Santayana

"Only the dead have seen the end of war."

-- George Santayana (1863-1952)

Santayana's response to the death of God was to conclude that religion was essentially poetry, and that it was in poetry and literature that people are left to seek a spiritual understanding of the world. Robert Frost is among those influenced by Santayana's philosophy. It is art that feeds the hungry soul.

[Source: Jay Parini, "Robert Frost: A Life"]

The Zero Theorem

Hmm, I can buy a high-definition copy for seven-eighty-eight, maybe I should, "The Zero Theorem", the latest film by Terry Gilliam, the man who brought us "Brazil" and "The Twelve Monkeys", not my absolute favorites, but distinctive and enjoyed. I had not heard of this one, which came out last year. I doubt it will join the ranks of the other two movies, but it is fun and dreamy, with that aching undertow of nothingness and the meaninglessness of lives. I only happened upon it when I came to Amazon for my videos, and there it popped up on my big-screen - free-streaming for us Prime people, too. Ads sometimes work, maybe one out of a thousand, but sometimes there is that happy match between consumer and consumable. Of course, I am also a sucker for dream-blondes.