A Stray Meme

I've got writer's block and that's on top of it being one of those rare days when no one thing merits enough attention for its own post, so I've decided to work on a meme I ran across recently. Usual deal here. I won't tag anyone, but I will link to anyone who picks up on the meme.

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1: Black and white or color: How do you prefer your movies?

Black and white. This is for a couple of reasons. Although visually spectacular movies are made in color all the time, a good movie is much more than eye candy. So I first of all often find that I do not miss the color as much as I might from a still photograph or a painting. Second, I am having a hard time articulating exactly why, but I think that black and white cinematography differs from color in more than just its limited palette. Other aspects of the visual experience become more important and a skilled cinematographer can exploit these more fully without the distraction of color. (And this, rather than slavish adherence to mere "tradition" is, I think, why so many people object to colorizing the classics.)

2: What is the one single subject that bores you to near-death?

The day-to-day minutiae of the personal life of any given figure from pop culture.

No. I really don't care whom [name of actress or female vocalist here] is seeing now, whom she might marry (and will divorce if she does), who else's love child she's carrying, who her lesbian ex is, which cult she's busy popularizing at the moment, how much weight beyond what a healthy woman ought to weigh she lost last week alone by the latest fad diet, or which astrologer she sees.

In short, I am sick of small details about small people being treated as if they merit even one moment of my attention -- as if there isn't a whole wonderful, fascinating world populated by good, substantial, actual human beings out there that I'd rather be enjoying any aspect of during any fraction of a second spent having to attend to any of that drivel.

(Whew! Did that sound curmudgeonly enough? Bore me. Make me testy. What can I say?)

3: MP3s, CDs, Tapes or Records: what is your favorite medium for prerecorded music?

CDs. I like the mixture of versatility and permanence.

4: You are handed one first class trip plane ticket to anywhere in the world and ten million dollars cash. All of this is yours provided that you leave and not tell anyone where you are going... Ever. This includes family, friends, everyone. Would you take the money and ticket and run?

Sure. The round trip flight to Houston via Dallas ought to take three or four hours tops. My wife has accused me of spending more time than that reading the paper in the bathroom before! Our secret and my money are safe!

You did say, "Anywhere in the world," didn't you? A fool and his ten million smackers are easily parted.

5: Seriously, what do you consider the world's most pressing issue now?

The decline of respect for reason in the West. This philosophical crisis has worsened many problems (e.g., energy costs) and made many others possible (e.g., terrorism as a credible national security threat).

6: How would you rectify the world's most pressing issue?

By advocating better philosophical ideas to those who are willing to consider them. (What is needed is a philosophical revolution. What I am doing is obviously not enough, alone, but it compares in scope to joining the militia in an armed revolution.)

7: You are given the chance to go back and change one thing in your life; what would that be?

I would have led a more balanced life in high school. This would have made me more in touch with what I want in life much sooner, and probably would have allowed me to find the right career much earlier on. Fifteen years earlier on. Ugh!

8: You are given the chance to go back and change one event in world history, what would that be?

I would have prevented the birth of Immanuel Kant, "the father of the irrational", whose philosophy gave rise to much of what is wrong in the West today by thoroughly undercutting rational philosophy.

9: A night at the opera, or a night at the Grand Ole Opry? Which do you choose?

The opera. Hands down.

10: What is the one great unsolved crime of all time you'd like to solve?

I'd solve the Kennedy assassination -- but not before betting the ten million I won in question 4 (with whoever put all that loot up in the first place) that this would do nothing to shut up the constant din of conspiracy theories about same.

My solution would give me the satisfaction of knowing the answer and winning the easiest 20 million clams a man ever made.

11: One famous author can come to dinner with you. Who would that be, and what would you serve for the meal?

Thomas Sowell, one of my favorite columnists and author of at least four books on my shelves. I would, of course, serve his favorite food, fried chicken. And we could kick off our conversation by discussing the merits of his favorite city, Sidney, Australia, versus those of Melbourne, which is one of my favorites. (The two cities have a rivalry which reminds me a bit of that between Dallas and Houston, Texas.)

12: You discover that John Lennon was right, that there is no hell below us, and above us there is only sky -- what's the first immoral thing you might do to celebrate this fact?

The immoral is that which injures my life. What kind of a way to "celebrate" would that be? Silly question, that.

-- CAV