April 2010
206 posts
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“Alle volte uno si crede incompleto ed è soltanto giovane.”
– (Il Visconte Dimezzato, cap. 10) byronic :: mad bad and dangerous to know
(via bingoparaphernalia, iskah)
“‘Sometimes you think you’re incomplete, when in fact you’re only young.”
— Italo Calvino
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“My leaves have drifted from me. All. But one clings still. To remind me. Lff! So...”
– James Joyce, Finnegan’s Wake; a beautiful sentence which scholar Carol Schloss believes came from Joyce’s insane daughter, Lucia, who died in an asylum after some forty years institutionalized. It does have a special cadence.
Lucia, a dancer and a danger, a lover of Samuel Beckett, also famously...
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“Thinking of you is hopeful;
It is like listening to a beautiful song.
From the...”
– And what would you sing? This is the poem “Thinking of you” by Nazim Hikmet. Pablo Neruda writes about how Hikmet once sang:
Accused of attempting to incite the Turkish navy into rebellion, Nazım was condemned to the punishments of hell. The trial was held on a warship. He told me he was forced to...
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ecantwell asked: You may have said this somewhere already. But: what's your favorite translation of the Divine Comedy? (Other than your own project!!)
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Disparition du philosophe et historien Pierre... →
- Le Magazine-Litteraire
walkwhilereading-deactivated201 asked: Chris do you know if that Clive James piece you spoke of is anywhere online?
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“It is indeed becoming more and more difficult, even senseless, for me to write...”
– Samuel Beckett, “Letter to Axel Kaun” (poursoi) (via zunnny) (via invisiblestories)
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Iranian Homosexuals Carve out a Refuge in Turkey →
seaofgreen:
Homosexuality is punishable by death in Iran, and human rights groups estimate some 4,000 gays have been executed since the Islamic revolution in 1979.
The atmosphere has only gotten more tense since the arrival in power five years ago of hard-liner Ahmadickejad , who famously proclaimed in a 2007 speech at Columbia University that there are no homosexuals in his country. An...
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Spiegel: The Bravest Man in Iran; A Visit with... →
seaofgreen:
Almost a year after the apparently manipulated Iranian presidential election, the regime has largely succeeded in silencing the opposition. But leading reformist cleric, Mahdi Karroubi, remains undaunted and continues his criticism of the government and has now announced new protests.
They have taken almost everything from him. In a bid to neutralize him, they have banned his...
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WatchPour yourself a superb beverage, and devote the next 7 minutes to a viewing. It’s highlight footage of every Galapagos sea creature you need.
Very much enough said.
(Thank you Kateopolis!)
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“But I would like to make it clear that if any ideas are to be found in what I...”
– Jorge Luis Borges (via thebronzemedal)
Thank you to thebronzemedal for this quotation. A fine one. There are many more gems to be found in the interview from which this quotation was culled. Even better, you can listen to an audio broadcast of the interview.
I will leave you with another...
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Robert Reich: Obama's Supreme Court Nomination,... →
As the President ponders who he’ll nominate to the Supreme Court, it occurred to me that my Senate testimony against the confirmation of John Roberts in September 2005 might be of some use in thinking about the kind of person America needs in that office, and who it doesn’t. Herewith:
***
How…
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Argentina aims to rediscover a love of books →
From BBC News: Tales of reading, hotels, cafes, Borges, Cortazar, Garcia Lorca, and government schemes.
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quaranta giorni
40 days in Italian: the span of time the Venetian doge’s council required returning voyagers from Asia to spend in enforced isolation. (This was in 1348, at the height of the bubonic plague.)
From which—“quaranta giorni”—we get the word “quarantine.”
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walkwhilereading-deactivated201 asked: Chris I came to your blog just recently through Mills. I just wanted to say its really informative and shots of wiffle ball are always a bonus. All the best.
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