Austro-Athenian Empire » Rand

Philately: Who Needs It, Part 2

Roderick — Thu, 24 May 2012 19:56:50 +0000

Another sign that the Randian aversion to free content is weakening: the entire text of Mary Ann and Charles Sures’ memoir Facets of Ayn Rand now appears to be online.

The Sures’ book was incidentally the subject of my second blog post ever.

Atlas Shrunk, Part 11: Another Update

Roderick — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 05:51:56 +0000

Brian Doherty visits the set.

Cordial and Sanguine, Part 26: War Among the Bleeding Hearts Continued Some More

Roderick — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 17:23:35 +0000

My latest contribution to the symposium is finally up, as is a “best of the blogs” roundup.

Atlas Shrunk, Part 10: Enter the Carousel – This Is the Time of Renewal

Roderick — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 21:43:41 +0000

Filming has begun on Atlas Shrugged, Part 2 – with new writers, a new director, and a new cast.

Whether anything will be better, as opposed to merely different, remains to be seen.

Cordial and Sanguine, Part 22: War Among the Bleeding Hearts Continued

Roderick — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 00:44:09 +0000

Greetings from Seattle! My entry in the aforementioned Cato Unbound symposium is now up. It’s titled “In Praise of Bleeding Heart Absolutism.”

Across the Surface of Measureless Grey, Part 2

Roderick — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:43:11 +0000

Here’s the text of my presentation from the colour forum earlier tonight.

The blind date from hell

Across the Surface of Measureless Grey

Roderick — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 01:06:54 +0000

If you’re in the Auburn area tomorrow (Feb. 22), drop by the Gnu’s Room (the bookshop/coffeeshop at the corner of Gay & Samford, next to Amsterdam Café) from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. for coffee and philosophy. The AU Philosophy Club is hosting a public forum on the philosophy of colour; I’ll be on the panel, arguing that Ayn Rand’s theory of colour is too Kantian.

Here’s the poster for the event; kudos to anyone who can identify a) who the person depicted in the poster is, and b) why he was chosen for the poster. (Charles Johnson and David Gordon are not eligible.)

Anarchists Under Ron Paul’s Bed

Roderick — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 19:32:55 +0000

One of the makers of the Anarchism in America video (about which I’ve previously blogged) has a piece up at HoughPough on Ron Paul, Libertarianism, and the Anarchist Connection. Benjamin Tucker, Lysander Spooner, Ezra Heywood, Angela Heywood, Emma Goldman, Ayn Rand, Ludwig von Mises, Murray Rothbard, Karl Hess, and Murray Bookchin all get name-checked.

The friendly words quoted from Bookchin do not reflect his later views (on which I’ve blogged glancingly).

Atlas Shrunk, Part 9: Atlas Shrugs Again; So Do I

Roderick — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:51:19 +0000

It’s been announced (timed to coincide with Rand’s birthday) that part 2 of the Atlas film trilogy is going ahead.

I wish I could be excited about this. But I found part 1 so lackluster that I haven’t even bought the dvd yet, despite having spent decades fantasising about an Atlas film. (I’ve probably missed my chance to get the now-recalled dvd box with the blurb praising “Ayn Rand’s timeless novel of courage and self-sacrifice.”) Rand is such an intensely cinematic writer, and the film over and over turns away from her cinematic choices (even in cases where constraints of time and budget would have permitted following them) in favour of something less interesting.

Still and all, I’m mildly pleased that the project will continue. I guess I prefer a completed mediocre Atlas adaptation to an uncompleted mediocre Atlas adaptation.

Frisbee: Who Needs It

Roderick — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 21:47:35 +0000

More juvenilia: Ayn Rand Writes Worthless Book, a parody, directed at both Randians and anti-Randians, on the occasion of the posthumous publication of Rand’s Philosophy: Who Needs It – so 1982, age 18, the height of my Randian period.

And if this is what I was writing at the height of my Randian period, I suppose it’s no surprise that I ended up drifting from apostolic purity.