Confessions of a Conservative Atheist
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To the young, all is new. They’re on the ride for the first time, making it near impossible to understand what it will feel like for the fiftieth. To the old, the belief that we’ve seen it all before settles in along with the feeling that nothing can surprise us anymore. It’s a bizarre irony… Continue reading The more the holidays change, the more they stay the same even in a world where change is the only constant
I have gone through a lot of incarnations over the centuries, from a real life saint to a figure that travels with an accomplice who beats naughty children with stick, but today, I encapsulate the potential for real magic in the world, magic that the lucky among you carry a little of forever. I am… Continue reading I am Santa Claus, bringer of joy to millions of children, until they realize I’m not real and a little magic is gone from the world forever, or is it?
How did an illiterate peasant that never sat on a horse in her entire life, much less have military training of any kind, march to war at seventeen years old, change the entire fate of France, and then defy the learned authorities of the Church for six months before being executed at nineteen? In many… Continue reading The impossibility of Joan of Arc, the one story that could transform even Mark Twain into a believer
In 1994, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein almost ruined Kenneth Branagh’s career while this year’s equivalent of a remake from Guillermo Del Toro received almost universal praise despite making almost the same movie substantially worse. In 1994, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein almost ruined Kenneth Branagh’s career. Though opinions of the film have generally improved in the more than… Continue reading Frankenstein and a tale of two Hollywoods
While Ms. Sweeney might be an unlikely avatar for our increasingly illiberal and insane times, an avatar of the left’s hate and endless outrage, she certainly is. Indeed, the absurdity of the whole situation only helps illustrate the point. Last week, Sydney Sweeney made news once again when detractors objected to her choice of clothing… Continue reading Reminder: Progressives hate Sydney Sweeney simply because she appeared in a clothing ad and all they have is hate for any disagreement, real or even perceived
While the Phish guitarist, singer, and songwriter is far from a household name, he certainly should be. Over the course of three shows in barely six months with three completely different configurations, he belted out fifty eight songs or more than six full albums of material. I’ve been fortunate enough to see Trey Anastasio three… Continue reading Trey Anastasio is the greatest musician of his generation and it’s not even close
Benjamin Franklin famously or infamously said that the country was a Republic, if you can keep it. To liken great things to small, this is a blog if I can keep it up, but isn’t that true of everything in life? When I started this blog in November 2020, it wasn’t clear to me how… Continue reading Celebrating 1,000 posts with a few near incoherent thoughts on the past, present, and future
Chickens? Pigs? Cows? They get slaughtered all year for any old meal, but not me. I’m special and I serve a higher purpose, so forget the various controversies surrounding the holiday over the centuries and belly up to the table. I am a Thanksgiving turkey. You might find me roasted, smoked, or fried at the… Continue reading I am a Thanksgiving turkey and I live to die for your holiday meal
Somehow, a silent film managed to include a false framing device that serves to mislead the viewer and set up a twist ending straight out of a modern movie, a love triangle, a flashback within a flashback, multiple murders, a murder investigation with a falsely accused suspect, an abduction, and more. Over a century after… Continue reading The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and the audacity of the earliest filmmakers
I’m not sure which is the bigger achievement. David Lynch’s daring to tell an unfiltered story of the sexual abuse and suffering of a teenager in 1992, or to use it as a gateway to the modern media world, where world-building and origin stories rule. These days, cinematic universes are all the rage, but back… Continue reading Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me and the unsettling birth of the cinematic universe
Confessions of a Conservative Atheist 