Monthly Archives: January 2011

It Felt Like a Kiss

Posted on January 24, 2011 by hnbjr

As I said last weekend, I’ve been on a heavy Adam Curtis kick recently.  Century of the Self is quite a worthwhile flick, but his latest, It Felt Like a Kiss, really pushes the boundaries.  An experimental film commissioned initially … Continue reading →

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Obama at Tuscon

Posted on January 18, 2011 by hnbjr

After a British colleague thoroughly exhorted me to watch Obama’s Tuscon speech, I did so. The fact that my own family wrote me in praise of it somehow didn’t provide the same motivation. It’s a fine speech; particularly towards the … Continue reading →

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On Wrestling with Angels

Posted on January 17, 2011 by hnbjr

Have you ever wanted to do something difficult, perhaps out of frustration, or to beat fear?  Maybe you ran a marathon, or took up biking, or read a long book or worked out a difficult puzzle.  What you in all … Continue reading →

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The Trap

Posted on January 16, 2011 by hnbjr

I first encountered Adam Curtis via 2004’s The Power of Nightmares, which I watched while I was a graduate student. It was an interesting and provocative thesis — that the rise of the neocons had a parallel in the rise of … Continue reading →

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Tonfo, and Ri-Tonfo

Posted on January 15, 2011 by hnbjr

Just to keep things somewhat organized, I’m breaking this out of today’s roundup.  Yglesias, like most normal people with a sound and sober understanding of the dismal science, is totally baffled by Italy’s deeply dismal recent growth. Not that I … Continue reading →

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The Chains are Broken, the Knives are Sharpened, the Glock is Photographed

Posted on January 15, 2011 by hnbjr

Morning roundup: Interesting times in Tunisia.  Is it the Arab’s world Gdansk or is that too much to hope for?  We’ll see.  But it’s something. I was heartened to see that Yglesias also excused himself from blogging extensively on Tunisia … Continue reading →

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News from Tunisia

Posted on January 14, 2011 by hnbjr

I am the first to admit that I know very little about neighboring Tunisia, aside from Bettino Craxi’s Hammamet exile and some happenstance encounters with Tunisian street kids in Bologna.  Despite the recent death of a RAI reporter, the only … Continue reading →

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The Sacred, the Profane and the Nothing-Based Economy

Posted on January 13, 2011 by hnbjr

A friend recently sent me one of those scarcely credible “grosser than gross” stories that both defy and defile the imagination, and that seem to be all the more popular amid the anonymity of the internet. Yet this one was … Continue reading →

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Post-Holiday Post

Posted on January 7, 2011 by hnbjr

Happy Epiphany everyone. I’m just in from an utterly exhausting holiday trip to Rovigo, Louisville and Washington DC, and after yesterday’s 24-hour trip home, I’m too spent to do much other than post this ridiculous 1951 Warner Brothers cartoon featuring … Continue reading →

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