"Collected Poems: 1953--1993" by John Updike (1993)

One writes a story to share a thought. One writes a novel to escape by getting lost in one's own plot. One writes a poem to relive an emotion, in slow motion, and, in a single incision with the precision of the correct word, to relieve oneself of that emotion and to pin it onto the world. Updike's service is not in the depth of individual verses, but in the fellowship of a life distributed "as is."

The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

War reminds one not to accept the prevailing social hierarchy uncritically. Different hierarchies are appropriate for coping with different adversities (e.g., wars, famines, environmental catastrophes). Because one adversity cannot be said to be more just than another, one hierarchy most effective against one adversity cannot be said to be more just than another hierarchy most effective against another adversity. Justice is advanced by collectively recognising multiple adversities and ideals, and by individually acknowledging the accidental element in one's own social status.

Three Days of the Condor (1975)

A well-prepared lasagna is non-partisan. It nourishes, but does not prescribe. So does art that endures. The picture's occasionally redundant exchanges neglect the visual medium's potential, which, in best circumstances, renders horse riding about non-standard calculus more effective than talking about it.

Even though no one has ever said "can't sing; can't act; balding; can dance a little" about Fred Astaire, the myth is perpetuated on-line. That the Internet functions at all is a miracle commensurate with a functional democracy's functioning, which is brought about by loners, whose condition is an outcome, not a cause, of their brilliance.

The Diary of a Madman

(BAM, 5 March 2011)

Aspirations differ across individuals. Therefore, one should refrain from imposing one's preferences on others---individually or as a society. Doing so is easy in most cases. One exception is the diagnosis of insanity, which can potentially lead to extreme censorship, second only to murder and torture. (Bringing up a child amounts to guessing his preferences, not suppressing them.) The utmost respect for the freedoms of thus diagnosed helps avoid the slippery slope (mistaken judgements and abuse) that can promote tyranny and that is also the main argument against capital punishment and torture.

A freedom much conducive to sanity is the control over one's position in the social hierarchy. This freedom is best served in the society in which one's position is least dependent on the accident of birth. Hierarchies are indispensable for satisfactory governance. Their multiplicity can help an individual experience being at the top of the hierarchy that that he deems to be most important.

In the Received Pronunciation, the Australian Geoffrey Rush delivers the lines of the character who is as Russian as the Ukrainian Nikolai Gogol intended him to be. Rush's portrayal of Aksentii Poprishchin is playful, but not grotesque. By not having subordinated the character study to a political  slogan, the adaptation will have reached timelessness. It is hard to disentangle the contribution of the director, Neil Armfield, from that of the rest of the team. At the least, Armfield can be credited for having led the team that has engineered the product whose components one is afraid to take apart for the fear that their collective brilliance would be compromised.

"Speaking in Tongues" and "Esplanade" by Paul Taylor

(City Center, 4 March 2011)

Appreciation of beauty comes naturally. By contrast, creation of beauty is either outside one's control or requires hard work. (A perfect sphere is easy to appreciate, but hard to build.) A feature associated with an infrequently encountered desirable quality is perceived as beautiful. That quality is often inborn, in which case the appreciation of beauty amounts to the appreciation of a superior endowment. By exercising effort, one can deceive others into a more favourable assessment of one's endowment. Glamourising beauty runs the risk of fetishising endowment at the expense of achievement.

The limited vocabulary of the classical ballet makes it easy to turn it into a fetish. The modern ballet celebrates achievement over endowment by seeking beauty in dancers' humanity (fallibility, diversity, aspiration), not in an external ideal modelled on a bird or a dragon. The modern ballet admits multiple tongues and a narrative more substantial than an excuse for wearing revealing clothes.

"Speaking in Tongues" is concerned with injustice. When one sees individual misery (in art, signalled by ugliness), one can often contrive a story justifying that misery as a means for assuring a satisfactory outcome for the society. Such a story shall not excuse misery. No law of nature assures that institutions evolve to select the best means for attaining a certain goal, even if one were to accept the goal favoured by evolution.

Those ideas are most prevalent that are most infectious, not those that are best for humanity. Interpreting an idea's prevalence as its merit amounts to attending to the well-being of ideas, not individuals.

"Esplanade" administers beauty. Beauty does not blind. Pornography does. Beauty soothes. Its soothing quality makes it hard to overlook in deprivation. Perceived ugliness often reflects a prejudice, in which case ugliness is harmless. What is harmful is the long-term deprivation from beauty.

"Esplanade" is more aesthetically pleasing than "Speaking in Tongues." A dance excels when its protagonist transcends the sum of the individual dancers' characters. This effect is easiest to achieve when choreographing couples, who are the focus of "Esplanade."

"The Triumph of the City" by Edward Glaeser (2011)

Not every store should be a Walmart; not every city should be a Houston. Hugo Boss and Club Monaco are acceptable, as are Paris and San Francisco. Boutique stores sell services and limited memberships in clubs valued in excess of the goods' costs. Similarly, an apartment priced at several times its construction cost need not betray a poor policy or a market failure. The mark-up may reflect panoramic views and the company of self-selected neighbours.

Advances in transportation technology make it unnecessary to build cities next to scarce natural transportation hubs. Instead of being rebuilt, cities can follow the life cycle of youth and fast growth culminating in boutique retirement or irreversible dilapidation, or anything in between. For the life cycle to be aligned with the humanity's interests, however, urban development must not be constricted by myopic zoning laws, not less damaging than labour-union regulations.

Societies thrive through their members' specialisation, mediated by markets and democratic delegation. A society matures when delegation is either immune to the capture by narrow interests (the European dream) or, in recognition of that potential capture, is minimal (the American dream). Cities must either be governed so as to attend to the joint welfare of their suburbs, exurbs, and down-towns, or not be governed at all---and certainly not governed by warring neighbourhoods, each advocating its parochial version of conservation. City planning ensures that development is not aborted by vested interests when property rights are neither absent not clearly defined.

Suburbs are not evil. Most individuals face trade-offs. Most prefer suburban hibernation to urban deprivation. The former is made more affordable and the latter is made more prevalent by haphazard regulations, which inter-city competition shall help correct. 

Edward Glaeser's policy prescriptions are guided by his socially inclusive perspective and respect for individual choices. These choices are prejudiced by regulations. Furthermore, many underestimate the city because of their environmental ignorance, neglect of urban serendipity, and unawareness that socialising is indispensable for becoming human. That the online intercourse cannot replace physical socialising is Mr Glaeser's premise. If this replacement occurs, individuals will become less human, which need not imply less happy.

All the President's Men (1976)

The professional press will not perish, even though only the sedentary rich will care to subscribe to paper editions. Had Deep Throat blogged, his conspiracy theory would have been lost among many. Wikileaked he could have. But much of what is worth uncovering is not packaged for leaking. Investigative journalism requires as much dedicated research as police investigations, scientific studies, and film productions do.

In addressing strangers, the credential "I am a reporter for the Washington Post" reassures more than "I am a blogger" does---which rather resembles a confession, akin to "I talk to myself" or "I have imaginary friends." Reporting requires exuberance that a collegial environment incites, and the critical judgement that a detached editor exercises. Passion, censorship, and a long-term outlook rarely combine in a lonely investigator.