Submitted by Robert Daeley on Mon, 2010-01-04 01:22.
Today marks the 50th anniversary of the untimely death of Albert Camus, one of my favorite writers and philosophers. He perished as a passenger in a car accident on this date in 1960.
Camus said, in Lyrical and Critical Essays:
Accepting the absurdity of everything around us is one step, a necessary experience: it should not become a dead end. It arouses a revolt that can become fruitful.
In The Plague:
The evil that is in the world always comes of ignorance, and good intentions may do as much harm as malevolence, if they lack understanding. On the whole men are more good than bad; that, however, isn’t the real point. But they are more or less ignorant, and it is this that we call vice or virtue; the most incorrigible vice being that of an ignorance which fancies it knows everything and therefore claims for itself the right to kill. There can be no true goodness, nor true love, without the utmost clear-sightedness.
Update
The Daily Mirror blog has an image of the Los Angeles Times announcement of Camus’ death in this post, “Matt Weinstock, Jan. 4, 1960”. Scroll down a bit to view.
Submitted by Robert Daeley on Fri, 2009-10-09 12:16.
Carolyn Steel’s TED talk on “How food shapes our cities” is quite informative and fascinating on its own. But it also occurs to me how useful this info would be for those who create fictional historical cities, whether for books or for role-playing games.
Every day, in a city the size of London, 30 million meals are served. But where does all the food come from? Architect Carolyn Steel discusses the daily miracle of feeding a city, and shows how ancient food routes shaped the modern world.
Submitted by Robert Daeley on Sun, 2009-08-16 23:01.
Yep, 30 years ago today, Life of Brian was released upon an unsuspecting world. And we have been the better for it, if for no other reason than Eric Idle’s musical/philosophical treatise, “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.” Thanks, lads!
Some things in life are bad
They can really make you mad
Other things just make you swear and curse.
When you’re chewing on life’s gristle
Don’t grumble, give a whistle
And this’ll help things turn out for the best…
And…always look on the bright side of life…
Always look on the light side of life…
If life seems jolly rotten
There’s something you’ve forgotten
And that’s to laugh and smile and dance and sing.
When you’re feeling in the dumps
Don’t be silly chumps
Just purse your lips and whistle - that’s the thing.
And…always look on the bright side of life…
Always look on the light side of life…
For life is quite absurd
And death’s the final word
You must always face the curtain with a bow.
Forget about your sin - give the audience a grin
Enjoy it - it’s your last chance anyhow.
So always look on the bright side of death
Just before you draw your terminal breath
Life’s a piece of shit
When you look at it
Life’s a laugh and death’s a joke, it’s true.
You’ll see it’s all a show
Keep ‘em laughing as you go
Just remember that the last laugh is on you.
And always look on the bright side of life…
Always look on the right side of life…
(Come on guys, cheer up!)
Always look on the bright side of life…
Always look on the bright side of life…
(Worse things happen at sea, you know.)
Always look on the bright side of life…
(I mean - what have you got to lose?)
(You know, you come from nothing - you’re going back to nothing.
What have you lost? Nothing!)
Always look on the right side of life…
Submitted by Robert Daeley on Fri, 2009-04-10 08:03.
Very funny talk with a serious message:
In James Howard Kunstler’s view, public spaces should be inspired centers of civic life and the physical manifestation of the common good. Instead, he argues, what we have in America is a nation of places not worth caring about.
