Most of the big shore places were closed now and there were hardly any lights except the shadowy, moving glow of a ferryboat across the Sound. And as the moon rose higher the inessential houses began to melt away until gradually I became aware of the old island here that flowered once for Dutch sailors’ eyes—a fresh, green breast of the new world. Its vanished trees, the trees that had made way for Gatsby’s house, had once pandered in whispers to the last and greatest of all human dreams; for a transitory enchanted moment man must have held his breath in the presence of this continent, compelled into an aesthetic contemplation he neither understood nor desired, face to face for the last time in history with something commensurate to his capacity for wonder.
And as I sat there brooding on the old, unknown world, I thought of Gatsby’s wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock. He had come a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him, somewhere back in that vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under the night.
Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—to-morrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . . And one fine morning——
So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.
Showing posts with label literature. Show all posts
Showing posts with label literature. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
The Best Passage Ever Written?
Well, probably not. Haven't read that much. There's another one we rather liked and paraphrased once. But this is also very special.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Updates
1. Back in biryani land after extensive and hectic perambulations in parts west and south. Should be around for a few weeks, at least.
2. Flu-like throw-uppy symptoms are manifesting. Consider yourself warned. This is all a cosmic indication that haircut is in order.
3. Chief achievements from last week involved getting on evening rush hour local at Dadar and off at Vikhroli, via 1 nos. oily slime from port side of machli dibba to starboard, during a temporal and spatial lull in the continuum as a gigantic sack was bunged into said dibba. Don't ask.
Also, industrial quantities of beer with Kenny, CSM and others.
4. Tip of the week: If you find yourself jobless between meetings in Colaba, a highly economical way of staying unmelted and passing time is to slip into the National Gallery of Modern Art. For Rs. 10, you will get (i) free locker to keep your bags (ii) loos (passable) (iii) air conditioning and (iv) 4 floors of Raghu Rai. Some pictures a bit contrived, some very good, the best we thought were the ones of musicians. Kishori Amonkar, Bhimsen Joshi, Mallikarjun Mansur, Kumar Gandharva - all lost in some quest which we can only barely begin to comprehend. And one very ominous one of Mrs. G.
5. Kenny, in a somewhat inexplicable and insane move, donated a copy of Sea of Poppies. Just finished it and duly handed over to Emma. And the verdict is...drumroll...
It's not as good as (we thought) "The Hungry Tide", "In An Antique Land" and "The Calcutta Chromosome", but better than "The Glass Palace". It's somewhat stilted because (the thing being an historical novel) the man has to convince us that people spoke and behaved the way he has shown in the 19th century, and the man sometimes falls short. Still an easy "unputdownable" read, lots of good "fundas" on history and biology and sailing and music. High point: When he describes the Ibis preparing to set sail - the preparations on deck, the river, the heightened expectation, the taut sails... V. well done. Low point: Having to wait for 2 more volumes. Bleddy J.K.Rowling...
6. Spent some time inside the Kapaleeshwarar Koil in Mylapore on Friday. Spic and span place, maaamas and maamis doing a visitor pattern on all the little shrines inside. High point: naadaswaram guy and accompanists going from little shrine to little shrine and doing one kutti musical offering at each. Higher point: Same dudes doing long pause outside the Rama (must've been) shrine and spending extra time on brochevaaru evarura? Quite delightful.
7. Random links for your viewing and other pleasures
* The quiz is on.
* You really should be reading the Hackszine. Seriously. Ultra cool stuff there. Like LEGO robots that (i) solve Rubik's cube (ii) play records (iii) and also something sort of Minority Reportish called Direct Video Manipulation.
* The Evil Empire could really do this. They're a hairsbreadth away.
8. So long, then. We'll see how often posting will happen.
2. Flu-like throw-uppy symptoms are manifesting. Consider yourself warned. This is all a cosmic indication that haircut is in order.
3. Chief achievements from last week involved getting on evening rush hour local at Dadar and off at Vikhroli, via 1 nos. oily slime from port side of machli dibba to starboard, during a temporal and spatial lull in the continuum as a gigantic sack was bunged into said dibba. Don't ask.
Also, industrial quantities of beer with Kenny, CSM and others.
4. Tip of the week: If you find yourself jobless between meetings in Colaba, a highly economical way of staying unmelted and passing time is to slip into the National Gallery of Modern Art. For Rs. 10, you will get (i) free locker to keep your bags (ii) loos (passable) (iii) air conditioning and (iv) 4 floors of Raghu Rai. Some pictures a bit contrived, some very good, the best we thought were the ones of musicians. Kishori Amonkar, Bhimsen Joshi, Mallikarjun Mansur, Kumar Gandharva - all lost in some quest which we can only barely begin to comprehend. And one very ominous one of Mrs. G.
5. Kenny, in a somewhat inexplicable and insane move, donated a copy of Sea of Poppies. Just finished it and duly handed over to Emma. And the verdict is...drumroll...
It's not as good as (we thought) "The Hungry Tide", "In An Antique Land" and "The Calcutta Chromosome", but better than "The Glass Palace". It's somewhat stilted because (the thing being an historical novel) the man has to convince us that people spoke and behaved the way he has shown in the 19th century, and the man sometimes falls short. Still an easy "unputdownable" read, lots of good "fundas" on history and biology and sailing and music. High point: When he describes the Ibis preparing to set sail - the preparations on deck, the river, the heightened expectation, the taut sails... V. well done. Low point: Having to wait for 2 more volumes. Bleddy J.K.Rowling...
6. Spent some time inside the Kapaleeshwarar Koil in Mylapore on Friday. Spic and span place, maaamas and maamis doing a visitor pattern on all the little shrines inside. High point: naadaswaram guy and accompanists going from little shrine to little shrine and doing one kutti musical offering at each. Higher point: Same dudes doing long pause outside the Rama (must've been) shrine and spending extra time on brochevaaru evarura? Quite delightful.
7. Random links for your viewing and other pleasures
* The quiz is on.
* You really should be reading the Hackszine. Seriously. Ultra cool stuff there. Like LEGO robots that (i) solve Rubik's cube (ii) play records (iii) and also something sort of Minority Reportish called Direct Video Manipulation.
* The Evil Empire could really do this. They're a hairsbreadth away.
8. So long, then. We'll see how often posting will happen.
Monday, March 24, 2008
On The Road - Funda, The Fourth
Which is a long and winding post
The Lord of the Links - The Return of the King: "I come back to you now, at the turn of the tide."
The Charminar Express pulled into Gudur Jn. around 9:00 p.m. Ludwig had polished off his egg biryani, apple, biscuit, and Perk and was lolling in the upper berth with his laptop,churning out code playing Tetris till the battery was doomed. Directly we heard the sounds of the railway platform and we detrained to see what was to be seen and to eat that which was to be eaten.
Those of you who ride the rails in this wonderful country will know that a new blight that answers to the names such as "standardization", "privatization" and so on now inflicts the expresses and mails.
What this means is that a host of private caterers under the umbrella of the IRCTC have theka le rakha hai the business of plying the hapless traveling public with grub, chow, and oota. Since these guys are all about margins and are allotted on a per train and per station basis, it isn't really in their interest to have your platform vendors selling all and sundry to their precious flock.
What this means is that the desi railway platform is fast turning into culinary Kalahari. Remember the days when you could exit the vestibule and swoon into the arms (and/or boiling pan of oil) of the poori bhaaji? Gone. The bun omelet fellow with the banshee wail is silent, the plaintive tones of the pazham pori plantain guy is hushed, and a sepulchral silence more or less pervades over the qaaynaat.
We are not even talking about the Tadepalligudems and the Nidadavolus of the world, this malaise has spread to the Vijayawadas and the Vizags of the network. The good vendors of the sublime dal vadaas at Dharmavaram Jn were the last bastion of station specific food specialization, the final line of defense, the Spartans of saapaad at the Thermopylae of sleeper class hunger.
We report that we were (thankfully) somewhat mistaken. On this particular trip, we had the good fortune to be plonked in S14, which as you all know, is the last sleeper class compartment on Charminar Express before the general compartments, brake van, engine, and everything in front of the engine.
It turns out that these private caterers don't have any interest in catering to the general bogies. Question of margins, we think. So instead the good 'ol poori man with his hellfire, the banshee and other such creatures now lurk at the ends of the trains and it's all a throwback to the old days.
At Gudur, we whipped out our cellphone and shot our first ever movie with it. A brief snippet titled "Life At One End Of Charminar Express In Gudur Junction In March 2008" is presented below.
We also recorded the sounds, this was a lot easier (try hanging out with a video camera At One End Of Charminar Express In Gudur Junction In March 2008 - quite nerve wracking, everyone will either be very suspicious, or start pretending like they're Dilip Kumar).
The clip (993K MP3) is here. (Hat tip to BM for suggesting location and helping us find the damn thing once it was uploaded). Warning: This may make you hungry. Quite mellifluous, the vendors of Gudur. Try to make a note of all the different comestibles being hawked.
Finally, as the train left, we shot a motion picture (of the leaving). A brief glimpse of Ludwig's sexy legs is to be seen right at the beginning. The blur on the other platform is the empty rake of 2709 Gudur-Hyderabad Simhapuri Express. A fine and upstanding member of the train community no doubt. Much to our horror however, it was being hauled by a WAG! A WAG, we tell you. What self respecting superfast allows itself to be hauled by a WAG. A WAM might be excusable, but a WAP would be the proper thing to do by it. Shameless train. Kali yugam.
Anyway, Video Deux: Departing Gudur.
So we bookmarked a whole bunch of interesting links from last week. Yensoy.
Missing Children
Spare a moment. Check out Missing Indian Kids. You might be able to help.
Sports
Via Smoke Signals, the Pedros and the Schillings of the world better watch out, cometh the hour, cometh the man, Rinku Singh is here.
They are not exactly sure what baseball is, or even javelin for that matter. However, in and around Rinku Singh’s village Holepur in Bhadohi, the news of his $100,000 throw — catapulting him to San Francisco — has reached fast.
While on the subject, On Point tells us that they're taking down Yankee Stadium. Good riddance. Please make sure that the team is in the clubhouse when the dynamite goes off.
Kidding.
Not.
Kidding.
Not.
No, really, kidding.
Not.
Science
Physics
Newsweek asks Nobel boy Steven Weinberg about how the Large Hadron Collider experiments might impact our ideas of the cosmos and our place in it.
At some point will it be possible to find proof that God or the Ultimate Designer does not exist?
I don't think that we can ever prove that God does not exist. But if he does exit it might be possible to prove it.
It might be?
Well, if God did exist and suddenly made himself known by sending thunderbolts to all the people who don't believe in him [Laughs], that would be pretty strong evidence that he exists.
Do you think he would send you one?
He hasn't so far.
Philosophy of Science
On a related note, the excellent Cosmic Variance has tried to address the issue of science and unobservable things.
...the case I tried to make was that attitudes along the lines of “that stuff you’re talking about can never be observed, so you’re not doing science, it’s just theology” are woefully simplistic, and simply don’t reflect the way that science works in the real world.
Marine Biology
Delightful. Apparently, "A bizarre geek-fight has erupted in the blogosphere over which types of invertebrates are coolest, Echinoderms or Molluscs.". How can you not love something like that?
Back on the 20th of March The Intersection blog mused on sea cucumbers and squid, concluding, “No contest! Cukes would eat squid for breakfast...”
This drew a scathing response from some quarters, with Craig McClain on Deep Sea News delivering this cutting put down to the sea cucumber fans:
It’s just hard to get excited about a sea cucumber that either feeds on sediment muck or filters muck out of the water column and not much else. Or an organism whose idea of fun is spewing its organs all over you or creating poop trails.
Hilarious.
Funny Geeky Stuff
Error Messages
30 error messages from hell.
A problem has been detected and CONTROLPANEL N9608P has been shut down to prevent further damage to your HELICOPTER.
Please shut down and restart your HELICOPTER and check all newly installed hardware or software...
#2 is a variation on a theme from Pulp Fiction, no less!
Funny Answers
This is a chestnut, but worth revisiting.
Time Travel Forum
Priceless. Read right through to the end.
11/15/2104
At 14:52:28, FreedomFighter69 wrote:
Reporting my first temporal excursion since joining IATT: have just returned from 1936 Berlin, having taken the place of one of Leni Riefenstahl's cameramen and assassinated Adolf Hitler during the opening of the Olympic Games. Let a free world rejoice!
At 14:57:44, SilverFox316 wrote:
Back from 1936 Berlin; incapacitated FreedomFighter69 before he could pull his little stunt. Freedomfighter69, as you are a new member, please read IATT Bulletin 1147 regarding the killing of Hitler before your next excursion. Failure to do so may result in your expulsion per Bylaw 223.
Department of Remarkably Good Ideas, nuclear weapons edition
Netscape founder Marc Andreessen writes about a Dr. Strangeloveish headline he found.
Hackszine
A plug for the Hackszine where the most bizarre and cool hacks are perpetrated. For instance, you could build a little drummer bot
...Yellow Drum Machine is a tiny musical robot who's sole purpose in simulife is to motor around looking for suitable surfaces to drum a beat on.
Stick Figure Genius/Misogyny
Fuck grapefruit. Anyone who has read a Gartner Magic Quadrant thing will empathize. Mouse over for more gyaan.
Suggestive pickup lines for geeks. Mouse over for more gyaan.
And gender and math. Mouse over for more gyaan. A related math joke (molto funny if you get it, sorry non-calculus folks) is at Wild About Math.
April Fool
Virgle and singles sites for IITians is all very well, but the award goes to the BBC for the blow-you-off-your-feet hoax (see the YouTube video here).
Just Plain Weird
Science tattoos it seems!
Environment
Siva wonders how you could live in a big bad city and not be a total environmental jerk, with en passant references to diesel generator sets.
History, Literature, Religion
Everyone's surely on top of the RaamaayaNa controversy where a bunch of the usual suspects (i.e. khaaki chaddiwaala isotopes) beat up someone for something to do with the fact that many Indian traditions have many readings of the epic. It turns out that the "controversial" essay is available online. Fascinating, fascinating stories. Read.
On a related note, we told a couple of running buddies that in some versions Sita is depicted as Ravana's daughter for various reasons, and they were somewhat mortified. Since when do Valmiki and Tulsidas have exclusive rights on this tale?
Science, Religion
Child abuse video, via Parseval.
In other news, one issue that had the science blog world in a tizzy last week was PZ Myers - Richard Dawkins - Expelled incident.
Briefly: Ben Stein and a bunch of other eminent scientists have made a movie called Expelled. The basic premise of this movie is that "big science" is a monster that suppresses alternative, valid theories such as "intelligent design", "creationism" etc. The movie included interview excerpts with PZ Myers and Richard Dawkins, who were to speak for the non-believer position.
Myers and Dawkins showed up at a screening where the director recognized Myers and refused to allow him in, but inexplicably let Dawkins through. Controversies galore. Search for "Myers", "Dawkins" and "Expelled" and you'll be all set.
Economics
On Point had a great show, an interview with MIT professor Daniel Ariely about irrational human behaviour. Some very, very interesting experiments...
Now, a new work of behavioral economics looks at how dependably goofy we humans can be. How "predictably irrational," whether we're standing at the all-you-can-eat buffet, or fingering our credit card or getting naked at Mardi Gras.
This really deserves a post of its own, but listen to the podcast if you can. Fascinating.
The Lord of the Links - The Return of the King: "I come back to you now, at the turn of the tide."
The Charminar Express pulled into Gudur Jn. around 9:00 p.m. Ludwig had polished off his egg biryani, apple, biscuit, and Perk and was lolling in the upper berth with his laptop,
Those of you who ride the rails in this wonderful country will know that a new blight that answers to the names such as "standardization", "privatization" and so on now inflicts the expresses and mails.
What this means is that a host of private caterers under the umbrella of the IRCTC have theka le rakha hai the business of plying the hapless traveling public with grub, chow, and oota. Since these guys are all about margins and are allotted on a per train and per station basis, it isn't really in their interest to have your platform vendors selling all and sundry to their precious flock.
What this means is that the desi railway platform is fast turning into culinary Kalahari. Remember the days when you could exit the vestibule and swoon into the arms (and/or boiling pan of oil) of the poori bhaaji? Gone. The bun omelet fellow with the banshee wail is silent, the plaintive tones of the pazham pori plantain guy is hushed, and a sepulchral silence more or less pervades over the qaaynaat.
We are not even talking about the Tadepalligudems and the Nidadavolus of the world, this malaise has spread to the Vijayawadas and the Vizags of the network. The good vendors of the sublime dal vadaas at Dharmavaram Jn were the last bastion of station specific food specialization, the final line of defense, the Spartans of saapaad at the Thermopylae of sleeper class hunger.
We report that we were (thankfully) somewhat mistaken. On this particular trip, we had the good fortune to be plonked in S14, which as you all know, is the last sleeper class compartment on Charminar Express before the general compartments, brake van, engine, and everything in front of the engine.
It turns out that these private caterers don't have any interest in catering to the general bogies. Question of margins, we think. So instead the good 'ol poori man with his hellfire, the banshee and other such creatures now lurk at the ends of the trains and it's all a throwback to the old days.
At Gudur, we whipped out our cellphone and shot our first ever movie with it. A brief snippet titled "Life At One End Of Charminar Express In Gudur Junction In March 2008" is presented below.
We also recorded the sounds, this was a lot easier (try hanging out with a video camera At One End Of Charminar Express In Gudur Junction In March 2008 - quite nerve wracking, everyone will either be very suspicious, or start pretending like they're Dilip Kumar).
The clip (993K MP3) is here. (Hat tip to BM for suggesting location and helping us find the damn thing once it was uploaded). Warning: This may make you hungry. Quite mellifluous, the vendors of Gudur. Try to make a note of all the different comestibles being hawked.
Finally, as the train left, we shot a motion picture (of the leaving). A brief glimpse of Ludwig's sexy legs is to be seen right at the beginning. The blur on the other platform is the empty rake of 2709 Gudur-Hyderabad Simhapuri Express. A fine and upstanding member of the train community no doubt. Much to our horror however, it was being hauled by a WAG! A WAG, we tell you. What self respecting superfast allows itself to be hauled by a WAG. A WAM might be excusable, but a WAP would be the proper thing to do by it. Shameless train. Kali yugam.
Anyway, Video Deux: Departing Gudur.
So we bookmarked a whole bunch of interesting links from last week. Yensoy.
Missing Children
Spare a moment. Check out Missing Indian Kids. You might be able to help.
Sports
Via Smoke Signals, the Pedros and the Schillings of the world better watch out, cometh the hour, cometh the man, Rinku Singh is here.
They are not exactly sure what baseball is, or even javelin for that matter. However, in and around Rinku Singh’s village Holepur in Bhadohi, the news of his $100,000 throw — catapulting him to San Francisco — has reached fast.
While on the subject, On Point tells us that they're taking down Yankee Stadium. Good riddance. Please make sure that the team is in the clubhouse when the dynamite goes off.
Kidding.
Not.
Kidding.
Not.
No, really, kidding.
Not.
Science
Physics
Newsweek asks Nobel boy Steven Weinberg about how the Large Hadron Collider experiments might impact our ideas of the cosmos and our place in it.
At some point will it be possible to find proof that God or the Ultimate Designer does not exist?
I don't think that we can ever prove that God does not exist. But if he does exit it might be possible to prove it.
It might be?
Well, if God did exist and suddenly made himself known by sending thunderbolts to all the people who don't believe in him [Laughs], that would be pretty strong evidence that he exists.
Do you think he would send you one?
He hasn't so far.
Philosophy of Science
On a related note, the excellent Cosmic Variance has tried to address the issue of science and unobservable things.
...the case I tried to make was that attitudes along the lines of “that stuff you’re talking about can never be observed, so you’re not doing science, it’s just theology” are woefully simplistic, and simply don’t reflect the way that science works in the real world.
Marine Biology
Delightful. Apparently, "A bizarre geek-fight has erupted in the blogosphere over which types of invertebrates are coolest, Echinoderms or Molluscs.". How can you not love something like that?
Back on the 20th of March The Intersection blog mused on sea cucumbers and squid, concluding, “No contest! Cukes would eat squid for breakfast...”
This drew a scathing response from some quarters, with Craig McClain on Deep Sea News delivering this cutting put down to the sea cucumber fans:
It’s just hard to get excited about a sea cucumber that either feeds on sediment muck or filters muck out of the water column and not much else. Or an organism whose idea of fun is spewing its organs all over you or creating poop trails.
Hilarious.
Funny Geeky Stuff
Error Messages
30 error messages from hell.
A problem has been detected and CONTROLPANEL N9608P has been shut down to prevent further damage to your HELICOPTER.
Please shut down and restart your HELICOPTER and check all newly installed hardware or software...
#2 is a variation on a theme from Pulp Fiction, no less!
Funny Answers
This is a chestnut, but worth revisiting.
Time Travel Forum
Priceless. Read right through to the end.
11/15/2104
At 14:52:28, FreedomFighter69 wrote:
Reporting my first temporal excursion since joining IATT: have just returned from 1936 Berlin, having taken the place of one of Leni Riefenstahl's cameramen and assassinated Adolf Hitler during the opening of the Olympic Games. Let a free world rejoice!
At 14:57:44, SilverFox316 wrote:
Back from 1936 Berlin; incapacitated FreedomFighter69 before he could pull his little stunt. Freedomfighter69, as you are a new member, please read IATT Bulletin 1147 regarding the killing of Hitler before your next excursion. Failure to do so may result in your expulsion per Bylaw 223.
Department of Remarkably Good Ideas, nuclear weapons edition
Netscape founder Marc Andreessen writes about a Dr. Strangeloveish headline he found.
Hackszine
A plug for the Hackszine where the most bizarre and cool hacks are perpetrated. For instance, you could build a little drummer bot
...Yellow Drum Machine is a tiny musical robot who's sole purpose in simulife is to motor around looking for suitable surfaces to drum a beat on.
Stick Figure Genius/Misogyny
Fuck grapefruit. Anyone who has read a Gartner Magic Quadrant thing will empathize. Mouse over for more gyaan.
Suggestive pickup lines for geeks. Mouse over for more gyaan.
And gender and math. Mouse over for more gyaan. A related math joke (molto funny if you get it, sorry non-calculus folks) is at Wild About Math.
April Fool
Virgle and singles sites for IITians is all very well, but the award goes to the BBC for the blow-you-off-your-feet hoax (see the YouTube video here).
Just Plain Weird
Science tattoos it seems!
Environment
Siva wonders how you could live in a big bad city and not be a total environmental jerk, with en passant references to diesel generator sets.
History, Literature, Religion
Everyone's surely on top of the RaamaayaNa controversy where a bunch of the usual suspects (i.e. khaaki chaddiwaala isotopes) beat up someone for something to do with the fact that many Indian traditions have many readings of the epic. It turns out that the "controversial" essay is available online. Fascinating, fascinating stories. Read.
On a related note, we told a couple of running buddies that in some versions Sita is depicted as Ravana's daughter for various reasons, and they were somewhat mortified. Since when do Valmiki and Tulsidas have exclusive rights on this tale?
Science, Religion
Child abuse video, via Parseval.
In other news, one issue that had the science blog world in a tizzy last week was PZ Myers - Richard Dawkins - Expelled incident.
Briefly: Ben Stein and a bunch of other eminent scientists have made a movie called Expelled. The basic premise of this movie is that "big science" is a monster that suppresses alternative, valid theories such as "intelligent design", "creationism" etc. The movie included interview excerpts with PZ Myers and Richard Dawkins, who were to speak for the non-believer position.
Myers and Dawkins showed up at a screening where the director recognized Myers and refused to allow him in, but inexplicably let Dawkins through. Controversies galore. Search for "Myers", "Dawkins" and "Expelled" and you'll be all set.
Economics
On Point had a great show, an interview with MIT professor Daniel Ariely about irrational human behaviour. Some very, very interesting experiments...
Now, a new work of behavioral economics looks at how dependably goofy we humans can be. How "predictably irrational," whether we're standing at the all-you-can-eat buffet, or fingering our credit card or getting naked at Mardi Gras.
This really deserves a post of its own, but listen to the podcast if you can. Fascinating.
Labels:
history,
literature,
philosophy,
science,
sports,
technology,
trains,
travel,
video,
whimsy
Monday, February 18, 2008
The Road to Wigan Pier
Which contains a prescient quote about our lives and times, and more videos
George Orwell is a rather smashing bloke, and he proves it again and again. For many people, he is simply the author of one satire and one dark novel that rail against the Great Satan, communism. 1984 and Animal Farm have been milked for all they are worth whenever a handy anti-left quote is needed. But Georgie Porgie was a lot more complicated than that, he was not the supremely anti-leftist literary genius that left-bashers with no imagination of their own could periodically dip into for a fresh nugget.
His Down and out in Paris and London talks about time spent as a menial in a Paris hotel, and as a London vagabond, and is possibly more valuable as a book than the other two. A Hanging and Shooting an Elephant hit you like a punch in the solar plexus. "A Hanging" makes capital punishment personal, and that perhaps is the most effective argument against it (for the record, the Choultry is against it). "Shooting an Elephant" is merely touching, and about a horrible dilemma faced by a young and sensitive anti-imperial functionary of Empire.
Apart from Douglas Adams, Orwell appears to be the only other person to have written an essay on making tea, both versions (Adams' can be found in The Salmon of Doubt) are delicious. And finally, Reflections of Ghandi(sic) is one of the most well-balanced evaluations of the Mahatma, taking a nice line somewhere between vilification and hagiography.
Anyway, the point of all this is That Man Keynes and His Homosexual Intrigues (TMKAHHI) (who is well known to some of you) points us to the following from The Road to Wigan Pier (1937):
It hardly needs pointing out that at this moment we are in a very serious mess, so serious that even the dullest-witted people find it difficult to remain unaware of it. We are living in a world in which nobody is free, in which hardly anybody is secure, in which it is almost impossible to be honest and to remain alive. For enormous blocks of the working class the conditions of life are such as I have described in the opening chapters of this book, and there is no chance of those conditions showing any fundamental improvement. The very best the English-working class can hope for is an occasional temporary decrease in unemployment when this or that industry is artificially stimulated by, for instance, rearmament. Even the middle classes, for the first time in their history, are feeling the pinch. They have not known actual hunger yet, but more and more of them find themselves floundering in a sort of deadly net of frustration in which it is harder and harder to persuade yourself that you are either happy, active, or useful. Even the lucky ones at the top, the real bourgeoisie, are haunted periodically by a consciousness of the miseries below, and still more by fears of the menacing future. And this is merely a preliminary stage, in a country still rich with the loot of a hundred years. Presently there may be coining God knows what horrors— horrors of which, in this sheltered island, we have not even a traditional knowledge.
Splendid, no?
That's that about Georgie Porgie. Peruse this post at Presentation Zen. It has a bunch of videos from the TED talks.
Al Gore's talk is a hoot, especially the first 4-5 minutes that he spends laughing at himself. The man has changed so much. You would think he would be a shoo in for President in 2009, wouldn't you?
Majora Carter's talk is depressing and inspiring at the same time. If you can watch only one of the videos (each is just shy of 20 minutes long), this is the one. It will hopefully show the links between discrimination, race, crime, poverty, urban stagnation etc. in new ways. Definitely, definitely, check this one out.
Hans Rosling's talk should result in jaws dropping. If there be such a thing as an ideal way to present statistics, it is this, it is this, it is this.
George Orwell is a rather smashing bloke, and he proves it again and again. For many people, he is simply the author of one satire and one dark novel that rail against the Great Satan, communism. 1984 and Animal Farm have been milked for all they are worth whenever a handy anti-left quote is needed. But Georgie Porgie was a lot more complicated than that, he was not the supremely anti-leftist literary genius that left-bashers with no imagination of their own could periodically dip into for a fresh nugget.
His Down and out in Paris and London talks about time spent as a menial in a Paris hotel, and as a London vagabond, and is possibly more valuable as a book than the other two. A Hanging and Shooting an Elephant hit you like a punch in the solar plexus. "A Hanging" makes capital punishment personal, and that perhaps is the most effective argument against it (for the record, the Choultry is against it). "Shooting an Elephant" is merely touching, and about a horrible dilemma faced by a young and sensitive anti-imperial functionary of Empire.
Apart from Douglas Adams, Orwell appears to be the only other person to have written an essay on making tea, both versions (Adams' can be found in The Salmon of Doubt) are delicious. And finally, Reflections of Ghandi(sic) is one of the most well-balanced evaluations of the Mahatma, taking a nice line somewhere between vilification and hagiography.
Anyway, the point of all this is That Man Keynes and His Homosexual Intrigues (TMKAHHI) (who is well known to some of you) points us to the following from The Road to Wigan Pier (1937):
It hardly needs pointing out that at this moment we are in a very serious mess, so serious that even the dullest-witted people find it difficult to remain unaware of it. We are living in a world in which nobody is free, in which hardly anybody is secure, in which it is almost impossible to be honest and to remain alive. For enormous blocks of the working class the conditions of life are such as I have described in the opening chapters of this book, and there is no chance of those conditions showing any fundamental improvement. The very best the English-working class can hope for is an occasional temporary decrease in unemployment when this or that industry is artificially stimulated by, for instance, rearmament. Even the middle classes, for the first time in their history, are feeling the pinch. They have not known actual hunger yet, but more and more of them find themselves floundering in a sort of deadly net of frustration in which it is harder and harder to persuade yourself that you are either happy, active, or useful. Even the lucky ones at the top, the real bourgeoisie, are haunted periodically by a consciousness of the miseries below, and still more by fears of the menacing future. And this is merely a preliminary stage, in a country still rich with the loot of a hundred years. Presently there may be coining God knows what horrors— horrors of which, in this sheltered island, we have not even a traditional knowledge.
Splendid, no?
That's that about Georgie Porgie. Peruse this post at Presentation Zen. It has a bunch of videos from the TED talks.
Al Gore's talk is a hoot, especially the first 4-5 minutes that he spends laughing at himself. The man has changed so much. You would think he would be a shoo in for President in 2009, wouldn't you?
Majora Carter's talk is depressing and inspiring at the same time. If you can watch only one of the videos (each is just shy of 20 minutes long), this is the one. It will hopefully show the links between discrimination, race, crime, poverty, urban stagnation etc. in new ways. Definitely, definitely, check this one out.
Hans Rosling's talk should result in jaws dropping. If there be such a thing as an ideal way to present statistics, it is this, it is this, it is this.
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