This talk today is about the late Roman, early medieval statesman, philosopher and scholar Boethius, and more particularly about his last work, a slim volume of prose and poetry called The Consolation of Philosophy that he wrote in 523 AD. I should say at the outset that I have absolutely no warrant for giving this… Continue reading Boethius & The Consolation of Philosophy
Category: Culture
Tokyo trains
(Dear reader, I promise sometime I will write a post that discusses something other than public transit or language. This is not that post.) Last week, during Sonja’s spring break from school, we took a trip to Japan. It meant that we missed Taiwan’s biggest earthquake in 25 years, which was both a relief and… Continue reading Tokyo trains
Annals of the imponderably vapid
If any more evidence was needed that parody of the useless lives of the intensely wealthy was impossible, consider this: An intricate Swiss watch that doesn’t tell time, for only $300,000. From Robert Frank’s “The Wealth Report” blog at the Wall Street Journal, we learn about Swiss watchmaker Romain Jerome’s new “Day & Night” watch.… Continue reading Annals of the imponderably vapid
Every fur tells a story
One of the best things about flying is the in-flight magazine–the schlocky voice of corporate marketing and upscale hub-city businesses trying to attract some tourist clientèle. It’s always an odd mix of high prices and low class. From a recent issue of W!ld Blue Yonder, the in-flight magazine of Frontier airlines, comes the ad at… Continue reading Every fur tells a story
How now, gao kao
So this past week nearly 9 million Chinese teenagers participated in the closest thing to a national rite of passage that China has these days: the gao kao. That’s the nation-wide standardized college entrance exam, a grueling two-day exercise that tests everything from a student’s knowledge of advanced physics to her familiarity with, say, the… Continue reading How now, gao kao