Charlie Chaplin's go to entree

 Grilled Lamb Kidneys. Bacon $25 [2021 price]

on prognostication

 

famous for native themes

“We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done.” 

― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow [1807-1882]

the anointed

Christus: the messiah who was named Jesus.

Pow

"When we were coming up in the early '60s, there were no drugs. Alcohol was our drug. We thought the alcohol killed the brain cells that caused inhibition."

- Sir Michael Caine [born 1933]

Clint Eastwood's Carmel by the Sea

 

"Gallery of the Louvre"

- Samuel F.B Morris [1791-1872] analyzed thousands of Old Masters and depicted about 20 he believed Americans should know about.

filament

“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”

– Thomas A. Edison [1847-1931]

opposed to Confederate monuments

“I think it wise not to keep open the sores of war, but to follow the examples of those nations who endeavored to obliterate the marks of civil strife, to commit to oblivion the feelings engendered.”

- Robert E. Lee, 1869 [1807-1870]

on mental health

"What a waste it is to lose one's mind. Or not to have a mind is being very wasteful. How true that is."
- James Danforth "Dan" Quayle [born 1947]

peering over the border

"The artist's duty is to raise questions, not to answer them."
- JR [born 1983]

Paper and Glue documentary now streaming here.

world's top vending machines

 

ladened with disrespect

Q/ How do you know if someone owns a Tesla?

A/ Don't worry, they'll tell you.

debonair

"Prison does strange things to men. Although its purpose is to break the free spirit of a man, in many cases it just adds fuel to the fire that has never been and will never be extinguished."
- William Powell [1892-1984]

nadir of world history

The Black Death [1346-1353] is estimated to have killed 30 percent to 60 percent of the European population.

apex of world history

Age of Antonines [reigned AD 138–161]: limited historical writings remain, but in this humble anti-tyrannical reign there were few and short lived wars, rare civil strife, prosperity globally and happiness across all ranks. But 180 AD marked the beginning of Rome's end.

おめでとう

“Don’t ever think that just because you do things differently, you’re wrong.”

– Gail Tsukiyama [born 1957]

flawed, deceptive, false

"If you have a theory, you'll find ways to support it."

objects altering reality

 

ad agency sells itself

 

e·qui·poise

noun

      balance of forces or interests.

verb

        balance or counterbalance (something).

Rockford Files

from killing racoons to winning an oscar

world's oldest trees

 

from crack dealer to Tiffany promoter

"My pain is your entertainment."
- Jay-Z [born 1969]

transcendentalist

"Why should we be in such desperate haste to succeed, and in such desperate enterprises? If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer."
- Henry David Thoreau [1817-1862]

Beeple: as surprised as we are

 

Kills the King, Becomes the New King, and Kills More People Out of Paranoia.

"Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires”[Act I, Scene 4]
- William Shakespeare [1564-1616]'s Macbeth who wanted happiness but immorality led to misery.

colloquialism

"Sometimes the road less travelled is less travelled for a reason."
- Jerry Seinfeld [born 1954]

aimless dropout to starchitect

 

Scottish Enlightenment

“Man is an animal that makes bargains: no other animal does this - no dog exchanges bones with another.” - Adam Smith [1723-1790], An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations [1776]

body shame

"Going back to Genesis, we are the only animal with a sense of nakedness."

Regency Dandy

 

Beau Brummell [1778-1840] eliminated the powdered wig.

storyteller

"Betray a friend, and you'll often find you have ruined yourself.”

- Aesop [c. 620–564 BCE]

neuroscientist and entrepreneurial artist

 

fable

"Every man carries two bags about him, one in front and one behind, and both are full of faults. The bag in front contains his neighbors' faults, the one behind his own. Hence it is that men do not see their own faults, but never fail to see those of others."
— Aesop [c. 620-584 BCE]

A montage of 80s Soviet television visuals

Paris live webcam

 

pewter and wineglass

 

William Shakespeare's Falstaff was "The cause that wit is in other men."

prostitute and madam for lesbians

“You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.”

– Maya Angelou [1928-2014]

Elon Musk's Commencement address

 

human beings generally

"When we're born, we cry because we've arrived on the stage of life, like all the other fools."
- William Shakespeare [1564-1616]: King Lear: Act 4, Scene 6

thrill of victory, agony of defeat

 

coming together of two worlds.

“No greater humiliation, it seems to me, was meted out to any man than Montezuma [1466-1520]; no race was ever more ruthlessly wiped out than the American Indian; no land was ever raped in a bloody and foul way than California was by the gold diggers. I blush to think of our origins—our hands are steeped in blood and crime.” 

― Henry Miller [1891-1980], Tropic of Capricorn

French axiom

The Bread Famine in 18th-century France

"Only those who can't afford to pay taxes, pay taxes."

geodesic

 

“There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it's going to be a butterfly.”
- Buckminster Fuller [1895-1973]

couldn't prove there is no god, but was an atheist

“The fundamental cause of the trouble in the modern world today is that the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.”
—Bertrand Russell [1872-1970]

Serenity Now

 

“Tell me anyway. Maybe I can find the truth by comparing the lies.”

“Life is not an easy matter ... You cannot live through it without falling into frustration and cynicism unless you have before you a great idea which raises you above personal misery, above weakness, above all kinds of perfidy and baseness.” 

― Leon Trotsky [1875-1940], Diary in Exile, 1935

First scientist

Thales of Miletus, [c. 624–620 BCE — c. 548–545 BCE] used a scientific method which didn't resort to mystical or mythological explanations, but he did believe that the Earth was a flat disk floating on a vast sea.

dent

“I want to put a ding in the universe.”

– Steve Jobs [1955 - 2011]

soph·ist·ry

Sophist teacher from Smyrna [Izmir, Turkey]

[noun]

        The use of fallacious arguments, especially with the intention of deceiving.

tough

"Glaswegians have more fun at funerals than they do at weddings."
- Scottish axiom

Ace

“I really think a champion is defined not by their wins but by how they can recover when they fall.”

- Serena Williams [born 1981]

The Red Vineyard

“As long as autumn lasts, I shall not have hands, canvas and colors enough to paint the beautiful things I see.”
- Vincent van Gogh [1853-1890]

19th century cruise

“Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things can not be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”

Mark Twain [1835-1910] wrote "Innocents Abroad" about his trip to as far as Palestine, which launched his career.

Marine Thwarts Robbery

 

paradoxical philosopher

“There is nothing permanent except change.”

– Heraclitus [535 BCE - 475 BCE] 

Saving the White House

 

even Martha Stewart is into NFTs

 

Order here. Or quicker just to burn your cash in one of her signature casserole dishes.

Breaking the law in style

In one anecdote, David Niven [1910-1983] talked about colluding with another bloke to eat free - they'd enter the restaurant separately and Niven would order a cup of tea and a bun. The friend sat at another table and ordered a full steak dinner. Towards the end the friend would move to Niven's table and they'd request the bills. The friend would go to the front and settle up for the bun and tea. He'd leave and Niven would gently say he had only the tea and bun and pay the 25 cents. And leave. They'd pull the same scam the next day at another place, switching roles. Niven's background was full of thievery and everyone would laugh. His charm was beguiling. Now they'd be prosecuted and careers would be killed - eg Winona Ryder [born 1971]. He said he had regrets, but didn't go to counselling etc. A much different time.

the world at war

 

The first of 26 sixty minute episodes available on YouTube.

cheaper than a Tesla

 

The trip, dubbed the “ultimate world cruise,” will make stops in 65 countries. The more than nine-month trip will take place on the “Serende of the Seas” vessel and will set sail in December 2023. Royal Caribbean says tickets start at $60,999 per person, plus taxes and fees.

Details here.

in foreclosure

 

"a stupendous liar with a remarkable memory"

“The absence of alternatives clears the mind marvelously.”

– Henry Kissinger [born 1923] who in the words of Christopher Hitchens deserves prosecution "for war crimes, for crimes against humanity, and for offenses against common or customary or international law, including conspiracy to commit murder, kidnap, and torture."

racism in the auto industry

 Summary here.

Neutron

“Control your own destiny or someone else will.” 

 – Jack Welch

from nothing to biggest ice cream maker

 

what did medieval monks do all day?

new art already appreciating

 

Anti-Marx

“Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love.” 

― Fyodor Dostoevsky [1821-1881], The Brothers Karamazov