April 6, 2006
Borges was all over that shit
Alleged to be a copy of an even older text, it casts Judas as a benevolent figure, helping Jesus to save mankind.
Judas wasn't that bad, he was actually the favorite disciple.
April 4, 2006
man that dude was nuts
From New Yorker's Talk of the Town 3/27/06
Saddam’s former generals and civilian aides—such as his principal secretary, Lieutenant General Abed Hamid Mahmoud, and the former Iraqi foreign minister, Tariq Aziz—describe their old boss as a Lear-like figure, a confused despot in the enervating twilight of a ruthless career: unable to think straight, dependent upon his two lunatic and incompetent sons, and increasingly reliant on bluff and bluster to remain in power. Saddam lay awake at night worrying about knotty problems, and later issued memos based on the dreams he had when he drifted into sleep. As the invasion approached, he so feared a coup that he refused to allow his generals to prepare seriously for war. Instead, he endorsed a plan for the defense of Baghdad that essentially instructed his generals to talk with no one, think rousing thoughts, and await further orders.
Saddam's descent into madness, not even madness because he was already bat-shit nuts, maybe into dementia is better has the makings of helluva disturbing history play. Willie S, you on this?
December 28, 2005
New Yorker International Fiction Issue
I’ve been working my way through the winter fiction issue of the New Yorker. First, big ups to an excellent Adrian Tomine cover. Second, as always, excellent critical work. Third, man, that fiction doesn’t do it for me. All respect to the top tomatos over at America’s finest magazine, but the trend of contemplative stories just ain’t floating my imagination boat. I should emphasize this has nothing to do with the “international” part of the fiction, it’s the fiction part. The stories in this collection had a similar tone, slow to build, small actions, tense relationships, etc. More later.
Meander 