Author Archives: Anton

gravitas

I called a locksmith today and he said he recognized my voice’s “heavy tone” from a previous job. I wonder whether that’s a translation of a Chinese idiom. Perhaps my voice was gravelly, as it sometimes is in the early … Continue reading

Posted in language, me!me!me!, music+verse | 1 Comment

“I am damn unsatisfied . . .”

Novel digital effects (interesting though somewhat crude by current standards) and slapstick mitigate the pointlessness of Kung Fu Hustle but detract from the fight scenes. Would I like it better if I understood the language?

Posted in cinema | Leave a comment

stupid puns come to mind

Come Monday, I’ll be working in Menlo Park. How should I spend the early evening before braving the bridge?

Posted in California, me!me!me! | Leave a comment

Russia in three passes

A few years ago we thrilled to an exhibit by the Library of Congress of color photographs of Russian life made in 1909–15. Now I learn that the images shown there are a small fraction of the Prokudin-Gorskii plates, most … Continue reading

Posted in eye-candy, history | 1 Comment

jargon often travels poorly

Ken MacLeod‘s recent novel Newton’s Wake (whose title I’m not sure I understand) has a character say: What we do is you tell us some more about Eurydice and its beautiful people, and then you get tired and emotional, and … Continue reading

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gluttony with cinnamon

My new favorite ice cream is Ben & Jerry’s Oatmeal Cookie Chunk. It’s hard to find; I found some yesterday at, of all places, a Chinese supermarket.

Posted in general | 1 Comment

go read somewhere else

Tom Knapp on the land problem (inter alia) (cited by Mutualist). (2006: that site has been reorganized; I think this is the same piece, and as a bonus here are two followups.) why drink beer a Martian dust-devil, close up … Continue reading

Posted in astronomy, economics, humanities | Leave a comment