verstehen libre.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Today's Deeply Unfortunate Insight Brought On by Too Much Generals Prep
Second in what I'm afraid is inevitably going to be a series...
Evidently, I am quite horrified to report, there is a strong etymological link between the words "public" and "pubic." A terrible legacy that is, as Nancy Fraser so evocatively puts it:
"...a graphic trace of the fact that, in the ancient world, possession of a penis was a requirement for speaking in public. A similar link is preserved, incidentally, in the etymological connection between 'testimony' and 'testicle.'"
You're all so very welcome. ¶ 10:04 AM
Evidently, I am quite horrified to report, there is a strong etymological link between the words "public" and "pubic." A terrible legacy that is, as Nancy Fraser so evocatively puts it:
"...a graphic trace of the fact that, in the ancient world, possession of a penis was a requirement for speaking in public. A similar link is preserved, incidentally, in the etymological connection between 'testimony' and 'testicle.'"
You're all so very welcome. ¶ 10:04 AM
Saturday, March 08, 2008
the captain
So, I just discovered that Max Weber, the once and future king of social science, casually suggested in an essay in 1924 that the peculiar rise of associational activity in Weimar Germany possibly deserved a little political analysis. "Starting with the bowling club...and continuing to the poltical party or the religious, artistic, or literary sect."
THE BOWLING CLUB!!!!! Are you fucking kidding me???!! The poor bastard never gets any goddamn credit.
This has been another installment of Unwelcome Insights Into One's Discipline Brought on by Too Much Generals Preparation. ¶ 12:52 PM
THE BOWLING CLUB!!!!! Are you fucking kidding me???!! The poor bastard never gets any goddamn credit.
This has been another installment of Unwelcome Insights Into One's Discipline Brought on by Too Much Generals Preparation. ¶ 12:52 PM
Saturday, March 01, 2008
two very curious things.
First of all, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm really kind of enjoying studying for generals. It's the sort of all-consuming constant intellectual activity that I haven't had since I was writing my thesis. I feel like I'm learning a lot--both totally new things, and things that I just missed or wasn't able to appreciate the first time around. Of course, what I might really be enjoying here isn't studying for generals, but the happy coincidence of a reduced class schedule as a precondition of studying for generals. It's entirely possible. Either way, good times.
Far more importantly, in celebration of tomorrow's election and my significantly-likely-but-not-guaranteed research trip to Mother Russia this summer, I give you the long-awaited full-length video below. I've been searching for this forever. Don't you want a man like Putin?
(I love how the French subtitles translate "Putin" into "Poutine!" Hee!) ¶ 9:20 AM
Far more importantly, in celebration of tomorrow's election and my significantly-likely-but-not-guaranteed research trip to Mother Russia this summer, I give you the long-awaited full-length video below. I've been searching for this forever. Don't you want a man like Putin?
(I love how the French subtitles translate "Putin" into "Poutine!" Hee!) ¶ 9:20 AM
