johnclare

John Steinbeck to his teenage son:

New York
November 10, 1958

Dear Thom:

We had your letter this morning. I will answer it from my point of view and of course Elaine will from hers.

First — if you are in love — that’s a good thing — that’s about the best thing that can happen to anyone. Don’t let anyone make it small or light to you.

johnclare

You are the dark song
of the morning;
serious and slow,
you shave, you dress,
you descend the stairs
in your public clothes
and drive away, you become
the wise and powerful one
who makes all the days
possible in the world.

johnclare

Tokyo Story. It reminded me of some questions that go stale - they are a constant when we're young then generally disappear behind humdrum existence.

A thoroughly noble and kind elderly couple visit their adult children in Tokyo: Doctor, owner of a salon, and businessman, they have little time to spare for their aging parents, and soon pack them off to pass the time at a nearby resort. In contrast to their children there is beyond angelic, self-effacing, widowed daughter in law, Noriko.

This might seem like a weak premise for a feature-length movie but it's the silences that say the most in Ozu's movies. Because of this he manages to be simultaneously subtle and unambiguous, slow and intense, familiar and thought-provoking. Initially from my perspective it seemed ironic, but the unique quality in this film is simplicity and the lack of commentary - Ozu accurately represents the way we find life.

It's not a movie that hollywood might recognise. As Roger Ebert says: "Tokyo Story lacks sentimental triggers an

johnclare

1) wicked acts and statements are committed or uttered because of religion
2) any moral action or statement could be committed or uttered by either believer or non-believer
3) authentic moral actions or statements originate only from those who choose to commit or utter them, acting according to their own will
3) moral decisions should be made without the influence of fatalism
4) moral capacity is only present in the absence of belief in (all-powerful, all-knowing) higher power

side issues:
- if objectivity is important in morality it is important in order for a moral choice to be assessed by others
- authenticity is a social construction and is therefore important for the same reason
- this shapes the debate between religion and science on the issue of evil

johnclare

Once I am sure there's nothing going on
I step inside, letting the door thud shut.
Another church: matting, seats, and stone,
And little books; sprawlings of flowers, cut
For Sunday, brownish now; some brass and stuff
Up at the holy end; the small neat organ;
And a tense, musty, unignorable silence,
Brewed God knows how long. Hatless, I take off
My cycle-clips in awkward reverence,

johnclare

politics has two angles or perspectives: the leader and the citizen.
generally one and the other do not coexist. in a nonrevolutionary
environment people from both perspectives take the state for granted
and conflict develops over time when these positions become too
divergent

the way we learn to feel love, judge actions acccording to our
conscience or use any of the emotional faculties that describe human
nature depends on the nuances and local complexities of the language
we used as children

johnclare

The Yesees said yes to anything
That anyone suggested.
The Noees said no to everything
Unless it was proven and tested.
So the Yesees all died of much too much
And the Noees all died of fright,
But somehow I think the Thinkforyourselfees
All came out all right.

...from 'Every Thing On It' by Shel Silverstein

johnclare

nihilism - You can deconstruct anything to reveal futility, cause for for faith emerges in the gaps in the construction - windows

globalisation - has caused much suffering but is necessary as a step towards a framework where postive social change can becomje resilient - utopia ...all political systems that required permanence were idealism before they had access to a universal marketplace

immigration - What kind of nation would you have if you didn't encounter change? If new blood didn't enter the values and language of a country the values and language would be more vulnerable, less healthy

johnclare

(Inspiration)

Open Letter to the South
Langston Hughes

White workers of the South
        Miners,
        Farmers,
        Mechanics,
        Mill Hands,

johnclare

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry - “looking together in the same direction”

romance - romantics should be given credit for giving us a tool to flourish, Thalia meeting Erato and Melpomene (??), something that was previously lacking and necessary in modern life. creativity needs inspiration.