Diary

Wealth and Happiness

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SHARON BEGLEY has filed this interesting report about the connection between wealth and happiness in today’s WSJ. It seems like justice is valued highly all over the world. But what is less clear is what people are willing to pay for it.  Wealth and Happiness Don’t Necessarily Go Hand in Hand On a scale of 1 [Read More]
Movies, Phantasy

The Day After Tomorrow

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The Oscar winning Titanic was boring compared to this remarkable motion picture by Roland Emmerich. America as we know it coming to an end is simply a bigger issue than two lovers going bathing because their vessel hit an iceberg. The notion that New York City could turn tomorrow into Iceland is scientifically wrong; but image [Read More]
Books, Fiction

Tonio Kroeger

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This autobiographical short piece of fiction is the best writing of Thomas Mann that I have laid eyes on. For me it was much more compelling than his famous first major novel The Buddenbrocks. At least one German writer (Martin Walser) claims to have learned the entire novella by heart so that he could readily image [Read More]
Diary

Till Death Do Us Part, or Whatever

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Given that most people seem to know that the divorce rate in contemporary America is about 50 percent for first timers (the odds for 2nd and 3rd marriages are even worse), I was curious whether some people would feel a little bit queezy about uttering the promise Till Death Do us Part. SAM [Read More]
Movies, Phantasy

Big Fish

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A son struggles to find his father behind that endless stories and myths that junior heard from the day he was born. As an adult the son feels he does not know who his father really is because the stories are often so unbelievable to the adult mind. When the father comes down with cancer, image [Read More]
Books, Fiction

Confession of a Murderer

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Joseph Roth died in his Paris exile, leaving behind thirteen novels as well as many stories and essays. The Confession of a Murderer Told in One Night is after Job Roth’s most spellbinding novel that I have read to date. Roth had to flee from the Nazis in Germany. The book is a wonderful parable image [Read More]
Comedy, Movies

50 First Dates

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Deeply built into our notion of romantic love is the idea that there is one other person out there who is tailor-made to be your mate. The only real question in this particular notion of love is whether you are able to find this person among the 6 billion people who could be the one. image [Read More]
Diary

Annie Hall

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During the first thirty minutes of the movie I wanted to scream out after every sentence of the dialogue: Brilliant!!! The rest of the movie is excellent as well. Woody Allen could (perhaps should) have stopped writing, acting and directing movies after Annie Hall (1977), and he would have deserved to be inducted into the image [Read More]
Diary

Calling All Ids: Freudians at War

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D. D GUTTENPLAN filed this interesting report from Britain in today’s NYT. I have one recommendation for British vacationers in Spain and Portugal, age 18 and above, who are thinking about seeing a psychotherapist. Look up the local catholic priest. He does not charge any money for a talk therapy. LONDON, May 28 – Who image [Read More]