tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post2176297613307236915..comments2024-03-18T21:33:35.309-07:00Comments on One Cʘsmos: Speak Truth to Power by Getting a Clue about Yourself, AssoulGagdad Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-20526146710873539972013-02-27T08:19:49.779-08:002013-02-27T08:19:49.779-08:00Tell you what herb for my wine / Honey for my stro...<i>Tell you what herb for my wine / Honey for my strong drink / Herb for my wine, honey for my strong drink / I'll take it easy, taking it easy / Take it easy, skanking it <br /></i>-RNMgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02015936407999495181noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-5774019974964955152013-02-27T07:45:40.993-08:002013-02-27T07:45:40.993-08:00Good news for frugal audiophiles -- check out this...Good news for frugal audiophiles -- check out this company, <a href="http://emotiva.com/" rel="nofollow">Emotiva</a>. I'm sorely tempted to snag the <a href="http://shop.emotiva.com/collections/amplifiers/products/xpa2" rel="nofollow">two-channel 300 watt amp</a>. At $799, it's a steal. No wonder they're sold out. Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-15564119827151159282013-02-27T07:40:48.923-08:002013-02-27T07:40:48.923-08:00Totally true.
I get insanely jealous when I see ...Totally true.<br /><br />I get insanely jealous when I see high-end speakers and systems. All I've got is a package subwoofer/satellite deal from Best Buy. I couldn't even tell you the maker. Back when I was a kid, there were all these separate components, which I loved. Now it's "you buy this thing we got from China, and that's it." Feh.<br /><br />Or, geek out and spend top dollar for the stuff listed at <a href="http://www.6moons.com/" rel="nofollow">6moons.com</a>. But then I wouldn't be drinking Guido Porro's delicious reds!<br /><br />Ya makes your choices...Tonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00987042455512485699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-32723844267008648752013-02-27T07:36:38.577-08:002013-02-27T07:36:38.577-08:00--I think when we hit these wines, we go damn, wha...--I think when we hit these wines, we go damn, what is that?<br /><br />Yes, it's the same with the hobbie/disease of audiophilia. When you listen to a good system you'll have particular perceptions. Might as well have names for them. Once you name them, they stand out more from the stream of experience.<br /><br />Even so, a lot of the audio lingo means nothing to me, because, unlike with wine, who has the time and resources to listen to hundreds of different audio units for purposes of comparison? Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-33004910446255006032013-02-27T07:14:33.452-08:002013-02-27T07:14:33.452-08:00a nutty and lightly wooded undertone
"Oh, I&...<i>a nutty and lightly wooded undertone</i><br /><br />"Oh, I'm detecting nutty alright" - Emile the Rat<br /><br /><i>Ratatouille</i> is a Magister House FavoriteTonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00987042455512485699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-59208010728897962742013-02-27T07:12:13.339-08:002013-02-27T07:12:13.339-08:00If you expect it to have hints of chocolate, won&#...<i>If you expect it to have hints of chocolate, won't you taste them regardless of whether they are actually present?</i><br /><br />The power of suggestion can be powerful, but it's certainly possible to be true to your own experience and say, "nope, not there for me." <br /><br />In my experience, complex wines (not plonk) have tastes and aromas that challenge everyday common language and experience. Really good Nebbiolo is usually described as smelling like "tar and roses." There's a bit of groupthink to that description, but in my experience, there is indeed a menthol-like smell, a floral smell, and something pleasantly "earthy" which people compare to leather, tar, etc. This doesn't sound appetizing, but trust me, you drink it with a nice plate of pasta, you'll probably have a happy wow experience. <br /><br />I think when we hit these wines, we go <i>damn, what is that?</i> because we don't typically try to analyze and particularize tastes and smells. We just enjoy them. And frankly, much of what we eat and drink is pretty simple and good. But the constituents of a complex taste/smell are there, and sometimes we need a descriptive nudge to give us an A-HA moment where language and experience gel.<br /><br />As always, some people go overboard, usually when they're trying to sell you something.<br /><br />By the way, a lot of industrial wine uses particular yeasts known and bred to produce certain distinct aromas. To me, this kind of central control often results in boring drink ("mediocre art"!), but plonk doesn't aspire to be anything more. It's just alcohol delivery, and it's amazing actually that they can crank it out in such massive quantities, consistently. Twinkie wine, but man, quite an operation.<br /><br />Sorry to go on a bit -- I have a fondness for the stuff.<br />Tonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00987042455512485699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-75916701783610376292013-02-26T19:24:03.881-08:002013-02-26T19:24:03.881-08:00That list of wine additives would explain why I...That list of wine additives would explain why I'm becoming increasingly sensitive to wines. <br /><br />I wasn't able to comment on the previous post "Liberalism is a Bitch," but the last sentence, "There is no cure for disordered love except love rightly ordered", made me think of this image which is "love rightly ordered."<br /><br /> http://www.ewtn.com/jp99/image.htm <br /><br />She is pregnant with God the Son. The link briefly explains some of the many symbols in the image and what they would have meant to the Aztecs.<br /><br /> Christina Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03026226686936294936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-66823490302468295642013-02-26T19:17:04.260-08:002013-02-26T19:17:04.260-08:00Gagdad "The logic book is frankly a little dr...Gagdad "The logic book is frankly a little dry..."<br /><br />Of course... you're saying that to a guy who's spending his spare moments reading centuries old math textbooks... sooo... I'm betting that in comparison, Kreeft's Logic will seem like a plunge into a steaming hot tub.<br /><br />With a Daiquiri.<br /><br />And two snow bunnies on the side.<br /><br />;-)<br /><br /> Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-15607669431864423822013-02-26T18:46:18.684-08:002013-02-26T18:46:18.684-08:00In response to the Prager article, however, I must...In response to the Prager article, however, I must take issue with his last line: Environmentalism doesn't merely <i>allow for</i> human sacrifice, it <i>requires</i> it.juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-28397989597292520392013-02-26T18:41:13.727-08:002013-02-26T18:41:13.727-08:00Re. death by leftism vs. death by Islam, the latte...Re. death by leftism vs. death by Islam, <a href="http://www.steynonline.com/5430/ghost-cities" rel="nofollow">the latter can just as easily become a methodology (or inevitable result) of the former</a>...<br /><br /><i>The Danish group Kaldet til Islam (Call to Islam) has introduced "Sharia-controlled zones" in which "morality patrols" of young bearded men crack down on underdressed and bibulous blondes. In the Balearic Islands, Muslims took against the local meter maids, and forced the government to withdraw them.</i>juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-38120400456578003502013-02-26T18:37:41.168-08:002013-02-26T18:37:41.168-08:00Magister - that's interesting about wine; I ha...Magister - that's interesting about wine; I had no idea. Of course, I'm sure it helps that most alcoholic beverages are not required to list their ingredients on their labels.<br /><br />And re. the beer description, I've often wondered if reading such things before drinking changes the experience of the drink. If you expect it to have hints of chocolate, won't you taste them regardless of whether they are actually present?juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-62339235983720094822013-02-26T18:29:54.825-08:002013-02-26T18:29:54.825-08:00More people have been killed by leftism than by I...More people have been killed by <a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/341519/environmentalism-and-human-sacrifice-dennis-prager" rel="nofollow">leftism</a> than by Islam, by an order of magnitude. Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-58802318742179509692013-02-26T15:31:14.706-08:002013-02-26T15:31:14.706-08:00There's a programming language that gets a lot...There's a programming language that gets a lot of grief from purists, but is loved by business because it takes very little time for anyone to write programs in it, called Visual Basic. The 'worst' thing about it is a very human like feature called "On error resume next", which lets nearly any error the program might run into, to be passed on and by undetected, which lets the program could continue working. Or at least to continue working until the system gets so cluttered up with errors and eaten up memory, that it, or the entire computer, crashes.<br /><br />Kinda like a severe psychological disorder.<br /><br />Sometimes when I'm getting a little bit too anthropomorphic, I wonder if God didn't decided to design us like a virtual car racing game. Giving us all we need to be able to eventually build such experience and skills as to be purely amazing in the grace, speed and beauty of our driving.<br /><br />But in the meantime, while waiting for that perfection, there'll be plenty of seriously awesome car crashes to keep him amused and playing along.<br /><br />;-)Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-91373308696205478302013-02-26T15:26:13.007-08:002013-02-26T15:26:13.007-08:00Gagdad said "In other words, concepts are und...Gagdad said "In other words, concepts are understood spontaneously and intuitively, so if they're wrong, even if you use perfectly sound logic with them, you'll still have messed up judgment and conclusions."<br /><br />Yep. We derive and pass on Concepts with only the faintest "oh, huh, yeah that makes sense" as conceptual quality control... and that's what usually passes as being rigorously checked out. <br /><br />It's the source of our greatest strength and weakness.<br /><br />The whole reason we have teachers and schools is to try and clean out and tighten that up - that ours should actively pass on falsehoods to promote 'fairness'... Hell's hard at work on digging new rings in hell especially for them. <br /><br />Shovel ready.Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-32660608005173971552013-02-26T13:40:03.395-08:002013-02-26T13:40:03.395-08:00Never heard of it, but it doesn't appear espec...Never heard of it, but it doesn't appear especially fluffy. However, since it came out in the 1960s it may be dated, what with so much more info about mystical Christianity published since then. Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-63472705448858112002013-02-26T13:31:04.614-08:002013-02-26T13:31:04.614-08:00Funny this ( the (---), that is) should come up to...Funny this ( the (---), that is) should come up today, as it has been on my mind a lot lately. "Expectant" is a good word. Most seem to speak of meditation as silence for its own sake, but we should be quiet in order to better hear the still small voice...<br /><br />Also somewhat related, I was reading through Flannery O'Connor's letters last night, and she mentioned to a friend that she had read <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Zen-Catholicism-Dom-Aelred-Graham/dp/0824514254" rel="nofollow">Zen Catholicism</a>, and spoke approvingly of it. I'm curious if anyone here (esp. Bob) has come across it, and if so, what they think of it.<br /><br />It sounds like a bit of superfluous fluff, but Flannery was not one to speak approvingly of that sort of silliness, so my interest is piqued.Paul Griffinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11266956202232070017noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-40722951286662506062013-02-26T12:35:04.299-08:002013-02-26T12:35:04.299-08:00In other words, concepts are understood spontaneou...<i>In other words, concepts are understood spontaneously and intuitively, so if they're wrong, even if you use perfectly sound logic with them, you'll still have messed up judgment and conclusions.</i><br /><br />To add some refinement to this, could we even say the concepts arise from a worldview or <i>weltanschauung</i>?<br /><br />Also for the Nature of Order, I found some cliff <a href="http://dreamsongs.com/Files/NatureOfOrder.pdf" rel="nofollow">notes</a>. I'm too cheap to buy an $80 book :). If figure with that, and Bob's synopsis, I'll get the gist.tedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07354048695798015131noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-61045037300723473402013-02-26T11:59:28.490-08:002013-02-26T11:59:28.490-08:00I snagged a couple copies for only around 40 buck ...I snagged a couple copies for only around 40 buck each used. If they don't pan out, I can always sell 'em back on amazon. It's very hard to tell from the reviews whether this guy is some kind of cosmic genius or just the Deepak of Architecture. Updates as they become available.Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-74311704000393123332013-02-26T11:54:01.219-08:002013-02-26T11:54:01.219-08:00hahah
I'm the same with the vino. I come by i...hahah<br /><br />I'm the same with the vino. I come by it honestly: my grandfather made zinfandel in PA from grapes that came by train from Kookamunga. Total DIY guy, and it obviously rubbed off.<br /><br />Internet is great for buying. This is another area of life in which the State System (as in PA) is a complete sham. I buy from a couple places and it's precise, competitive, and fast. Beautiful.<br /><br />That Christopher Alexander sure looks interesting. It's Cambridge UP, hence the expense -- like all academic presses, they're in the crapper. I bet the initial run was no more than 500. And with color illustrations? Yikes. He probably subvented the cost to the tune of $15-20k per volume.Tonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00987042455512485699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-25168890255822776312013-02-26T11:35:58.284-08:002013-02-26T11:35:58.284-08:00For Christmas, the wife got me a "Beer of the...For Christmas, the wife got me a "Beer of the Month" subscription. The newsletter that comes with the beer is hilarious, surpassing even the higher flights of oenological fancy: "a malt-driven brew with a large, pillowy head and deep toasty, bready aromas on the nose and a nutty and lightly wooded undertone with notes of lightly toasted biscuits, caramel and brown sugar sweetness on the palate. Overlaying the malts are herbal and grassy noble hop aromas and a touch of fruit hinting at apple flesh. Look also for notes of chocolate, a hint of tobacco, and some toasty nuttiness with a light hint of alcohol and a firm but not over-the-top peppery tingle, with a papery and grainy personality to the finish."<br /><br />Problem is, by the time I finished that sentence the beer was already in my tummyGagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-13120310082971546142013-02-26T11:25:09.641-08:002013-02-26T11:25:09.641-08:00I have a feeling that the two books I just ordered...I have a feeling that the two books I just ordered on the Nature of Order are going to illuminate that perspective. They'd better -- they were expensive enough!Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-68115464484020065062013-02-26T11:21:29.814-08:002013-02-26T11:21:29.814-08:00I've been reading a lot lately about the "...I've been reading a lot lately about the "natural wine" movement. Evidently many wines you see in the supermarket are brands of Gallo and a few other parent companies, are literally broken down and reassembled to spec, and contain a lot of additives. Here's the list of approved wine additives in the US:<br /><br /><i>gum arabic, acetaldehyde, activated carbon, albumen, bentonite and kaolin, ammonium phosphate, ascorbic acid, calcium carbonate, calcium pantothenate, calcium sulfate (gypsum), carbon dioxide, casein, citric acid, copper sulfate, defoaming agents (e.g. polyoxethylene 40 monostearate), dimethyl carbonate, carbohydrase, catalase, cellulase, glucose oxidase, lysozyme, pectinase, protease, urease, ethyl maltol, ferrocyanide compounds, ferrous sulfate, fumaric acid, gelatin, granular cork, isinglass, lactic acid, malic acid, malo-lactic bacteria, maltol, nitrogen gas, oak chips or particles, oxygen, polyvinyl-polypyr-rolidone (PVPP), potassium bitartrate, potassium carbonate, potassium citrate, potassium meta-bisulfite, soy flour, sulfur dioxide, tannin, tartaric acid, thiamine hydrochloride, autolyzed yeast</i><br /><br />The counter-trend are the natural wine guys, who seek to make wine with nothing other than grapes and a little SO2 at bottling (if at all). Some of them follow Steiner and his "biodynamic" philosophy. I read a contemporary version of this philosophy by Nicolas Joly. It's a mixture of sense and kookiness, but the kookiness and pseudo-science is often mischaracterized. I think of it as more of a <i>poetics</i> of viticulture than an alternative science. It may even be more, i.e. amount to a gnostic posture.<br /><br />In any case, what the natural wine guys are doing is trying to be more like the Empress: quiet themselves amid the vines, orient themselves vertically, and try to be transparent to "the force that through the green fuse drives the flower."<br /><br />The results are often tastier than the industrial/materialist alternative. Tonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00987042455512485699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-21425157511431178702013-02-26T10:51:33.190-08:002013-02-26T10:51:33.190-08:00Gandalin:
Concur. In thinking about that last po...Gandalin:<br /><br />Concur. In thinking about that last point, it must be because the "first act of mind" is concepts, only after which comes judgment and reasoning. <br /><br />In other words, concepts are understood spontaneously and intuitively, so if they're wrong, even if you use perfectly sound logic with them, you'll still have messed up judgment and conclusions. <br /><br />Bottom line: the left has such screwy concepts about the world and about human beings, that it is literally impossible for them to think clearly about either. It also makes one appreciate how fortunate we are to benefit from generations of human beings who were collectively wiser than we are, and who have carefully thought through their concepts, AKA Tradition. <br /><br />It reminds me of Taranto's piece yesterday on the <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324338604578324463371635292.html" rel="nofollow">heterophobic moron</a> at the Washington Post who thinks that the purpose of journalism is "justice and fairness" instead of truth and accuracy.Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-52865364518216522192013-02-26T10:37:28.210-08:002013-02-26T10:37:28.210-08:00Thanks Bob for one of your best posts. There is a...Thanks Bob for one of your best posts. There is a lot in here of great value. Especially important (to me) is the critique of the mystical experience for its own experiential self, and the converse, the importance of grounding calculative thinking in a (religious) spiritual foundation (I'm thinking of Heidegger's Discourse on Thinking. Although his understanding of "Gelassenheit" is different from the Amish understanding.)<br /><br />The demonstration that BHO uses every logical fallacy in the book would not lower his standing in the eyes of the sheeple who make up his flock, and would not be needed by those whose eyes are already open.Gandalinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09196550750055246901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-29505183326610388352013-02-26T10:28:37.357-08:002013-02-26T10:28:37.357-08:00The logic book is frankly a little dry, which is t...The logic book is frankly a little dry, which is to be expected. Nor is there anything new in it, of course. The Summa Philosophica is more fun to read.Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.com