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Choderlos de Laclos - Les Liasons Dangereuses
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Books
- Hits: 1159
Revisiting a delightful book after a 20-odd year absence can be a tricky thing, but in no ways does this disappoint. Well, perhaps in a couple small respects, I shall never write a letter again (and why would I if I couldn't at least maintain the standards set by the esteemed Valmont and Marquise de Merteuil?).
The reason for revisiting it is to place in context "The Letters of Casanova", the original, unedited manuscripts, with other writings on courtly manners and etiquette of the same period. Sort of a "get a feel for the life and times". And it succeeds admirably. To quote André Gide of the author: "There is no doubt as to his being hand in glove with Satan...". But on the off chance you haven't read it, I won't give away any more.
Now on to Lord Chesterfield's "Letters to his Son". As well of the same period, but of a completely different tenor....
**Note the translation I reread was by Richard Aldington - I can't guarantee the veracity of others, especially should they sport a glamorous cover with Glenn Close or John Malkovich. I've read clips of the Parmee translation and recommend heartily that you skip it, or wait for something a little more resonant...
Rick Rosner
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Audio & Podcasts
- Hits: 1682
A brilliant interview with the "World's highest IQ" - Rick Rosner, this is strangely compelling viewing. It demonstrates the total disconnect between measured intelligence and achievement, personality, vocabulary, or anything else for that matter. Were you not told or otherwise aware of Rick's prodigious mental capacities, you would never guess from the hour long interview. You can view the rest of the documentary/interview here. Note things like the directors use of disconnected puzzle pieces, the obviously transplanted hair, and heed the warnings that "Intelligence isn't everything". In it's own way, a curious bookend to his more successful cousin, Karl Pilkington.
Beings of Spirit and Light
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Conversations
- Hits: 1270
He's got this idea that if he can just meditate enough he'll become a being of pure spirit and light.
And he's telling me about it, he's a little discouraged that it hasn't happened yet but probably it just needs more practice....
"I'll go to Ottawa and sit in on Parliament... and they'll say to me 'You shouldn't be here'...and I'll just sit there..."
He pauses for dramatic effect.
"They'll tell me to leave, and I won't, then they'll try to move me and their hands will go right through..."
He mimes the security guards grabbing at empty air....
"and I'll tell them to leave and they won't know what to do...then ppphhhhwwweeewww"
He makes an expansive gesture with his hands and smiles, blows with his mouth as if he's the wind, then leans back in his chair with a satisfied look on his face.
I change the topic.
Richard Pryor's Hairy Ass
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Dreams
- Hits: 1407
I'm in a room speaking to an older woman, her husband designed the 1949 Silver Canadian Dime. It looks just like the regular dime, but the queen's head is split into half, the one half the same formal representation on every dime, the other half is a sort of Matisse - styled abstraction, a bit like the figure on the French Centime...I'm impressed, I don't know why, this isn't something that would ordinarily impress me, I ask her how many were minted but she postpones my questions for her husband, I look around her house, it's nice, darker, furnished with fine antiques and paintings, she gives me a dime to keep....
And now I'm escaping from someone, don't know or remember who, I duck into a church, the 7th Day Adventists...It's like a church basement, no chairs, people sitting in the middle of the floor, too brightly lit....
Richard Pryor is there, he's naked and conducting a sort of Bingo, everyone's got some sort of scratch card with a bunch of different playing cards depicted on them, he's calling numbers and they scratch off the corresponding card...I decide to play to pass the time while hiding out....
He turns around, and while I shouldn't look I can't help but notice how hairy his ass is, really, a beard that grows down between his legs and balls, but nobody seems to mind...
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