November 29, 2020

"First, there is a monolith, then there is no monolith."

 

It's a podcast. 

Topics: "A Zen mountain, the 'vanishing' monolith, Trump’s wall likened to a Christo project, the fiction of ‘The Crown,’ David Brooks’s notion of the 'rotting' GOP mind, lax grooming in COVID times, learning from hermits in COVID times, and the memory of smells."

15 comments:

rhhardin said...

80. I say "There is a chair". What if I go up to it, meaning to fetch it, and it suddenly disappears from sight? - "So it wasn't a chair, but some kind of illusion". - But in a few moments we see it again and are able to touch it and so on. - "So the chair was there after all and its disappearance was some kind of illusion". - But suppose that after a time it disappears again - or seems to disappear. What are we to say now? have you rules ready for such cases - rules saying whether one may use the word "chair" to include this kind of thing? But do we miss them when we use the word "chair"; and are we to say that we do not really attach any meaning to this word, because we are not equipped with rules for every possible application of it?

Wittgenstein

Big Mike said...

So now it’s not a mono-lith, it’s a zero-lith. Is tipota- lith a word?

stevew said...

While acknowledging Donovan's "There is a Mountain" is the foundation and outstanding in its own right, I must say my go to and favorite is The Allman Brothers "Mountain Jam". It is mountainously tall and epically listenable.

MAJMike said...

Anyone thought of checking a lunar crater for the missing "monolith"?

David Begley said...

Agree with new creative decision.

Justin_O_Guy said...

Yep, it was there. Now, it's not,,

The actual BLM controls that area and removed it after several people found it.
No mystery..
No conspiracy..

madAsHell said...

Emoluments.
Russian collusion.
Impeachment.

Yeah, Donovan was a few versus short of a complete song.

Narr said...

Richard Strauss's Alpine Symphony.

Now there's a mountain.

Narr
I sleep now

madAsHell said...

The actual BLM controls that area and removed it after several people found it.
No mystery..
No conspiracy..


Holy Shit!! Black Lives Matter has taken over Utah!!

I also notice that you can buy a case of beer with 30 rounds. Has the work day gotten longer?

Mary said...

I love the new format of your Podcast! Often I would fast forward or tune out/off because everything you’re reading I’ve already read, and I mostly liked the Podcast because of what wasn’t written on the blog.

Paradox of choice. This goes straight to my consumer self. I love shopping at Trader Joe’s because of the limited choices. For example Mayonnaise. I can buy Trader Joe’s Mayonnaise, or Trader Joe’s Wasabi Mayo (which seems to be discontinued!). But in any case there are few choices and they are generally good. If you like TJ’s taste, they’ve done the footwork and curated the products. Curating is a big thing these days because there is so much to choose from. But like you said, we always have the option to make a bad choice in this world.

David Brooks? Yeah he just assumes anybody reading his article is aware of how the QAnon conspiracies have infiltrated the Republican party and the Trump administration. There is no doubt there are conspiracies on the far left, it’s just that they’ve never reached this level. He thinks you’re aware of this and doesn’t bother to explain it. He probably should have.

I love the post about smells and memories. I might have missed that article if you hadn’t blogged about it. If I’m cooking on a cold winter afternoon, I’m always reminded of my grandmother’s kitchen. Only winter season for some reason. And then the smell of Eucalyptus reminds me of northern California, driving through the winding roads, with the windows open, so fresh, so beautiful, all these feel good memories. But it is interesting how you’ve pointed out how many women have strong smell memories of men. Honestly I can only think of my grandfather and old spice mixed with wood sanding, which I don’t come across very often, if ever.

bwebster said...

I was singing that in my mind earlier today. :-)

Keith said...

Is there a way I can donate so you can get a real domain name? Get out of blogspot and create a real brand!

Lurker21 said...


QAnon is still mostly a fringe phenomenon. "Russian collusion" went mainstream.

Sure, Brooks should have said something about left-wing conspiracy theories, but the "center" also believes a lot of stuff that just isn't true.

Indigo Red said...

And then there is.

A monolith has appeared in Romania.

madAsHell said...

Magnuson Park Monolith in 2001