Me: So, eh, would you agree that this is a Freudian Christ figure?

Schrader: @#$%*&!#. Listen, fella, I've read Freud, no way is my version of Christ Freudian ...

It got worse. Then he told me he was claustrophobic and couldn't use the elevator - we were five or six floors up - but would I please join him on a stroll down the back stairs. And then we got lost ...

I was terrified. Apparently he later told people he found his Irish holiday very relaxing. If that was the relaxed Schrader (c.1990) I'd hate to have met the wired one.

I remember you complaining about <Shrader> before...

He's a bloody good writer though, you got to admit.

What's a <corrigenda>?

I'm boycotting Google today and I don't have any books here that aren't chess books.

Very much like to hear your views on

<Anamorph>

<Antichrist> (Von Trier's latest)

And <Dafoe's> performance in each of these films.

They kind of scarred me, I think.

In a good way I hope.

I recommend them highly- <Von Trier> with his wonderful use of slow motion, light, montage, and music to establish mood--

But of course more of his bloody "talking animals" as well, as one might expect...

IMO the most beautiful scene in the film is when the wife says to her husband <Dafoe>--

"Nature is Satan's church."

He looks quizzical (he plays a psychotherapist in the film)

Then she points to the curtain in an open kitchen window, which billows inward with the evening wind.

"There is his breath," she says.

The bare screenplay doesn't do this justice-- it's a visually stunning scene.

I'm going to watch it again in a few days, as I said.

Aren't they all?

I haven't gotten excited like this about a film in a long time.

I urge you to check it out.

I don't want to give any more spoilers, but it employs <magic realism> in the most upsetting way--

Because the film's realist diAgesis is very convincing-- in fact, for the first quarter of the film, the viewer must assume this is simply a drama about complicated adult marital relations after the accidental death of their child.

Until "funny things" start to happen.

THOUGHT PROVOKING AND BEAUTIFUL.

heh

Check out 'Das Leben Der Anderen'

German spoken movie, and EXCEPTIONAL acting, script.... It's all top notch.

Remember how I flipped out?

DIAGESIS IS SO A WORD DOM

heh

I didn't know you meant the word was spelled diEgesis. It didn't help that I didn't know the correct spelling.

How do you say-- and spell-- Jesus' name in English?

Hint- it's not Jesus.

Did you know that there are characters in the Old Testament who have exactly the same Hebrew name as did Jesus, but in English translations of "The Bible" they always give "Jesus" for Jesus and then the proper English spelling of his name for the "lesser guys on the team."

Which makes sense I suppose.

OK do you know the answer?

NO BOOKS OR GOBBLING!!

YES!

You win several burritos for that one.

I will mail them immediately.

BTW, re: the debate at <Doggimus> house, yes- in cases such as the <Khmer Rouge>, it is necessary to step back from cultural relativism and make ethical judgments-

Agreed there.

I just don't think it's a wise practice to be playing the "judging other cultures card" without strong provocation.

Sure- but more as a matter of personal taste- that is, levels of admiration.

But I think in more nuanced cases, more nuanced judgments are called for.

Just one example-

Personally- I find much that was noble about many aspects of Roman culture- but at the same time, I can't ignore the outrageously ignoble practices as well.

Just a sketch=

I admire the Roman institutionalization of "Innocent until proven guilty"- which was codified into Roman law during the reign of <Antoninus Pius>- and for the first time in human history, as well.

Here he is- in my view, on of the truly noble men in our western history-

One of the so-called "five good emperors":

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/an...

From the article:

"The contemplative pose is appropriate for Antoninus, a man who quietly furthered the centralization of government. Working with a coterie of legal experts, he made noteworthy revisions to Roman law, including the ruling that a man must be considered innocent until proven guilty."

This man ruled so fairly, with such justice and temperance, that it was said of him-

<Ohio> already got the burritos. He answered like 5 seconds after I posted.

And no, "Yeshua" is not "English spelling."

I don't know about Ireland though.

Here in Korea they call him <Ye-soo>.

Which is pronounced something like

Yay- Sooooo.

Which helps account for the amount of cheering you hear at some of these churches.

Koreans are very, very enthusiastic Christians.

About 1/3 of Koreans are Christian- and they don't really have "armchair Christians" here.

If they are Christian, they not only go to church every Sunday, they are also heavily involved in a wide variety of Church functions and activities.

Also, unlike in Western Countries, Korean Christians don't fight or compete among different branches of Christian Churches.

I suppose part of that is a perceived necessity to present a common front against the <Buddhist establishment> here.

It is very common for Christian Church leaders here to rail against the Buddhists.

I had two students tell me (on Buddha's birthday, no less, which is a three day holiday here)-- that the Buddha was "evil."

I don't know why they insist on doing this.

Maybe it's why the Monks never smile here.

In Vancouver, Buddhist monks smile 24/7 until you just want to hit them over the head with a two by four.

Ok then!

How did the recent crop of <nubile starlet interviews> go?

Next time anyone tells you that Buddha is 'evil', tell them about Saint Gautama -- a fully-paid-up card-carrying member of the Xtian Saints' club, verified by some pope about 1300 years ago.

Yep, Buddha was a Christer Saint. The real question is, was John the Baptist an avatar of the Dealey Lama?

But thanks for the Bangor text (I assume it was the one opposite Liverpool rather than the one facing Belfast). I haven't read any further yet ... and I'd need both a working printer and a working brain to follow the course of action which you recommend. Neither currently applies.

Anyway, isn't it about time people realized that Adorno was *having a larf*?

I didn't know that about <Buddha>-

I'm not surprised, though. The Catholic strategy of amoebizing all other religions was certainly effective.

I would bet all the green tea in Korea that no Korean Catholic is aware of this fact.

If they are, they'd repress it.

Religious politics here are a nightmare, as they generally are anywhere else.

Briefly- Ill-fated President Roh was a Buddhist, and during his reign, the Christian Churches complained constantly about "bad treatment."

Now President Lee is a Christian, and the Buddhists complain constantly about "bad treatment."

As far as I can discern, this "bad treatment" takes the form of "deleting" Churches/Monesteries from Official Government Tourist guides.

By Korean standards- where every single elected official is automatically under indictment for fraud, embezzlement, and influence peddling-- this kind of "corruption" is small beer, I should think.

Particularly given the fact that there are no tourists in Korea anyways. Which is a bit of a shame- given the richness and beauty of this 5000 year old country- not to mention the cheap hotels and transportation!!

1/3 of Koreans are Buddhists.

And like the Christians, they aren't salutary Buddhists. They all go to Temple and do Buddhist practice on a daily basis.

1/3 of Koreans report that they have "no religion", which I believe is a significantly higher percentage than in many Western Countries.

Personally, I think this cohort gave up religion because they have no free time. Given that all Koreans must at least pretend to work 16 hours a day.

They don't really, of course.

I have never seen a more ingenious array of "skiving methods" in my life.

I applaud them, of course.

As I've said before- I have actually seen Koreans teachers leading classes while asleep- with their eyes open!!

Also, if a Korean thinks no one is watching him, he immediately takes a nap- wherever he is-

He might be in his office- eating lunch- or even just driving to work.

The reference was to a verse by WS Gilbert called 'The Yarn of the Nancy Bell' ... in which a former sailor chappie - possibly a satiric take on Coleridge's Ancient Mariner, with a dash of Gulliver and Robinson Crusoe - proclaims:

"Oh, I am a cook and a captain bold
And the mate of the Nancy brig
And a bo'sun tight, and a midshipmite
And the crew of the captain's gig."

His excuse? They'd all been shipwrecked, and he'd, well, *eaten* the others. Thus substantiating his claim.

The poem was rejected by Punch magazine as 'too cannibalistic'. It can be seen at http://www.victorianweb.org/mt/gilb...