When I saw the National Theatre’s production of Frankenstein, I thought there were two somewhat cliché ideas that were lent additional depth in this staging. Previously, I wrote about Frankenstein learning humanity from his possibly inhuman monster, but there was also an interesting use of a trope as the creature learned to be a man. When the creature confronts Frankenstein’s wife near the end of the show, she marvels at his humanity and his sophistication, but when he lists what... Read more
— 1 — I’m always delighted when life imitates xkcd (after all, that’s why I dressed up as a ninja and attacked Richard Stallman freshman year). After xkcd explained the Saturn V using only the thousand most common English words, someone put together The Up-Goer Five Text Editor, that will let you try and explain ideas using only the top thousand words. It’ll flag you when you go wrong. — 2 — The New York Times ran an amazing obit... Read more
From the Onion: Biden Pardons Single Yam In Vice Presidential Thanksgiving Ritual Via Sullivan: An explanation of how turkeys are trained to be pardoned Turkeys are naturally skittish, but the select group was trained to be what the National Turkey Federation describes as “media-savvy.” Handlers familiarized the turkeys with human contact and played music around the clock so the turkeys got used to loud noises and human voices. Read more
As I warned you, I’m taking some time before I write anything specifically about being received into the Catholic Church. In the meantime, I hope my thoughts on the National Theatre’s production of Frankenstein will do. After all, it’s also about the surprise of becoming a new creation England’s National Theatre tapes some of its performances and allows them to be shown around the world. This past summer, I was lucky enough to see their production of Frankenstein twice through... Read more
In the run-up to my reception into the Catholic Church, I tried to talk a little about the process of conversion and the Christian faith in the language I’m most fluent in: the lyrics of Broadway musicals. “Reach out your hand, and see what it gets you” – The song is from Stephen Sondheim’s Anyone Can Whistle, and the Gospel reading is from one of the Scrutiny masses in Lent. I’m contrasting Bartimaeus, the man born blind, with Nurse Fay Apple... Read more
Today, I was recieved into the Catholic Church and was given the sacraments of baptism, confirmation, and holy communion. I had expected, earlier this year, to choose Catherine of Alexandria for my confirmation saint. After she was converted by a tutor, she king sent various scholars and theologian to argue her out of her belief, and, when she met them in debate, she made converts of them all. She is the patron saint of apologists, lawyers, philosophers, preachers, students,... Read more
The last two song and sentiment posts have touched on problems of uncertainty. How does Floyd derive comfort from his series of questions about heaven? Why does being unblinded leave Nurse Fay Apple more uncertain that she was in ignorance? The last song I want to discuss is from Man of La Mancha. In “What Does He Want of Me” Aldonza’s song follows the same structure as Floyd’s–a litany of questions–but instead of finding comfort, she seems to be as... Read more
I hate football. If humans are the thinking animal, football (and the hard hits and concussion that seem to baked into the modern form of the sport) are an assault on our humanity. Slate has a good compendium of links explaining the scope of the concussions crisis. The most upsetting stories tend to be those of the families of the players who watch their loved ones slip into early dementia, sometimes accompanied by poor impulse control and violence. It reminds... Read more
About two years ago, long before I converted, a student was working on his performance of “How Glory Goes” in a musical theatre masterclass that I was sitting in. The song is from the musical Floyd Collins, based on the life of Floyd Collins, a cave explorer from Kentucky who was trapped in a cave and starved to death alone. (An obvious topic for a musical). Before the rocks shifted and cut Floyd off from the surface completely, there was a... Read more
— 1 — I’ll start these quick takes with two call backs to recent topics. Chicago Mag has a post-election interview with Nate Silver. Back when you were living in Chicago, one of your first blogs was the Burrito Bracket, in which you attempted—via statistics—to find the best burrito in Wicker Park. Yes. I would just go and eat tacos and burritos for lunch a lot and compare those, get the same food item, like a steak burrito, for consecutive days... Read more
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Unequally Yoked
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