Category: Culture
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Modular Ornament: An idea I’m not pursuing, but why isn’t anyone else?
I sometimes have business ideas that seem like someone should pursue them, but no-one is. In most cases, the reason will be that it’s a…
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Attention and Emotion: Can we love without paying attention?
Liel Leibovitz, in County Highway, draws a line between our decreasing attention spans and our lack of emotion: What we have here, then, is a…
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The Enemy is Numbness: It’s not just design that seems bland
There is a pervasive feeling that modernity is bland: Buildings, clothes, cars and interior design are minimalist and identical everywhere. Emotional blandness or numbness gets…
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Temptation Avoided, Character Unproven
Freedom has been defined as the opportunity for self-discipline Dwight Eisenhower Temptation is democratic, and it’s elitist. It’s democratic in that everyone experiences it: We…
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Modern Cave Art
I’m wondering why we have stopped making cave art and I’m not the only one thinking along those lines. This is a painting by the…
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The Penguin Lessons
There’s a brand of British comedy that consists of a character humiliating themselves in amusing ways over and over. The original British version of Ricky…
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Mandated Style
The city of Santa Fe mandates that downtown buildings adhere to a specific style, Pueblo Revival. I’m in favor of making it easier to build…
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Musical Innuendo
I like old showtunes because they’re joyful and uncomplicated. At least on the surface. After listening to them a few times, I pick up on…
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A Joke Explained
If, in order to understand a piece of art, I first have to study the artist’s intention, it’s like a joke that has to be…
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The Best of Billions
Why is paleolithic cave art so good? The artistic standard of the painting in Chauvet, created 35,000 years ago, is outstanding. My preferred explanation is…
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Chauvet Virtual Tour
The French National Museum of Archeology has a good virtual tour of the Chauvet cave here. They also have a good gallery of the cave’s…
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The Enemy is Blandness
Life, if you’re not careful, can be bland. Modern buildings, food, clothes, interior design, cars: They’re all very convenient, very safe and very bland. And…
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Ice Cream for Lunch: You should try it
In this post, I’ll try to convince you that having ice cream for lunch is a good idea. In the 1999 movie Ghost Dog, there’s…
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All That Is Sacred: A documentary about guys who want to be free
We go through life with a diminishing portfolio of enthusiasms. F. Scott Fitzgerald This quote must’ve been popular in 1970s Key West. Thomas McGuane uses…
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