new & old translations of Lucretius

So, when our mortal frame shall be disjoin’d,
The lifeless lump uncoupled from the mind,
From sense of grief and pain we shall be free;
We shall not feel, because we shall not be.

The rest of John Dryden's translation in here

Lucretius and Epicureanism

Are we drinking enough vintage port?

“Declaring a vintage port is a difficult decision,” he said. “Only about three times a decade do we decide to stake our reputation on a single year.” Perhaps, as Symington himself suggested, it seemed a bit discordant to be introducing a traditional luxury product like vintage port at the Four Seasons on a springtime Monday afternoon, in the midst of a global economic collapse? “Well,” he said, “we’ve made the wine already. To hell with the crisis!”

I can't believe the Biltmore is a "cabaret" now: I used to be scared to go in there for off-sales back in the 80's...

Henry Roddick, born yesterday about 2 in the morning...

The slow demolition of the grain elevator at Milton & Hecate in Nanaimo continues...unfortunately someone working on the second floor was injured yesterday.

Robin Blaser 1925-2009

Spice Paper - The MUJI Taste-Leaf Book

Need some pepper? Just tear out the perforated page and add it to the dish! Edible quality paper embedded with the spice dissolve into the
food, adding the much needed flavoring. The moisture and heat ensure that the spices mix in well...

The Science of Kevin Bacon

When mathematician Steven Strogatz and his PhD student Duncan Watts set out to investigate why some crickets chirp in unison the young Australian got inspired by his father's words in a phone call: "Did you know that you are only six handshakes from any person on Earth?" Watts thought this might explain why his crickets are such good synchronizers but he had no idea that this question would lead him to a major discovery in an emerging branch of research - network science...

Paul Clayton - Sailing and Whaling songs of the 19th century (1954)

great album!!

A Journey Round My Skull: Poets Ranked by Beard Weight

Excerpted and abridged from The Language of the Beard, originally circulated by The Torchbearer Society, London, 1913. Commentary by Gilbert Alter-Gilbert...

TCM has an interesting lineup tonight, including early Charles Laughton, the terrific film of Kenneth Fearing's "The Big Clock" & von Sternberg's "Crime & Punishment" with Peter Lorre!!

I missed Bill Moyers Journal on Friday, too...

A new debate followed the release of the Department of Justice's Office
of Legal Counsel memos approving extreme measures of interrogation
under the Bush administration. Bill Moyers sits down with Bruce Fein,
former deputy attorney general under President Ronald Reagan and
chairman of the American Freedom Agenda, and Mark Danner, who has been
reporting on the US treatment and interrogation of detainees for the
NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS...

South Delta trees