Sadly, all still timely:
Another version:
Leonard Cohen Month, Songs 41-42
June 21:
Joan of Arc (1971):
– Another (quite different, arguably better) version:
Alexandra Leaving (2001):
He Would Be Thought to Do Little Less Than Trifle
I said something like this in a facebook comment (in connection with the debate over whether to call concentration camps concentration camps) but I can’t find it now:
The phrase “Never Again” seems to be used with two different meanings.
On the one hand, it’s used to express a determination never to let anything similar to the Holocaust happen again; in that usage, applying it to events other than the Holocaust is the whole point of the phrase.
On the other hand, it’s used to insist that nothing other than the Holocaust is ever allowed to count as being like the Holocaust. In that usage, “Never Again” is essentially true by stipulation, so we are relieved of any duty of vigilance.
Thy Phantasy Has Imposed Upon Me
While the book version of Good Omens isn’t my favourite work of Gaiman’s (possibly unpopular take: it tries to do for theological fantasy what Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy did for science fiction, but it’s just not in the same league), and so overall I found the miniseries (which is pretty faithful to the book) to be, like the book, good but not great, nevertheless every scene with Tennant and Sheen is absolutely wonderfully fantastically great. Perfect casting.
Being vague to avoid spoilers but – at one point there’s a twist upon which, if you weren’t aware of it ahead of time, you’ll want to go back and rewatch Tennant’s and Sheen’s performances leading up to the twist and you’ll then notice, in their performances, exactly at what point the, um, well, again, spoilers, but it’s terrific.
Of course there are folks on the Christian Right who are petitioning Netflix to axe the show.
The fact that they think it’s on Netflix is evidence that they have not, in fact, watched it.
Leonard Cohen Month, Songs 39-40
June 20:
There Is a War (1974):
Democracy (1992):
Flawless Lawless
As a footnote to my Greek trip – two items I recently learned about Hydra:
a) Its cats are thought to be descended from cats kept on 18th-century pirate ships to control mice.
b) Henry Miller once described the layout of Hydra Town as the “epitome of flawless anarchy.”