Category Archives: Stuff

gods and robots, by adrienne mayor

Posted on June 29, 2019 by Houyhnhnm

very excited to find this in the london library – a book exploring the anticipations of robots and ai in ancient mythology and literature, especially greek i’d always thought hephaestus’ robot servants were amazing Anyway, the book told me loads … Continue reading →

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getting behind…

Posted on October 26, 2018 by Houyhnhnm

so here’s a list of what i had intended to write up in random pairs one day burger (carol adams’ book on the beef-based foodstuff) mclibel (the film of the trial) — quiddities (quine’s philosophical dictionary) hot fuzz (pegg II) … Continue reading →

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endings

Posted on August 6, 2015 by Houyhnhnm

a meeting by the river (christopher isherwood) tales of the city by armistead maupin the restaurant at the end of the universe by douglas adams plato’s phaedo neil gaiman’s stardust book 1 of thucydides’ history of the peloponnesian war dan … Continue reading →

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Borges on writers creating their own precursors

Posted on December 21, 2014 by Houyhnhnm

“If I am not mistaken, the heterogeneous pieces I have enumerated resemble Kafka; if I am not mistaken, not all of them resemble each other. The second fact is the more significant. In each of these texts we find Kafka’s … Continue reading →

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Ethics Man

Posted on October 22, 2014 by Houyhnhnm

Going for a consistent set of principles seems to be really about: “Scientifically” imagining scenarios where we are clear about right and wrong courses of action, for example torturing an innocent person is wrong, giving a meal to a starving person is … Continue reading →

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Tellus, issue 5

Posted on April 17, 2014 by Houyhnhnm

Another of Ailsa Hunt’s excellent series of pamphlets publishing poetry about or inspired by the classical world. This contains some gems, in particular an excerpt from Timothy Chappell’s verbally-powerful translation of Aeschylus’ Agamemnon (“and so the house receives back its … Continue reading →

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Tragedy and Comedy

Posted on July 21, 2013 by Houyhnhnm

Comedy comes from surprise, either from the breaking of a (moral) rule (e.g. a taboo) or from something unexpected (“boo!”) (or both – man-falling-on-banana-skin is unexpected and makes us laugh, naughtily, from the suffering of another). And in Tragedy the … Continue reading →

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Have we missed something?

Posted on June 6, 2012 by Houyhnhnm

Marx’s revolution? The proletariat are gliding through glass malls, tapping wirelessly-connected little glass screens. Workers swarm over stately homes, supping National Trust tea, while the rump of an aristocracy skulk in the cottage on the edge of the estate. Orwell’s … Continue reading →

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The Empty Church

Posted on June 6, 2012 by Houyhnhnm

Church has been likened to sport, concerts, or anywhere else where people gather, face the same direction, and share the same experience. But what’s the difference about church? It’s that at football people watch the football, and at a concert … Continue reading →

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Hendiadys

Posted on June 6, 2012 by Houyhnhnm

For years (well, on and off) I’ve wondered what the point of hendiadys is. It’s an obscure term (which, btw, my iPad wants to correct to ‘he daddy’s’) meaning ‘one through two’, i.e. saying one complex idea as if it … Continue reading →

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