Motus Mentis

I’m very sad to report the death of comedic genius Jonathan Winters, quite possibly the funniest man who ever lived. Here he was in 1964, with a stick.

Having just got back from our trip, I’m still getting caught up on work, current events, email, and so on. It does seem that rather a lot has happened here in the States and around the world while we were gone, none of it particularly encouraging. Meanwhile, here are three pictures from China (click on […]

Having found a little free time and a stable Internet connection, I thought I’d give a little update: I’m sitting on the rooftop of an inn at the foot of the famous Moon Hill, a limestone arch just a few kilometers from the town of Yangshuo, in Guangxi province, China. Here’s the view from our […]

Things will be quiet around here for the next two weeks or so: the lovely Nina and I are off to fabled Cathay, where our brilliant and beautiful daughter is teaching science at an international high school in Guangzhou. We’ll all be spending a few days in scenic Yangshuo, and the memsahib and I will […]

I was wondering when this was going to happen. One Twitterer remarked: If Silicon Valley is a meritocracy (or aspires to be) why not let everyone see company hiring stats for women and people of color. Here’s a guess: It’s because Silicon Valley (which is really just a proxy for companies that make their money […]

After a round of too-long-put-off periodontal surgery today at the hands of the gifted healer Louis Franzetti, I am in a deep post-operative torpor. Back soon.

Mencius Moldbug comments on the approaching death of Lawrence Auster, here. Auster himself is puzzled, and I think his puzzlement illustrates rather well exactly the points Moldbug makes about him: Auster’s specialty is order and clarity, while Moldbug’s piece, as always, is long, discursive, and sesquipedalian. But I thought it was quite a nice tribute, […]

Sad news from Lawrence Auster today: the pancreatic cancer he’s been fighting so stoically has now metastasized to his brain. It’s hard to imagine that he has much time left. It’s also hard to imagine VFR silenced.

If you live in Santo AntÁ´nio da Platina, Brazil, you might want to buy an umbrella. Or, better yet, a new home, somewhere else.

This just in: the largest known prime number is now 257,885,161 – 1. More here.

“It is easier to resist at the beginning than at the end.” – Leonardo do Vinci

Ed Koch died today. He was a good mayor (not perfect, but who is?), a hell of a character, and a real New Yorker. We Gothamites will miss him. R.I.P., Ed. You did just fine.

Here’s an interesting little item: a collection of maps, from 1932, showing how long it took to travel in the U.S., in days of yore. (From New York, of course.)

For the Consideration of the General Publick: The Safety of its elected Magistrates being of the highest Concern to a free Society, and the presence of Fire-arms being, as we are continually assured, a Catalyst for mortal Peril, there can be little Doubt that the surest Measure for the Protection and Defense of our Chief […]

Well, the Oscar nominations are out, and the nation is abuzz as always. Tell you what, though: ever since this groundbreaking film didn’t make the cut a couple of years ago, I’ve kind of lost interest.

Boy, you can say that again. Here’s a glimpse from the year of my birth: cars, kitchens, and kitsch, in an unforgettable nine-minute movie. Hat tip to Iowahawk.

Well, all that rain turned to snow last night. Here’s the view out the front window, looking west across a mile of woodland to the bay.     The little camera in my phone is not the best, but that new-fangled HDR software makes everything look pretty.

To all of you, with my thanks as always for reading and commenting. I’ll make up for my own laziness at the keyboard today by pointing you to this delightful Christmas meditation by our friend Kevin Kim.

There was an eruption of unspeakable horror, of pure Evil, today in Newtown, Connecticut. From what I understand many small children — 18, according to the latest report — have been shot to death. There will be bitter political debate in the days to come — such as we have never seen before, I think […]

Not long ago we posted links to an important series of essays by Nick Land on what is now being called the “Dark Enlightenment”. The essays were published at the website www.thatsmags.com/shanghai. They are now gone.

This is magnificent. Look at the flow, the coordination: right rear, left rear, left front, right front. Look at the power. Most amazing of all: see how steady the cat’s head remains throughout, and the unblinking gaze.

A great sage once hoisted a glass and made the following toast: “Here’s to Alcohol: the cause of, and solution to, all of life’s problems.” With thanks to the indefatigable JK, here are some further details.

Forgive me, readers, for the paucity of output here lately. A concatenation of upheavals and disruptions in my personal life, combined with a deepening gloom as regards our position on the great arc of history, have together knocked some of the stuffing out of me, and I find myself slow to recover. Much on my […]

My father’s situation having stabilized, I’ve just got back home. Thanks to you all for your kind comments and emails. Old age is a terrible thing. Each crisis leaves you a little lower, a little weaker, a little frailer than the last. It’s hard to see aging as anything but a terrible, progressive, wasting disease, […]

Courtesy of David Duff: 23 brushes with death.