John & Belle Have A Blog

What or where is the queer, evil castle of science?

Haven't quite finished part II of my mock-pastoral series, so I'll substitute this. Abu Aardvark links to an interesting interview with Dave Sim. Stuff about feminism is bad blah, blah. The riddle within an enigma of the fake fake Regency Elf and the little round glowing white strange thing. "Do you believe in fake fairies?" Some interesting musings on Rick.

Department of Faint Praise

What's the silliest book blurb you've ever encountered? I think this one is pretty damning in the faint praise department.

Wolfowitz at Abu Ghraib

Phil Carter has an interesting post containing modest but not unpointed speculations about a photo he's found of Paul Wolfowitz at Abu Ghraib, apparently taken in the summer of '03.

Some Versions of Mock-Pastoral, Part I

A long-range idea was maturing in his mind; there merged and forged a chain of ideas he had had for a long time. Why did Father smile to himself, why did his eyes turn up, misty, in a parody of mock admiration? Who can tell? Did he foresee the coarse trick, the vulgar intrigue, the transparent machinations behind the amazing manifestations of the secret force?

- Bruno Schulz, The Street of Crocodiles

There's a good essay hiding out in the underbrush of this whopping great long set of notes pretending it's an essay. Part II to be posted tomorrow or the day after, if I get it ready; comments welcome.

Blame Canada

There's a funny article in Slate about iTunes celebrity mixes, which includes this gem from Avril Lavigne (expatiating on the merit of Alanis Morrisette's classic "Ironic"): "I love how this song was written with all the different examples Alanis uses of things being ironic."

Y'know, Avril? I love how that song was written with all the different examples of things that aren't, strictly speaking, ironic at all. Yeah. I also love how punk rock you are. Seriously. Gurrrl Power!!!!!!!

Dollies

OMG I want this so bad. It is so creepy. A set of 38 black and white photos from the 1950's of doll house interiors, with the dolls going about their daily business. It'll probably be too expensive, though. But, um, John, it's almost my birthday and our anniversary. Just mentioning it.

Google goggle

John & Belle just got our 200,000th hit since switching to TypePad. It was, appropriately, a search engine hit for "the goggles, they do nothing", for which we have googlewashed the number 8 spot.

Tuesday Kid Blogging

This one is pretty much for the grandparents back in Ameriky.

My Country, Dumb Or Dumber?

There's an Orwell "As I Please" piece from 1943 that I don't quite get. Actually, it's just one line Orwell quotes from Chesterton I don't get. I'll just quote and maybe you'll explain it to me:

Attacking me in the Weekly Review for attacking Douglas Reed, Mr. A. K. Chesterton remarks, "'My country - right or wrong' is a maxim which apparently has no place in Mr. Orwell's philosophy." He also states that "all of us believe that whatever her condition Britain must win this war, or for that matter any other war in which she is engaged."

The operative phrase is any other war. There are plenty of us who would defend our own country, under no matter what government, if it seemed that we were in danger of actual invasion and conquest. But "any war" is a different matter. How about the Boer War, for instance? There is a neat little bit of historical irony here. Mr. A. K. Chesterton is the nephew of G. K. Chesterton, who courageously opposed the Boer War, and once remarked that "My country, right or wrong" was on the same moral level as "My mother, drunk or sober."

The thing I don't get is how 'my mother, drunk or sober' is supposed to help. I find 'my country, right or wrong' to be the transparent moral nonsense Orwell obviously finds it to be, so I'm not in need of much help, mind you. But 'my mother, drunk or sober' seems less transparently absurd, hence its parallelism with the offending 'my country' claim hardly casts it in a worse light. If a family member is inebriated, you assist and stand by, as you might not assist and stand by a stranger. I'm not sure that's a categorical imperative or anything; but it's not obvious moral nonsense.

Yes, of course: stick by your country if it's going through a bad patch. But being drunk suggests such relatively innocuous trouble - not always, of course, but paradigmatically. Thinking about your country in the wrong, in war, leads quickly to fears of losing more than dignity, or the contents of your stomach. So what is it about thinking about my drunk mother that is supposed to haul me back to my moral senses? Is the point supposed to be: you would try to sober your mother up; likewise you should try to correct your country's wrong ways even while you support it?

I guess I'm not sure what 'my mother, drunk or sober' is supposed to say, whereas I know exactly what 'my country, right or wrong' says. Maybe 'my mother, drunk or sober' just states the obvious truth that motherhood is not a function of alcohol intake, one way or the other. So the thought is silly. So I'm supposed to see that the other thought is silly, too? Exactly how is Chesterton operating here?

You may guess what recent events have set me thinking about this old thing. Recrudescences of 'my country, right or wrong'. Hope I'm wrong about that.

And you know what else there is? Incompetence. Coming from behind, threatening to show, place or even win as true Horseman of the Apocalypse.

Wigging Out

You want blonde, Jeremy? We got blonde.