Much to my regret, I never asked my grandfather about Aunt Cecelia, and my grandmother never knew her. The events of her life are now completely lost, outside of her tragic death which seems to have defined her very existence. I have visited Aunt Cecelia’s grave many times in my life; frankly, it’s one of my favorite spots in the known universe. She rests under a gravestone with her oval picture embedded in it. Though the porcelain containing the picture is cracked and chipped, the image intrigues me. Despite the distance from her to me, her eyes reveal much. She looks at me with penetrating intelligence and with more than a bit mischievousness. Aunt Cecelia has even visited me a time or two in my dreams, but she is always merely playful. She’s never spoken to me, even under the drug of Morpheus. Her grave faces east in the windswept and dramatic valley of Pfeifer, Kansas, under the shadow of the gothic church built stone by stone by my ancestors, Heilige Kreuz.
— Read on theimaginativeconservative.org/2019/11/all-beautiful-terrible-feast-saint-cecilia-timeless-bradley-birzer.html
Category Archives: Philosophy
Color e-paper is being tested by some big name companies
It will be very interesting to see the first wave of products that use the new color e-paper. I would say Amazon or Kobo stand the best chance to be first to the market, simply because they have large engineering divisions and can afford to take the time to get a product right. How nice would it be to browse the Kindle or Kobo store and have all of the cover art in full and vibrant colors? The GoodReads experience on the Kindle would be superb, you would actually be able to see the avatar photos people use, instead of them just being in black and white. Non-fiction books would benefit from this, you would actually be able to see the insert photos, as they were intended.
— Read on goodereader.com/blog/e-paper/color-e-paper-is-being-tested-by-some-big-name-companies
Beyond Creation
Stunning autumn hues aside, motorcycling in the Pacific Northwest is a lot about winding roads. It’s about navigating curves at an optimal trajectory and speed, creating those lively moments when your foot pegs brush the tarmac. It’s about discovering the thin line, the line which separates recklessness from precarious optimism, the belief that everything beyond your control is going just right! Discovering that trajectory requires a clear view and an understanding of the full turn ahead. That, along with instincts and skills, shapes the plan on how to approach the turn, how to maneuver, at what speed, etc.
High-level plan aside, how you cover every inch of this trajectory also matters because this determines the viable options ahead. In fact, at every point on that curve, along with basic physics, our own limitations and constraints of our machines determine possible trajectories. Beyond motorcycling — it’s like working towards a long-term vision, while shaping the specifics of the execution as we go along. Reaching the long-term goal requires constant adaptation to what the road presents, not what was anticipated.
Quoting the Canadian death metal band Beyond Creation — “Every decision we take. Every step we make. Every word we use. And every rule we choose.” – With every single step, we are shaping the details of our own trajectory, and at the same time influencing the lives of others connected to us. So, if you had a fortunate or an unfortunate accident, it might not be the immediately preceding step. It could be any action leading up to the accident, which actually set in motion that unfortunate trajectory.
The question is – what were those steps that maximized the probability of that incident? It could be that disturbing conversation with the neighbor or that reckless driver on the freeway. With an exhaustive set of variables, identifying and modeling those sequences is non-trivial. It requires omniscience and intractable computing power. Complex realities are nuanced but expensive too, so a civil society demands a practical approach – that of individual responsibility. A fair assumption is the existence of free will. In short, we shape our good and bad accidents by acting or not acting to compensate for external pressures.
To go back to the analogy of motorcycling PNW winding roads — there are always unforeseen factors affecting the specifics of the execution. Low probability but high impact variables like twigs on the road, those strategically placed potholes, or a deer gently crossing the path — all these and more impact a motorcyclist’s vision of navigating curves with finesse. But that uncertainty is not a cost; it is the reason to feel alive, which is vital to motorcycling. It’s also critical to know that, even with determinism provided by the law, uncertainty is an artifact of a highly interconnected system.
Republished at ridersmodel.com
Nationalism and patriotism.
George Orwell, in his influential essay Notes on Nationalism distinguished patriotism from the related concept of nationalism:
“By ‘patriotism’ I mean devotion to a particular place and a particular way of life, which one believes to be the best in the world but has no wish to force upon other people. Patriotism is of its nature defensive, both militarily and culturally. Nationalism, on the other hand, is inseparable from the desire for power. The abiding purpose of every nationalist is to secure more power and more prestige, not for himself but for the nation or other unit in which he has chosen to sink his own individuality.’ Of course, patriotism is Greek in origin and nationalism is Latin in origin.
Orwell makes good points but I nationalism does NOT have to mean ethnic particularism or chauvinism or even jingoism.
Surely nationalism has been associated with a strong desire for NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE which can be a very good thing. Karl Marx famously stated that “The working men have no country”and that “the supremacy of the proletariat will cause them [national differences] to vanish still faster.” It is totalitarian to believe that regional and national differences should be stamped out.
We are all nationalists or nativists to some degree of course. Almost everyone prefers his own language, his own food, his favorite sports, his favorite music, his own religion. I would not say men and women are separated into “nations” or “conflictive classes”. I cannot distinguish between my mother and my father and the entire COMMUNITY when I think of my native land.
Of course, I have a sentimental tie to the wee homeland of my heart which is Scotland and particularly to the Highlands -the Gaidhealtachd. But unlike some, I have never felt separatism was a wise path. Small groups need the protection and security of a national union.
The decline and fall of Celtic peoples, in my view, was directly related to their divisions into clans and tribes and their inability to unite. Their inability to gain unity undermined their culture and essentially doomed their languages.
On the other hand, excessive nationalism exalting one nation, one race, one religion and one language over all others can fall off into true Fascism.
I am an American by choice but I love other nations also and other cuisines and other languages. My religious faith is universalist; it is not bounded by one race or one nation.
But you can’t win a championship without a team. And you can’t win a war without a Regiment, without a team, without an Army.
The only security for the family is the community and the only security for the community is the alliance of communities known as the nation.
To me, patriotism and nationalism are nearly synonymous. The Spanish have a word “patriotero” which means excessively patriotic in a chauvinistic or flag-waving way. We can be excessively nationalistic or excessively patriotic.
But surely love for our OUR TEAM and OUR COLORS is not bad unless it makes us HATE all rivals even neighbors. I love the Dodgers but would never beat up a Red Sox fan (some yobs do). I admire other nations and other people who have skills and traits I lack. I doff my hat to the best team. The Nationals were the best team in 2019.
But we make a fatal mistake if we think our freedom is due to the UN or chance. We are free because soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines were willing to die for the Colors, the colors that represented their homeland, their nation, their security, their freedom. I consider myself a patriot and a cosmopolitan nationalist. I admire our Gallant Allies and know we need friends and allies.
Without national pride and national units, NATO and the UN would not protect me from evildoers, criminals and fanatics. To say “nationalism” is treason as Macron said, is wrongheaded even dangerous. Treason to whom? The EU superstate?
Our freedom is tied to our national independence. So let me say it on Veteran’s Day. I am a proud patriot and American nationalist. We SHOULD DELIGHT in the triumph of the Good but the costs should never be forgotten. We should have gratitude to our nation but also to our “gallant allies” the other nations who had taught us and helped us win wars and protect freedom. To me, true freedom will never mean uniformity but pluralism.
J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Leaf by Niggle” ~ The Imaginative Conservative
One very late night or early morning in 1939, J.R.R. Tolkien awoke, a full story ready to burst from his already imaginatively feverish brain. Contrary to his normal hesitation and typical obsessive writing and rewriting, Tolkien’s short story, “Leaf by Niggle” emerged “virtually complete in my head. It took only a few hours to get down, and then copy out.”[1] If Tolkien had ever toyed with the ideas found in the novel—in terms of setting, character, or plot—he had no recollection of them or of any of it. Like Athena emerging whole out of the head of Zeus, “Leaf by Niggle” simply appeared on paper that very late evening or early morning in 1939, just prior to the beginning of the Second World War. Sometime in 1940, he read the story—presumably to an approving audience—to the Inklings. Again, the story just emerged, and Tolkien never even edited it after his initial copying it down. It was, he remembered fondly, “the only thing I have ever done which cost me absolutely no pains at all.”[2]
— Read on theimaginativeconservative.org/2019/11/leaf-by-niggle-jrr-tolkien-bradley-birzer.html
When Giants Roamed the Earth: Elbow
When Elbow writes a pop song, they do it right. And, not merely right, but “just right.” Every note, every lyric, every silence, every beat matters.
When Elbow produces an album, the band gets everything not merely perfect, but “just perfect.”
While I have enjoyed every album and EP the band has released, the new album, GIANTS OF ALL SIZES is the band’s best since 2011’s BUILD A ROCKET BOYS.
Indeed, anything and everything you want from an Elbow album is here: the achingly clever lyrics; the smooth and relentless hooks; and the never compromised and earnest vocals. Yet, there’s more with GIANTS OF ALL SIZES: female choruses; weird proggy keyboards; and an Abbey Road-style flow.
At this point, I love every song, but I especially love “Empires”–with it Thomas Dolby-esque (think, “One of Our Submarines”) thought-provoking lyrics–and “On Deronda Road”–with its Steve Howe guitar opening and “Fragile”-esque vocals.
Though I would never label GIANTS OF ALL SIZES a prog album, I’d be utterly foolish not to categorize it as “art rock” at its finest and best. Whatever genre one wants to assign it, we can and should be able to agree on at least one absolute: GIANTS OF ALL SIZES is a thing of sheer excellence.
Perelandra: Preventing the Fall ~ The Imaginative Conservative
It would be no exaggeration to claim that C.S. Lewis’s “Perelandra”—arguably the least read and least remembered part of his “Space Trilogy”—is nothing short of a masterpiece. In it, the author ably blends science fiction and theology, giving us a gripping thriller, steeped in thought, adventure, and myth… (essay by Bradley J. Birzer)
— Read on theimaginativeconservative.org/2019/11/perelandra-preventing-fall-bradley-birzer.html
Approaching Weathertop: Anatomy of a Scene ~ The Imaginative Conservative
In his personal recollections of his mentor, hero, and friend, George Sayer remembered that J.R.R. Tolkien possessed the uncanny ability to match his facial expressions and speech patterns to and with the prevailing mood of any given conversation. “As I sat with him and the Lewis brothers in the pub, I remember being fascinated by the expressions on his face, the way they changed to suit what he was saying,” Sayer recollected. “Often he was smiling, genial, or wore a pixy look. A few seconds later he might burst into savage scathing criticism, looking fierce and menacing. Then he might soon again become genial.”[1] It was not affectation, but sincere intensity. The very same might (and should) be claimed of his writing ability. When the mood calls for levity, Tolkien writes with levity. When the mood calls for depth, Tolkien writes with depth. When the mood calls for contemplation, Tolkien writes contemplatively. As a twentieth-century author, he was an absolute master at this.
— Read on theimaginativeconservative.org/2019/10/approaching-feathertop-anatomy-scene-bradley-birzer.html
Common sense philosophy of Auld pop
Auld Pop had a philosophic attitude towards life. “Save your luck for when it counts. A man has only so much luck. Sooner or later you will roll snake eyes.” “This is the only life you have this side of paradise: be a leal n’ true mon (a man of honour)”. “A soldier will die for the Colours but no’ an extra two bob a day.” Pop, we used to say you have to stop smoking! He answered “Tha moral dhaoine anns a cladh a mhianniacheadh casad a bhith aca mar seo.” (“There’s mony a man in the cemetery that wad like to hae a cough like that!”
“Cuimhnich air na daoine bhon tainig tusa” REMEMBER THE PEOPLE YOU CAME FROM. Ne obliviscaris he said many times -his Regimental motto- DO NOT FORGET. Of people who were “feckless slackers” he would say, “Such a mon has nae poosh (no push; no ambition). He is good for naething at a’! except to be a parasite hanging aroond the kitchen.” If we complained he would say, “If THAT’S A’ ye hae to worry aboot, ye hae nae worries! Hiding in a dry cave in Gallipoli , low on ammunition and water wi’ Turks scream to cut off your heid…THAT’s WORRY!!” Auld Pop had a soft spot , naturally for the Red, White and Blue of Britain, but he was a naturalized American citizen (at age 50). During WWII he built Naval vessels and liberty ships (before WWI he built Naval ships on the Clyde.
Auld Pop used to say. ” You are lucky to be alive. Every new day is a gift. Lucky to have fresh water to drink and to wash. Lucky to have a roof over your head and tea at the boil. Lucky to have someone to love and to be loved by someone. Lucky to have hot soup for dinner. Lucky to have a job to do and lucky to have legs to walk to it. Lucky to have ears for music. Lucky to have a voice for talking. Lucky to have eyes to see. Lucky to have two arms and two hands and all ten fingers. Lucky to have a dollar or two in your pocket. Lucky to see a new generation growing. Lucky to see Old Glory flying. Lucky to have had a good ride. When the evening comes. and there is peace on every hill glad to have lived. And , yes when the evening comes how peaceful will be our sleep for we saw not the sacred flame extinguished. We saw not the Colours lowered in our time.”
RULES FOR SURVIVING THE GREAT WAR 1914-1919
A wonderful message that my friend Richard Munro shared about his grandfather, Thomas Munro: RULES FOR SURVIVING THE GREAT WAR (1914-1919).
He wore a kilt (with a canvass cover) every day for almost five years. He used to kill bugs that crawled up his legs with his cigarettes; he said it took practice to burn the bugs off with out burning yourself. He also said tobacco smoke helped keep the bugs away. Auld Pop was a quiet man but touch not that cat but with a glove. He had killed his first man at age 10 with a Martini-Henry rifle (a Sumatran Pirate); He and his mates killed so many Germans they literally lost count. Once they killed about 50 Germans in less than 10 minutes wiped out a whole platoon before they got off a single shot. It was not for nothing the Germans called them the “Ladies from Hell”.
- Auld Pop: When goin’ over the top, furrst, stan’ behind the tallest man or the broadest tree. Aye (always), a guid thing tae do!
2nd Shoot true; dae untae others before they dae untae you! 30 rounds a minute wi’ yer Enfield for the Jairmans an’ 20 for the Turk -15 for the Buggers (Bulgarians).
3rd When carrying boxes o’ provisions bring at least one Webley pistol, prrreferrably two, fully loaded. Aye, the Jairman’s no liked THAT!
4th always carry a bayonet an’ a sgian dubh (the dagger traditionally carried by Highlanders in their sock) in yer leggin’s. Just a wee bit extra for close up warrrk.
5th Eat when ye can and boil yer tea.
6th Make nice with the Dins (Indian Soldiers); you never know when they will hold yer flank. Chai lao! (Bring tea!) Covering fire DAY DO! (Give)
7th take cover and pray like hell during a artillery bombardment.
8th never volunteer for anything; just do your job and stand by yer mates.
9th never smoke at night while on watch. NEVER.
10th Think o’ hame, think o’ your mates, think o’ your loved ones an’ thank God when it’s all over.
REPEAT #1 and #2 and #7 as often as possible!!!
I asked him what the British Army did with near-eyed soldiers who needed glasses. He said, “Och, we pit (put) them in the front lines for a closer “luke” (look)!!!!
Thomas Munro , Sr Dec 22 1886 -June 9, 1962 Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders August 1914-May 1919 (Constantinople), MM 2nd Ypres.
The Dins (Indian Soldiers of the 27th Division) called him “Chang Dhost” (the Good Comrade) and Changa Gori Spahis (“The Good White Soldier”). The Jocks of the Ants (Company A) called him “Pops” or Auld Pops, Later Auld Pop.
At one point he saw 36 days of continuous combat on the Western Front experiencing almost daily bombardments and hand to hand combat with the Germans as well as witnessing the first poison gas attack in history. They had only urine-soaked handkerchiefs for protection. In April-May 1915 he lost many of his relatives, in-laws and best friends as well as his first Company Commander in the 1st Battalion Captain Dick MacDonald Porteous (KIA May 10 , 1915). He saw action at Gallipoli, Salonika and the Struma Valley. Only three men in his company were on active service by Armistice day; everyone else was killed or invalided out due to serious wounds.
The Argylls, alone suffered 7,131 killed and over 25,000 casualties. NE OBLIVISCARIS ..do not forget.
Spirit of Cecilia 
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