More on Thuc

A bit more on my beloved Thucydides (c. 460 – after 400 BCE). He is known as the father of "scientific history," i.e., using analysis of events in their context to determine their significance, as opposed to storytelling. But he actually goes further than that. His aim is to discern patterns in historical events and to discover the "laws" (a bit too strong a word but I can't think of a better one) for human and societal behavior. That is to say, certain kinds of persons and states of certain polities will behave the same way in the same circumstances and situations. One chilling conclusion therefore is that democracies under stress will always turn to demagogues

In effect, Thuc was also the first social scientist, using the events of history as his empirical data. The intellectual ambition of such an undertaking is astounding; it would be today, all the more in the 5th century. One of the hallmarks of his history is his insertion of speeches at critical points. The speeches are made-up; he could not have witnessed them and virtually none of them would have a written record. But these are not flights of fancy. Rather he composes the speeches to show what he thinks must have been in the minds of individuals or the governments of states to account for their actions. He deduces motivations, attitudes, and beliefs from actions. The speeches are, in fact, how he presents the conclusions of his analysis. He wrote that his work was intended to be "a possession forever" for humanity. In that he succeeded.  What a guy!

Korean Instant Coffee

A few days before Christmas, I went to get a haircut at my local Korean owned and staffed barber shop. They do basically traditional men's haircuts, buy they do a good job and the atmosphere is friendly and jovial (did I mention it was also inexpensive?) As I paid my bill, my barber handed my several packets of Korean instant coffee tied with a bow, with the instructions "just add a little water, not too much"  My guess is it is a Korean custom for businesses to give little presents to their customers at Christmas. I thanked them, of course, but thought to myself "how odd". A couple days later, out of curiosity, I made some--using hot water to fill about half of my usual mug. Well, what a surprise. The little packet made a respectable café au lait, full bodied and flavorful. There was some sort of creamer already mixed in the packet, but no sweetener. Nice. So if you ever see some Korean instant coffee packets at your local Asian grocery, pick some up and try it.  Who knew??? 

Jollities

 

The Ancient Enemy

One course I particularly enjoyed putting together and teaching was a course on ancient Greek democracy. By happy chance, the first semester I taught it Trump was running for the Republican nomination in 2016. When we got to the historian Thucydides' account of the fall of the Athenian democracy,* it hit like a ton of bricks. Thuc (as we in the biz call him) one of the smartest guys in all of western civilization IMHO, said the decline of Athens began with the rise of the demagogue Cleon, a thoroughly unpleasant chap with a forceful and bullying style of oratory, anti-intellectual and anti-elitist, who curried favor with the masses by telling them what they wanted to hear.  He took an aggressive "Athens first" stance which involved heavily taxing Athens' allies to the benefit of the Athenian underclass--and his own power--a move which eventually led to their revolt and the fall of the Athenian Empire in the Peloponnesian War with Sparta. Cleon was adamantly against any peace deal with Sparta since, as Thuc writes, "if peace were restored, his crimes would be more open to detection and his slanders less credited" (Hist. of the Pelopon. War, book 5, chap. 16).

Likewise Aristophanes, the comic genius who also loathed Cleon, writes of him and his partisans: "You are like those who fish for eels; they catch nothing in still waters, but if they vigorously stir up the slime, their fishing is good; in the same way it's only in troubled times that you can line your pockets" (Knights 864-867).

All of this was 2,400 years ago. My point here is less the parallel with our current political climate than to point out that from the very beginning, demagoguery has been the bane of democracy, and has raised its ugly head time and time again in the history of democracies, and certainly in our own history as a nation. It is the old and recurrent enemy; it is nothing new. Yet time and again, democracies fail to be on guard against it.

* History of the Peloponnesian War, books III, IV,& V.

BTW...

 ... it snowed last night.

More Hamsters!!!

Debra She Who Seeks commented that my blog could be improved by adding more pictures of hamsters. Egad! Talk about happy to oblige! I thought I would start off with a sampling from the Japanese artist GOTTE the Hamster Painter; see https://www.hamgotte.com. His main series is "the life of hamster Sukeroku", but all of his hamsters are adorable.

Feedback

Now that things have been going for a little while, I thought I would check on some of the mechanics of the blog.  This is especially the case since y'all are probably using different types of devices and various operating systems and heaven only knows what else.  Allow me to ask: 

1 - Are the typefaces clearly legible?

2 - Are the images too large or too small? 

3 - Are any elements of the layout causing trouble?

4 - Do you experience any problems posting comments?

This info is most kindly solicited, but if everything is going fine, don't feel under any obligation to respond.  Thanks!

Captain's Log: Supplemental

My dear blogfellow Spo commented the other day that he didn't know Virginia got snow. Meanwhile, outside my window this afternoon:

Putting Away Christmas

Now that the Christmas decorations have been taken down, I'll need to get some touch ups done on the wall paint...

New Year -- Looking (Way) Back

At the new year, there's all sorts of looking back on the past year. Not surprising, but for some reason I find myself looking way back this time. Maybe it's that I turned 70 this past year. A bit of a surprise, I guess, since I haven't taken terribly good care of myself over the years. Perhaps more of a surprise is that I've managed to outwit the assassins for so long. And losing both my brothers in just over 2 months last year certainly contributes. Anyway, I find myself looking back on my life, and wondering what are some of the important things I've learned over the years. A very good question, I think.

First would probably be the impermanence of things. The world I came into is very much not the world I live in now. The continents and oceans are pretty much in the same place and all (and even they haven't always been where they are) but that's about it. Many a decade ago, I thought unchangeableness was an ideal to be aimed at, a sort of perfection. I did finally disabuse myself of that, but I do still find myself uncomfortable with ephemera. I keep on collecting, and after a while purging for the sake of my hard drive, pretty photos and funny memes taken from the 'net. I only realized recently I do this because I want the beauty and the humor to last, even though the very nature of the digital photo and the meme is that they one-shot disposables. Nothing I deem worthy should be temporary... even though I darn well know better.

Another is that people are mostly weird. I find most people rather mysterious, I think, and certainly the larger the crowd of them the more baffling I find them. I once thought I had people figured out, or at least had the key to finding out why they did what they did. That old certainty has passed, as so many other certainties have. People do what they do, and often do the opposite of what they want to do. It's a mystery, and it's likely best to give them wide berth, with the exception of a handful of close friends.

Sometime in my late 30's or 40's, I did think I had things figured out in general, knew what I believed, had nice solid ideas about things. In good Socratic fashion, in my 50's I realized I actually knew very little and was uncertain about most things. I've concluded that the big questions about "life, the universe, and everything" really are unfathomable, and that "42" is as likely an answer as anything else.

So at 70 have I become a nihilist? No, not really. What I've developed is an acute sense of the limits of human understanding--especially MY understanding--and a surprising comfort in not knowing and never knowing. Maybe I'm a sort of quietest (not in the religious/philosophical sense). The universe will do as it darn well pleases anyway and, in good Stoic fashion (Stoicism is as close to a religion as I get these days) the  most and best I can do is adjust my attitude to what time and the cosmos brings. This brings tranquillity to the soul.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

 

Just Another New Year's Eve...

 

PS to A Note to My Dear and Gentle Readers

I now appear to have resolved some of the problems I had with the comments. I shall, of course, remain constantly vigilant for any issues that might cause my readers confusion or discomfort. 

Faithfully yours - hamster

A Note to My Dear and Gentle Readers

Blogger’s spam filter has been giving me trouble. Your comments should appear as soon as you post them. But lately, comments have been getting snagged by the filter and sent for my approval instead of posting. I have to go and check the filter manually to catch this. So please be patient if you don’t see your comment right away. Many thanks for your kind attention!

Gallery: Virginia Winter

Being a visually-oriented sort, and one who doesn't understand the concept of ephemera, I have a habit of saving of saving images I like on the internet. And I mean LOTS of images. Initially I was saving them for Facebook--or at least that was what I told myself. I ended up with bunches and bunches of folders of saved photos, etc. and, once I left FB, I had nothing to do with them. Ah! But now I have a blog again. So allow me to present the first of undoubtedly many gallery posts which simply seek to share beautiful and/or interesting images with you. Some photos will be ones I took, but most will likely be downloads.

I do love living in Virginia; probably the first time I ever really loved the state I was living in.  So this gallery features winter scenes of Virginia landmarks. Enjoy!

Jefferson's Rotunda at UVa

Mount Vernon

 

 Monticello

 

Event of Earth-Shattering Importance!

 I installed my new winter comforter and pillowcases yesterday. Let the adjacent cosmos rejoice!!!

(Yes, they're purple.)

Christmas Songs: A Hypercritical Review

OK, it's time to get back into my usual fettle. You didn't expect me to keep up Peace on Earth/Good Will to Humanoids for long, did you? 

 

It now has become a holiday tradition to harp on Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas."  I frankly have no problem with the song, despite having once written a little parody of it (see below*) in fact, I rather like it. I cannot say this for a number of other Christmas songs. At the same time, some people do not have a problem with the song per se, but rather that it's overplayed. Well... here I present my review of Christmas songs I dislike that are equally ubiquitous.  Enjoy!

Carol of the Bells: Yeah, I get it, the tune is supposed to mimic the sound of bells ringing, but it comes out as if it was written by someone with a peculiar form of psychosis.  The maniacally relentless and driving repetition, each in a higher octave, the refrain that sounds like a ride on some sort of aural roller-coaster.  It always gets on my nerves.

 

Little Drummer Boy: Aside from the fact that I do not find any such musician attested in historical or biblical sources, I question whether any mother of a newborn would encourage drum playing around her baby.  Implausible scenario.

 

Hallelujah Chorus: OK, this might take you aback, but hear me out.  It is ubiquitous to say the least, and at least no one does mass annual sing-alongs of "All I Want for Christmas."  Handel's "Messiah" has some pretty pieces in it, but keep in mind ol' George Frideric's best-known melodic lines were shamelessly ripped off of Jean-Baptiste Lully from the previous generation (and he was a far better composer).  And then there's the fact that GF composed his pious little ditties for George II, whose favorite pastime was the wholesale butchering of Catholic Highland Scots. Some of GF's works were actually written to celebrate these.

 

Sleigh Ride: I question the ethics of taking a horse out in likely icy conditions simply to amuse yourself and show off to your other privileged friends ("yoo hoo") that you can afford a horse and horse-drawn vehicle.  The whip-crack in the orchestral versions has a chilling effect suggesting cruelty of some sort (or perhaps kinkiness inappropriate for the season).

 

Jingle Bell Rock: Repetition ad nauseam!  There are no fewer than 30 jingles in this one. "Modern" Christmas songs habitually overdo jingle, ding-dong, and other such tintinnabulous expressions. Does anyone know where "Jingle Bell Square" is?

Here Comes Santa Clause: Words almost fail me! Heaven's above the repetition, and I find the syrupy religious sentiment in the otherwise vacuous lyrics a troubling juxtaposition. Nowhere in the annals of English-speaking Yuletide folklore do I find a reference to a "Santa Clause Lane." Sounds like a street in a cheap subdivision. Besides, Santa and his reindeer are supposed to fly, what are they doing on the highway?  

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree: The lyrics have more references to dancing than a book on Dionysiac festivals; see above re repetition.  Worse yet, Justin Bieber did his own version of the song, calling it "always one of my favorite songs to celebrate the holidays."  If that ain't damning I don't know what is.  Audience Survey: Has any of you ever attended a "Christmas Party Hop"?

Wonderful Christmas Time: The repetition in this meaningless song makes "Jingle Bell Rock" sound like Shakespeare.  Modern Christmas songs are almost devoid of meaning other than having pleasant feelings and doing pleasant things at what just happens to be Christmas, feelings and things that can be experienced almost any time of year.  Oh, and the inspired lyrics in this one, e.g.:

Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo

 

 Ding dong, ding dong
Ding dong, ding dong
Ding dong, ding dong
Ding dong, ding dong

 

See also under "Jingle Bell Rock" above.

 

----------------------------------------------------------------

 *  I don't want cheap shit for Christmas;
    I only want expensive things.
    Diamonds, rubies, gold for Christmas
    And some gaudy cocktail rings.
    You can leave me all alone,
    Just add to the things I own.
    That's all I want for Christmas  
    From you!

 

Jollities

For the purposes of this blog, the title "Jollities" will by used to indicate posts that consist of memes, cartoons, and other tomfooleries meant simply to amuse. There will seldom be any additional text or commentary.