The Library Of Babel

My favorite excerpt from The Library Of Babel:

The methodical task of writing distracts me from the present state of men. The certitude that everything has been written negates us or turns us into phantoms. I know of districts in which the young men prostrate themselves before books and kiss their pages in a barbarous manner, but they do not know how to decipher a single letter. Epidemics, heretical conflicts, peregrinations which inevitably degenerate into banditry, have decimated the population. I believe I have mentioned suicides, more and more frequent with the years. Perhaps my old age and fearfulness deceive me, but I suspect that the human species — the unique species — is about to be extinguished, but the Library will endure: illuminated, solitary, infinite, perfectly motionless, equipped with precious volumes, useless, incorruptible, secret.

 

Lonely Among Us

As I have mentioned before, growing up I really hated Wesley Crusher.  Wil Wheaton, on the other hand, I am a big fan of.  Recently Wil has been reviewing old episodes of The Next Generation over at TV Squad.  His review of Lonely Among Us hits on something that makes me hate Wesley a lot less, and turn my anger towards the people who created him:

Behind the Scenes Memory: I don’t recall much about working on this particular episode, but I can clearly and painfully recall something that happened right around the time we filmed it: D.C. Fontana, who wrote this episode and is presumably responsible for all the lame dialogue I had to deliver in it, was part of a panel at a convention in 1987 called “Solving the Wesley Problem.” The whole thing was focused on attacking me and my character, and lamenting the fact that there was a damn kid on the Enterprise. Patrick Stewart called me from the show and encouraged me to come to the convention and speak on my own behalf, which I did with some success. That panel and the audience’s comments really hurt me when I was a 15 year-old kid, but while I watched this episode as a 34 year-old man, I had this crazy idea: Maybe instead of sitting on this panel and trashing me, D.C Fontana could have written intelligent dialogue for me and helped solve the “Wesley problem” herself. I don’t know, maybe she tried to do that and didn’t get a lot of support from the rest of the producers and writing staff, but even I know of Dr. Channing’s theory of not writing cliched dialogue for kids in science fiction, and then blaming the actor who is forced to deliver it.

Right on!  By the way, Wil’s reviews of these episodes on TV Squad have been hilarious and really spot on with his critiques, praises, and other remembrances.

Weekend Reading

  • Margaret Atwood was recently interviewed on NPR about her latest book Moral Disorder.

 

Polanski's Macbeth

Jabberwock has an interesting post up about Polanski’s film adaptation of Macbeth.  This, besides Throne of Blood, is my favorite film adaptation of a Shakespeare play.  Jabberwock’s entry discusses Polanski’s use of voiceovers instead of having the character speak their soliloquy outloud:

Polanski treats almost the entire soliloquy as a private contemplation, which is appropriate; these are deeply reflective words. Macbeth's lips move only once: when, clasping the seal that has been presented to him, he says the line "I am Thane of Cawdor“ almost as if to convince himself that all this is really happening, that his greatest hopes (and fears) are coming to pass. This is repeated in a later scene when a magical dagger seems to appear before his eyes “ he says "Come, let me clutch thee out loud but the rest of his lines are thought, not said.

Notes On Hypertext

I. Hypertext takes on four forms:

  • A. Reader Choice, Intervention, and Empowerment
  • B. Inclusion of extra linguistic segments (images, music, sound)
  • C. Complexity of network structure
  • D. Degree of variation and layer in literary elements (plot, setting, etc)
  • E. There are three types of hypertext-fictional, informational, and educationa
  • Hypertext challenges narrative and all literary form based on linearity
  • Hypertext fiction’s plot, setting, etc are subject to change
  • Hypertext is a threat to literature and its institutions; they are known, hypertext is the unknown
  • Hypertext is non or multi linear
  • Hypertext opens major questions about a story and plot by doing away with linear organization
  • There is no official “version” of a story; each reader implements their own version as they proceed through the text
  • Hypertexts can continue infinitely and indefinitely
  • Hypertexts always have an end, but there is not always closure

Signifying Nothing Episode Twenty One

https://signifyingnothing.net/uncategorized/signifying-nothing-episode-twenty-one/

Playlist
Rest In Pieces-Toys R Us
The Melvins-The Way Of The World

Scapegoat-Wrench
Direct Control-World War Three
H 100’s-Ain’t Too Young To Die

Deadguy-Running With Scissors
Deadguy-Embryo

Deadguy-Druid
Deadguy-Die With Your Mask On

No Hope For The Kids-Secret Police
Jello Biafra & The Melvins-Yuppie Cadillac
Crucifix-Another Mouth To Feed
Tear It Up-Number One Wish
Razor Blades-Plastic Messiah

Think I Care-Burn
The Misfits-London Dungeon
The Klan-Cover Girls
Straight Ahead-Point Of View
Battalion Of Saints-Too Much Fun

Pearls & Brass-The Face Of God
Struggle For Pride-Wake Up To The Nightmare
Breakfast-El Burrito’s #2
Pisschrist-Infected

False Liberty-Unity
Neos-Churchgoer’s Motive
Floorpunch-What’s Right
Sick Of It All-Just Lies
Infest-Three Or Nothing

Signifying Nothing Episode Twenty

https://signifyingnothing.net/uncategorized/signifying-nothing-episode-twenty/

Playlist
Raw Power-State Oppression
Enuf-I Just Wanna Skate

Black Flag-Don’t Care
Circle Jerks-Don’t Care
Circle Jerks-Live Fast Die Young
Circle Jerks-Nervous Breakdown

The Misfits-Horror Business
The Misfits-Death Comes Ripping
The Misfits-Vampira

The Misfits-Bullet
The Misfits-Night Of The Living Dead
The Misfits-Where Eagles Dare
The Misfits-We Are 138

Born Against-Born Again
Full Speed Ahead-Tied Down
Galloping Elephants-Do The Massacre
Mind Eraser-Teenagers
Mob 47-Ingen Framtid

Step Forward-Pushing Forward
Odessa Five-We Watch It Die
Motorhead-Jailbait
Sons Of Ishmael-Social Drinker
Civil Dissident-Death For A Buzz
Embrace-Do Not Consider Yourself Free

Septic Death-The Evolution Garden
Genetic Control-1984
Enola Gay-Enola Gay
Lost Cause-American Hero
No Comment-Past Tense