Red Right Blog |
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Rants, Rates, Slags, Slates. Manic-depressive posts from Red Wright-Hand. Because there are thousands of worthless blogs out there and who am I not to add to their number?
Total US troop deaths in Iraq to date (09/01/07) since 03/20/03: 3739
From 05/02/03 through 06/28/04: 718 Myeloma (etc.) Blogs
Adventures of Cancer Girl Browse
Arts & Letters Daily
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Tuesday, September 30, 2003
Monday, September 29, 2003
This sentence is like a great big hyperlink just waiting to get clicked. An excerpt from David Foster Wallace's new book. I was about to link to some critical commentary on that excerpt from a professional mathematician, but something's happened to that link's host server, at least for now, so no go. Which is too bad, because it was pretty sharp. Anyway, what do you think? As much as I admire G.K. Chesterton (whose Father Brown stories aren't appreciated nearly enough, despite having been praised by Borges himself), his quote in Wallace's opening is of course total b.s. It's not exactly a secret that a significant number of prominent poets and other creative types had/have problems in the attic, often with genuinely tragic consequences; I happen to know of a few cases personally. Chesterton was a devout Catholic, and I think his remark is intended as an attack on rationalism, materialism, empirical methods and all that good stuff, and cannot be taken seriously as a commentary on imagination (or logic, either) per se. Thursday, September 25, 2003
Yeah, I know, quite a hiatus. That's what happens sometimes when you work for a living, and your employer really wants you to work, and especially when it's web-related work; the last thing you want to do in your downtime is write more stuff online. You=me, of course. But, I'm glad to have a job. Had some thoughts about the part proximity plays in the press coverage of disasters. Two weeks ago, South Korea was beat up by a massive typhoon; estimated press coverage in the States: minimal. (I was paying attention because a friend of mine just moved to Pusan to teach English.) And of course, last week, parts of the mid-Atlantic states (where, you know, lots of Americans live) were torn up by Hurricane Isabel; estimated press coverage in the States, before, during and after: colossal. Proving that people tend only to care about what's happening directly to them. I'm certainly not innocent of this fault; when Isabel's fringes passed through my part of the world, I was only mildly impressed with the rain and the intermittent gusts of strong wind. "So this is the big hyped-up hurricane?" But of course, as I was saying this, people were being killed, homes destroyed, power lost by millions. So don't let your personal luck keep you aloof from the troubles of others. And keep watching the skies. Sunday, September 14, 2003
Today I either have a hangover or a brain tumor. Twenty-four hours should settle the difference. Meanwhile (again), a couple more R.I.P.s to note. A serious farewell to Charles Bronson, native Pennsylvanian, and final word in the argument that, where movies are concerned, certain folks don't have to shift their facial expression by one micro-millimeter in order to give an eternally cool performance. I'm quite serious; he was that cool. Bronson is cinema history if only for his appearance in Once Upon a Time in the West; I remember seeing that magnificent film during its theatrical (and restored) re-release in the mid-80s, and it remains one of the grand moviegoing experiences of my life. (The DVD is finally due out on November 18th, but if you were likely enough to see it on the real widescreen, you know what I'm talking about.) I can still hear Bronson, as Harmonica, saying "I like my water fresh," and "You brought two too many." A voice to outlast parody. Arrivederci, Charles. And another deep dose of respect, this time for The Man in Black. Stark and never any bullshit. Subject of the best music-biz photo ever. Bruised. Real. Unpigeonholeable. I hang my head and cry. Tuesday, September 09, 2003
Finally. Meanwhile, you never know who's going to check out the links you put on your blog: I heard back tout de suite from Blackben of The Other Red Right Blog, who was none too pleased with the aspersions I cast upon his Gallic station and parentage. Blackben, je suis tres kidding! What can I say, the fellow has great taste in titling blogs. Saturday, September 06, 2003
This was inevitable, I suppose. Goddamn French bastard. If you're really aching for a translation into English, Google the site and hit the supplied link. A Mr. Dave Schuman, Web Content Editor of the Land Grand College Review, was kind enough to write me and ask that I link to his publication. So I am hereby doing so. Finally saw American Splendor and was rather charmed by it, though the film inevitably suffers a bit from having to cram about three decades' worth of genuine life-struggles into the frame of a feature film. A very unorthodox feature film, thank goodness. Best laugh in my opinion involved the business with the pencil-written letter on Harvey's bed. |
