Faith & Spirituality

 
U.S. foreign aid programs are the largest source of international assistance, now ended by Trump.

Stories & Poems

 

Essays & Journalism

 
Turkish novelist Ahmet Altan

Movie & Book Reviews

Attack of 50 Min. of Boredom

Best part: The title.

On a lark, I watched this movie, “Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman”, thinking it might be weird and campy – but it turned out painfully stupid and boring.  You’ll get most of it by fast forwarding to the 58:00 minute mark and catching the “50 Ft. Woman”  in the last five minutes of the film.

The Floating Opera: Loving Life’s Absurdities

Wonderful! Well worth re-reading.

John Barth’s first novel, The Floating Opera may seem like a warm-up to the author’s later “post-modernist meta-fictions,” On re-reading, I see a model of what a novel can be – a new vision of everyday life, imbued with love and delight at all the world’s absurdities and pleasures.

The Morning Show: exploitation of the cubicles

Nuanced and articulate - ultimately conventional.

Well-written, deliberately nuanced perspective on male sexual exploitation of vulnerable women in high-pressure corporations. Identifies with the victims – at last! – but how about the the poor and powerless around the world, victims of American policies left out of  the “news”?

The Mentalist: The charm of nihilism

Forget the law. Nihilism gets real results.

The amusing detective work of a whimsical but charming nihilist.  Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) works as a “consultant” for the FBI, but is perfectly candid that his real mission is to seek revenge against the serial killer who murdered his family, legal procedures be damned.