Cultural literacy

The young Jackie Chan getting whacked by Bruce Lee. Image by way of wikipedia.

OK, enough of trivialities about policy, politics and public life. It's time to talk about something important, to wit, passing on the cultural heritage of humanity to the next generation. I did my part earlier this week when I introduced my grandson to one of the pinnacles of cinematic history.

(Previously, we explored other masterpieces like Wayne's World and Blazing Saddles.)

Yes, of course, I am talking about Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon. Where else, after all, can one find such nuanced and complex characters as Bolo and Han? Or such immortal lines as "Boards don't hit back"? Or get the feel of the early 70s coolness vibe?

The classic also provides an opportunity to practice math skills by counting the guys Bruce whacks in the movie, (one of whom was the neophyte Jackie Chan). My grandson lost count but estimates it to be around 100.

It's an honor and a privilege to pass on the Great Tradition. When he's old enough to fully understand The Big Lebowski, my work will be done.

(But seriously, while diligently researching this blog post...OK, after a quick glance at Wikipedia....I read that some scholars have argued that decolonization and decoloniality are the progressive political subtexts of Bruce Lee's movies. There's a teaser here. So there.)

The Dude really does abide

El Cabrero is a big fan of Jeff Bridges, and especially of that masterpiece of cinematography The Big Lebowski. That's a film that I feel like I've lived, not just watched--especially on those days when the world micturates on my rug, metaphorically speaking. It tied the whole room together...

I didn't realize until recently that Bridges was a major anti-hunger activist. Here are a couple of great quotes from his foreword to A Place at the Table, the companion book to a film of the same name. Here goes:

Charity is an important provider of emergency assistance, but it is not a way to feed a nation. We don't protect our national security through charity, and we shouldn't protect our families that way either.

What could be more important for our nation than finding a solution to this important problem with such an impact on our future? If another country was doing this to our children, we'd be a war...

West Virginia is trying to get a handle on the entwined problems of hunger, food insecurity, poor nutrition and obesity. Its legislature recently passed the Feed to Achieve Act, which aims at nudging counties, schools, nonprofits and individuals to ensure that all school children in the state receive at least two nutritious meals per day and engage in physical activity. It also encourages creative solutions to these problems beyond the school day and the school year. It's going to take work, but I hope we can move beyond charity towards justice.

After all, the Dude has spoken.

The ultimate refutation

This weekend I was part of a spirited email exchange between some friends about whether and how to respond to poor-bashing by a right wing think tank. After a while, it occurred to me that the ultimate refutation had already been made, one to which no reply is possible. To see it, click here and hit play.

GETTING SOMETHING RIGHT. Here's an op-ed by yours truly on early childhood education, an area in which WV is making some progress.

MY STATE'S RULING CLASS WANTS YOU TO IGNORE this.

ONE LINERS to respond to climate change denial here. If these don't work, click on the first link again.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Better late than never

This blog has been up and running for nearly four years (come March). In all that time, I've gone off on various jags about Dante, Homer, mythology, philosophy, etc., aside from all the links and comments about current events.

But, while Shakespeare has shown up here quite a few times, he hasn't gotten any extended attention. I'm not sure how that happened given my love for the Bard and his sheer greatness, but I intend to remedy it right away.

For the next stretch, I intend to give him a bit of his due, with a special focus on Hamlet, my personal favorite and a character Harold Bloom referred to as "the intellectual's Christ." I don't know about that and I'm no literary critic, thank the gods, but like the guy said I know what I like.

For starters, I like the tragedies better than the comedies (the way to tell them apart, by the way, is whether there is a wedding or a bunch of dead bodies at the end). I'm not sure why this is, but I even find the funny parts of them to be more amusing than those of the comedies. I think one reason Hamlet works for me is its dark humor.

More on that to come.

SPEAKING OF WHICH, a screenwriter is attempting to combine Shakespeare's Two Gentlemen of Verona with The Big Lebowski. This could be a sign of the apocalypse. But...I'm calmer than you are.

EUROPE, the new USSR according to conservative fantasies, isn't exactly an economic backwater.

RECESSION PROOF? One business that seems to be doing OK in hard times is dog walking, according to this NPR story. It occurs to me that if I paid someone to do it, I'd be contributing to GDP.

ANOTHER SIGN OF THE TIMES from the same source: in the wake of the recession, the number of unclaimed bodies has increased because survivors can't pay for funeral expenses.

GOING TO SEA. Early humans may have done it way sooner than previously thought.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

WEEKEND SPECIAL: THE CANINE FILM CRITIC STRIKES AGAIN

For first time visitors, this blog generally covers fairly serious topics during the week. During the weekend, however, we open this space to various animal commentators in and around Goat Rope Farm.

This weekend, we are pleased to once again welcome our official film critic, Mr. Sandor Sege (pronounced Shandor Shegg-AY) who will discuss the film "The Battle of Algiers."

We must remind the reader that Mr. Sege suffered a head injury when he crashed into a wall whilst chasing a squeaky toy. As a result, he sometimes transposes the plots of the films he discusses. Nonetheless, we believe that his unique insights into the world of cinema more than compensate for this regrettable shortcoming.

It is our hope that features such as this will promote a greater appreciation of both the humanities and the animalities.

THE CANINE FILM CRITIC EXPLAINS "THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS"

OK, this movie is very important for understanding certain geopolitical situations today.

It's like about this place Algiers and all these French people are there but everybody else wants them to leave.

What really starts the whole thing is when these guys break into the Dude's house and pee on his rug.

(Sometimes I pee on the rug when Moomus and Doodus are away too long...)

But the thing is, it tied the whole room together. All the Dude wants is his rug back.

So he leaves Kazakhstan and comes to America with his producer and falls in love with Pamela Anderson and goes across the country trying to find her but in the end he decides to just go bowling.

I think the message is if you want a peaceful world and no more battles of Algiers, people should stop peeing on each other's rugs and bowl more.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED