Uncouth Reflections

Crass?

Posted on October 23, 2012 by Fabrizio del Wrongo

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes:

I still haven’t become totally accustomed to crass advertising. I suppose I should like it, but mostly I feel unsettled by it. The last thing I want to be thinking about while watching The History Channel is some burly guy’s balls and the way they’re accomodated by the gusset of his jeans. (“Gusset” is an evocative word, isn’t it? I think it’s great. But should it really be used in reference to manly jeans? I associate it with porny writing, and almost always in reference to women’s panties.)

Plus, I’m not much of a fan of baggy jeans. I likes ’em to actually fit, ball comfort be damned. But maybe I’m the weird one, and maybe wearing form-fitting jeans is, like, gay or something. Keep in mind that all those tough ancient Romans wore skirts and togas and shit like that. Maybe it was so their balls would stay comfortable. Maybe ball comfort has been a secret driver of culture throughout history and Jared Diamond will write a book on it someday.

Then again, there’s this. But then Connery can make anything seem manly.

Posted in Personal reflections, Sex, Television, Women men and fashion | Tagged Advertising, Balls, Duluth Trading Company, Jared Diamond, Sean Connery, Zardoz | 8 Comments

Catholics, Carnitas, and Holy Death in Los Angeles

Posted on October 23, 2012 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes:

Yesterday I spent the day walking around downtown Los Angeles with faunafrailty, who has been known to show up in the comments here occasionally. During my leisurely Sunday stroll, my keen observational faculties revealed something that might elude less sophisticated analysts — there are a lot of Mexicans here.

Continue reading →

Posted in Food and health, Photography, Travel | Tagged California, carnitas, Catholicism, Dia de los Muertos, Los Angeles, luchadores, Mexican Coke, Mexican nationalism, Olvera Street, paganism, Santa Muerte, white guilt | 13 Comments

Question Lady Question

Posted on October 22, 2012 by Question Lady

The Question Lady writes:

What’s the best way to waste time?

Posted in Personal reflections | 4 Comments

Greece and Econ

Posted on October 22, 2012 by Paleo Retiree

Paleo Retiree writes:

A fun snapshot of how things really go down in Greece. Link tks to the wonderful HBD Chick.

Did I ever mention one of my biggest misgivings about how econ is usually done? If it were up to me, econ would be the study of the money-and-trading dimension of how people actually live, and have lived. You’d study (without worrying too much about making moral or political, let alone “efficiency,” judgments) how the Greeks get by, for instance. You’d find it interesting. You’d add what you’ve learned to your general knowledge bank, which over time would grow a little more extensive. At that point, you might have some modest general wisdom to share. Or maybe not. Instead econ turns out to be abstract theory and math stunts, and bullying advice about what people and governments SHOULD do …

My instinctive response to what econ really turns out to be is: “WTF?”

Bonus Link:

I did some more bitching about econ here.

Posted in Politics and Economics | Tagged economics, Greece, HBD Chick | 2 Comments

Jim Kalb on the 1960s

Posted on October 22, 2012 by Paleo Retiree

Paleo Retiree writes:

Jim Kalb’s recent piece about the 1960s is an enlightening one, even for a reader with no interest in the Catholic angle. Great passage:

The ‘60s claimed to be about liberation. In fact, they were much more about the rise of a new ruling class of experts, managers, and media people. That class, which is still with us, has some unusual qualities. The most notable is that it denies that it is a ruling class, and claims instead to be a neutral means through which expertise, rational administration, and the machinery of publicity help people attain their goals. Our rulers today tell us they are here to help us: to educate us, free us from the prejudices of the past, let us know what we really want, and make sure we all get it. They claim their power is liberating, and back up the claim by pointing to their suppression of authorities that compete with them, such as family, custom, religion, and traditional hierarchies. If we can go shopping, play video games, surf the Internet, and sleep around, and we don’t have to listen to Mom, Dad, or the Pope, we must be free. Aren’t suppression of incorrect thoughts and safeguards like the Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) mandate worth having to protect that?

For my money, Jim Kalb is one of the most incisive and daring thinkers to have emerged during the blogging years. I did an interview with him back at my old blog: Intro, Part One, Part Two, Part Three. It’ll likely give you a lot to wrestle with. Jim blogs here. So which will it be — the blue pill or the red pill?

Bonus alt-right link:

A talk by the always-stimulating Mencius Moldbug.

Posted in Philosophy and Religion, Politics and Economics | Tagged Conservatism, Jim Kalb, Mencius Moldbug, politics, reactionary | 14 Comments

“Until They Get Me”

Posted on October 21, 2012 by Fabrizio del Wrongo

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes:

In 1916 Frank Borzage made a terrific early western, entitled “The Pilgrim.” It starred Borzage himself in the role of a drifter whose gallantry is brought to the fore by the plight of a lovely girl. In the way it suppresses the traditional qualities of the western, replacing them with delicate tendrils of feeling, it’s perhaps more similar to Swedish films of the period, such as those made by Victor Sjostrom and Mauritz Stiller, than it is to early American genre films. Though externally a western, “The Pilgrim” is geared for reflection rather than ricochets, and in its calm, clear-eyed naturalism, it achieves a sort of cowpoke classicism.

Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | Tagged Frank Borzage, John Ford, movies, Pauline Starke, The Searchers, westerns | 2 Comments

Question Lady Question

Posted on October 21, 2012 by Question Lady

The Question Lady writes:

Do you think it’s necessary to be self-centered in order to create art/movies/books/music?

Posted in Art | 8 Comments

Question Lady Question

Posted on October 20, 2012 by Question Lady

The Question Lady writes:

What do you do to prevent yourself from coming down with colds or flus?

Posted in Food and health | 11 Comments

“Sana”

Posted on October 20, 2012 by Paleo Retiree

Paleo Retiree writes:

I love this ultra-exultant dance track from the soukous star Kanda Bongo Man. There’s enough genius guitar and bass work in it to send a fan soaring clear into the next century.

Here’s another happy Kanda Bongo Man track:

Posted in Music, Performers | Tagged Kanda Bongo Man, Music, soukous | Leave a comment

Linkathon

Posted on October 18, 2012 by Paleo Retiree

Paleo Retiree writes:

Thom Mayne needs to be stopped. Link tks to Fabrizio del Wrongo.
It’s good to be a retired EU bureaucrat.
Nothing if not a dynamo.
Birth Tourism Yarn Du Jour.
A beautiful nude of Lee Miller by Man Ray.
As of the end of the year, Newsweek will stop publishing on paper and go all-digital.