Astute Observations, Diary

Why It Often Rains in the Movies

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A few days ago, I read this wonderful short piece by Lawrence Raab in a book entitled “The Paris Review Book for Planes, Trains, Elevators, and Waiting Rooms” (p. 260). Because so much consequential thinking happens in the rain. A steady mist to recall departures, a bitter downpour for betrayal. As if the first thing a man wants to [Read More]
Diary

Million Dollar Baby

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There is an iron-law of film-making that every director should recognize: When the script is poor, it is impossible to create a good film. Million Dollar Baby has noble intentions. It wants to be deep. Towards the end, it surprisingly gains gravitas and you want to forget that three quarters of the movie were slow image image [Read More]
Curious News, Diary

The Knight “Georg Murmann”

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Reading Don Quixote I learn great deal about the medieval literature about knights. Cervantes spoofs these stories in his famous novel. Apparently, there was also a “Murmann” knight, born in 1766. [Now I know why I am such a chivalrous kind of guy:) ] Georg Murmann entered the military in 1783 and spent all his image image [Read More]
Diary

Experiencing an Epiphany

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It is so much fun to watch children because for them everything is new. Teenagers already know quite a lot about the world, but they are still willing to experiment with new identities and become someone entirely different from one day to the next. When people reach middle age, this all seems to stop. People image image [Read More]
Diary

Losing one’s life in democratic elections

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Until today I believed that the current elections in the U.S. are calm and civil compared to places like Ukraine where the opposition candidate became very sick in the weeks leading up to this coming Sunday’s fateful election because he was apparently poisoned by the incumbent party.  But then I read this short report about [Read More]