-Thomas Sowell
"The problem isn't that Johnny can't read. The problem isn't even that Johnny can't think. The problem is that Johnny doesn't know what thinking is; he confuses it with feeling."
-Thomas Sowell
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This image is from the 1979 movie The Black Stallion, which is based on the 1941 children's novel by the same name. In this scene, Alec Ramsey has been training the Black- the wild horse with whom he had been shipwrecked- with the help of Henry Dailey, a retired jockey. Since the Black has no papers, it's impossible for him to be entered into a regular race. Henry has used his connections to get him into a match race which has been arranged between the two greatest racehorses from the east and west coasts. Alec's mother of course is aware that he and Henry have been working with the Black, but knows nothing about the training, the match race, or Alec planning to ride in it. With the race drawing close, he has asked Henry to come over to help him explain... as Henry rings the bell, Alec blurts out the news about the race and then runs to answer the door.
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Original Hebrew ערב של שושנים נצא נא אל הבוסתן מור בשמים ולבונה .לרגלך מפתן לילה יורד לאט ורוח שושן נושבה הבה אלחש לך שיר בלאט .זמר של אהבה שחר הומה יונה ראשך מלא טללים פיך אל הבוקר, שושנה .אקטפנו לי | English transliteration: Erev shel shoshanim Netzeh na el habustan Mor besamim ulevona Leraglech miftan Layla yored le'at Veru'ach shoshan noshvah Havah elchash lach shir balat Zemer shel ahava Shachar homa yonah Roshech maleh telalim Pich el haboker shoshana Ektefenu li |
Evening of roses
Let us go out to the grove
Myrrh, perfumes, and Frankincense
Is the carpet under your feet
Night falls slowly
And a wind of rose blows
Let me whisper a song for you slowly
A song of love
Dawn and the dove coos
Your hair is full of dewdrops
Your lips are as roses unto the morning
I will pick them for myself
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I gave him a movie as a gift, though not one from the 1930's. Rather, it was a copy of Christopher Nolan's 2006 film The Prestige which is about two magicians engaged in a bitter rivalry during the late 1890's. It's an engrossing movie full of twists and turns which will keep you guessing right up until the end, and I enjoyed it very much when I watched it. My brother-in-law has never seen it, so he's definitely in for a treat.
There are a lot of really solid performances in the film, and David Bowie makes an appearance as Nikola Tesla- who can resist that?
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So far there's nothing ground breaking or earth-shaking about Picard; the plot makes use of some well-worn tropes: dreams of portent, the bitter and disillusioned former hero who finds a cause worth fighting for, and a Manchurian Candidate-type character who doesn't know who she really is or what she can do until she's "activated". But if these tropes are well-used, they're also well done in this episode, which manages to strike a pretty good balance of referencing the past without wallowing in it.
We find elderly Picard living on the family estate in France with a couple of Romulan housekeepers and his dog, Number One. It's rather fitting that he's named his dog what he used to call Commander Riker, his former first officer because frankly, Riker always was a bit of a dog. Of the two, so far I prefer canine Number One. As the episode progresses, we discover that Picard quit Star Fleet years before in protest of the decision to withdraw aid from the Romulans, who were forced to abandon their home worlds after their sun was destroyed by a supernova. Picard had been heading up Star Fleet's relocation efforts when Earth's Mars colonies are attacked and destroyed by synthetics (androids) resulting in the deaths of over 90,000 people. This results in a Federation-wide ban on synthetics and also causes Star Fleet to abandon Romulan relief efforts during the resulting chaos, apparently feeling that, while in a weakened and vulnerable state, it is no time to be giving succour to their enemies. Picard disagrees with this decision strongly enough to resign his commission over it. I guess he is only in favour of letting planets full of people perish when they aren't as advanced as the Romulans (hello, Pen Pals).
We then meet the "twin"- Soji- who is working with Romulan survivors who appear to be inhabiting an abandoned Borg cube, of all things. She seems to have more awareness of her origins than Dahj did.
This is a very brief overview of the main plot points: of course other things happen and other characters appear. I'd say that, as first episodes of Star Trek go, this one was really good (many were not). It sets up the world, introduces the main characters, and sets in motion some intriguing plot lines. And so far- fingers crossed- it's not preachy. Patrick Stewart may be an virtue-signalling annoyance, but there's no doubt he's a skilled actor and he makes us believe that he's a retired, crotchety old Picard. The actress playing Dahj/Soji does a fine job as well, which is important considering the considerable screen time she gets.
This isn't to say that there were no flaws in the episode, and I'll get into those- and my overall impressions- in part II.
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- Daniel Hannan
"They are trash, and will soon be worse trash if I go on, for each is more sensational than the last. I've gone blindly on, hurting myself and other people, for the sake of money. I know it's so, for I can't read this stuff in sober earnest without being horribly ashamed of it, and what should I do if they were seen at home or Mr. Bhaer got hold of them?"
Jo turned hot at the bare idea, and stuffed the whole bundle into her stove, nearly setting the chimney afire with the blaze.
"Yes, that's the best place for such inflammable nonsense. I'd better burn the house down, I suppose, than let other people blow themselves up with my gunpowder," she thought as she watched the Demon of the Jura whisk away, a little black cinder with fiery eyes.
But when nothing remained of all her three month's work except a heap of ashes and the money in her lap, Jo looked sober, as she sat on the floor, wondering what she ought to do about her wages.
"I think I haven't done much harm yet, and may keep this to pay for my time," she said, after a long meditation, adding impatiently, "I almost wish I hadn't any conscience, it's so inconvenient. If I didn't care about doing right, and didn't feel uncomfortable when doing wrong, I should get on capitally. I can't help wishing sometimes, that Mother and Father hadn't been so particular about such things."
Ah, Jo, instead of wishing that, thank God that 'Father and Mother were particular', and pity from your heart those who have no such guardians to hedge them round with principles which may seem like prison walls to impatient youth, but which will prove sure foundations to build character upon in womanhood.
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Here are the lyrics:
Skylark, have you anything to say to me,
Won't you tell me where my love can be?
Is there a meadow in the mist
Where someone's waiting to be kissed?
Skylark, have you seen a valley green with spring
Where my heart can go a-journeying
Over the shadows and the rain to a blossom-covered lane?
And in your lonely flight haven't you heard the music of the night?
Wonderful music, faint as a will-'o-the-wisp, crazy as a loon,
Sad as a gypsy serenading the moon, oh
Skylark, I don't know if you can find these things,
But my heart is riding on your wings
So if you see them anywhere
Won't you lead me there
Songwriters: Hoagy Carmichael / Johnny Mercer
We are, of course, singing an SATB arrangement, but here's Skylark being sung by the inimitable Ella Fitzgerald:
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