Kafka and the doll

At 40, Franz Kafka (1883-1924),who never married and had no children, walked through the park in Berlin when he met a girl who was crying because she had lost her favourite doll. She and Kafka searched for the doll unsuccessfully. Kafka told her to meet him there the next day and they would come back to look for her. The next day, when they had not yet found the doll, Kafka gave the girl a letter "written" by the doll saying "please don't cry. I took a trip to see the world. I will write to you about my adventures." Thus began a story which continued until the end of Kafka's life. During their meetings, Kafka read the letters of the doll carefully written with adventures and conversations that the girl found adorable. Finally, Kafka brought back the doll (he bought one) that had returned to Berlin. "It doesn't look like my doll at all," said the girl. Kafka handed her another letter in which the doll wrote: "my travels have changed me." the little girl hugged the new doll and brought her happy home. A year later Kafka died. Many years later, the now-adult girl found a letter inside the doll. In the tiny letter signed by Kafka it was written: "Everything you love will probably be lost, but in the end, love will return in another way."

The Power of Logic

Remember that time when a Philosopher defeated the heavyweight champion and saved the girl?

From 1959 to his retirement in 1978, Sir Alfred held the Wykeham Chair, Professor of Logic at Oxford. He was knighted in 1970. After his retirement, Ayer taught or lectured several times in the United States, including serving as a visiting professor at Bard College in the fall of 1987. At a party that same year held by fashion designer Fernando Sanchez, Ayer, then 77, confronted Mike Tyson who was forcing himself upon the (then) little-known model Naomi Campbell. When Ayer demanded that Tyson stop, the boxer reportedly asked, "Do you know who the fuck I am? I'm the heavyweight champion of the world;" to which Ayer replied, "And I am the former Wykeham Professor of Logic. We are both pre-eminent in our field. I suggest that we talk about this like rational men". Ayer and Tyson then began to talk, allowing Campbell to slip out. [14]

Netflix's Soundtrack, Season One

Stop everything you are doing and watch Soundtrack.

This is Netflix at its finest, and it's good to see again.

Art.
Life.
Love.
Music.

Just Breathe

The Crown Season 3

The Crown
Netflix's gorgeous dramatization of the transformation of the English aristocracy into the modern age takes a brilliant turn with Season 3. Like the times portrayed, the tone is a bit more reflective, the texture of the narrative deeper and more nuanced.

Olivia Colman is absolutely glorious in this role, bringing the emergence of the sovereign into Elizabeth's signature persona, wherein person and crown become unmistakably one. Colman reveals the embodiment of the State beautifully, with a subtlety of craft worthy of the highest accolades.

Men have their tiny fraternity of those who have played King Lear. Now there is a very small but equally erudite sisterhood of those who have worn The Crown.

Well done.

Movies: The Lighthouse

The Lighthouse was a perfectly dark and psychologically weird trip for a rainy November evening. At times I wondered if the two characters were meant to be read as individuals or halves of a broken, repetitive single entity.

Black and White throughout holds the starkness, while the screen limit increases the sense of visual depth, as though there is a bit more distance than the camera would ordinarily impart. I loved these choices. Dialogue light in general, the visuals are the story.  But there are moments when Defoe delivers a soliloquy worthy of any King Lear. Simply gorgeous to behold.

Twisty without any answers, the end feels like a perfect note of finality.

Side note: The glasses have made all the difference! I can see movies again, and it was great to be back in the Grandin Theatre. 

Word of the Day: Sarcasm

Sarcasm

Definition:

: a keen or bitter taunt : a cutting gibe or rebuke often delivered in a tone of contempt or disgust

About the Word:

Sarcasm, that verbal flourish beloved by supercilious people the world over, has the sort of origin that makes other words jealous. It is descended ultimately from the ancient Greek word sarkazein, which means 'to tear flesh like dogs' (or also 'to bite the lips in rage' or 'to speak bitterly').