Ummagumma

As I mentioned in the previous review , Memento has been one of my favorite films for decades. I have never really delved into the “deeper” aspects of the film. That is odd for me. Normally, I am profoundly drawn to such things. But, Memento is such a cool idea and is so fascinatingly told, hitting both mind and heart, I never chose to delve deeper. The film stands on its own, as is, without any further speculation. It works as a low-budget noir, as an acting showcase, as a feat of editing, as a story told backward that somehow never becomes obscure. It is surprisingly suspenseful at times. It works as ambiguity that feels like atmosphere instead of confusion. I loved it that way for years and I was right to. What follows does not make it a better film. It does not change the film's worth by a single frame. It only reveals some of the intricacies Nolan was playing with, which is why I’ve been his fanboy ever since. I have seen Memento more than two dozen times. This most recent ...

Jordan Peterson continues his presence on YouTube and elsewhere, apparently still mysteriously unwell. He (or his staff in his stead) has recently started the Jordan Peterson Academy and, to help promote that online offering, he placed a free lecture out there so people could get a feel for his "academy." It is ostensibly  an introduction to Nietzsche , packaged in a high-tech studio with dramatic lighting, graphic overlays, and the full production weight behind it. It is meant to be a promotional piece, really. Still, you have to measure up to the content you create. I became aware of Peterson several years ago through my interest in Nietzsche. My YouTube feed gave me a college professor who spends  45 minutes discussing a single paragraph  from  Beyond Good and Evil . I was impressed with the effort. I didn't necessarily think this guy had Nietzsche figured out but I admired what he had to say. As long-time readers know, I have followed Peterson ever since, with hi...

It was about this time last year I started writing what I thought would be one book entitled Harmogenics . That turned into three books with the last, Raucous Reckonings , completed in October. I was late in the “final” revision of the text when I came across Albert Camus and his remarkable affinity with what I have in mind by "cosmic indifference." Short version: don’t slit your wrists. I have known of Albert Camus's philosophy as long as I have known Jean-Paul Sartre. Decades. But while I read and studied Sartre at different times of my life, I never studied or read Camus. I just knew he originated, more or less, contemporary philosophy of the "absurd." Camus gets designated an "existentialist," which annoyed him while he was alive, and then reduced to a single slogan about Absurdity. That reduction misses the point in a very human way. Camus wasn't trying to depress anyone. He was trying to keep people honest without lying to themselves for c...

  Omar Khayyam. I stumbled onto Omar Khayyam recently. I subscribe of YouTube channel that produces summaries of major philosophers and thinkers that last 3 or 4 hours. I listen to them at night sometimes and it helps make me drowsy. Their summary of Nietzsche’s philosophy, for example, is not completely objective but it is very well made and a splendid intermediate level introduction. I had listened to many of the channel's videos more contemporary philosophers Sartre, Camus, Heidegger, Marx, Hegel, and Kant when the YouTube algorithm threw me “The Complete Philosophy of Al-Ghazali” and I thought I would give it a try, Muslim philosophy being a weakness of mine. I made it through about one-third of it before I grew bored with him and, searching the channel page, I found Omar Khayyam. The video on him was released about three months ago as of my viewing. Now, I cannot get this guy out of my head. I cannot shake him. I had never heard of him before, which seems ridiculous ...