It is often said that the best way to get a sense of a city is by walking the streets. The second best route is probably by bike. YouTube creator MrTiuro got on his bike and really got to see Warsaw, Poland up close and personal. He begins his hyperlapse tour in the Old Town district, travels through it and then ends up in the new commercial hub in Warsaw’s Wola district. It’s difficult to believe that most of Warsaw was painstakingly rebuilt after World War II.
LATE ECHO
John Ashbery
How do you find a republic that never existed ? During the 1950s Cold War, U.S Army cryptologist Lambros D. Callimahos created the mythical “Republiko of Zendia” to use in wargaming for U.S. military intelligence codebreakers simulating the invasion of Cuba.
The original map of Zendia now hangs on the wall of the library at the National Cryptologic Museum. The “Zendian problem,” in which cryptanalysts students were asked to interpret intercepted Zendian radio messages, formed part of an advanced course that Callimahos taught to NSA cryptanalysts in the 1950s. Graduates of the course were admitted to the “Dundee Society,” named for an empty marmalade jar in which Callimahos kept his pencils.
I must admit that I was never a big reader of 19th century French literature, other than Jules Verne. And, I somehow didn’t read Stendahl’s The Charterhouse of Parma. However, I was intrigued by a New York Times article that suggested that the 19th century novel might offer a template for surviving a 21st century autocracy.
The Stendhal Novel That Doubles as a Playbook for Surviving Autocracy – The New York Times (gift link) suggests some of the tactics Stendhal’s heroine employs to dodge the depredations of her oppressive prince and his entourage — 26 handy bullet points :
1. Never criticize the prince in word or deed, or voice any disloyal thought. It will get back to him.
2. Make the prince see you as indispensable, without making him resent your skills and influence.
3. Radiate prestige and prosperity at court to bolster your status and enhance the prince’s self-regard.
4. Adopt the fashions of the court, even if they are ridiculous, to show social and political orthodoxy.
5. Never appear independent-minded, virtuous or enthusiastic; it fosters suspicion.
6. Track court gossip at all times; be alert to calumnies against you and to changing princely priorities.
7. Cultivate allies among the prince’s family and intimate circle.
8. Cultivate powerful allies outside the prince’s circle.
9. Recognize that your allies may be unable to help you, or may betray you. Have backup plans.
10. Study the motives and aims of allies, rivals and foes alike, so you know how best to manipulate them.
11. Grant favors to allies, rivals and foes alike, to make them beholden to you (though it may not work).
12. Never regard your own status as secure. Work at all times to buttress it.
13. If you excite envy, expect retaliation — work to pre-empt it.
14. Anticipate attacks against you from rivals for the prince’s favor. Thwart them, and strike back in kind.
15. Know that even if the prince seems to like you, he may seek to destroy you, for sport or out of malice.
16. Act as if you are under surveillance at all times, because you are.
17. Know whom you can trust, but be careful what you let them know, and anticipate their likely slip-ups.
18. Make yourself popular with the common people as a hedge against smears.
19. Avoid becoming so popular with the common people that the prince feels threatened.
20. Be prepared to defend yourself effectively but respectfully when rivals denounce you to the prince.
21. Do not expect the law to protect you; the judiciary is surrendered to the will of the prince.
22. If your influence wanes, invent a conspiracy against the prince; punish its members to impress him.
23. If you are threatened with incarceration in domestic or foreign prisons, leave the country at once.
24. When you travel, carry a passport that will pass muster with border officials and court spies.
25. In life or death situations, enlist the help of powerful enemies through blackmail or bribery.
26. If, for self-preservation, you must resort to illegal actions, plan well and cover your tracks.
Originally composed as the main theme for Takeshi Kitano’s 1999 film Kikujiro, Joe Hisaishi’s beautiful piece “Summer” has long been cherished in Japan as the soundtrack of nostalgic summer memories. Now, this beloved masterpiece is reimagined as a short film.
Set in a high school in the Japanese countryside that’s slated to close next spring, the story follows members of the school’s broadcasting club as they face their “final summer.” It quietly captures their everyday moments as they try to leave something behind—an imprint of youth, memory, and time.
With no spoken dialogue, the 7-min short film relies solely on music, visuals, and the nuanced expressions of the cast to evoke an emotional coming-of-age narrative. There’s more information about the cast and production on the main site.
If the video fails to load in your browser, please click HERE.
Emily Dickinson, “The Bee is not afraid of me”
I recently read the impassioned defense of literature and reading (below) which was excerpted in the Washington Post from a commencement address by the American author Nicole Krauss.
I recently stumbled on Matt Dorfman’s annual Ten Best list in the New York Times Book Review and was impressed by the terrific book covers. Here’s how Dorfman introduced the article:
If most book cover designs are conceived as quick-to-metabolize marketing tools, a great one can make the reader do a double take in slow motion. A good first impression is, of course, the goal: to elicit curiosity and excitement before you’ve even picked the book off a shelf. But a great cover can fortify itself in our consciousness, resonating more deeply as we absorb the text within, ideally prompting a second impression after we finish reading.
“But most urgent on my list of appreciation are those of you who have welcomed my tunes into your lives, into your kitchens when you’re doing the dishes, in your bedrooms, in your courting and conceiving, into those nights of loss and bewilderment, and into those aimless places of the heart, which only a song seems to be able to enter. It is before this sudden and strange and mysterious intimacy that has developed between us that I bow my head with real gratitude. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
-Leonard Cohen
It’s been a horribly depressing July here in the former colonies, but there was one story that lifted my spirits and gave me a moment of joy.
Just ahead of the August fortieth anniversary of the release of the 1985 film, the Alamo has acquired the iconic, custom Schwinn DX Cruiser that appeared on screen in Pee-wee’s Big Adventure. Directed by Tim Burton and cowritten by Paul Reubens and Phil Hartman, Herman travels cross country in search of his stolen bicycle hitchhiking to Texas after being told by a fake psychic that his beloved bike is in the basement of the San Antonio mission. The film prop will go on display in the visitors’ center and museum of the Alamo, in the sublevel that famously did not exist at the time of the shooting, a space below the gift shop also used as a reception hall. This accession was undertaken by a private trust that maintains the monument’s collections.
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