Blog Archives
Return of the Hamilton
On Tuesday the second season of Hamilton’s Pharmacopeia premiered on VICE. This show is one of the best series going and I’ve been anxiously awaiting this season since first hearing that new installments were imminent. The “Hamilton” of the title is Hamilton Morris — he’s the son of renowned documentary director Errol Morris and a [...]
Bruce + Jimi Forever
Given the stuff I post here at Insomnia it’s not surprising that my social media feeds and suggestions on November 27 were full of notices about Jimi Hendrix’ birthday on that day in 1942. What was surprising is that I was also alerted to lots of notices about Bruce Lee’s birthday on the same day [...]
Third Eye Find
On one hand the pineal gland is just one of the many glands that make up the body’s endocrine system, but it’s also known as the “third eye” of mystic visionary traditions in cultures across the globe — the so called “seat of the soul.” It turns out that the pineal gland is photosensitive just [...]
Mishima Mystery
Yukio Mishima died on November 25, 1970. We’re nearly two weeks away from the anniversary of the author’s passing, but today I was reminded of the great episode about Mishima in the BBC art series Arena. I’ve been reading Mishima since my early twenties. Confessions of a Mask was the first novel I read — [...]
Mr. Rogers’ Cold War
When I was a little kid I preferred Sesame Street and The Electric Company to Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, but as an adult I’ve learned to appreciate the man’s deep caring for his audience. One thing that made Fred Rogers especially cool is that he didn’t talk down to kids — he was willing to speak [...]
Releasing KEEPER
This Saturday I’ll be at Red Arrow Gallery in East Nashville for the opening of Jodi Hays’ new painting exhibition, Keeper. The show provides an impressionistic, diaristic profile of the people and places that shape the artist’s day-to-day life in our neighborhood. I went to a soft opening for the show tonight only to find [...]
Justice: AI
Today I stumbled upon this BBC tech story about the latest advances in replacing lawyers using AI… Amid the dire – and somewhat overhyped – predictions of occupations that will be decimated by artificial intelligence and automation, there is one crumb of comfort. Yes, lorry drivers, translators and shop assistants are all under threat from [...]
Crowley Outloud
I’ve got a bit of a difficult film writing assignment hanging over my head this week so rather than posting another horror film post, here’s a selection of recordings from the 1920′s and 1930′s featuring Aleister Crowley reciting occult poetry in both English as well as the Enochian language that Queen Elizabeth I’s court wizard [...]
Orson & Andy
What happens when one oddball genius collides with another? In 1982 the legendary writer, director and actor Orson Welles was guest-hosting the Merv Griffin show when Andy Kaufman stopped by. Although the pair were from different generations, there was a lot of overlap between these titans — they were both fantastic actors, and they each [...]
MKUnabomber
I recently finished the Manhunt: Unabomber miniseries, and I mostly liked it a lot. I’m fascinated by the story and there have been other excellent explorations of the infamous investigation so I was ambivalent about how this one would come off. Getting really picky there are moments of writing and acting — mostly with supporting [...]
