“A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate…” – Einstein I read something the other day by John Polkinghorne. I wont get into the obvious debate re: physicists-turned-priests or things like the Templeton prize, and I’m not suggesting, by mentioning Polkinghorne, that he and Einstein held similar philosophies. But I do want to
Browsing category brain snacks
“There is, after all, something eternal that lies beyond reach of the hand of fate and of all human delusions.” – Einstein There’s not a whole lot one can do with ancient Aramaic or Koine Greek except be Indiana Jones or get a diploma in theology and religion. I wanted the former. I got the
In one way or another, the protagonists of Wise Blood, Lolita, On the Road, Franny and Zooey, and The Crying of Lot 49 all have their sanity called into question, and various abnormal mental states (religious enthusiasm, drug hallucinations, and so forth) potentially compromise their rational faculties. Discuss the theme of madness in one of
“My subject is War, and the pity of War. The Poetry is in the pity.” – Wilfred Owen Wilfred Owen – Poetry of The Great War Wilfred Owen (whom I adore…exceedingly) was a British poet and soldier who signed up for the Artists’ Rifles in 1915. He was known for his shocking, realistic war poetry
In 1952 Nabokov was invited to Harvard by Professor Harry T. Levin and others as a visiting professor. He taught an undergraduate lecture course in the novel and did research on Pushkin in Widener Library. It was during this period that his son Dmitri was an undergraduate at Harvard, and that the Poetry Room recorded
Matthew Parker was a figure of the English Reformation and a benefactor to the University of Cambridge. An avid book collector who salvaged medieval manuscripts dispersed at the dissolution of the monasteries, his greatest tangible legacy is his library of manuscripts and early printed books (which span more than a thousand years) entrusted to Corpus
The Euro’s brother is an insanely talented artist. I have a theory that in a past life he painted whatever it was da Vinci painted over in that Milanese noodle hall. So, there’s that. In this life, he’s also a director. Watch one of his programs, The Thin Blue Line
Once, in an intimate moment, my sister looked at me and said: “Don’t judge me.” She followed this with: “I think Donald Trump is Sexy.” I didn’t, of course. Judge. How could I? Growing up, Walter Matthau was my Backstreet Boy. I also think Stephen Wolfram is all kinds of hot. If you don’t already
If I were born calm and, you know, smart, I would have wanted to be a physicist. It would have made for nice balance. But I wasn’t. I came into the world hyper and full of stress. So I write. It’s where I find my peace. When I was a kid I loved Einstein, because
Before he became “The Darcy to End All Darcys” the ridiculously talented and RADA-trained Matthew Macfadyen contributed to the DVD ‘Essential Poems (To Fall In Love By)’. A naughty little someone has posted his readings to YouTube. I am very glad of it. W.B. Yeats. When You Are Old. Read by Matthew Macfadyen. William Carlos
Every literature or creative writing course I’ve ever taken has addressed this topic: Britishness. What does it mean to be British? Do we do the same thing in The States? I don’t think so. (I never did.) But I’ve never taken a literature/writing course on U.S. soil. So, maybe… Zadie Smith was the first writer
MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW) is a web-based publication of virtually all MIT course content – lecture notes, exams, videos, etc. It’s not a degree-granting or credit-bearing initiative but it is a publication of the course materials. Which works well for someone like me who has no practical use for things like the Essentials of Geophysics but
