Saturday, February 25, 2023

Defending Rowling

 ‘Sadness, some kind of regret, I think.  Well, everything came apart after that.  I mean, obviously it was all very fragile before that.  But in a way that was the start of the real chaos.’ 


“When we judge or criticize another person, it says nothing about that person; it merely says something about our own need to be critical.”


MEAT: IT’S WHAT’S GOOD FOR YOU. New antioxidants found in beef, chicken, and pork!


Designer Keiji Ashizawa used muted tones to make the most of the sunlight in this apartment in central Tokyo, which features wooden art pieces and furniture that was specially designed for the space.

For the Hiroo Residence, named after its location in the city's Hiroo neighbourhood, Ashizawawanted to underline the quality of the light in the flat.

Wooden furniture and artworks decorate Hiroo Residence in Tokyo



Why We Still Need Classic Old Story Ballets

 “If it’s lasted more than fifty years, it’s for a good reason. Think Mozart, Beethoven or The Beatles, they’ve stayed with us for a long time." - BachTrack

Yes, Pablo Neruda Was Poisoned, Forensics Experts Have Determined

"The revelation by Rodolfo Reyes, a Neruda nephew, is the latest turn in one of the great debates of post-coup Chile. The long-stated official position has been that Neruda died of complications from prostate cancer, but the poet’s driver argued for decades that he was poisoned." - AP



Bruce Willis Diagnosed With Frontotemporal Dementia

Last year the 67-year-old actor retired after receiving a formal diagnosis of aphasia.  His condition has now worsened: he's suffering progressive loss of nerve cells in his brain's frontal and temporal lobes.  There is currently no treatment for the disorder. - The Hollywood Reporter




Defending JK Rowling

This campaign against Rowling is as dangerous as it is absurd. The brutal stabbing of Salman Rushdie last summer is a forceful reminder of what can happen when writers are demonized. And in Rowling’s case, the characterization of her as a transphobe doesn’t square with her actual views. - The New York Times

If today young people with long hair are condemned for their unconventional music as criminals without notice, it will be all that much easier tomorrow to condemn in the same way other artists for their novels, poems, essays, and paintings.”


Last year there was a trial of a woman aged 97, dating to events in Nazi Germany more than three-quarters of a century ago when she was an 18-year-old typist in the Stutthof Concentration Camp. Julian Assange’s trial, if he ever has one, will be about events decades ago and our PM who has no sympathy for Assange’s actions, is urging resolution of the matter because enough is enough.

Those two cases are examples of the awkwardness of determining in what circumstances can ‘enough’ be said to be ‘enough’.