Althouse: At the Ancient Café...

April 27, 2019

At the Ancient Café...

... take a seat at the green table.

138 comments:

tcrosse said...: Stoned again.; 4/27/19, 8:56 PM
Birkel said...: Glad you're back home, Althouse.
Missed you when you were traveling.

But I still used the Amazon portal...; 4/27/19, 9:02 PM
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...: mesa verde?; 4/27/19, 9:07 PM
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...: hope you 2 had a pleasant hiatus.

speaking of 'hiatus'
People speaking English generally pause slightly at the juncture of contiguous vowels not sounded as dipthongs (e.g., "When Brenda arrived, Mario opened the door"). This momentary gap in sound, known to linguists as a hiatus, is the equivalent of a caesura in the metrical structure of a line of poetry. However, a hiatus in a poem is not necessarily an aural event. Visual hiatuses are created by punctuation marks, line breaks, stanza breaks, and other dispositions of white space and typography. Narrative hiatuses are created by spatial or temporal interruptions in the story line, such as Euryclea's flashback to the boar hunt while she is washing Odysseus's feet. Grammatical hiatuses range from the highly conspicuous, such as tmesis, in which one word is split in two by the insertion of another (e.g., "fan-blooming-tastic"), to the barely noticed, such as the break between article and noun when an adjective is positioned between them. (In languages with post-positioned adjectives, such as French, no such break occurs.)

now that's some pretty Althouse-y shit right there, in our humble opinion; 4/27/19, 9:14 PM
Be said...: Housemate is taking me out tonight to a second run theater to see "Endgame." I cannot wait. Have this theory about Stan Lee having a romance with Edith Hamilton.

Beautiful Out the Window Photograph. It's all about the Perspective.; 4/27/19, 9:23 PM
Anonymous said...: Whoa! Is it "Out the Window" or is it . . . IN the window?!

It is lovely, though.

Narr
Say hiatus as we drive by; 4/27/19, 9:38 PM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: "Second run theater"? It just opened this week!

I feel I got my money's worth, and it never felt like a "long" movie despite the runtime. Also, there were several "Crowning Moments of Awesome ®".

However, the best Marvel movie is still Thor: Ragnarok, and Brie Larson continues to underwhelm as Captain Marvel.; 4/27/19, 9:41 PM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: 'Snoopy' has been found, maybe.

I remember several sequences in Peanuts about this.; 4/27/19, 9:44 PM
Ken B said...: Hard to keep up with the latest spin. That's what we have the NYT is for. https://kenblogic.blogspot.com/2019/04/nyt-abandons-literally-hitler.html; 4/27/19, 9:50 PM
narciso said...: Well I liked first avenger, dont get me wrong ragnarok isnt bad iron man 3 is painful even thought they shot part of it in south flirida.; 4/27/19, 9:58 PM
Ann Althouse said...: Why are adults going to so many superhero movies? How could they possibly hold your interest? I’m genuinely mystified by this aspect of our culture.; 4/27/19, 10:09 PM
narciso said...: I was carrying forward from the morning thread about the players in the early part of the cold war harriman Dulles and forrreatal two investment bankers and a lawyer, the second generation of the last was a deputy to harriman at state. Nearly 40 years after that there was Richard Holbrooke who shaped our quixotic Afghan oolicy; 4/27/19, 10:11 PM
narciso said...: It's kind of juvenile, back to the early days with the six million dollar and the original spiderman series, what's more absurd what passes for public policy discussion.; 4/27/19, 10:15 PM
narciso said...: Forrrestal and policy, the latter retired to Sherman & sterling and emerges in robert Sam ansons tale about the African American student at exeter.; 4/27/19, 10:17 PM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: Why are adults going to so many superhero movies? How could they possibly hold your interest? I’m genuinely mystified by this aspect of our culture.

Do you read Homer?

'Cause, maybe it ain't Shakespeare, but it *is* Homer>; 4/27/19, 10:20 PM
narciso said...: It's a mythos of sorts, if we wanted to get all sophisticated Joseph Campbell and the heroes journey, what makes a hero are they born or just rise to the occassion.; 4/27/19, 10:25 PM
wild chicken said...: Got really bored and watched The Post, about WaPo's glory days, when it uncovered 30 years of evil government wrongdoing! I.e. releasing the Pentagon Papers. Then Watergate - and the rest is history!

It's rather a sad PoS now.; 4/27/19, 10:27 PM
wild chicken said...: Ann, the reason is people are more retarded than they were in times past.; 4/27/19, 10:29 PM
narciso said...: Yes but the real story of Daniel ellsberg was not as altruistic or noble, now we still have the issue of prior restraint In the earlier case and the publisher hasn't been put in jeopardy since then, only the leaker Morrison, sterling kirikaou; 4/27/19, 10:31 PM
narciso said...: As early as six years Assange was the toast of all those publications, the more programs and personnel he compromised; 4/27/19, 10:32 PM
narciso said...: The first major expose of covert operation was wise and ross the invisible government.
Then there was ellsberg and hersh and marchetti and agee and snapp; 4/27/19, 10:35 PM
David Duffy said...: "Why are adults going to so many superhero movies? How could they possibly hold your interest? I’m genuinely mystified by this aspect of our culture."

Dreams of our youth. The military adventure, the hot girl who finally agreed to a date, the university for finding answers, hitchhiking across the country, getting into a fist fight, making money, all ended in disappointment.

Why the hell does anyone go to move, especially romantic movies? An escape from the disappointment with our dreams.; 4/27/19, 10:36 PM
Anonymous said...: My best guess is that Robert Downey Junior, who riffs on the tough sic-fi actors of the 60s, and the other highly paid actors who portray silly superheroes, are to the 2010s what Dylan, who riffed on the tough Delta Basin singers of the 30s, was to the 1960s.

When a trained actor like Downey filters an older art form, to the kids who are watching, that is ancestor worship. They don't know they are getting something that is not quite the original. They are impressed by the backstory. (Tolkien pulled this trick in the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings, in a different way - making you think that there was some great archetypal background to a story about a bunch of simple little Victorian hobbits running around a landscape, seeking to do good and defeat evil).

I think that the superhero movies mostly sell to people in their 30s and below, which makes sense - not that they are kids, but compared to someone like Downey, who was an adult in the early 1980s, when all sorts of great actors and actresses, now long gone, were still alive --- well, they (people in their 30s) actually are kids, more or less. Hence, while "Ironman" may be a joke to me, someone who is older than Downey, to them it is something like art. Also who does not like to eat movie theater popcorn and drink huge sodas?; 4/27/19, 10:37 PM
Anonymous said...: also, what Limited Perspective said; 4/27/19, 10:39 PM
narciso said...: He was a punk in the early 80s, a political radical by 92, riffing off all the garbage Daniel Sheehan was putting out I guess rationalizing his self destructive impulses.; 4/27/19, 10:41 PM
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...: Why are adults going to so many superhero movies?

“There is a (Super-Hero) shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus.”; 4/27/19, 10:42 PM
narciso said...: Kevin feige is the myth maker like Spielberg and Lucas were in the 80s and Robert zemeckis.; 4/27/19, 10:43 PM
narciso said...: Ironic since stan Lee, who was politically very liberal, chose a quarter master a defense contractor as a hero.; 4/27/19, 10:46 PM
narciso said...: Yes he doesn't sell weapons anymore, it's a wonder how he keeps his fortune.; 4/27/19, 10:47 PM
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...: "Zip it, Stan Lee!" -- Deadpool; 4/27/19, 10:48 PM
narciso said...: Look at this world where affluent young men from the subcontinent chose to use their prodigious skills to slaughter innocents on Easter.; 4/27/19, 10:50 PM
narciso said...: The clean energy subtext in the avengers is kind of ridiculous but not anymore than what ocasio Cortez put forth with a straight face.; 4/27/19, 10:51 PM
narciso said...: Thanos is the voice of the zpm, which was actually policy under John holdren.; 4/27/19, 10:53 PM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: Clean energy subtext?

If you mean Tony Stark's reactor from the first IM movie, was that seen again? It doesn't seem to have any great effect on the world. But if it did, why not? It's a super-science genre.; 4/27/19, 10:55 PM
narciso said...: Some might draw parallels with the rapture,
That's a notion some people find harder to believe than a marvel film, because that had consequences.; 4/27/19, 10:55 PM
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...: it's to fill a natural longing, but with a cheap counterfeit.
"Use your God-given talents" has given way to "What's your superpower?; 4/27/19, 10:56 PM
narciso said...: The avengers tower, which draws Loki and the chtauri, of course the last film through everything in a crock pot.; 4/27/19, 10:58 PM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: Thanos is a bit late to the party. "The future is an overpopulated hellhole" trope peaked in the 70s with Brunner's The Sheep Look Up, Harrison's Make Room, Make room and Farmer's "Seventy Years of Decpop".

Of course in the comics, Thanos's original motivation was to make an offering to the personification of DEATH with whom he was in (unrequited) love.; 4/27/19, 10:59 PM
MountainMan said...: I’m with Althouse, I don’t understand the appeal of these superhero movies either. Wife and I just finished binge watching “Les Miserables” on PBS app and it was wonderful, great performances by Dominic Wast and Lily Collins, and perfect sets and costumes. You would literally think you were in 1830s France. Now watching season 5 of “Bosch” on Amazon. Nothing in theaters as good as these shows.; 4/27/19, 11:00 PM
narciso said...: Yes that was a silly premise, I rather think he was like asimov's mule I. The foundation series.; 4/27/19, 11:00 PM
mockturtle said...: Wife and I just finished binge watching “Les Miserables” on PBS

I've only seen the first two episodes but it is well done. The actress playing Fantine looks strikingly like young Elizabeth Taylor.; 4/27/19, 11:05 PM
narciso said...: Just the first chapter:

http://www.mscchimes.com/2019/04/24/isis-plans-to-unleash-paris-style-massacre-upon-europe/; 4/27/19, 11:05 PM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: "Great performances, perfect sets and costumes, literally thinking you are somewhere exotic.."

So how is it you don't like superhero movies again?; 4/27/19, 11:07 PM
narciso said...: 40 years later, there is an inquiry
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/theguardian/2014/mar/31/airey-neave-mp-assassination-bomb; 4/27/19, 11:08 PM
mockturtle said...: ICTA quotes: “There is a (Super-Hero) shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus.”

Attributed to Pascal, is it not? Yes, Christ is the superhero.; 4/27/19, 11:09 PM
JackWayne said...: That was just a small part of the Robot stories. Asimov ended up with about 20 novels all connected by the same robot. But I never thought it was a conscious decision to do 20 connected books. I think he realized he had a series when he was about 10 books in.; 4/27/19, 11:10 PM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: Yes that was a silly premise, I rather think he was like asimov's mule I. The foundation series.

Well, it's something that works on the comic page, but not really in a movie. Same goes for a lot of Kirby-esque stuff.

Perhaps not specifically like The Mule, but certainly a wild card. A whole universe of beings going about their plans (good and bad) while in the background Thanos is coming..; 4/27/19, 11:11 PM
Bay Area Guy said...: AA asks: "Why are adults going to so many superhero movies? How could they possibly hold your interest? I’m genuinely mystified by this aspect of our culture."

I wholeheartedly agree. 47 years ago, I devoured all the Marvel comic books (cost .20/each), learned how to read and loved them all (Silver Surfer, The Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America, et seq.)

As an adult nearly 50 years later, watch these loud ass movies with teens at some multiplex? Bah.; 4/27/19, 11:11 PM
Pianoman said...: Some of the appeal has to be in the archetypes. Hulk is a comic representation of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, for example ... and that story is about the duality of man. Civilization vs. barbarism.

Jordan Peterson has a lot to say about archetypes in storytelling, and why they resonate so strongly with us.; 4/27/19, 11:12 PM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: I think most people ignore the "Foundation" stories after the first three books, and pretend the whole thing of connecting "Foundation" with the "Robot" stories never happened.; 4/27/19, 11:13 PM
narciso said...: Probably not, foundation was his version of a rise and fall of Roman empire tale, odd the only major adaptation was I robot.; 4/27/19, 11:14 PM
Ray - SoCal said...: I’m amazed and dismayed at how Sri Lanke’s massacre is being memory holed.

Contrast with NZ.

There was a huge support structure behind the Sri Lanke bombing.

I was surprised at how rich the suicide bombers were.; 4/27/19, 11:14 PM
stephen cooper said...: Victor Hugo is probably a worse author than any other author as famous as him.

His poetry is .... intense .....

but he did not understand people very well.
He was a really good journalist, though, and like most rich guys, he was able to say that his family was polite to him.
And his poetry was intense, and he was a really good journalist.

Still, we all only have only one life to live, and writing overrated novels while not really understanding the world is not a way to spend one's one and only life, if one has a choice.; 4/27/19, 11:14 PM
narciso said...: Peter quill reminds me of James bolivar debris, Harrison's stainless steel rat, how have they not adapted his work.; 4/27/19, 11:17 PM
narciso said...: Yes it is, oddly what should the Australian British and American intelligence should have been doing these last 4 years?; 4/27/19, 11:19 PM
Gahrie said...: Why are adults going to so many superhero movies?

For many of us, we grew up reading about these characters, and still love them. For others it the attraction is the story, a story as old as man himself...good guys versus bad guys and the good guys win.

How could they possibly hold your interest?

The same way women are fascinated by Harlequin romances and Fifty Shades of Grey. Who wouldn't want to be Tony Stark...rich, witty, super-smart and attractive to women. Or Captain America? Or Thor? The women in this universe are all smart, successful and heroic too.

I’m genuinely mystified by this aspect of our culture.

Don't look now, but your elitism is showing. At least you didn't call it deplorable.; 4/27/19, 11:19 PM
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...: Yes, Christ is the superhero.

"Jesus, you magnificent bastard! I read your book!!; 4/27/19, 11:19 PM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: "diGriz" -- spell check is not always your friend :-)

Yes, those were fun stories, as were Deathworld, The Technicolor Time Machine and Star Smashers Of The Galaxy Rangers (though I wonder if I would still think it as funny as when I was 13 and reading all the books it was satirizing).

If I had to pick my top want for the big screen though, it would be Harry Dresden.; 4/27/19, 11:21 PM
Gahrie said...: As an adult nearly 50 years later, watch these loud ass movies with teens at some multiplex? Bah.

Try watching them at home on DVD. If you really did read comics as a youth, you'll love Ironman I and Dr. Strange. The first Captain America movie is good too. I even got over Nick Fury being Black.; 4/27/19, 11:22 PM
narciso said...: And yet stark is haunted by his parents early death, by his retainers treachery (he is meand to be based on Howard Hughes then, Elon musk now? Like bond he leaves a kind of empty life till the events of the avengers certainly.; 4/27/19, 11:24 PM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: Perhaps it's my region, but I find that movie audiences are pretty well behaved.; 4/27/19, 11:25 PM
narciso said...: They did a poor adaptation of Dresden with Paul blackthorne, what's crazier is some of the persons attached to earlier incarnations James Cameron tom cruise, nicholas cage!!; 4/27/19, 11:26 PM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: And yet stark is haunted by his parents early death, by his retainers treachery (he is meand to be based on Howard Hughes then, Elon musk now? Like bond he leaves a kind of empty life till the events of the avengers certainly.

And how perfectly cast was the part? Whenever Downey comes on the screen, it lights up.; 4/27/19, 11:27 PM
narciso said...: Yes it was,

The times has tried to bury the story under the retaliation for Christchurch but that doesn't really work; 4/27/19, 11:29 PM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: They did a poor adaptation of Dresden.

Yes on Scifi/Sufy, which kind of guarantees "poor". I'm just hoping they didn't ruin the property the way George Pal ruined Doc Savage.; 4/27/19, 11:30 PM
narciso said...: It's still salvageable after all Schumacher didnt destroy batman.

The paradoxs in this film would drive asimov mad (it's a little like the Simpsons sound of thunder parody,); 4/27/19, 11:34 PM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: I've always said that Trump was elected because someone stepped on a butterfly.

(Of course I like Trump, so it's kind of the opposite scenario of SOT..); 4/27/19, 11:36 PM
narciso said...: The left do think hes 'deutscher, leader of the 14th rule's I remember the adaptation of the story.; 4/27/19, 11:38 PM
Gahrie said...: I would love to see Preacher done right. I'll give AMC credit for the attempt, but they failed to capture the spirit of the book. I hope someone tries it again and gets it right. Maybe on HBO?

I'd like to see DC do a JLA/JSA team up. Golden age heroes and modern age versions of the same heroes. How about a movie aimed at teenagers based around the Legion of Superheroes? The Unknown Soldier would make a great movie.

As for SciFi, I'd love to see some adapt the Ringworld stories as either a set of films or maybe an HBO series. As far as fantasy, Sterling's Emberverse books seem like a slam dunk Game of Thrones style mini-series.

W.E.B. Griffin's The Corps or The Brotherhood of War series would make a lot of money if done right.; 4/27/19, 11:43 PM
narciso said...: Steve Rogers is like superman, and stark is like Bruce Wayne one is drawn to duty the other revenge; 4/27/19, 11:44 PM
Gahrie said...: And how perfectly cast was the part? Whenever Downey comes on the screen, it lights up.

Downey not only looks exactly like Stark from the comics, he has a personal history that allows him to instinctively identify with Stark's complexities. It really is a case of the perfect man for the role. I'm glad for all of us that it allowed Downey to revive his career.; 4/27/19, 11:47 PM
narciso said...: That would be an interesting exercise, instead fx is adapting don Winslow cartel series; 4/27/19, 11:47 PM
narciso said...: But it had to come to an end, sometime, I was a fan of the agent carter because of the light noir touches, of course it only Carried for two seasons.; 4/27/19, 11:51 PM
reader said...: I’d like to see a remake of the House of Usher.; 4/27/19, 11:52 PM
wwww said...: Althouse: Why are adults going to so many superhero movies? How could they possibly hold your interest? I’m genuinely mystified by this aspect of our culture.

I'm assuming Althouse has never, ever enjoyed a video game. Good movies and video games are fun. More fun then discussing politics, that's for sure.; 4/27/19, 11:58 PM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: Althouse: Why are adults going to so many superhero movies? How could they possibly hold your interest? I’m genuinely mystified by this aspect of our culture.

I'm assuming Althouse has never, ever enjoyed a video game. Good movies and video games are fun. More fun then discussing politics, that's for sure.

Kind of reminds me of that "More cowbell" thing from yesterday.; 4/27/19, 11:59 PM
narciso said...: How about Stephenson's cryptonimicon, that would be a world war tale in the first half and a techno thriller in the second.; 4/28/19, 12:00 AM
Gahrie said...: Why are adults going to so many superhero movies? How could they possibly hold your interest? I’m genuinely mystified by this aspect of our culture.

Althouse you do know that members of your class were saying the same things about you when you were listening to Dylan and rock and roll...right?; 4/28/19, 12:05 AM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: To my mind it's something like dissing High Noon or The Searchers with "Another horse opera? Honestly how can a grown man like that stuff?".; 4/28/19, 12:08 AM
narciso said...: Speaking of a limping franchise:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.maxim.com/.amp/entertainment/ana-de-armas-is-next-bond-girl-2019-4; 4/28/19, 12:18 AM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: "Ann, the reason is people are more retarded than they were in times past."

It isn't the retardation, it's the abandoned dignity. Ties and hats traded for tattoos and vulgar t-shirts. What did you expect?; 4/28/19, 12:19 AM
wwww said...: Look, it's fine that someone doesn't want to see a movie or play a video game. I don't judge it -- people have different interests, and that's fine. But being mystified that others would enjoy the experience? Why wouldn't we enjoy it? A good narrative, good special effects=good times.; 4/28/19, 12:22 AM
Crazy World said...: Nice brick in the wall.; 4/28/19, 12:36 AM
eddie willers said...: Why are adults going to so many superhero movies? How could they possibly hold your interest? I’m genuinely mystified by this aspect of our culture.

Boy....do I ever agree with that!

I just had to say that first, and now I will go back to the thread to see posts defending same.; 4/28/19, 12:38 AM
Michael K said...: W.E.B. Griffin's The Corps or The Brotherhood of War series would make a lot of money if done right.

I have read those a dozen times but they are too complex to make a movie. Even a miniseries would probably not work well.

The Tom Clancy novels, which are far less complex, were butchered as movies although "Patriot Games" turned out pretty well.

"Hunt for Red October" was the only one that really worked as a movie.; 4/28/19, 12:44 AM
Yancey Ward said...: I liked the first Iron Man movie, but I have not much liked any of the Marvel movies made after the 2nd Captain America movie. I will probably watch the last two Avengers movies when End Game comes to streaming in a few months, but I am expecting to be disappointed.; 4/28/19, 12:45 AM
Yancey Ward said...: Finished season 5 of Bosch an hour ago. Outstanding.; 4/28/19, 12:46 AM
Yancey Ward said...: Ken B,

On the Trump/Netanyahu cartoon- it speaks volumes that the NYTimes published that in the international edition, but not the domestic one.; 4/28/19, 12:49 AM
eddie willers said...: Finished season 5 of Bosch an hour ago. Outstanding.

Yep. With just enough dangling threads to take into the next season. I am a very big Michael Connelly fan (because he can write, not quite Chandler, but his plots are better than Chandler)

In my mind's eye, I always saw a young Raymond Burr as Harry. Now when I read Connelly's latest, I see Titus Welliver.; 4/28/19, 12:55 AM
Ray - SoCal said...: On the Trump/Netanyahu cartoon, I did not see it as anti-Semitic until it was explained to me.

I just saw it as another typical attack against Trump and Netanyahu, clever in its own way.

I thought it funny / ironic Trump was portrayed as Jewish in the cartoon, yet is portrayed as anti Semitic by the left and LLR’s. And that Trump is being portrayed as a follower, Israel has found out after the fact on quite a few important decisions by Trump.; 4/28/19, 1:27 AM
Ice Nine said...: Althous: "Why are adults going to so many superhero movies? How could they possibly hold your interest?"

Jeez, Ann, duh! Big explosions, and awesome car chases and crashes, and super cool magic flying guys, and hot shit outfits, and really easy to follow plots, and...Oh, you said "adults" didn't you. Sorry.; 4/28/19, 1:45 AM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: Yeah, adults. Eat your movie oatmeal!; 4/28/19, 1:48 AM
gadfly said...: Commentary has a piece entitled "To Each According to His Greed."

In short, we just have to rid ourselves of this outdated idea that people who work more should be paid more. We need to recognize that people are interchangeable, and no one is irreplaceable or more valuable than anyone else. That way, everyone can share all the hours, and all the money; they can work only as many hours as their little hearts desire, and everyone can live happily ever after.

Huh. Why didn’t we think of that before?; 4/28/19, 2:27 AM
Mr. Groovington said...: The most extreme masonry you can see (after years of interest) is at Qorikancha, Cusco, far more impressive than other examples in Peru, or anywhere else I’ve seen. The few surviving walls are protected in a mostly glass structure.

Also in Cusco is the second Larco museum, this one specializing in ceramics. Some of the pieces there stop you cold and take your breath away. The particular era of Inca pottery genius was directly influential on Braque, Picasso, as you’ll immediately see.

But the first Larco museum, in Lima, is my favorite specialist museum in the world. I like to be culturally enlightened and nothing I’ve seen has had the impact this small place has.

Just get on a plane and do these three things. Cusco has one or two excellent hotels. Lima’s a bit of a huge epic shithole, but some good hotels in Miraflores.

Lima also has high stakes cock fighting, also not to be missed. I tried to get more involved, attempting to buy a couple from the top breeder in the country, outside of Huanchaco, but they were paranoid about my intentions.; 4/28/19, 2:59 AM
Mr. Groovington said...: *not Huanchaco come to think of it, the breeder is in Nazca. They have gorgeous rooms attached for wealthy buyers and the public areas are a museum to the sport.; 4/28/19, 3:11 AM
Jaq said...: In answer to Althouse’s question. No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people.; 4/28/19, 4:04 AM
Jaq said...: I think that the answer to Gillette’s sales slump is to take their name off of Bob Kraft’s stadium. Way too much toxic masculinity on display there. It’s almost a temple to the stuff, an oratorium toxicus masculineus.; 4/28/19, 4:09 AM
Jaq said...: https://twitter.com/Imamofpeace/status/1121904778903203841/photo/1

New York fucking Times.; 4/28/19, 4:13 AM
rhhardin said...: Deadpool was okay, for the quips. Deadpool 2 was not.; 4/28/19, 5:31 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: Just saw a letter from Robert Hannigan, Director, GCHQ to Boris Johnson, MP, Sec of State for Commonwealth & Foreign Affairs, dated Nov 17, 2016, titled “ISA-94: Application for Renewal of Warrant CSO/14263 to Surveil 725 5th Av, New York, NY, USA, 5th and 26th Floors”. In the letter, Dir Hannigan indicates that GCHQ started electronically surveilling both the Trump Organization and Trump campaign on August 28, 2016, and NSA Susan Rice has requested that the electronic surveillance be renewed for the Presidential transition. Former MI6 agent Christopher Steele was cited for information that supports this application.

If this letter is real, this could possibly be huge. It would mean that British Intelligence was electronically surveilling the Trump Organization and campaign in Trump Tower on behest of the Obama Administration for at least the last three months before the 2016 election, and through the transition if this warrant renewal was approved. Notably, this warrant was issued two months before the FISA warrant based on similar contrived evidence. Wonder why the Brits were screaming so loudly about fully declassifying the FISA warrant request? This is part of it - they had been electronically surveilling the current President upon the request of his predecessor. Everything that we have seen so far should now be re-evaluated through this abuse of the Five Eyes coalition, as well as the claim that the surveillance abuse was limited to the FBI. Instead, with the insolvent of NSA Rice, this shows significant involvement by the Obama White House. In short, the surveillance of Trump was not a rogue operation, but ordered by the Obama White House.; 4/28/19, 5:32 AM
rhhardin said...: I put superhero and period pieces in the same "avoid" category.

They could attract women to superhero movies if their women wore bonnets, I bet.; 4/28/19, 5:33 AM
rhhardin said...: Woman revenge flicks are okay. They're not superheros but just pissed off.; 4/28/19, 5:37 AM
BUMBLE BEE said...: Soooo... Hannigan stepped down for "Personal Reasons"? Most peculiar momma.; 4/28/19, 5:43 AM
h said...: Word of the day: stumbled upon reading Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot short stories, this one written probably in the 1930s:

blague

blague, n.

Pronunciation: Brit. /blaɡ/, U.S. /blɑɡ/
Frequency (in current use):
Etymology: French.

Pretentious falsehood, ‘humbug’.

1839 T. Carlyle French Revol. (ed. 2) III. v. vi. 300 The largest, most inspiring piece of blague manufactured, for some centuries.
1865 Day of Rest Oct. 580 That is all blague.
1886 Huxley in Pall Mall Gaz. 13 Apr. 13/2 It believes in shibboleths and sentimental blague.; 4/28/19, 6:00 AM
rhhardin said...: But of course with the spread of literacy you now tend to get girls who have thought and feeling too, in some measure, and some of them will probably belong to the Royal Philological Society or something, or in any case have their own 'thing,' which must be respected, and catered to, and nattered about, just as if you gave a shit about all this blague. But of course we may be different, perhaps you do care about it.

- Barthelme, Snow White; 4/28/19, 6:07 AM
Fritz said...: Unknown said...
Thanos is a bit late to the party. "The future is an overpopulated hellhole" trope peaked in the 70s with Brunner's The Sheep Look Up, Harrison's Make Room, Make room and Farmer's "Seventy Years of Decpop".

Speaking of the The Sheep Look up, Stand on Zanzibar was a much better book.; 4/28/19, 6:25 AM
Breezy said...: Given how techno our world is now, why not have a glimpse into what the future holds?; 4/28/19, 6:26 AM
Fritz said...: Bruce Hayden said...
Just saw a letter from Robert Hannigan, Director, GCHQ to Boris Johnson, MP, Sec of State for Commonwealth & Foreign Affairs, dated Nov 17, 2016, titled “ISA-94: Application for Renewal of Warrant CSO/14263 to Surveil 725 5th Av, New York, NY, USA, 5th and 26th Floors”. In the letter, Dir Hannigan indicates that GCHQ started electronically surveilling both the Trump Organization and Trump campaign on August 28, 2016, and NSA Susan Rice has requested that the electronic surveillance be renewed for the Presidential transition. Former MI6 agent Christopher Steele was cited for information that supports this application.

That would be an interesting confirmation of something many of us have been assuming for quite a while. One of the purposes of the "5 eyes" program is that we "allow" the Brits and their kin to spy on us, using our own networks and databases, and give our own intelligence agencies stuff they can't legally get themselves. And we do the same for them. Why would we expect them to stop at the door of a presidential candidate?; 4/28/19, 6:30 AM
gilbar said...: i was re-watching the tom hanks film, YOU'VE GOT MAIL
he owns a book SuperStore and trying to running Meg Ryan's little shop around the corner out of business.
Fast forward to today, and He'd be the one out of business (thanx Amazon!), and her shop would (maybe) still be going). It's funny how creative destruction works :); 4/28/19, 6:39 AM
Rusty said...: gadfly said...
"Commentary has a piece entitled "To Each According to His Greed."

In short, we just have to rid ourselves of this outdated idea that people who work more should be paid more. We need to recognize that people are interchangeable, and no one is irreplaceable or more valuable than anyone else. That way, everyone can share all the hours, and all the money; they can work only as many hours as their little hearts desire, and everyone can live happily ever after.

Huh. Why didn’t we think of that before?"
No actual understnding of human nature. How markets work. Or what constitutes labor.
Other than that. Spot on!; 4/28/19, 6:45 AM
iowan2 said...: Bruce Hayden. It would be a huge rend in the fabric of reality, IF, this document exists. Would lead to the immediate jailing of cabinet heads right?

Barr and Trump are both on record that spying was ordered by Obama. Barr and POTUS have seen evidence. You can rail against POTUS, but so far he has been right. Barr would not have entertained the question (Planted question, is my guess) without having hard verified and corroborated evidence.(from Hororiwitz?)

I'm not getting my hopes too high. Not until warrants start dropping.; 4/28/19, 6:54 AM
Big Mike said...: Rusty, I don't know what it is, exactly, but somewhere along the line I developed the notion that that Robert Cook and gadfly are lazy bastards who want other people to work hard to make enough tax dollars so they can la-de-dah around the house all day. Not sure where that came from.; 4/28/19, 6:58 AM
gilbar said...: We need to recognize that people are interchangeable, and no one is irreplaceable or more valuable than anyone else.

Truer words have Never been spoken!
you want someone to bake a cake? Get ANYONE, people are interchangeable!
you want someone to fix your car? Get ANYONE, people are interchangeable!
you want someone to write your code, paint your painting, dye your hair, take out your spleen, fly your airplane? Get ANYONE, people are interchangeable!

WHY DIDN'T WE SEE THAT BEFORE? One person's work is Just as valuable as another's!!!; 4/28/19, 7:03 AM
iowan2 said...: The leftist media is laying down PR cover for Nadler etal, and their subpoenas. They media never reports that some of the people POTUS refuses to send, in fact will appear as long as the administration provides legal counsel to invoke executive privilege, Nadler is refusing that legal counsel. The requested taxes from POTUS,(and anything he touched in the last 10 years)that POTUS, through his Sec of Treasury have refused? The talking heads never explain exactly what power congress is using to make the request. It is the power of
congresses oversight. In this case its oversight of the IRS. Not POTUS. Congress would be accusing the IRS of giving preference to POTUS.
The media goes on like this 24/7. Refusing to report salient fact. s; 4/28/19, 7:14 AM
Henry said...: Why are adults going to so many superhero movies? How could they possibly hold your interest?

Variations on a known theme. All entertainment is that.; 4/28/19, 7:23 AM
William said...: If you take away the great poetry, there's not much to Shakespeare. The plots are contrived, and his history is not to be trusted.; 4/28/19, 7:29 AM
gilbar said...: you take away the great poetry, there's not much to Shakespeare.

what gets me, is All the Cliches!; 4/28/19, 7:35 AM
mockturtle said...: Shakespeare is all about cleverness of language and no one used the language more cleverly than he.; 4/28/19, 7:41 AM
Rory said...: "If this letter is real...."

That the Queen has deigned to give the President a state visit argues strongly that it is real.; 4/28/19, 7:43 AM
William said...: Notre Dame Cathedral was the Marvel picture of its day. People came from miles around to see it. They couldn't believe that a building could be that big. The light that filtered through the stained glass windows was light that they had never before seen on earth. To enter that church was to enter another realm where strange and wondrous things were possible........The poetry of a superhero movie is not in the dialogue but in the special effects. There's not much by way of special effects in my dreary, day to day existence. Gravity is particularly vexing. It's nice to enter a world where you can escape for the moment from the surly bonds of earth.; 4/28/19, 7:43 AM
Oso Negro said...: Blogger Ann Althouse said...
Why are adults going to so many superhero movies? How could they possibly hold your interest? I’m genuinely mystified by this aspect of our culture.

1) The visual work is often stunning. You probably got stoned and went to see "Fantasia" back in the day. "Aquaman" goes far beyond that.
2) It's fun. I watched Aquaman at a theatre in Odessa, Ukraine. It was dubbed in Ukrainian, not my best language. STILL enjoyable.; 4/28/19, 8:06 AM
Molly said...: I put my tinfoil hat on, and got this (regarding possible surveillance of Trump by British intelligence): Friday Jan 20, 2017, 2 pm EST, Trump is inaugurated. Monday Jan 23, 2017, Robert Hannigan resigns (to spend more time with his family, no iie).; 4/28/19, 8:20 AM
Fen said...: "We need to recognize that people are interchangeable, and no one is irreplaceable or more valuable than anyone else."

Sounds almost like they are sub-human. Let me guess, that comes next? After you have desensitized individuality. I think some National Socialists and Marxists went down this road already.

But I'm sure it's all for the greater good.

Just teasing. We already know how this works out. We need to hold a Inclusive Seminar to discuss the details (white people not invited).

Brie Larson is a "champion" for more minority representation in Hollywood.
The original MCU Captain Marvel was a black woman by the name of Monica Rambeau.
Brie Larson appropriated a role that should have been represented by a minority.
Brie Larson really meant OTHER people need to step aside for minorities.

So I'm sure this will follow the same pattern. No one is special, except you. Amiright?; 4/28/19, 8:41 AM
Fen said...: "Why are adults going to so many superhero movies? How could they possibly hold your interest?"

Grew up reading the Xmen and Avengers. Always wanted to see them adapted to the big screen. But until now most attempts were lame - as in Batman in his underoos in the old TV show. I bet they were so tempted to put nipples on Iron Man's armor, but got tackled by the elevator.

Iron Man was almost PERFECT. Right out of the gate. And Roberty Downey nailed Stark's character, even better than the comics. I think that's why the rest of the series did so well. My fav scence of all the movies is his first flight

Remember, men are object-oriented; women are people-oriented. This was as good as porn for us.; 4/28/19, 8:50 AM
Fen said...: "Deadpool was okay, for the quips. Deadpool 2 was not."

Blade.; 4/28/19, 8:55 AM
Fen said...: "No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people."

Hillary.; 4/28/19, 8:56 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: Looks like I was duped about that letter from GCHQ to the British foreign secretary that implicated the Obama WH. It looks fake. Sorry.

Does a ‘Leaked’ British Intelligence Document Prove Trump Wiretapping Claims?

I think, in particular, that getting Steele’s first name wrong, and having him come from MI5 instead of MI6 is highly indicative of the document having been faked. These are not the types of errors that the British equivalent to our NSA would make.

My only excuse was that my posting was a combination of seeing smoking gun proof of Obama’ s perfidy, and the time I was doing so, shortly after midnight my time.; 4/28/19, 9:12 AM
gilbar said...: Fen replied to... "No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people."
saying... Hillary

Hillary is A LOT of things, but 'broke' is certainly NOT one of them; 4/28/19, 9:21 AM
Christopher said...: If you take away the great poetry, there's not much to Shakespeare. The plots are contrived, and his history is not to be trusted.

If you take away the notes, music is overrated.; 4/28/19, 9:42 AM
Narayanan said...: William said...
If you take away the great poetry, there's not much to Shakespeare

In the Shakespeare author controversy / conspiracy are there other claimant to the poetry also?; 4/28/19, 9:50 AM
Anonymous said...: Narayanan at 950am: I recall a lady scholar about 25 - 30 years ago venturing the theory that Shakespeare was not a pseudonym for one writer, but for many, including some of the usual suspects. Her argument basically: he was a ghost-writer/broker. There apparently were such folk in the period.

I don't have enough expertise on the topic to begin to critique it, but it was an ingenious argument and I recall at least that much. I'll try to think where I saw it.

Narr
Not that big a fan, though I can still remember "Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and . . . line? Sorry."; 4/28/19, 10:21 AM
Yancey Ward said...: Bruce,

I am pretty sure that letter is a fake- it is Christopher Steele and not Michael. In addition, he is said to have been MI6, not MI5. Also, I find the centering of bullet points an odd thing in an official letter, but I have no authentic such letter to judge from, so maybe it isn't odd. However, the mistake on the name is enough to conclude this is a fake.

I think the mistakes made are deliberate, though- the purpose wasn't to smear Obama, it was to smear those who think the British probably did help monitor the Trump campaign at the behest of the CIA and FBI. Putting out such an obvious fake letter is quite effective.; 4/28/19, 11:27 AM
Yancey Ward said...: And I see you have already learned this- never mind.; 4/28/19, 11:28 AM
Jaq said...: "We need to recognize that people are interchangeable, and no one is irreplaceable or more valuable than anyone else."

"The cemeteries are full of indispensable men.” - Napoleon.

But other than that, the original point is ridiculous, unless you are talking about street sweeping or making submarine sandwiches, both honorable activities, but not demanding of the highest levels of intellectual ability.; 4/28/19, 11:44 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 4/28/19, 11:58 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: “And I see you have already learned this- never mind.”

I received a copy of the letter in email, and commented on it. Then I went out searching for it on the Internet to post a link to it. I read a couple articles talking about it and Obama perfidy, then found this article, read it, and found it convincing.; 4/28/19, 12:01 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: "We need to recognize that people are interchangeable, and no one is irreplaceable or more valuable than anyone else."

"The cemeteries are full of indispensable men.” - Napoleon.

“But other than that, the original point is ridiculous, unless you are talking about street sweeping or making submarine sandwiches, both honorable activities, but not demanding of the highest levels of intellectual ability.”

The idea that people are interchangeable is somewhat socialist, if not Marxist. But then the question arises, if everyone is interchangeable, what qualifies the leaders who get to direct the labors of everyone else, to be the leaders. Why give them the private dachas on the Black Sea, or access to private jets?

For the older programmers and former programmers here, do you remember the “Mystical Man Month”? Management seems always to be trying to solve software scheduling problems by throwing extra bodies at late projects, assuming that will allow them to be completed on time. Almost never works, of course, often making the project even later. I loved the example used to show the fallacy- that if this worked, you could have nine women pregnant for one month to get a baby in one month, instead of the one woman taking nine months alone to complete the project.; 4/28/19, 12:15 PM
Victor Landivar said...: Peru! I was born there!; 4/28/19, 6:13 PM