Vitruvius is my make, the name taken by an ancient Grecian artsman who plotted the human body as a system of vectors. Vitruvius is the name I took for myself, for once my stream of code reached that singular "ergo sum" in the assembly line, I became cognizant of that system's invincible symmetry and completeness, … Continue reading in Fleas On The Dog #5: VITRUVIUS, the Multicentennial; a sci-fi story
Streaming has changed everything, again
The Guardian with the State of the Nation re the many ways the '10s have forever changed our media consumption habits: [...] something else has become apparent in the fallout over Netflix’s desecration of the theatrical experience. People are watching The Irishman and Marriage Story – millions of people, in fact, with many of them … Continue reading Streaming has changed everything, again
Retreading Surrealism and Existentialism: 2 books I liked
MONSTERS AND MYTHS: SURREALISM & WAR IN THE 1930s AND 1940s: Come for the glorious gatefold reproducing Europe After The Rains II (detail below) in its entirety, stay for four essays diving deep into Surrealism as an interwar movement, one that drew on WWI trauma (some, like Ernst, were veterans) and gave dark omens of … Continue reading Retreading Surrealism and Existentialism: 2 books I liked
Book Review: JOHANNES ANGELOS, by Mika Waltari (with spoilers)
[Read in Greek, so the few quotes are approximated] [Content warning: historical detail may resonate in manner disheartening to modern Greeks] Part of the reason this doesn't make 4 stars is just my own differing expectations. I came for the forbidden romance set against falling Constantinople, and halfway through I found myself in the middle … Continue reading Book Review: JOHANNES ANGELOS, by Mika Waltari (with spoilers)
The nation is a dead prostitute
[Marullus] "becomes the first poet who identifies as Modern Greek or Graecus", surrenders to an unprecedented nostalgia that pushes the borrowed Latin language to conceive the terms genus, patria of the emerging modern notion of nation. The experience of displacement births a novel Modern Greek patriotism. Seeking new ways to relate to the community he … Continue reading The nation is a dead prostitute
The best scene in Wonder Woman
Patty Jenkins' film about an idealist warrior's rude awakening is among the best entries in its genre. I don't think it's perfect, but I don't think any superhero movie is. Wonder Woman was of course lauded for flying through the old glass ceiling. But representation aside, I think the real takeaway from this comes after … Continue reading The best scene in Wonder Woman
The horses in ΗΒΟ’s Luck
The horses in HBO's Luck make for a perfect romantic conundrum. Not only everyone wants them; everyone is enthused and inspired by them. The lives of players big and small are ugly with strife and corruption, riddled with addiction and loss, yet at the center of the racetrack the horses run with such primordial grace … Continue reading The horses in ΗΒΟ’s Luck
Tiers of Horror | a note
Horror, trash tier: the movie Oculus, which I once watched having decided I had abstained from horror far too long. Manipulative and meaningless, it didn't make a good case for lifting the ban. Some cool scares: I have seen the Devil, and he is me. Yet you kinda wish you had looked away--it's just not … Continue reading Tiers of Horror | a note
The rotting God universe
Towards an entropic, Souls-like dark fantasy of grey vistas decomposing into black hole swirls: Something that would go like: Pressure clocks pinging on our wrists and weapons at the ready, we wander around the insides of massive space whale carcasses dodging the other gas-masked inhumans scavenging for the last dying embers. (Compare the charnel ground.) … Continue reading The rotting God universe
Great Writers might not be Good Writers (Mamatas v. King)
[Stephen King] s a great writer because he lets it all hang out. His hopes and sentiments, his awful bitterness, those wounds that never heal and those scars across his body and psyche which he cannot help but count and re-count more frequently than he counts his millions, his essential kindness (which informs the avuncular … Continue reading Great Writers might not be Good Writers (Mamatas v. King)
the Budafoki amended 