A Look at the World

I viewed the movie "2001 - A Space Odyssey" again recently, after seeing it the first time some 50 years ago when it came out. It became the template for all ensuing sci-fi space movies, like "Star Wars", to follow. It's hard to interpret. A rectangular,...

Charles Dickens popular novel "A Tale of Two Cities" begins with the story of Dr. Manette who's been a prisoner in solitary confinement for over 17 years. When his bank and friends finally secure his release, he's no more than a corpse, barely alive....

I recently viewed a movie titled "Danton" about the French Revolution, directed by a Pole named Vitlja around 1980. He used French and Polish actors for the film, each using their native dialect. French was dubbed into the Polish parts and there were...

The above title, of course, is a play on the Doors song “Riders on the Storm” from the early 1970’s. But American (and Russian, as well as many others nationalities) have had writers who had to ride out political, cultural and social storms because of...

Jack London, author of Call of the Wild, was a man of many talents and adventures as well. In his book The Road he realates his experiences as a transient hopping freight trains around the country in the mid-1890's. While he only hoboed around for the...

These words, attributed to Soviet premier Nikita Krushchev during the 1960's appeared on numerous posters in the U.S. with his picture during that time. I remember seeing them. I also remember him being shown pounding his shoe (with a hole in the sole)...

Hannah Arendt has written a book titled "On Revolution" somewhere in the mid-1950's. Her contention is that the French Revolution, which has been the pattern for many subsequent revolts, failed because it sought to satisfy the wants of the poor over seeking...

I saw a new movie, it probably won't do much at all at the box office, called God Knows Where I Am - a documentary. But I think it was well-done and an important statement... on the matter of mental illness in our country right now. It wasn't real deep,...

Robert M. Pirsig, who died April 24, 2017 at the age of 88, wrote his classic novel, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, in 1974, much of it based on his own life. In it, he narrates a motorcycle trip with his son through the U.S. west while presenting...

Recently, the Catholic archbishop of Denver wrote a column in the local Catholic newspaper asking the same age-old question that Pilate asked of Jesus before washing his hands of him: "What is truth?" It's a vital question always. However, all the archbishop...