Capria and I are heading to Pittsburgh early Friday morning. I can't wait. I haven't seen my immediate family in a year.
The following is an address given last Christmas Eve by the Catholic writer and teacher Luigi Guissani, founder of the lay movement Communion and Liberation. I wish more christian leaders and advocates in this country talked like this. Anyway, I send it to all of you as my holiday greetings.
Be sure to drink a lot of wine this weekend.
Why does Jesus come?
How can man today stand before this news?
And what is Christmas?
Christmas, the Nativity, is Christ's love for man.
The new Being is coming into the world.
The new Being, not as He was before, because now he is communicating
himself to men.
A new Being is coming into the world, the world of the true God.
In the whole profile of the world, a new Being blossomed, in that place.
Everything comes from Him, but here the novelty of a life predominates. A
new creature defeats the old. The old creation opposes the new, but with
the Nativity warmth returns to the world, and everything resounds to the
divine appeal, to the Mystery that is there.
The impossible, the Mystery, is unmerited by man. Yet here a fire is
kindled, an affection that embraces, a warmth that predominates in the
world's huge entrance, in eternal space.
Here is the inkling of something new that warms the heart, and tends to
make everything concrete. And this is why it arouses great devotion.
As divine grace, at the appointed time, the Son of God became a child in
human history, he took upon himself the rules and the formulas of an
existence.
In the recollection and in memory of that Fact, the witness of the Son of
God emerges more and more powerful, and the impotence of evil becomes the
figure dominating the whole of history. And the people of Yahweh rises to
invest the world. Thus, for every day in life, the Christian People will
have in its hands the gamble of God's power in time, and Our Lady's
prayer that it be realized in every situation.
My friend sent me this interview with Phillip Roth. I've never read any of his books, but the interview is pretty intense. He sounds like a bastard. I think I'd like him.
I sometimes agree with him that we need to put an end to all this literary talk. Of course, I'd be out of a job. But if you get people to read books and write creatively, do you really need all of those terms?
On the other hand, those terms make reading more interesting. I think. The raw aesthetic experience he is talking about sometimes comes all at once and sometimes comes after a lot of hard work. I don't think one is better than the other.
I don't by his anti-identity line if he is going to keep talking about being an American. How is that different than being Jewish?
So, at the bequest of a friend, Capria and I went to see Narnia on Tuesday. I liked it quite a bit. A lot, actually. Much more than I initially thought I would. One of my friends said "it's about time they had a sexy White Witch." I agree.
Here's where it got me thinking, though. I'm not opposed to books being turned into films, in general. But I'm on the verge of saying that I enjoyed this film more than any of The Lord of the Rings films. It felt much less forced for some reason.
I think that has to do with plot, really. I tend to think certain plots you can pull off in a book fall flat in a film. That said, I also think statements such as the one I just made are short-sighted and self-limiting. I need someone to come along and say "oh, yes we can."
Which raises the interesting issue of film in general. You would think that with all of the great directors all over the world, (and there are lots of brilliant directors) there would be some really amazing things popping up in film all over the place. But I'm not sure there are. If you know of some let me know.
I'm tired so this sounds crazy.
Sitting on my desk is a Lord of the Rings "The Return of the King" Exclusive DVD Collectible statue of Minis Tirith. It also serves as a coin bank. Unfortunately I cannot find a picture.
Why am I the happy owner of something I would never buy for myself? It has to do with trivia night at Scarecrow Video, for which I just happened to be in the store, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
As I was standing in line to rent Jandek on Corwood, the employee running the trivia said that the statue would go to the person who could answer this question:
"What is the best thing in life?"
He gave us a hint: Conan the Barbarian
As I stood there, vague memories resurged from the movie. No one was answering. Suddenly, in this very public place, I shouted out:
"To see your enemies fleeing before you!"
The people in front of me turned and grinned.
"That's close," said Trivia man. "What's the rest?"
No one was saying anything. Another memory surfaced and I yelled:
"To hear the lamentation of their women and their children!"
"Close, that's part of it, too. I need the whole thing." Trivia man was being a stickler. I was done and feeling strangely self-conscious. But no one else was taking a stab.
"Well, we'll give it to this guy because he was the closest." said Trivia man.
The entire quotation is, of course: "To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of the women!"
Why do I know this line? Because Lang Martin, in his best Austrian immigrant voice, has a penchant for quoting it. If you see him, ask him to do it for you some time. I also recall that he loves J.R.R. Tolkien and mortally loathed the movies, which makes the prize particularly fitting. Perhaps I'll send it to him for Christmas.
Tonight is the last night you can smoke in a bar or restaurant in Seattle. I, unfortunately, have to work.
In honor of our repressive legislature, I refer you to this brilliant response to Harper Collins digital removal of a cigarette from the backcover photo of a popular children's book.