The following are a set of rules

The following are a set of rules for the giving of academic papers in philosophy (especially continental philosophy). The rules recall those of the Danish film movement, Dogme 95, or even Oulipo. A primary aim is to break with the veneration of master thinkers not because it isn’t worthwhile studying a philosopher in great depth and over a number of years, but that this, by itself, is not philosophy. —Spurious

Reader’s Bill of Rights (1992) Daniel Pennac

The Rights of the Reader (1992) – Daniel Pennac
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An essay by Daniel Pennac, original title Comme un roman.

1. Le droit de ne pas lire.
2. Le droit de sauter des pages.
3. Le droit de ne pas finir un livre.
4. Le droit de relire.
5. Le droit de lire n’importe quoi.
6. Le droit au bovarysme (maladie textuellement transmissible).
7. Le droit de lire n’importe où.
8. Le droit de grappiller.
9. Le droit de lire à haute voix.
10. Le droit de nous taire.

“Reader’s Bill of Rights”:
1. The right not to read.
2. The right to skip pages.
3. The right to not finish.
4. The right to reread.
5. The right to read anything.
6. The right to escapism.
7. The right to read anywhere.
8. The right to browse.
9. The right to read out loud.
10. The right to not defend our tastes –via http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/ALAN/spring96/hipple.html

NOTHING is so generally coveted by Womankind, as to be accounted Beautiful

NOTHING is so generally coveted by Womankind, as to be accounted Beautiful; yet nothing renders the Owner more liable to Inconveniences. She who is fond of Praise, is in great Danger of growing too fond of the Praiser; and if by chance she does defend herself from the Attacks made on her Virtue, it is almost a Miracle if her Reputation receives no Prejudice by them: And a Woman who is very much admir’d for the Charms of her Face, ought with infinitely more Reason be so for those of her Prudence, who preserves both amidst so many Enemies as Love and Opportunity will raise against them. For one Woman that has made her Fortune by her Beauty, there are a thousand whose utter Destruction it has been.—Some, among a Crowd of Adorers, are so long determining which shall be the happy Man, that Time stealing every Day away some Part of their Attractions, they grow at last depriv’d of all, and on a sudden find themselves abandon’d, and not worth a Bow from those whose Hearts and Knees bended at their Approach before. —The Fatal Secret, or, Constancy in Distress from Secret Histories, Novels, and Poems, by Eliza Haywood (ca.1693-1756)

See also: amatory fiction – women’s fiction – British literature – 1700s literature

Venus in Cancer (1969) – Robbie Basho

Venus in Cancer (1969) – Robbie Basho
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Product Description
“His voice is from another world. Robbie is special” – Pete Townshend, 2006

Robbie Basho released Venus in Cancer in 1969 on the Blue Thumb label. After five albums for the Takoma label in the 60’s, Basho had cemented his reputation alongside John Fahey and Leo Kottke as one of the most brilliant guitarists of his generation. His wide range of musical influences from around the globe set him apart from other blues-based players, incorporating Arabic, Himalayan and Indian themes; Japanese and Chinese scales, and classical and European folk music. All are on magnificent display on this sprawling, spiritually-charged album. Released on CD for the very first time, the album has been remastered from the original tapes. The package includes origi- nal album artwork and new appreciations from Windham Hill label founder Will Ackerman, Basho college friend and fellow Takoma recording artist Max Ochs, German guitarist Steffen Basho-Junghans, and Pete Townshend of The Who. Twenty years since his death in 1986, Basho’s legend continues to grow, having strongly influenced a new generation of guitarists including Jack Rose, Ben Chasny (Six Organs of Admittance) and James Blackshaw, among many others. The first ever live recording by Robbie Basho, a version of “Kowaka D’Amour” from Venus in Cancer, can be found on Tompkins Square’s recent compilation, Imaginational Anthem, Vol. 2. –Amazon.com

—http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robbie Basho [Sept 2006]

See also: 1969 music

Icons of kitsch #1

Crying Boy (?) – Bruno Amadio

Bruno Amadio, popularly known as Bragolin, and also known as Franchot Seville, Giovanni Bragolin, and J. Bragolin, is the supposed creator of a group of paintings known as Crying Boys. The paintings, which feature a variety of tearful children looking morosely straight ahead, [are the prime example of 1900s kitsch.]

There does not seem to be a coherent biography of Bragolin, although tradition makes him Sevillian. —http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruno Amadio [Sept 2006]

Link: A whole gallery and bibliography: http://www.quasimondo.com/bragolincryingboy.php

See also: Kitsch and compare the work of contemporary artist Jill Greenberg.

Une Belle Dame Sans Merci

La Belle Dame Sans Merci (1926) – Frank Cadogan Cowper

Une belle dame sans merci is a merciless and beautiful lady, a femme fatale.

Keats’s poem La Belle Dame Sans Merci (French: “the beautiful lady without pity”) is recited by the protagonist of Susanna Moore’s In the Cut. I love films and books which heavily refer to literature. Examples include Borges and Erica Jong in Fear of Flying. There is a website dedicated to poetry in the movies.

Part of Lou Reed’s lyrics of Femme Fatale recorded by The Velvet Underground in 1966:

Here she comes,
You’d better watch your step,
She’s going to break your heart in two,
It’s true.

It is reported that Lou Reed wrote the 1966 song about “Warhol superstar” Edie Sedgwick at the request of Andy Warhol. Here is CIAO! MANHATTAN lost footage Of Edie Sedgwick.

 

The Robber Bride (1993) – Margaret Atwood

The Robber Bride (1993) – Margaret Atwood
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In The Robber Bride, Atwood depicts a femme fatale’s malevolent role in the lives of three women.

Maragaret Atwood has 6 of her novels listed in 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. To a cinematic audience she is best known for her novel The Handmaid’s Tale which was adapted for film by Volker Schlöndorff.

See also: Margaret Atwood

Lee Siegel suspended for sock puppeting

Lee Siegel, an American cultural critic was fired for commenting on his own work pseudonymously by using a so-called sock puppet.

  • Lee Siegel, writer for The New Republic magazine, was suspended for defending his articles and blog comments using the user name “sprezzatura“.

More: International Herald Tribune

Lee Siegel in other blogs:

In the most recent issue of The Nation, Lee Siegel laid into Camille Paglia’s newest barnstormer, Break, Blow, Burn. His article, Look at Me, is a magnificent blast of snark against the self-maligning agitation that Paglia seems to fall more & more victim to. —Poetry Snark, 2005

And the final sentence of Lee Siegel’s review (which also features a very good analysis of Paglia’s zeitgeist and work) of Paglia’s Break, Blow, Burn:

To invoke two other writers from the past, Paglia used to come on like Byron; now she is like some cynical version of Dickens’s Oliver Twist, trampling on her very own standards, stooping as low as she can go in order to get a second helping of attention from the public that has forgotten her. But bullies always end up being reduced to their inner weakling. It’s called poetic justice. –Lee Siegel in Look at Me [June 13, 2005 ]