Month: October 2023

Religious rituals are like a fence around the light.

A seeker arrives at a fence around a beautiful garden, with something shining beyond it, hidden behind a maze of hedges. The very high fence that holds his gaze: it’s of gold wrought in glorious saintly figures. The seeker is enraptured by the fence, and she remains there for years, worshiping it.

At last she listens to an inner voice suggest she climb over the fence. It’s a difficult climb. The fence is slippery, and resistant to climbing. But after numerous tries she makes it at last. The maze takes needs a great many tries to penetrate.

After much searching, she gets to the center of the maze, and there finds a fountain of light…which is what she’s been seeking all along.

Is Taylor Swift a talented and charismatic woman, and a good performer, despite her kitschy outfits? Sure. Am I sick of hearing about her? YOU BET I AM.

Soon it’ll be, “Internet and Media alight with debate over whether Taylor Smith has toenail fungus and what kind it is.” And, “Exclusive Interview with Taylor Swift’s Hairdresser” and “Taylor Swift–does she even charge enough for tickets? Is a gabillion bucks Enough? Fans sell their houses to be able to pay advance ticket costs for next tour and are happy to live in their cars for Taylor Swift.”

The trick is to be paranoid without pathology. Keep suspicion sitting on your arm like a trained falcon but don’t send it after wrens and moths. Paranoia should be like a well polished lens. Don’t let it get blurred. Paranoia is a skill.

If you loathe billionaires, Big Pharma and animal testing, as I do, you should see this Netflix limited series THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER. It’s from Mike Flanagan, who did that good miniseries take on The Haunting of Hill House. This, though constantly referencing Poe in names and imagery, has very little to do with Poe’s tale of Usher, despite throwing in a premature burial. But it turns out that doesn’t matter.The “lemons” speech, the speech about animal testing…!

The writing in this Fall of the House of Usher is very good, though not as literary as the writers suppose– but that’s okay, this cinematic revenge eaten cold is quite effective. Compelling social satire is being served…

It draws on Eyes Wide Shut, and perhaps A Clockwork Orange, and, yes, even The Crow. But it sure makes it’s points. The horror is effective. The Masque of the Red Death bit I saw coming but they sure carry it off well.