~ Mark

We do not bring in compensation consultants and we don’t have a human resources department, legal department, etc. That makes life way too complicated, and people get vested in going to conferences.

Warren Buffett.
~ Mark

Ideas and views that differ from one’s own should not be targets for demolition, but whetstones for sharpening one’s own thoughts.

Philip Ball in the preface to his very good book, The Music Instinct.
~ Mark

Of all the duties required of the professional critic, the least important–certainly the least enduring–is the verdict.

Anthony Lane. (via)

La Collectionneuse

~ Mark

La Collectionneuse. One of Éric Rohmer’s Six Moral Tales. Like Roman Holiday, this one centers on a question that doesn’t get answered until the last minute. It wasn’t as much pure fun, but I still respect a patient movie. From Phillip Lopate’s Criterion essay:

Here we see one of Rohmer’s most original tropes: the tepid attraction. It flies in the face of all cinematic convention, which dictates that the encounter of a good-­looking man and a good-looking woman must lead to grand narrative passion. […] Rohmer views the problems of indolent, potential-laden, prolonged youth in this film from the perspective of the middle-aged artist, who knows that the clock is ticking.

~ Mark

About Costa Rica, Nicaragua, their mutual border, and Google | Ogle Earth. (via)

Nicaragua did not mistakenly enter Costa Rican territory because it relied on Google Maps. Ortega’s justification for Nicaragua’s actions appeal to documents from the 19th century; Pastora’s mention of Google Maps is just a taunt.

This whole thing, after going to Nicaragua last winter, makes me wonder:

Is there a (preferably German) word for the residual interest/affection you feel about places you’ve visited only for a short time?

“Nostalgia” is too yearn-y and past-oriented. It’s more like wanting to be in touch with the Now that you’re missing over there.

~ Mark

If you are dependent on borrowed money, you have to wake up every day worried about what the world thinks of you.

Warren Buffett. The context for this was the Bear Stearns meltdown, but it applies to so much more.

Not Your Parents’ Audiobook: David Byrne’s “Bicycle Diaries”

~ Mark

utnereader:

David Byrne’s successful book, Bicycle Diaries, probably would have sold just fine as a traditional audiobook, as well. However, never one for the status quo, Byrne wanted to do something a little more interesting than simply reading the book in silence and releasing it as a download or cd. Instead, he looked to other successful audio formats for inspiration, namely NPR shows that incorporate scene sounds and podcasts.

I was pretty ambivalent about the book, but maybe ambient sound would have kicked it up a notch, especially for a work so linked to its geography. Great idea. Download the intro and hear some samples.

Not Your Parents’ Audiobook: David Byrne’s “Bicycle Diaries”

~ Mark

maudnewton:

yama-bato:

Jorge Luis BORGES (Argentinian, 1899 – 1986) Self-portrait. ink on paper
8 3/4 x 6 inches (225 x 150 mm)

http://ny.bloomsburyauctions.com/detail/NY034/61.0

When he drew this, because Burt Britton asked him to, Borges was blind.

Weirdly, Cormac McCarthy also did a self-portrait for Britton. Other writers in the collection: Joan Didion, Edward Gorey, Roald Dahl, Margaret Atwood, Saul Bellow, Norman Mailer, Maurice Sendak, John Updike, and Tom Wolfe.