Culture – Page 6 – Scripturient

The Hermeneutics of Suspicion

The title is a phrase I encountered while reading Mark Thompson’s excellent book on political rhetoric, Enough Said: What’s Wrong With the Language of Politics? Thompson’s book is both about the current and historic use of political rhetoric (from Aristotle forward), but also about the role of journalists in covering it. Thompson — a former new editor and executive in the BBC and now with the New York Times — maintains we are in “a crisis of political language” that comes from a combination of modern media, social media use, and also in the changing way politicians speak (“characterised by ……… click below for more ↓

Lessons from History

2020-08-20 2020-08-20 History & Biography / Media / Political philosophy / Politics / US PoliticsLeave a comment

It is common practice to look back and conflate the events of the past with those of the present, seeking parallels, resonance, and answers from previous events that help explain today’s. We learn from others, from their experiences, and we like to find commonalities in our shared experiences, even from our or other’s historic past. We see ourselves reflected in our past and we sometimes mistake that reflection for the reality. Machiavelli did it in both The Prince and The Discourses, didactically using examples from classical Greek and Roman texts to explore the events, politics, and governance in his contemporary ……… click below for more ↓

Shopping carts, masks, and morality

2020-08-03 2026-04-22 Culture / Ethics & morality / Musings3 Comments

The shopping cart theory — or rather the S.C. hypothesis, since it really isn’t a theory in the proper scientific sense — is a test of our humanity and whether we have any empathy, or so the notion goes: The shopping cart is ultimate litmus test for whether a person is capable of self-governing. But it’s more than that: it’s a test of civility, social conscience, morality, community, and ultimately our own level of selfishness. But none of these sites seem to bring up the outright theft of shopping carts for the sake of convenience by someone too lazy to ……… click below for more ↓

Why Science Fiction Matters

2020-08-02 2020-08-02 Books & Reviews / Daily life / Musings / Personal Reminiscences / Pop Culture / Reading & Literacy / Scifi and fantasyLeave a comment

In the past two years, we’ve watched all the Star Trek series (on Netflix) from start to finish, and all the ST movies (on DVD). We just started watching the Battlestar Galactica series on Blu-Ray this past week (which we had seen some years back, but with long gaps between seasons). Both of us love scifi. Although the first ST series was often more space opera than scifi (as the Star Wars series has been), it matured quickly into some complex, adult-oriented storytelling in the subsequent series (a sad failing of the first several Star Wars films was their failure ……… click below for more ↓

Dandelions and civilization

2020-05-30 2020-05-30 Behaviour & Psychology / Culture / Ethics & morality / History & Biography / Manners & Civility / Personal Reminiscences / Pop Culture / Social Order & DisorderLeave a comment

Whenever I see a lawn with dandelions, I think, “This is the home of civilized people. This is the home of people who care about the environment and their community. This is where bees are welcome.” When I see a monoculture lawn, bereft of weeds or dandelions, I think, “Here is the home of an anti-social family; a place where life is restricted, wildlife discouraged; where community and the environment don’t matter.” I feel the same when I see a lawn sign advertising that an anti-“weed” toxin has been applied: “Here is the house of someone who dislikes their neighbours, ……… click below for more ↓

The Long Read part 2

2020-05-10 2020-05-10 Books & Reviews / Classics / Literature / What I'm Reading NowLeave a comment

In my previous post I wrote about reading during the lockdown, particularly delving into some longer reads like War and Peace. This time gives us ample opportunity to tackle books that may have daunted us before. And, as I previously wrote, some of these are my ‘books-to-read-upon-retirement’ titles. Well, I recently finished War and Peace and still think it’s worth tackling, although I also believe Tolstoy could have benefitted from a more parsimonious editor (speaking as a former book, magazine, and newspaper editor) The story is full of drama, passion, war, and romance, but he all-too-often meandered from the plot ……… click below for more ↓

Big G and Me

2020-02-06 2023-04-28 Culture / Family history / Film & Reviews / Godzilla / Musings / Personal Reminiscences / Pop Culture / TV2 Comments

One of my fondest childhood memories is sitting between my parents on a warm summer night, on the front seat of the family car, watching a movie through the windshield, above the dashboard. A single, metal-wrapped speaker hung from the glass of the half-opened window on the driver’s side. A box of salty popcorn passed between us, soft drinks too. Around us were dozens of other cars, all facing the giant outdoor screen, their occupants nothing more than dark shadows. Behind us was a low, concrete building with a screen-facing opening where we could buy snacks and drinks. It was ……… click below for more ↓

The Sounds of Winter

2020-01-22 2020-01-22 Humour & Satire / Literary pretensions / My Writing / Poetry & LyricsLeave a comment

To the tune of Sounds of Silence, with apologies to Paul Simon… Hello, winter, my old friend I have a bone to pick, again Because a snowplow softly creeping Passed my house while I was sleeping My driveway’s blocked and I’m shovelling again My back’s in pain I curse these days of winter. Every day we play this game. Digging out then filled again. The snow drifts reach up unto my knees Beneath the heavy snow my pipes do freeze Each time I clear my driveway of the heavy load I know There’ll be more snow. I hear the plow ……… click below for more ↓

I’m Reading as Fast as I Can

2020-01-19 2020-01-22 Books & Reviews / Daily life / Personal Reminiscences / Reading & Literacy / What I'm Reading NowLeave a comment

I don’t recall just when I started putting books aside to read, or perhaps just finish, when I retired. I had this naive, romantic idea that upon retirement, at the age of 65 or thereabouts, I would be able to spend my time puttering around the house and garden, carting a bag of books from place to place, to living out my final years in the warm glow of reading and cups of tea. Books have long lives in my library. Putting one aside to reach for another, and then consigning it to an imagined peaceful future where I would ……… click below for more ↓

Decades, centuries and millennia

2019-12-31 2019-12-31 Critical Thinking / Culture / History & Biography / Logic and reason / Media / Style & usageOne Comment

January 1 is NOT the start of a new decade. To the CBC and the other arithmetically-challenged media who insist otherwise: it isn’t. You just don’t understand how to count to 10. No matter how you spin it, 9 years is not 10. And even if it was, starting or ending a decade or any other period of time has no magical significance. Neither history nor culture, neither politics nor science work along calendrical timelines and our own calendar is an arbitrary construct for convenience only. But back to the numbers. It all comes down to simple numbers. I get ……… click below for more ↓

Kmise and Aklot ukuleles

2019-10-04 2019-10-05 Musical Instruments / Pop Culture / Ukulele: instruments & music2 Comments

I was somewhat skeptical when a representative from Kmise ukuleles contacted me recently, and offered to send me some of his company’s instruments to review. I had never heard of the company and never seen any of their instruments in music stores. A bit of online searching showed them as a Chinese maker of modestly-priced instruments. Not just ukuleles, however: they offer a wider range of instruments and accessories (many are listed on Amazon), including singing bowls, harmonicas, kalimbas, u-bass, banjoleles, pickups, violin bows, effects pedals and more. (I plan to buy their U-bass to compare it to others I’ve ……… click below for more ↓

Thoreau and Buddhism

2019-07-04 2019-07-04 Buddhism / Classics / Classics / Literature / Philosophy2 Comments

In his introduction to Thoreau: Walden and Other Writings (Bantam Books, 1962-1981), Joseph Wood Krutch described Henry David Thoreau’s writings as having four “distinct subjects”, which I paraphrase somewhat as: The life of quiet desperation most men live; The economic fallacy that is responsible for their condition The delights yielded from a simple life close to Nature, and The higher laws which people intuitively realize from a gentle life in Nature. These appear similar in form to the ‘Four Noble Truths’ of Buddhist philosophy: Life means suffering The origin of suffering is attachment. The cessation of suffering is attainable. The ……… click below for more ↓

Cicero, Seneca and Confucius

2019-06-07 2019-06-18 Books & Reviews / Classics / Confucianism / Philosophy / Stoicism & classical philosophy / Translations & translating / What I'm Reading NowOne Comment

As I wrote in my last post, I have been reading a lot of the classic philosophers of late, particularly the Stoics. And I’ve been going further afield. My classical readings have included a lot of Seneca and Cicero of late (plus Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius), as well as interpretations of same. While Seneca was a confirmed Stoic, Cicero seems sympathetic if not entirely convinced, and may have had strong sympathies for the Epicureans as well. My reading also includes what I’ve found is the best single book explaining Confucius and his views: Confucius and Confucianism: The Essentials, by Lee ……… click below for more ↓

Gilgamesh four thousand years later

2019-01-02 2019-01-02 Classics / Culture / Fables / Legends & Myths / Literature / Translations & translatingOne Comment

Gilgamesh continues to enthrall us, even after more than 100 years of translations and interpretations. The story continues to be told and retold and even re-imagined. There’s even a children’s version of the tale. You can read a version here, in PDF format or an online version here.Translations and transliterations (if you know your Akkadian…) are here. There was likely an oral version shared even before writing was invented – if you really want to know what that might have sounded like, listen to some modern recordings of old Babylonian poetry here. Gilgamesh is not simply humankind’s earliest written legend ……… click below for more ↓