Culture – Page 10 – Scripturient

Hypergraphia

2016-10-12 2016-10-12 Behaviour & Psychology / Culture / Science & Technology / Writing & cursiveLeave a comment

An article in the September, 2016, issue of Doctor’s Review looks at the curious, compelling affliction called hypergraphia: the obsessive need to write. I never knew before this that there was an actual illness of this sort. As someone who is often driven by a deep compulsion to write, I am both curious and a little afraid to learn more. And of course, I turned to the internet. Curious because I always want to learn, especially when it’s something that might touch me in some way. Afraid because I’ve always thought of my writing as a mere personality trait, a passion I’ve ……… click below for more ↓

The News: A User’s Manual

2016-09-11 2016-09-11 Books & Reviews / Critical Thinking / Media / What I'm Reading NowLeave a comment

Alain de Botton attempts in his small book to give us a guide, to provide some larger, meaningful context, to the news we get 24/7 these days. I don’t think he succeeds very well. In part it’s because he sees news as something grandiose, world-moving, world-shaking. I’m more familiar with the local aspect; a much smaller scale. It may not appear to have the majestic sweep of international news, but it isn’t any less relevant. We are focused, collectively, on the US presidential campaigns and the interpersonal battles between Trump and Clinton. It’s a great drama of Homeric or Shakespearean proportion (albeit ……… click below for more ↓

Wolf Hall reviewed

2016-08-27 2016-08-28 Books & Reviews / England and Britain / History & Biography / TV / What I'm Reading NowLeave a comment

I have just finished watching the six-part BBC series, Wolf Hall, based on the two novels by Hilary Mantel. I am also about halfway through my reading of the first of the two, Wolf Hall (with Bring up the Bodies waiting in the bedside pile). The series conflates the two novels into six one-hour episodes. Given the length of the novels (Wolf Hall is 650 pages itself), compacting them and retaining clarity, plot and drama is quite a feat. Normally, I would argue for the written word over the adaptation. Any adaptation. As good as they may be, it is rare ……… click below for more ↓

These Old Bones

2016-07-31 2026-05-24 Literary pretensions / My Writing / Personal Reminiscences / Poetry & LyricsOne Comment

These old bones; You wouldn’t think they’d cut a rug jitterbug dance between the rain drops but once I could. Once I did. Danced to the music, lover in hand, that time in the park when we didn’t care laughing in the face of the storm. The rain, the wind, splashing in the grass. The music was all in our heads, our breath, our hearts beat with the tunes we sang inside. I remember every line, every lyric. These old bones knew music. These old bones knew the hotcha rhythm of the dance. You wouldn’t think them spry enough, not ……… click below for more ↓

Everything Flows

2016-07-24 2016-07-24 Books & Reviews / Culture / History & Biography / Literature / What I'm Reading NowLeave a comment

Tonight’s book-with-wine discussion is about Vasily Grossman‘s novel, Everything Flows (New York Review Book, USA, 2009). It was his final work, and left unfinished at the time of his death, in 1964. It’s not a difficult read, only 250 pages, but it isn’t easy. Readers unfamiliar with Soviet history, particularly the Stalin era, will not understand much of it. And it’s hardly a cheerful work. Not that everything Russian is a slit-your-wrist work, but it’s certainly Dostoevsky-like in its darkness. Grossman was a Soviet war correspondent during WWII and travelled with the Red Army through Moscow, Stalingrad, Kursk then into ……… click below for more ↓

Why Fonts Matter

2016-07-21 2016-07-21 Arts / Books & Reviews / Fonts & Layout / Language & Grammar / Marketing / Typography / What I'm Reading Now3 Comments

The first problem I have when receiving a new book on typography is that I spend far too much time looking up the typefaces described or sampled therein, and searching for them online, instead of reading. Then I start looking at (and critiquing) the typefaces chosen for the book itself. It’s a trees-not-the-forest kind of wonderment that comes over me. As I am wont to do, I sit back on my deck in the evening sun, glass of wine in hand, and a large pile of previously-purchased typography books beside me, so I can make the introductions. Probably not necessary, ……… click below for more ↓

A little musical Canadiana

2016-07-15 2016-07-15 History & Biography / Music & Reviews / Poetry & Lyrics / War & MilitaryLeave a comment

Among my collection of many (many!) vintage song books and song sheets, I have a bundle of patriotic music from WWI. I was browsing through them again this week and found several songs written and published during the war, either as songs for the soldiers (usually cheering them on to war or hoping for their safe return) or songs for those left behind to express their patriotic fervour. I thought it might be appropriate to show some of them to readers as we approach our 150th national birthday, in 2017. Here are six covers from Canadian music of that era. If ……… click below for more ↓

Transcendance

2016-07-12 2016-07-12 Culture / Film & Reviews / Memes; Internet & Social / Science & Technology / Social Order & Disorder / Technology & GadgetsLeave a comment

It’s not surprising that AI replaced the biological form in the popular Frankenstein monster trope. In fact the smart-evil-machine scenario has been done so often this past decade or so that I’m more surprised any film writer or director can manage to give it some semblance of uniqueness that differs it from all the others. Transcendence tries, tries very hard and almost makes it. But the brass ring remains out of reach. Still, it’s worth watching if you’re a scifi buff because, well, it’s scifi.* And even bad scifi is better than no scifi at all. Well, maybe not the Transformer franchise, ……… click below for more ↓

Type amen, click like and share…

2016-07-06 2016-07-06 Christianity / Culture / Faith / Memes; Internet & Social / Psychology & Sociology / Social media & cyberbullying / Social Order & Disorder / UncategorizedLeave a comment

I created what proved an interesting discussion on Facebook recently when I threatened to ‘unfriend’ anyone who continued to out those obnoxious ‘type amen and share’ posts on their timelines. Now if you’re a FB user, you have seen these things endless times. They’re as common as the “50% will get this math question wrong” and “you won’t believe what happened next!” or the “Nine out of ten can’t answer these questions” posts. Most of these are simply trolling posts that lead to pages replete with clickbait, scams and data collection bots. Then there are those dreary click-farming posts. Press K and ……… click below for more ↓

Power, ambition, backstabbing

2016-07-05 2016-07-05 Culture / Language & Grammar / Shakespeare / What I'm Reading NowLeave a comment

Power grabs. Backstabbing. Lust. Ambition. Conniving. Hypocrisy. A weak but well-meaning ruler. A grasping second in command who viciously usurps power. A bureaucrat jealous of the nobles, jockeying for power and trading favours to get his way. Sleazy nobles selling their loyalty for petty trinkets. A cast of despicable, grasping characters all out for themselves, oblivious of the cost of their machinations on the common people, and willing to tread on anyone who gets in their way. Machiavellian plots and secret meetings. The destruction of state institutions and facilities. Heads rolling. Collingwood Council? No: Shakespeare’s three-part extravaganza, Henry VI. Although you have ……… click below for more ↓

Mildly Angry Max

2016-07-03 2016-07-04 Culture / Film & ReviewsLeave a comment

The latest Mad Max movie isn’t so much about Max as it is about the political-feminist message of the film. Max himself seems somewhat perturbed, sometimes cross, but not really mad in the sense of going berserk. Mildly angry most of the time. Grumpy Max. Not like the original, fast-quipping, fast-shooting, troubled character played by Mel Gibson in the B-flick that went viral back in the late 1970s. The new Max is more phlegmatic. And not nearly as good a shot. Despite some great effects and photography, Mad Max: Fury Road doesn’t hold a candle to the originals, mostly because ……… click below for more ↓

The Postmortal

2016-06-26 2016-06-26 Books & Reviews / Culture / Manners & Civility / Scifi and fantasy / Social Order & Disorder / What I'm Reading NowLeave a comment

Mortality. We all get it. It’s the one one incurable ailment all humans succumb to without a chance of succor. Mortality is always 100% fatal. No medicine, no therapy, no diet cure or magic pill. But as you read this, scientists are researching, seeking clues to unlock the mystery and, potentially, cure us of aging,of death by mortality. And they might achieve it. Having officially reached the two-thirds mark in my life this past weekend (based on my family history, my health and my lifestyle…), mortality is more often in my own thoughts these days. Not morbidly so, but certainly more ……… click below for more ↓

Moses Revealed

2016-06-19 2016-06-20 Books & Reviews / Faith / Legends & Myths / ReligionLeave a comment

He was a murderer, a sorcerer, a slave owner. He betrayed his adopted family and led a rebellion against them. He was a charismatic firebrand, an oracle, and a misfit. He fluctuated between fits of rage and periods of meekness. He led his forces to commit what today we’d call war crimes and acts of genocide. He gave out laws and yet he ruled autocratically. He was disfigured and wore a mask to cover his face for the latter part of his life. He brought down biological warfare on his enemies, and battled among them in a duel of magic. ……… click below for more ↓

Boris Godunov

2016-06-06 2021-05-15 Culture / Music & Reviews / Personal ReminiscencesLeave a comment

I’m not sure why Boris Godunov, moves me like it does, but it has a curious, emotional effect on me. It’s a sprawling tragedy mixed with politics and betrayal, weighted down by brooding and scheming characters, a fickle mob, a holy fool, a ghost, an imposter as pretender to the throne, and the overthrow of a ruler – very Shakespearean. Or perhaps Machiavellian, in the negative sense of the word. I’ve been listening to it, again, as background music while I work at home these past few days. And every now and then I stop to listen, and marvel at ……… click below for more ↓