>e-kvetcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11235994048517019317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14013219.post-7613665718190577822015-02-27T07:38:00.002-08:002015-02-27T07:38:28.635-08:00<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“In homosexual sex you know exactly
what the other person is feeling, so you are identifying with the other
person completely. In heterosexual sex you have no idea what the other
person is feeling.”</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: right;">
-William S Burroughs</div>
<div align="left" style="text-align: right;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I think there is a fallacy among human beings that just because we have certain physical and mental characteristics in common, we can unerstand how another human being feels and thinks. I am pretty much convined that it is not so. I believe human belings can be grouped along certain dimensions, and people in the same group have a better chance of understanding each other.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I cannot understand people who lie. It's not I've never resorted to lying, but for me it is something that I force myself to do if necessary. And it drains me emotionally and physically. But it seems to me that it really comes naturally to many people, and they enjoy it. Furthermore, there is a group of people, who when they discovered someone has lied to them, seem to take it in stride. Which I guess makes sense. If they are liers as well, they understand that it's just part of doing business. It IS the human condition for them.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Huh.</div>
e-kvetcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11235994048517019317noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14013219.post-59284842006605805472015-02-26T10:59:00.003-08:002015-02-26T11:01:57.985-08:00Sidney Morgenbesser, NYPD, and the Categorical Imperative<a href="http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sidney_Morgenbesser" target="_blank">Morgenbesser</a> was leaving a subway station in New York City and put his pipe in his mouth as he was ascending the steps. A police officer told him that there was no smoking on the subway. Morgenbesser pointed out that he was leaving the subway, not entering it, and hadn't lit up yet anyway. The cop again said that smoking was not allowed in the subway, and Morgenbesser repeated his comment. The cop said, "If I let you do it, I'd have to let everyone do it." Morgenbesser replied, "Who do you think you are, Kant?" The word "Kant" was mistaken for a vulgar epithet and Morgenbesser had to explain the situation at the police statione-kvetcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11235994048517019317noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14013219.post-20380257922163433162015-02-20T07:26:00.002-08:002015-02-20T07:26:16.561-08:00Some oldies, but goodiesQ: What did Germany inherit from Marx<br />
A: East Germany - the Communist Manifesto, West Germany - Capital.<br />
<br />
Q: Is Communism a science?<br />
A: No, if it were, they would have tried it on dogs first.<br />
<br />
A lecturer is saying that Communism is on the horizon. Someone asks: What is the horizon?<br />
The lecturer answers, it's an imaginary line where heaven meets earth, and which constantly moves away from us as we try to get closer to it.<br />
<br />e-kvetcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11235994048517019317noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14013219.post-84867853339692756262015-02-19T07:21:00.000-08:002015-02-19T07:21:17.949-08:00Oath of Fealty of the Aragonese Lords to their Monarch<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><i>We, who are as good as you,<br />
swear to you, who are no better than us,<br />
to accept you as our king and sovereign,<br />
provided you observe all our liberties and laws,<br />
but if not, no.</i></b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Catalans' sense of otherness — the separation,
cultural and institutional, from the rest of Spain — comes through loud
and clear in the oath of allegiance their leaders swore to the Aragonese
kings in the 15th century... . Catalans have always waxed lyrical over
their medieval defiance of kingship and railed against 'centralism' —
rule by Madrid. Their political history is one long rebuke to the
dominant ideology of Europe: that of the nation-state that subsumes<i><b> </b></i>and
represses cultural differences within it.</span></span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Barcelona</i>, by Robert Hughes</span> </span><b><i> </i></b></span></span></div>
e-kvetcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11235994048517019317noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14013219.post-35546224738362712015-02-17T10:01:00.004-08:002015-02-17T10:01:49.266-08:00"Ex opere operato" and geirutInteresting - recently there has been a lot of discussion in the Jewish world about whether conversions can be invalidated retroactively if it is found out that the beis din may not have been kosher. e.g. after the Barry Freundel mikvah scandal.<br />
<br />
Apparently the Catholic church dealt <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ex_opere_operato">with a very similar issue</a>:<br />
<br />
<i><b>Ex opere operato</b></i> is a Latin phrase meaning "from the work worked" referring to the efficacy
of the Sacraments deriving from the action of the Sacrament as opposed
to the merits or holiness of the priest or participant. In modern usage,
the phrase often refers to the idea that sacraments are efficacious in
and of themselves rather than depending on the attitude either of the
minister or the recipient. For example, Confirmation might be held to
bestow the Holy Spirit regardless of the attitude of both the bishop and
the person being confirmed.<br />
In antiquity, the idea led to a schism among the Donatist Christians. The Donatists held that "one of the three bishops who had consecrated Caecilian was a traditor", and therefore, Caecilian's consecration was invalid.
They furthermore held "that the validity of such an act depended on the
worthiness of the bishop performing it" and Caecilian and his followers
"responded that the validity of the sacraments and of other such acts
cannot be made to depend on the worthiness of the one administering
them, for in that case all Christians would be in constant doubt
regarding the validity of their own baptism or of the communion of which
they had partaken."<br />
Today, according to the teaching of the Catholic Church, to make the fruits of the sacraments requires that a person be properly disposed. This means use of sufficient grace
via the sacraments is not automatic. There must be, at least in the
case of an adult, an openness to use the sufficient grace which is
available in a sacrament. When the recipient is properly disposed, the sufficient grace of the sacrament is efficacious.<br />
This principle holds that the efficacy of the sacrament is a result, not of the holiness of a priest or minister, but rather of Christ Himself who is the Author (directly or indirectly) of each sacrament. The priest or minister acts "in persona Christi" (in the person of Christ) even if in a state of mortal sin.
Although such a sacrament would be valid, and the grace efficacious, it
is nonetheless sinful for any priest to celebrate a sacrament while
himself in a state of mortal sin.<br />
The principle of <i>ex opere operato</i> affirms that while a proper
disposition (openness) is necessary to exercise the efficacious grace in
the sacraments, it is not the <i>cause</i> of the sufficient grace.
Catholic Christians believe that what God offers in the sacraments is a
gift, freely bestowed out of God’s own love. A person's disposition, as
good as it may be, does not automatically bring God's blessing.<br />
In the Anglican Communion, the principle of "ex opere operato" is made conditional upon worthy reception. Article XXVI of the Thirty-nine Articles (<i>Of the unworthiness of ministers which hinders not the effect of the Sacrament</i>)
states that the ministration of the Word (Scripture) and sacraments is
not done in the name of the priest or minister and that the efficacy of
Christ's sacraments is not taken away, nor God’s grace diminished by the
sinfulness of clergy. This is because sacraments have their efficacy
due to Christ’s promise to His Church.e-kvetcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11235994048517019317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14013219.post-56419324168842288562015-02-17T06:55:00.002-08:002015-02-17T06:55:45.705-08:00Fifty Shades on Socialist Feminism<a href="http://laurie-penny.com/fifty-shades-of-socialist-feminism/">Pretty funny stuff</a>, actually...
<br />
<br />
After I send in my preliminary report, Christian Grey turns up at my work unannounced.<br />
‘I can’t stop thinking about you, Emma,” he says, “I feel like you
really see me. Like you know parts of me nobody has ever known before.’<br />
‘That’s because nobody has ever taken a detailed look at your overseas tax holdings before.’<br />
‘I’d like to take you to dinner, but first you have to sign this non-disclosure agreement.”<br />
“I’m signing nothing,” I say. “Come back with a detailed breakdown of your payroll and we can talk.”<br />
Christian Grey fixes me with a penetrating stare, like he wants to beat fifty shades of shit out of me.<br />
“Stay away from me, Emma,” he says, “I’m dangerous.”<br />
“Alright,” I say, “Get the hell out of my office, I’ve got work to do.”e-kvetcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11235994048517019317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14013219.post-59930481926247853522015-02-06T07:49:00.001-08:002015-02-06T07:51:23.916-08:00Victoria Hanna- Aleph-bet (Hosha'ana) <iframe width="460" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Bl1epz3tSSA?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<br />
Translation from the Jewish Standard article:<br />
<br />
Man and beast<br />
Flesh, spirit and soul<br />
Sinew, bone and skin<br />
Likeness and image - a tapestry<br />
Splendor resembling futility<br />
Compared to images of beasts<br />
Luster, figure and stature<br />
Renew the face of the earth<br />
Planting trees in desolate lands<br />
Winepresses and stacks of grain<br />
Vineyards and sycamores<br />
To the demarcated land<br />
To heal with powerful rains<br />
To give life to forsaken refuse<br />
To sustain with vegetation<br />
To enhance with sweet fruits<br />
To invigorate with flowers<br />
To rain on the sproutlings<br />
To pour a stream of cool waters<br />
To cloak with droplets<br />
To elevate the thirsty earth<br />
Which is suspended on silence<br />
<br />
Lord who saves<br />
Other than You there is no Savior<br />
You are powerful and abundantly able to save<br />
I am impoverished<br />
Yet You shall save me<br />
God is the Savior<br />
God delivers and saves<br />
Those who cry to You - save<br />
Those who yearn for You - save<br />
Satisfy Your lambs<br />
Cause an abundance of crops, of trees, of vegetation - save<br />
Let the wind bring the soaring clouds<br />
Let the stormy rains roll in<br />
Let the clouds not be withheld<br />
God who opens a hand and satisfies Your thirsty ones - satisfy<br />
Your callers - save<br />
Your beloved - save<br />
You seekers - save<br />
Your wholesome ones - save e-kvetcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11235994048517019317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14013219.post-3393857453472833332015-02-06T07:46:00.000-08:002015-02-06T07:46:44.329-08:00Allahu Akbar<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mk0j0lk69G8/VNThy71XnjI/AAAAAAAAAkY/vmmbkj1K1Jo/s1600/Artemisia_Gentileschi_-_Judith_Beheading_Holofernes_-_WGA8563.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mk0j0lk69G8/VNThy71XnjI/AAAAAAAAAkY/vmmbkj1K1Jo/s320/Artemisia_Gentileschi_-_Judith_Beheading_Holofernes_-_WGA8563.jpg" /></a>e-kvetcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11235994048517019317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14013219.post-948009246247246192014-12-31T11:17:00.000-08:002014-12-31T11:17:17.060-08:00New Year Musical InterludeWell, maybe it is time to rev up the blog posts???<br />
<br />
Here's a musical number I've been listening to...<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/4IUvBXCzeCU?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>e-kvetcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11235994048517019317noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14013219.post-10052739943461154412014-04-28T12:06:00.002-07:002014-04-28T12:06:23.470-07:00Ramen, take me away!Found this weird picture. And then it reminded me of this <a href="http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/tlg/4419333787.html" target="_blank">Craigslist </a>ad:<br />
<br />
<h2 class="postingtitle">
Woman to sit in my bath tub full of ramen noodles (brooklyn)
</h2>
<section class="userbody">
<div class="mapAndAttrs">
<div class="bigattr">
compensation: <b>$175 PT</b></div>
</div>
<section id="postingbody">
I will pay you $175 to sit in my bath tub full of ramen noodles wearing a bathing suit<br />
<br />
I will not be home, nor will anyone else while you do this.<br />
<br />
I will give you the keys while we meet, and you will go to my apartment thereafter.<br />
<br />
It will require a 30 minute soak.<br />
<br />
The noodles will be cooked and therefore slippery.<br />
<br />
Do not bring any sauce. I will season the sauce after I get home prior to dinner.
</section>
<ul class="notices">
<li>do NOT contact me with unsolicited services or offers</li>
</ul>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0XZSPowtwx4/U16moknDj_I/AAAAAAAAAkI/C4LQ35x6Qew/s1600/ramen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0XZSPowtwx4/U16moknDj_I/AAAAAAAAAkI/C4LQ35x6Qew/s1600/ramen.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
</section>e-kvetcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11235994048517019317noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14013219.post-33630755479420000422014-03-26T11:51:00.001-07:002014-03-26T11:51:24.658-07:00Poklonskaya rules the UniverseOne personality who emerged out of the Crimean situation is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natalia_Poklonskaya" target="_blank">Natalia Poklonskaya</a> - a former mid-level functionary in the Crimean justice system who was appointed Attorney General after Crimea was taken over by Russia.<br />
<br />
Here is Natasha's picture:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qqMbnmwyw90/UzMgb6YrGOI/AAAAAAAAAjo/uUKS4ScqaIQ/s1600/Natalia_Poklonskaya_conference_screenshot_crop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qqMbnmwyw90/UzMgb6YrGOI/AAAAAAAAAjo/uUKS4ScqaIQ/s1600/Natalia_Poklonskaya_conference_screenshot_crop.jpg" height="282" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
When one of her press conferences were broadcast in Asia, something amazing happened. The blond hair, the large expressive eyes, and the military uniform literally drove the manga obsessed Japanese insane. It's as if one of their comics came to life. The rest is Internet history.<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
A video clip of the press conference was uploaded by a Japanese poster onto YouTube; in English it was titled 'New Attorney General of Crimea is beautiful', in Japanese the title stated 'Too beautiful'. The clip (which featured no translation) quickly racked up more than 300,000 YouTube views within a day. She went viral in not only Japan, but also China, while receiving coverage from Chinese news outlets like China News Service and Guangming Online. She was noted to have been discussed on 4chan, Reddit, the Chinese microblog service Weibo, and the Russian social network Vkontakte.<br />
Following her press conference, an onslaught of anime-style moe fanart of Poklonskaya was created and uploaded to the internet, most notably on the Japanese artwork-sharing website Pixiv. This was reported by major Russian media outlets like Voice of Russia, Russia Today, and Rossiyskaya Gazeta, as well as international media outlets like BBC News and Bloomberg News. Natalia has stated in an interview with Komsomolskaya Pravda that since she is often busy with her everyday work, her daughter keeps track of all her online fanart for her.<br />
Following the flood of Poklonskaya fanart, numerous real-life images were discovered on social media sites and also went viral around the world.</blockquote>
Some samples:
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CB1TksP4gjk/UzMhWprTAII/AAAAAAAAAjw/kIUE_ve-WXI/s1600/Natalia_Poklonskaya_by_BonKiru.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CB1TksP4gjk/UzMhWprTAII/AAAAAAAAAjw/kIUE_ve-WXI/s320/Natalia_Poklonskaya_by_BonKiru.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6rYaMOEmAek/UzMhixmDYgI/AAAAAAAAAj4/eyIySPPX4GU/s1600/Natalia_Poklonskaya_fan-art_by_Itachi_Kanade.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6rYaMOEmAek/UzMhixmDYgI/AAAAAAAAAj4/eyIySPPX4GU/s320/Natalia_Poklonskaya_fan-art_by_Itachi_Kanade.jpg" /></a></div>
e-kvetcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11235994048517019317noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14013219.post-38615980912451799262014-03-14T08:05:00.003-07:002014-03-14T08:05:29.103-07:00How to nail a job interview<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8kV0APqqVFc/UyMaq7uziCI/AAAAAAAAAjY/DDxxm4SdzNs/s1600/how-to-nail-a-job-interview.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8kV0APqqVFc/UyMaq7uziCI/AAAAAAAAAjY/DDxxm4SdzNs/s1600/how-to-nail-a-job-interview.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />e-kvetcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11235994048517019317noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14013219.post-3265180100477940252014-03-07T11:07:00.000-08:002014-03-07T11:07:21.610-08:00RevolutionsTo me, one of the most fascinating and terrifying aspects of the the Ukraine situation is the peed with which the revolution happened. Overnight, the government fell in Kiev and chaos ensued. I cannot imagine what it was like to be the regional and city governments, or the police or the armed forces. Do you remain loyal to the "officially elected" government, even though it seems to be no longer in power - do you take matters in your own hands locally?<br />
<br />
Ukraine is a nation of 46 million people; it is in the heart of Europe. At least on the surface it seemed to have a mature government infrastructure. I wonder if the same thing would happen in the US if someone took out the Federal government in DC?<br />
<br />
Some decent op-eds on the UA situation:<br />
<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/henry-kissinger-to-settle-the-ukraine-crisis-start-at-the-end/2014/03/05/46dad868-a496-11e3-8466-d34c451760b9_story.html" target="_blank">Kissinger</a><br />
<a href="http://townhall.com/columnists/stevechapman/2014/03/06/our-irrelevance-in-ukraine-n1804713" target="_blank">Steve Chapman</a><br />
e-kvetcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11235994048517019317noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14013219.post-87132310139478039292014-03-05T15:21:00.001-08:002014-03-05T15:25:21.519-08:00Some thoughts on the Ukraine situation1) Never give up your nukes. After the USSR split up, Ukraine had the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapons_and_Ukraine" target="_blank">third largest nuclear weapons</a> arsenal in the world - more than Britain, France and China combined. They gave them up in exchange for the "Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances" - a pledge by Russia, the UK and the USA to respect Ukraine territorial integrity.<br />
<br />
2) In 1936, Hitler held the Olympic Games in Berlin to show off the new Germany. In 1938, he invaded Austria, Czechoslovakia and Lithuania to "protect the rights" of the "oppressed" German minorities in those countries. In, 2014, Putin mimics his plan...<br />
<br />
3) <a href="http://www.armchairgeneral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2764758" target="_blank">Funny letters</a> to Putin from a guy in the Vologda region of Russia asking for Russian troops to protect the oppressed Russians living there (also from Germany):<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich !!<br />
We learned, that you are going to send troops<br />
to protect Russian speaking people in Crimea.<br />
<br />
Because of this we ask you, <br />
please send troops to Vologoskaja oblast. <br />
My here all are Russian speaking i we are very oppressed.<br />
Our ill people do not have medication,<br />
level of our education is going down,<br />
kindergartens are getting closed,<br />
agriculture is nearly destroyed.<br />
We suffer very much!!<br />
<br />
<br />
With respect and hope for liberation,<br />
Russian speaking citizens of Vologda Oblast.</blockquote>
4) Not so funny, the Czechs and other former <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/03/russias-seizure-of-crimea-is-making-former-soviet-states-nervous/284156/" target="_blank">Warsaw Pact</a> countries are freaked out - they still remember the Prague Spring, I gather.<br />
<br />
5) Saw a funny interview of the unidentified military in Crimea by Ukrainian journalists - oddly enough - the youtube video is now blocked "for copyright infringement"??? This interview is insane - the journalist asks - "Where are you from?" - the guy answers - "Can't you tell, we're Russian". The journalist asks - "Well, what are you doing in the Ukraine?". It's a surreal translation of the French taunter skit from Monty Python - except it's real life. Also funny because the soldier being interviewed is Buryat or Nenets or something, obviously Mongol or something - so when he says he's Russian it's really funny to hear...<br />
<br />
6) Unbelievable how the whole world let the Ukraine down... Obviously there was no expectation of military aid, but even the economic sanctions are now turning out to be complete bullshit. Europe can't afford to lose Russian natural gas. Russia is the second largst market for Pepsi. Shell, BP and others can't afford to lose the oil... So, bye bye Ukraine...<br />
<br />
7) Russian media is outright lying about everything. The other day they had pictures of thousands of Ukrainians fleeing into Russia. Then someone blew up the photos and noticed it was the Polish-Ukrainian border crossing - I guess the easiest way to run to Russia is to first go the other way. <br />
<br />
8) The sad part is that even in this world of iPhone video and twitpics, it seems to make no difference. Just repeat the lie and people eventually believe you. Then you just accuse your opponents of photoshopping...<br />
<br />
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<br />e-kvetcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11235994048517019317noreply@blogger.com0