Dr. John's Journal

Video Clip of the Day

2009-12-29T16:19:00.002-07:00

Back in the 1930s, there was a whole raft of great character actors whose presence always enlivened the films they were in, no matter how mediocre the rest of the movie might be. There was a sub-class of these character actors comprised of hefty old guys like Edward Arnold, Charles Coburn and Walter Connolly who usually played someones father or boss. My particular favorite in this category is the gravelly voiced Eugene Pallette, who was especially memorable in My Man Godfrey, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Lady Eve, and maybe especially as Friar Tuck in The Adventures of Robin Hood with Erroll Flynn. Here's a clip of the latter to give you some idea of what a great actor he was:

The Last Movie I Saw

2009-12-29T15:56:00.003-07:00

I've been a big fan of the work of Joel and Ethan Coen ever since their first film Blood Simple. I count several of their movies-- Raising Arizona, Miller's Crossing, O Brother Where Art Thou?-- among my all-time favorites. Even the few times they didn't hit a home run (like with The Hudsocker Proxy), I was always willing to concede that they'd tried something interesting. But now they've made a film that left me cold, a film that seemed as misanthropic as many critics have long seen as a staple of their filmography, but which I always thought was tempered by at least some genuine affection for their offbeat protagonists (maybe best symbolized by Marge Gunderson in Fargo, or The Dude in The Big Lebowski). A Serious Man though betrays no such affection: the main character, evidently cursed by the sins of his ancestors, while superficially a nice enough guy is so emotionally disconnected from his family and neighbors as to render his escalating series of misfortunes as something akin to justice. It's not exactly that he deserves everything he gets, but there's little offered here to allow the audience to develop some heartfelt sympathy for the guy. There's a fair amount of the trademark Coen archness on display (especially in relation to the adventures of the protagonist's son) to spark some dark laughter, but in the end this movie just left a bitter taste in my mouth. I'm sure I'll watch it again, and maybe something will click (it took a second viewing for me to really enjoy The Big Lebowski) , but at the moment this seems a disappointment.

Today's Quotation

2009-12-29T15:49:00.005-07:00

Today's quotation comes from the eminent American (though Spanish-born) man of letters, George Santayana (1863-1952):

"A string of excited, fugitive, miscellaneous
pleasures is not happiness; happiness resides
in imaginative reflection and judgment, when
the picture of one's life, or of human life, as it
truly has been or is, satisfies the will,
and is gladly accepted."

A Plug and a Video

2009-12-28T16:00:00.002-07:00

If you are a fan of Sonic Youth (or just good music in general), you might want to pick up the latest issue of The Big Takeover (best music mag published in this country, by miles and miles) which just came out with the aforementioned band on the cover. And if you are not a fan of Sonic Youth, maybe this video will make you one:

The Last Book I Read

2009-12-28T15:32:00.003-07:00

Last summer I was somewhat surprised at just how much I enjoyed reading The Music of Pythagoras by Kitty Ferguson, a book largely about mathematics. Son of a gun if I haven't just had a repeat experience with Logicomix by Apostalos Doxiadis, Christos H. Papidimitriou, Alecos Papadatos, and Annie Di Donna-- a graphic novel about mathematics. Actually, that description is way incomplete. As the subtitle suggests ("An Epic Search For Truth"), there's a lot more going on here than a dry recitation of theorems and proofs. It's structured in the form of dual plots, each of which addresses how one goes about investigating the nature of truth, and while one of those plots (the more prominent, to be sure) follows the intellectual journey of mathematician, logician, and philosopher Bertrand Russell, the other traces the creative process employed by the authors of the book itself (actually kind of a neat play on one of the points of logic that Russell grapples with: self-reflexivity). In tracing academic debates of the early twentieth century in which Russell was deeply involved, the story threatens to be little more than a graphic summary of the challenges and breakthroughs that defined the field of mathematics during the modern era-- the era that largely made possible the amazing technological advances (both good and bad) that have so dramatically shaped contemporary life. But the concurrent story-- about how to tell Russell's story-- ultimately brings those academic debates down from the ivory tower, and places them into a human scale social setting (in both broad and narrow terms) that provides necessary context for determining the true value of what the great thinkers have accomplished. This book stands as powerful evidence of the confluence of ideas-- scientific, artistic, even mystical-- that contribute to our individual and collective grasp of the truth, no matter how tenuous that grasp may be.

Monday's Quotation

2009-12-28T15:24:00.003-07:00

Walter Lippmann (1889-1974) was possibly the best known editorial journalist in America in the mid-twentieth century. Here's something he wrote that continues to be worth consideration:

"Ages when custom is unsettled are necessarily
ages of prophecy. The moralist cannot teach
what is revealed; he must reveal what can be taught.
He has to seek insight rather than to preach."

Video of the Day

2009-12-27T19:03:00.003-07:00

"Come As You Are" may be my favorite Nirvana song, and Caetano Veloso is definitely one of my favorite singers. The combination of the two, though, is not something that would seem all that natural, but this is pretty darn cool:

What I Did Today

2009-12-27T18:41:00.002-07:00

I spent most of this afternoon up in Lewiston at Artpark with the Rosieks, hiking around the grounds and over by the Niagara Gorge. Here are a handful of the pictures I took, starting with one of Sally, above, dwarfed by some giant cat-tails.

Here we see Natalie, Tom and Andromeda ambling along the leaf-strewn path of the "Upper Trail."

That's the Lewiston Bridge in the background, and Natalie, Ben and Tom in the foreground. Ben was shooting video, and threatened to post some unfortunate footage of me online. But I don't think he knows how, so I should be in the clear (he said, glancing nervously over his shoulder).

Sunday Funnies

2009-12-27T18:10:00.002-07:00

Of all the strips I started reading when I was a kid, I think only Blondie remains essentially the same as I remember it, and continues to be entertaining. These examples here are of the strip as drawn by its creator Chic Young, who I believe passed away sometime in the 1970s. But Blondie and Dagwood roll on, running through the same half-dozen or so themes that have marked the plotlines for something like 80 years.

There's the knocking-over-the-mailman bit; the asking-the-boss-for-a-raise bit; the neighbor-borrowing-the-tools bit; the midnight-snack-as-a-work-of-art bit; etc. etc. I wouldn't argue that these are laugh out loud funny, but there's something about their total familiarity that brings a smile to my face, even three or four generations of creators past Young's tenure on the strip.

Of course, a few things have changed over the years: when Dagwood knocks over the mailman these days it's because he's racing to catch his carpool instead of the bus. And of course Blondie now has a career of her own as a caterer. But it's nice to see something in popular culture remain largely unchanged over such a long period of time without becoming entirely irrelevant.

I wonder if Dagwood will still be bumbling along eighty years from now?

Soup Diary 091227

2009-12-27T17:55:00.003-07:00

I really like eating at Greek restaurants, because no matter what else is or isn't on the menu you can generally get a cheap and tasty chicken souvlaki. The downside is that most of the Greek places I frequent (they are all over the place in Buffalo and environs) have a pretty limited selection of soups, rarely straying beyond a couple of staples. One of those staples is Avgolemono, a lemon flavored chicken and rice, and too often (for my taste) it's too tart. Not so much the cup I had at a place called Kostas a couple days ago; in fact, their version could've almost passed for a dessert, as the consistency and flavor called to mind a warm lemon pudding. The downside was that there was no chicken to be found, but all things considered, I think I'd make that trade-off. It was nice and hot, creamy and flavorful, and frankly better than I expected. It still won't be my first choice if there are other options, but at least at Kostas I'll order it again without that feeling of settling for something I'm not really fond of.

Philosophical Sunday

2009-12-27T17:49:00.002-07:00

Ludwig Wittgenstein was so convinced that money corrupted whoever had it, that he gave away his considerable fortune to his already wealthy sisters (instead of someone more deserving) since they were already too far gone for it to make a difference in them. You might want to take that into account when considering the following quote from Herr Wittgenstein:

"Death is not an event in life: we do not live
to experience death. If we take eternity to
mean not infinite temporal duration but
timelessness, then eternal life belongs to
those who live in the present."

Cool Song

2009-12-26T19:40:00.002-07:00

Here's a classic from the Kinks that wasn't written by Ray Davies. Rather, his brother Dave (featured in this here video) was the composer. Just one classic among many on the fantastic album Something Else by the Kinks:

Saturday Morning Cartoon

2009-12-26T19:28:00.002-07:00

Clutch Cargo was definitely second tier in terms of the cartoons I watched as a kid; but it was animated and on TV, so watch I did. Here's a sample-- note the crazy technique they employed to make the faces appear to actually be talking:

Saturday's Words of Wisdom

2009-12-26T19:20:00.002-07:00

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) was a British mathematician and philosopher who sought to discover place logic at the center of human knowledge. Here's a sample of the way he thought:

"If a man is offered a fact which goes against his instincts,
he will scrutinize it closely, and unless the evidence is
overwhelming, he will refuse to believe it. If, on the
other hand, he is offered something which affords a
reason for acting in accordance with his instincts,
he will accept it even on the slightest evidence.
The origin of myths is explained this way."

One Last Holiday Post

2009-12-25T21:14:00.002-07:00

I always liked this rendition of "Winter Wonderland" performed with lots of good cheer (if not the greatest of vocal talents) by the original cast of Saturday Night Live with guest Candace Bergen. See if this doesn't make you smile-- at least for the angelic band-members:

Friday Family Blogging Quiz

2009-12-25T21:00:00.004-07:00

This week's question involves the above cropped photo of Raechelle. Actually, Raechelle isn't cropped, but the person sitting to her left is entirely cut out. Who do you think the cropee may be? Put your answers in the comments section.

Last week, I asked you where a photo of Nik was taken. As usual, this turned out to be much easier than I hoped, as Sally knew it was the Teddy Roosevelt Inauguration Site, and Mom corroborated (though neither mentioned the place's actual name: the Wilcox Mansion). I think this week's question is a little more open in terms of the possibilities (no tell-tale pillars or the like), so have at it.

More Christmas Family Blogging

2009-12-25T20:31:00.003-07:00

Here are a couple of shots from the celebration today at the Rosieks (I was also at the Caufields earlier, but brought my camera without a flashcard-- D'oh!).

Here's Mom relaxing before the action started under the tree.

Nicky and Helen got some really big stuffed dogs (Emma got a big bear), which were a big hit.

Ben's new Wii game was pretty popular too.

More Friday Family Blogging, Christmas Edition

2009-12-25T07:10:00.000-07:00

From 1969, I'm guessing we were inspired by either the Cowsills or the Partridge Family. Alas, we never made it as far as those other sibling groups. By the way, I really wish Catie weren't partially obscured, as it appears from her expression that she was really wailing on those drums!

Friday Family Blogging

2009-12-25T05:05:00.000-07:00

Ah yes, the Ghost of Christmas Past-- why is it that only Lizzie seemed to notice that spectral presence hovering over our heads?

Christmas Quote

2009-12-25T05:00:00.002-07:00

Merry Christmas to all my readers old and new. Here's a sentiment from the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (looks a little like Santa, doesn't he?) in keeping with the occasion:

"I heard the bells on Christmas Day;
their old familiar carols play,
and wild and sweet the word repeat
of peace on earth, goodwill to men!"

A Couple of Photos

2009-12-24T19:21:00.004-07:00

I haven't had the opportunity to get out and take too many pictures so far on my travels, but today at sunset the light drew me down to the Niagara River where I shot these two that I think turned out okay (they're un-retouched as I don't have access to any editing software at the moment).

I'm still getting used to my new camera, but I'll keep experimenting and hopefully have more to share in the coming weeks.

A Song for the Season

2009-12-24T19:19:00.002-07:00

Here's a video you may have seen before as it circulates every year about this time. But it's certainly good enough to bear up under repeat viewings. Enjoy:

Quote of the Day

2009-12-24T18:55:00.002-07:00

Somehow it seems appropriate to look to English author Charles Dickens (perhaps most famous for A Christmas Carol, for today's words of wisdom. Here they are:

"A wonderful fact to reflect upon, that every
human creature is constituted to be that
profound secret and mystery to every other."

Video for Natalie

2009-12-23T22:13:00.002-07:00

I'm guessing she's already seen this, maybe more than once, but in honor of Natalie's birthday, here's a video of one of her favorite artists (have I got that right Natalie?):

Happy Birthday Natalie!

2009-12-23T21:07:00.005-07:00

Yesterday was my niece Natalie's 15th birthday, and I wish I had got this posted in time to mark the occasion. But considering that we celebrated this evening with cake and presents (because Natalie was at a school dance last night) I guess I'm still within the acceptable grace period with this post. By the way, the picture above is not from this evening's get-together.

I have to say that spending time with Natalie is always one of the best parts of coming home, whether playing kickball in the backyard or cards around the table...

... or just hanging out. I've gotten such a kick out of watching her grow up into such a lovely, smart, and funny young lady, and I'm really looking forward to hearing about all the new things she continues to discover and experience as time goes by.

It's great to see how much she gets along with her younger cousins, and even her brother Ben ;-)

... and how she generally tries to make the best of any situation...

... even putting up with my recommendations about music she might like, dragging her to concerts (I think, deep-down, she might even admit she enjoyed that Amy Rigby show last summer).

Like most teenagers, she's got her own things to do, but it's nice that she makes some time to do stuff with the family too, and I think mostly has a good time when she does.

So, happy birthday Natalie-- you deserve to have every day be special, and I really hope that's the way they all turn out.