"… I miss the black-and-whiteness of the 20th century."
Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter in The New York Times today
A note for Carter —
Thursday, September 7, 2017
Saturday, June 8, 2024
For a Hamburg Quixote
An obituary today recounts the life of a German theologian
from Hamburg who reportedly died on Monday, June 3 —
From this journal on that date . . . Related graphic art —
This is from a Log24 search, "Windmill + Diamond."
For related remarks from the university where the theologian taught
in later life, see Deutsche Ordnung (Log 24, July 1, 2018).
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Monday, June 3, 2024
Review
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Excerpt from a Log24 post of May 2, 2003 Though truth may be very hard to find in the pages of most books, the page numbers are generally reliable. This leads to the following Zen meditations. From a review of the film “The Terminator”:
From a journal note on religion, science, and the meaning of life written in 1998 on the day after Sinatra died and the Pennsylvania lottery number came up “256”:
From Michael Crichton’s Rising Sun John Connor (aka J. C.) offers the following metaphysical comment on the page number that appears above his words (256):
Connor is correct. The number 256 does indeed seem to be, and indeed it seemed to be again only yesterday evening, when the Pennsylvania lottery again made a metaphysical statement. Our Zen meditation on the trustworthiness of page numbers concludes with another passage from Rising Sun, this time on page 373:
Here J. C. offers another trenchant comment on his current page number. The metaphysical significance of 373, “the eternal in the temporal,” is also discussed in the Buddhist classic A Flag for Sunrise, by Robert Stone (Knopf hardcover, 1981) … on, of course, page 373. |
Related graphic art —
This is from a Log24 search, "Windmill + Diamond."
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Wednesday, July 1, 2015
Borges on Chess
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Chess
by Jorge Luis Borges, translated by I In their serious corner…. II Weak king, biased bishop ….
… they do not know Ajedrez I
En su grave rincón, los jugadores
Adentro irradian mágicos rigores
Cuando los jugadores se hayan ido,
En el Oriente se encendió esta guerra II
Tenue rey, sesgo alfil, encarnizada
No saben que la mano señalada
También el jugador es prisionero
Dios mueve al jugador, y éste, la pieza. |
As for "adamantine rigor," see the final link,
to "Windmill and Diamond," in the post on
the day of Bobby Fischer's death.
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Monday, February 23, 2015
Symbolic Poetry*
“When life itself seems lunatic,
who knows where madness lies?”
— Man of La Mancha
Perhaps the late Sidney Lumet?
The setting for the Sidney Lumet film "Deathtrap" (1982)
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Thursday, May 28, 2009
Thursday May 28, 2009
Spelling
At right below, an image from the opening of Fox Studios Australia in Sydney on November 7, 1999. The Fox ceremonies included, notably, Kylie Minogue singing “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend.”
For the mathematical properties of the red windmill (moulin rouge) figure at left, see Diamond Theory. |
“There comes a time when you have
learned enough to decide whether
the way of the Craft is for you….
learned enough to decide whether
the way of the Craft is for you….
First you will need to
prepare your sacred space….
Calling the Corners (or Quarters)
is something you will always do.”
Happy birthday, Kylie.
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Sunday, October 12, 2008
Sunday October 12, 2008
“Elegant”
— Today’s New York Times
review of the Very Rev.
Francis Bowes Sayre Jr.
Related material:
Log24 entries from
the anniversary this
year of Sayre’s birth
and from the date
of his death:
A link from the former
suggests the following
graphic meditation–
(Click on figure for details.)
A link from the latter
suggests another
graphic meditation–
(Click on figure for details.)
Although less specifically
American than the late
Reverend, who was
born in the White House,
hence perhaps irrelevant
to his political views,
these figures are not
without relevance to
his religion, which is
more about metanoia
than about paranoia.
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Thursday, January 17, 2008
Thursday January 17, 2008
Well, she was
just seventeen…
(continued)
just seventeen…
(continued)
"Mazur introduced the topic of prime numbers with a story from Don Quixote in which Quixote asked a poet to write a poem with 17 lines. Because 17 is prime, the poet couldn't find a length for the poem's stanzas and was thus stymied."
— Undated American Mathematical Society news item about a Nov. 1, 2007, event
Related material:
Desconvencida,
Jueves, Enero 17, 2008
Horses of a Dream
(Log24, Sept. 12, 2003)
Knight Moves
(Log24 yesterday–
anniversary of the
Jan. 16 publication
of Don Quixote)
Windmill and Diamond
(St. Cecilia's Day 2006)
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Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Wednesday November 22, 2006
Windmill and Diamond
From “Today in History,”
by The Associated Press:
On this date:
In 1965, the musical
“Man of La Mancha”
opened in New York.In 1975, Juan Carlos
was proclaimed
King of Spain.Today’s birthdays:
… Movie director
Arthur Hiller is 83….
Hiller directed the 1972 film
of “Man of La Mancha.”
A quotation from that film:
“When life itself seems lunatic,
who knows where madness lies?”
One can approach these symbols in either a mathematical or a literary fashion. For a mathematical discussion of the symbols’ structure, see Theme and Variations. Those who prefer literary discussions may make up their own stories.
“Plato is wary of all forms of rapture other than reason’s. He is most deeply leery of, because himself so susceptible to, the literary imagination. He speaks of it as a kind of holy madness or intoxication and goes on to link it to Eros, another derangement that joins us, but very dangerously, with the gods.”
“It’s all in Plato, all in Plato;
bless me, what do they
teach them at these schools?”
bless me, what do they
teach them at these schools?”
— C. S. Lewis in
The Narnia Chronicles
The Narnia Chronicles
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Saturday, February 1, 2003
Saturday February 1, 2003
Time and Eternity
|
 Kali figure
|
|
 Windmill
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Yesterday's meditation on St. Bridget suggests the above graphic summary of two rather important philosophical concepts. Representing Kali, or Time, is Judy Davis in "The New Age." Representing Shiva, or Eternity, is sword-saint Michioka Yoshinori-sensei. The relationship between these two concepts is summarized very neatly by Heinrich Zimmer in his section on the Kalika Purana in The King and the Corpse.
The relationship is also represented graphically by the "whirl" of Time and the "diamond" of Eternity.
On this day in 1944, Mondrian died. Echoes of the graphic whirl and diamond may be found (as shown above) in his "Red Mill" and "Victory Boogie-Woogie."
Sunday, January 5, 2003
Sunday January 5, 2003
Whirligig
Thus the whirligig of time brings in his revenges.
Twelfth Night. Act v. Sc. 1.
Twelfth night is the night of January 5-6.
Tonight is twelfth night in Australia; 4 AM Jan. 5
in New York City is 8 PM Jan. 5 in Sydney.
An October 6 entry:
Twenty-first Century Fox
On Sunday, October 6, 1889, the Moulin Rouge music hall opened in Paris, an event that to some extent foreshadowed the opening of Fox Studios Australia in Sydney on November 7, 1999. The Fox ceremonies included, notably, Kylie Minogue singing "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend."
|
Red Windmill
|
Kylie Minogue
|
For the mathematical properties of the red windmill (moulin rouge) figure at left, see Diamond Theory.
An October 5 entry:
The Message from Vega
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|
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"Mercilessly tasteful"
— Andrew Mueller,
review of Suzanne Vega's
"Songs in Red and Gray"
In accordance with the twelfth-night
"whirligig of time" theme,
here are two enigmatic quilt blocks:
|
Devil's Claws, or |
Yankee Puzzle, or |
One can approach these symbols in either a literary or a mathematical fashion. For a purely mathematical discussion of the differences in the two symbols' structure, see Diamond Theory. Those who prefer literary discussions may make up their own stories.
"Plato is wary of all forms of rapture other than reason's. He is most deeply leery of, because himself so susceptible to, the literary imagination. He speaks of it as a kind of holy madness or intoxication and goes on to link it to Eros, another derangement that joins us, but very dangerously, with the gods."
— Rebecca Goldstein in The New York Times,
December 16, 2002
December 16, 2002
"It's all in Plato, all in Plato; bless me,
what do they teach them at these schools?"
what do they teach them at these schools?"
— C. S. Lewis in the Narnia Chronicles
Sunday, October 6, 2002
Sunday October 6, 2002
Twenty-first Century Fox
On Sunday, October 6, 1889, the Moulin Rouge music hall opened in Paris, an event that to some extent foreshadowed the opening of Fox Studios Australia in Sydney on November 7, 1999. The Fox ceremonies included, notably, Kylie Minogue singing “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend.”
|
Red Windmill
|
Kylie Minogue
|
For the mathematical properties of the red windmill (moulin rouge) figure at left, see Diamond Theory.