Posts Tagged ‘Heroes’
Please read this NY Times column — ‘The Banality of Systematic Evil’
Goodness me, I just want to quote the whole thing! Gah! Please, if you care about these issues of whistle-blowing and state surveillance (as I do) go and read this article by Peter Ludlow, a professor of philosophy at Northwestern University writing in the NY Times: The Banality of Systemic Evil … In a June […]
Susan Sontag on writing
Someday (today’s not the day) I will try to express how much I have been inspired by the writing, or better put: the thoughtful reflections of Susan Sontag. She is one of my heroes. I felt lucky to have found her, with her book On Photography. It touched me. Changed my consciousness. Maria Popova, another […]
Steve Jobs movie trailer
I missed the Facebook movie, The Social Network, mainly because of disrespect. (I’ll catch it sometime.) But yeah, I’ll definitely go and see this one. – P
David Bowie’s influence on acceptance of gay ‘lifestyle’
I’ve just watched this fantastic BBC 4 documentary David Bowie and the story of Ziggy Stardust (below) about Bowie’s emergence as a global pop star and, more importantly, cultural sensation and groundbreaker. I had all his albums. (On vinyl. Not an exaggeration.) I recall feeling anxious for him when I saw how skeletal he looked […]
Ralph Hotere RIP
I was sad to hear this news this afternoon on my way to a exhibition opening at a gallery on the North Shore. Ralph Hotere was a trail blazer, a visionary … and an artist. RIP – P
Farewell Bryce Courtenay RIP
Novelist and inspirer Bryce Courtenay has died. What story-teller. What an inspiring human being. I mourn his passing but feel much gratitude for the way he gave his gifts. – P
Liberal. One definition.
I stumbled across this on Pinterest today … “If by a ‘Liberal’ they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people — their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties — […]
A nice description of the journalist’s conceit (as in fanciful notion, not pride)
From Jeff Himmelman’s NY Times review of Yours in Truth — A Personal Portrait of Ben Bradlee. Some journalists seem incapable of seeing flaws in themselves or their heroes. They suspend their professional skepticism as if they’re not bound by the usual rules of gravity. It’s a kind of self-important higher-calling disease that has made some […]
Margaret Mahy lived the dream. And then some.
What an inspiration she was. Making a living from her wits. And so much more. Haere ra Margaret Mahy. Thank you. – P
The Warrior – by Chuck Girard
I mentioned Chuck Girard’s album Written on the Wind recently as part of my eclectic musical ‘heritage’. My pal Graeme and I remembered Girard (who always struck me as a lost Beach Boy) and a few of his fellow inspirers like Barry McGuire and Larry Norman at lunch today… so I pulled this track up, […]
Whitney Houston RIP
Sad to hear today that Whitney Houston has died. What a magnificent gifted voice. RIP. -P
Leonard Cohen’s new album
Yup, I’m a fan (and a fashion victim?) and, of course, immediately bought Leonard Cohen’s new album Old Ideas. I’d been waiting, as noted. It’s good. I notice today it is #1 on iTunes. That’s remarkable, given his longevity and the time in the wilderness and the shallow ‘music to slash your wrists by’ blurb. […]
A new song from Leonard Cohen
The Darkness — by Leonard Cohen from his upcoming new album Old Ideas For me, Leonard Cohen is an example of someone who produces life-affirming inspiration from behind the cloud of a life blighted by bouts of depression. Good on him. I’ve been listening to his music all summer in my car. More here: Leonard […]
