Photo, Grand Central

Lubavitchers, Grand Central, New York City

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"The Red Wheelbarrow"; Or, A Poem About Poetry

In this post, I write about my favorite William Carlos William's poem — "The Red Wheelbarrow".
"The Red Wheelbarrow" by William Carlos Williams has fewer words than his other famous poem "This Is Just to Say." 28 compared to 16. "This is Just to Say" is simple: desire. "The Red Wheelbarrow" is complicated because it is not about desire. It is about language. And meaning what we say. A poem about poetry. I don't think I am saying anything different than what a poetry professor would say. It just seems right. My reading.

The Red Wheelbarrow

by William Carlos Williams

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so much depends
upon a red wheel
barrow
glazed with rain
water
beside the white
chickens.

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This is Just to Say; Or, A Reflection on Desire

William Carlos William's very short poem "This Is Just To Say" frustrated me on my first read. Is this a poem? These few words? 28. Words. Seem to say everything. At least something. Not nothing. Something to say about desire, I take it? A fresh plum in the refrigerator that sits there expectantly, wanting to be eaten. I eat it. It is so cold, sweet, delicious.

The beauty of the poem is that it cannot be said any other way. What I mean to say is that if I wanted to tell someone about this poem I would have to read it out:

This Is Just To Say
by William Carlos Williams

I have eaten
the plums
...that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

I cannot paraphrase it. It is the poem itself that utters its meaning. I could translate the poem.

C'est juste pour dire
par William Carlos Williams

J'ai mangé
des prunes
... qui ont été
dans la glacière

et qui
tu as probablement
épargne 
pour le petit dejeuner

Pardon moi
ils étaient délicieux
si doux
et si froid

Printable Quotes from Stanley Cavell and On Everything From God to Art

In this post, I collect four quotes on art, transcendence, God, and meaning in the world from American philosopher Stanley Cavell. Can you link all of the quotes together?

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Quotations
Stanley Cavell on Beckett and Positivism
"Positivism said that statements about God are meaningless; Beckett shows that they mean too damned much." 

-Stanley Cavell, "Ending the Waiting Game" reprinted in his collection of essays, Must We Mean What We Say? (p. 120)

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Stanley Cavell On the Limits of the Frame

"The world of a painting is not continuous with the world of its frame; at its frame, a world finds its limits. We might say: a painting is a world; a photograph is of the world."

Stanley Cavell, The World Viewed (p. 24)

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Stanley Cavell on Philosophy and Art

". . . philosophy, like art, is, and should be, powerless to prove its relevance: and that says something about the kind of relevance it wishes to have. All the philosopher, this kind of philosopher, can do is express, as fully as he can, his world, and attract our undivided attention to our own."

Stanley Cavell, "Aesthetic Problems of Modern Philosophy" reprinted in his collection of essays, Must We Mean What We Say? (p. 96) 

sources: (1.) Cavell, Stanley. Must we mean what we say? : a book of essays. United Kingdom, Cambridge University Press, 2002. (2.) Cavell, Stanley. The World Viewed : Reflections on the Ontology of Film. New York: Viking Press, 1971. Print.

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Movie Review: The Time That Remains

The Time That Remains is Elia Suleiman's autobiographical account of his Palestinian family in Nazareth who lived under the post-1948 sovereignty of Israel.

A movie review
The Time That Remains (Al Zaman Al Baqi) (2009)
Director: Elia Suleiman
Starring: Elia Suleiman, Saleh Bakri, Zuhair Abu Hanna, Samar Tanus, Ayman Espanioli, Shafika Bajjali

The Time That Remains is Elia Suleiman's autobiographical account of his Palestinian family in Nazareth who lived under the post-1948 sovereignty of Israel. The film opens with the events that led Nazareth to surrender to Israeli forces in 1948. An Iraqi soldier runs through the streets of Nazareth after the Arabs surrender. White sheets of paper rain down from the sky announcing the details of the Israeli/Arab armistice. Fuad (played by a handsome Saleh Bakri), who we later learn is Elia Suleiman's father, is suspected of distributing arms to Arab fighters during the war and is tortured.

How to Create Dock Icons For Web Apps in Mac OS X

Do you use web apps often? Do you want to access these apps the same way you would access a normal Mac app in your dock? Well, you can. I create dock icons for Web Apps using a few simple steps on Mac OS X.

Creating Dock Icons for Web Apps is Easy with Fluid

I sometimes want to use Web Apps just like any other App on my Mac.

1. Download and launch Fluid, free software that creates a “site specific browser” for Web Apps you use all the time. 
2. Download an icon or .png file for the Web App you want to install. Using a web browser and search engine simply search for “Facebook icon” or “Google Docs icon” to find .icns files or .png files. Download the file you want to use to your computer. There are tons of styles available and most are for free. *For Mac users, .ico files will not work.*
3. Launch Fluid. Type the URL of your web app. I want to install Facebook so I insert “www.facebook.com” and give it a name, “Facebook." Select “Application Folder” for the location of the app.
4. Upload your icon or PNG file. Select other from the menu. Choose your icon or PNG file you downloaded in step 2. You can use the “select website favicon option” but I prefer to upload my own. 
5. Fluid places your Web App in your Applications folder. When you launch the application it starts up and appears in the Dock just like any other application. 
6. Simply use the Web App like any other app. Click it in the dock and it launches as a stand-alone application.

Cool Features: You can work in your Web App environment in full-screen mode. It allows you to focus on a project without the distraction of your web browser. Gives your Web Apps like Google Calendar, Google Docs, Facebook, etc., pride of place on your dock with your other Apps.

Be aware: Only use for apps you use often to increase your productivity. Also, it can be a pain finding a decent resolution on .icns and .png files. Choose your files with care.

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Aesthetic Thursdays: In the Studio

In the Studio, Alfred Stevens. 1888. Oil on canvas. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City

 "In the Studio," is a nice example of art playing on art and reality. Notice the model sits on a couch entertaining visitors to the artist's studio. The unfinished painting of Salomé is perched on the easel to the right. The piece plays on the viewers perception of reality. Is the model posing for the work or is the representation of the unfinished work the work? Where does art end and reality begin? Works of art adorn the wall, as well. Notice the mirror. Another nod by Stevens of the mimetic nature of art. Does art imitate life or does life imitate art? The piece becomes more than a mise-en-scène of the artist's studio, but is a representation of the mimesis itself, the artist's craft, and the effect art has on the viewer viewing an artist's work, as if Stevens is inviting us to view both the process of art and the art itself as art. Brilliant.

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