Kubrick at auction

The Stanley Kubrick–Calder Willingham screenplay adaptation of Stefan Zweig’s novella Burning Secret is going to auction. Estimated value: $20,000.

A related post
Kubrick–Zweig

Idiomatic nickels

[Zits, November 12, 2018. Click for a larger view.]

In addition to the obvious comedy (of what our household would jokingly call “a lewd implication”), there’s a bonus misunderstanding: the absence or near absence of nickels turns into nickels.

Here’s a brief survey of the idiom.

Gods help us

In The Washington Post, Donna Zuckerberg writes about the alt-right’s interest in Greek and Roman antiquity. Gods help us. All I’ll say here is that given our American history of ethnicity and immigration, it’s remarkable that anyone would turn to the ancient Mediterranean in the cause of celebrating “whiteness.”

Some of my thinking about the ancient world and our world may be found in this post.

[Medieval studies has its own alt-right problem.]

Patriotism vs. nationalism

Emmanuel Macron, president of France, speaking in Paris at the Armistice Day centenary:

Le patriotisme est l’exact contraire du nationalisme : le nationalisme en est la trahison. En disant « nos intérêts d’abord et qu’importent les autres ! », on gomme ce qu’une Nation a de plus précieux, ce qui la fait vivre : ses valeurs morales.

[Patriotism is the exact opposite of nationalism. Nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism. By putting our own interests first, with no regard for others, we erase the very thing that a nation holds dearest, and the thing that keeps it alive: its moral values.]

I’ve taken the text and translation from a Macron tweet. The speech can be found at YouTube, with a Euronews translation.

Has Macron been reading George Orwell’s “Notes on Nationalism”? Orwell distinguishes patriotism (“devotion to a particular place and a particular way of life,” “defensive, both militarily and culturally”) from nationalism (“inseparable from the desire for power,” “more power and more prestige”). But Macron’s emphasis on nationalism as the erasure of moral values is markedly different.

Was the American president listening? He appeared to have an earphone in his right ear. But even in translation, Macron’s message wouldn’t have gotten through.

[At 17:42, Macron mentions the poet Guillaume Apollinaire, who fought with the French infantry. Born to a Polish father and Italian mother, Apollinaire was naturalized as a French citizen in March 1916, days before he was wounded in the head by shell fragments. He died of influenza on November 9, 1918, two days before the Armistice.]

A grandfather in the Great War

[Click for a much larger view. The original photograph might be called wallet-sized.]

That I had a grandfather who served in the Great War seems to me more and more remarkable as time passes. In 1918 and 1919, James Aloysius Leddy served as a private with the 307th Infantry in France. This photograph (of a photograph) is the only material evidence I have of his service. Though it’s impossible to know, I think he must be the figure on the far right — unless he was taking the picture, which I doubt.

I took a fast photograph of the photograph as we were looking through a photo album and some loose photos after my dad died. If you knew the pains I took (alpha tool) to eliminate the green tablecloth underneath the photograph, you’d call me crazy. Or dedicated. Or my father’s son.

The two men on the left and the two in dark clothing in the rear: French civilians?

Veterans Day

[“Nation Rejoices at War’s End; City Is Jubilant: All America, With Pealing Bells and Parades, Celebrates Germany’s Defeat. Shut Courts And Schools. Exchanges and Offices Close and Workers by Thousands Acclaim Victory. City Is Ablaze at Night. Salvation Army Holds Solemn Service at Library Steps — Mayor Leads City Employes’ Demonstration.” The New York Times, November 12, 1918.]

Today is Veterans Day, first called Armistice Day. One hundred years ago today, “the war to end war,” as it was called, ended.

[Employes: that’s how the Times spelled it.]

“Welcome to Congress”

[Barry Blitt, “Welcome to Congress.” The New Yorker, November 19, 2018. Click for a larger view.]

At The New Yorker, Françoise Mouly has a brief commentary on the cover illustration. Which reminds me of this image:


[Teacher’s Pet (dir. George Seaton, 1958). Click for a larger view.]

I saved the screenshot of an all-white, nearly all-male newsroom years ago, thinking it might prove useful in teaching. (Two women, also white, appear in the background, one wearing a hat that may signify society page.) It should come as no surprise that the men at the table are staring at yet another white man, a journalist played by Clark Gable.

Today’s Saturday Stumper

How do you solve a puzzle by Frank Longo? How do you find the words that really fit? How you solve a puzzle by Frank Longo? You have to stick with it and give it your best — don’t quit!

Today’s Newsday Saturday Stumper — well, difficulty, thy name is Longo. Solving this puzzle last night took me an hour and thirty-six seconds. (Thanks, Newsday puzzle timer.) A stage version of The Sound of Music was on PBS, but I was on the puzzle, which comes online at 10:00 Eastern.

Clues that I especially liked: 3-Down, “Poetic rapper of renown.” 11-Across, four letters: “Nickname for some spoilers.” And 22-Across, four letters: “No hitter of film.” I got the first answer straight off. The second answer made me smile. The third is the kind of answer I especially like, the kind that makes me look back at the clue and ask What? before I figure it out.

No spoilers; the answers are in the comments.

Matt who?

“I don’t know Matt Whitaker”: SOP, right? Deny everything. I never even heard of him!

That denial and the recent weird bit about “the embrace” are further reminders that Donald Trump is, at heart, what they call a legitimate businessman. Strictly legitimate.

Signage in the dark

Thirty-six people joined up last night to form a Mueller Protection Rapid Response along one side of one block of our town’s main artery. At our end of the block, we had signs made with bright reflective tubing (courtesy of the organizers) that read, à la Burma Shave,

NO    ONE    IS    ABOVE    THE    LAW

Or if you were approaching on the other side of the avenue:

LAW    THE    ABOVE    IS    ONE    NO

We received many honks of support — not from migrating geese but from vehicles. Several angry pickup trucks gunned their engines as they passed. (I do not stereotype: it was always a pickup truck.) One driver in a compact car opened his window and asked about Hillary Clinton. Isn’t she above the law? Another driver in a larger car put on blinkers and stopped — in traffic — to take a picture. Oh, she’s a friend. Hi, Sue! Several youthful passengers in cars and mini-vans read the signs and seemed to wonder what they were about. Mom, what’s obstruction mean?

The odd thing about this effort: the longer we stood, the more quickly the time passed, and the easier it became to hold up a sign. We stood for an hour, walked home, and had soup.