entries (289)
-
the mist (film)
the mist is one of those movies that makes you think about human nature long after it ends. what makes it so unsettling isn't just the monsters outside. it's how quickly the people inside turn against each other.
the film is really about what happens when people are faced with something they can't understand or control. do they turn to reason, or do they let fear take over? the mist itself almost feels like a metaphor for the unknown. when people don't have answers, they start looking for someone who claims to have them, even if that person is driven by blind faith or prejudice.
--spoiler--
the supermarket is also fascinating from an anthropological perspective. it's basically a tiny society under extreme pressure. people form factions, look for leaders, create new hierarchies, and turn to religion and group identity to make sense of what's happening. instead of coming together against a common threat, they start treating each other as enemies.
--spoiler--
and that's what makes the movie so disturbing: the monsters outside are terrifying, but the fear and fanaticism inside can be just as deadly.
i think the film makes a pretty uncomfortable point: civilization doesn't necessarily make us better people. sometimes it just gives us the conditions we need to keep our worst instincts in check. take those conditions away, and you might be surprised by what comes out. -
rain check
a polite way to say you can't do something now but would like to do it another time.
for example, your friend invites you to grab burgers tonight, but you're busy. you say, "i can't make it tonight, but can i take a rain check?"
basically, not no. just not today. -
benjamin franklin
"one today is worth two tomorrows."
-
the fallen angel (painting)
look at his eyes first. then look at that one tear.
that's the whole painting right there. he's crying and he's furious at the same time, and he refuses to choose. cabanel was only 24 when he painted this, and somehow he caught the exact moment after the fall. not the drama of falling. the quiet part after, when you're lying on the rocks and you have to decide who you are now.
notice he's covering his mouth with his arm. he won't speak. he won't apologize. above him the other angels fly off into the light, all graceful and blurry, basically faceless. down here he's the only one with an actual face. the only one who feels like a person.
philosophers have been circling this guy forever. camus would call him the rebel, the one who says no and becomes himself by saying it. kierkegaard would say this is despair: refusing to be what you were made to be, and refusing to stop being yourself either. both are kind of right, and that's why it's hard to look away.
anthropologists have a word for where he's stuck: liminal. the in between. every culture has rituals for it: you get cast out of the old world before you're allowed into a new one. most people come back changed. he's the version who never comes back. just stays at the threshold, forever, with the tear and the glare.
and the art part. old philosophy of beauty said a painting should make you admire goodness. this one does something sneakier. it makes you sympathize with the villain and then catches you doing it. the light is up there with the angels, but your eyes keep going back to the dark guy on the rocks. image -
dagestan
today's sparta, home to warriors and wrestlers (see: khabib nurmagomedov)
-
donald trump
(see: lame duck)
-
macbook pro
-
football manager 2027
the first look at football manager 2027 is finally here.
-
lego
toys for big boys.
-
first date
on our first date, she told me she wanted to see me again before the night was even over. no guessing games, just being honest about how she felt. i thought that was a pretty bold move, and i loved it.
and yep, she's my wife now. -
iphone duo
the iphone duo launches october 23, and udictio will be ready from day one.
-
uefa champions league
the champions league anthem was inspired by music originally written for the coronation of british monarchs. which explains why a football match sometimes sounds like someone's about to become king.
it was created in 1992, with lyrics in english, french, and german.
and those eight stars in the famous logo? they were inspired by the original eight team group stage in 1992: ac milan, marseille, rangers, porto, psv eindhoven, club brugge, cska moscow, and ifk göteborg.
they basically took football, gave it royal ceremony music and a logo full of stars, and turned tuesday nights into something that feels like a historical event. image -
tesla roadster
flying car. image
-
alfred kantorowicz
alfred kantorowicz escaped nazi persecution and became one of the professors who helped modernize dentistry in turkey.
and there's another interesting detail: he was personally called to dolmabahçe palace in 1936 to help treat ataturk's dental problems.
he wasn't ataturk's regular dentist, but imagine escaping a concentration camp and a few years later being asked to treat the founder and president of turkey. -
emmett till