http://www.scruta.org Either you are sorting it out, or you are full of it. Sat, 04 Sep 2010 14:53:26 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Jazz is like astronomy; pop is like astrology. The keepers of both despise each other, but find themselves consumed with wonder: One says, How could such knowledge of the universe be so precise and exacting? The other says, How could so many people rally around something so simple? So generic? http://www.scruta.org/musings/music-of-the-stars/ When you say you understand the West, don't speak to me in the tired platitudes of freedom or individualism. I cannot stand them; they stick in my mouth like cotton balls. They are tasteless and they choke all discussion, leaving nothing but sputtering and agonizing gestures that the offending words ... http://www.scruta.org/musings/how-east-meets-west-west-east/ Mondegreen Flange (in orange) http://www.scruta.org/names/new-words-mondegreen-and-flange/ The lid is attached just so to the slot at the top of the SWFC, holding the entire thing in place. Condensation collects in the dome of the sky and drops down suddenly in torrents, only to evaporate again. The process repeats and repeats ad infinitum. I like to think that ... http://www.scruta.org/shanghai/shanghai-as-a-pressure-cooker/ I'm really uncomfortable with the non sequitur often batted about to justify a foreigner's frustration when coming into conflict with Chinese culture - that it's 5,000 years old. I suppose the thinking is that Chinese culture is radically different, and the reason for its difference is that China is the longest ... http://www.scruta.org/musings/5000-years-really/ There are times when I tire of words When these connections are just cobwebs Made from the dust and decay of spirits long dead And I feel I'm just a fool who clumps them into heaps Thinking I'll weave them into clothes to hide My naked flesh from the world. +++ Sometimes I'm overly brazen, And I weave ... http://www.scruta.org/poetry/words-words-words/ Do you want to know what loneliness is? It is an obsession. It is the thing that you know you should turn your eyes from, but you can't look away. It is a naked woman prancing through the streets flooded with pedestrians, and you are the one driving a tractor ... http://www.scruta.org/false-starts/false-start-47/ [Ferret and Bu-Ran-Don are walking through a lackluster exhibit on bugs at the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum. They watch a video of a beetle being eaten alive by a swarm of ants, and as it becomes more gruesome they walk away. Bu-Ran-Don continues to mill around, but Ferret spaces ... http://www.scruta.org/shanghai/joining-the-exhibition/ Not all foreigners are devils; Not all devils are foreign. http://www.scruta.org/musings/a-lesson-in-chinese-nationalism/ (With special thanks to Ms. Dickinson) Badinage Oratorio http://www.scruta.org/names/new-words-badinage-and-oratorio/