There are few things more dangerous to a peaceful evening than a Marxist in full flow. One minute you’re happily contemplating the head on your shandy, the next you’re being lectured about 'historical inevitability' by someone who’s never held a job long enough to be sacked. The conversation usually begins with the inevitable: “Dialectics is … Continue reading Dialectics, or How Karl Marx Ruined My Shandy
Category: philosophy
Folie à Deux – On Madness Made Mutual (with Brontëan Echoes)
Preface - On the Madness of Love, and the Love of Madness Few things are more dangerous than a person who agrees with you completely. Especially if you're wrong. And doubly so if they are too. I recently re-read Wuthering Heights - which is, as far as I’m concerned, the great British novel of shared madness. … Continue reading Folie à Deux – On Madness Made Mutual (with Brontëan Echoes)
On the Road – Jack Kerouac and the Cult of Going Absolutely Nowhere Very Fast
I’ve never had the constitution for jazz. It makes me feel like I’m trapped in a lift with a methed-up trumpet and no discernible plot. And yet, somewhere in the post-war fug of America’s caffeine-sweating adolescence, Jack Kerouac managed to convince a generation that the meaning of life could be found in bebop, Benzedrine, and … Continue reading On the Road – Jack Kerouac and the Cult of Going Absolutely Nowhere Very Fast
Silent Planets and Sinless Beings: On C.S. Lewis, Aliens, and the Theological Terror of the Unknown
There are some things more predictable in modern Christian corners of the internet than the claim that aliens are demons. Not metaphorical demons. Literal, horn-polishing, red-eyed demons in flying saucers, zooming about the upper atmosphere waiting to insert microchips and destroy the family unit. One cannot sneeze in a telescope shop without someone citing Ezekiel’s … Continue reading Silent Planets and Sinless Beings: On C.S. Lewis, Aliens, and the Theological Terror of the Unknown
Grape vs Cherry: A Culinary Conundrum of Biblical Proportions
Just for fun.. Some decisions in life require gravitas. Signing treaties. Naming a child. Deciding whether or not to weep during The Snowman. And then - there’s the moment I find myself in far too often for someone who claims to be a rational adult - stood in my kitchen, dressing gown gaping, socks like … Continue reading Grape vs Cherry: A Culinary Conundrum of Biblical Proportions
Wording 