From the start, caricaturists also adopted Fuseli’s composition, and political figures from Napoleon Bonaparte to President George W. Bush and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have all been lampooned in satirical versions of Fuseli’s painting.
Stigmergic epistemology, stigmergic cognition
Cognitive Systems Research Volume 9, Issues 1–2, March 2008, Pages 136-149. As improbable as this might sound there is a bit of Hayek, Oakeshott and Marx in here.
The Poet Laureate of Englishness
Here is a new review essay in The Atlantic. Here too are The New York Times, The Guardian, London Review of Books and Washington Post.
An Interview with Louis Armstrong House’s Research Director, Ricky Riccardi
An interview with the keeper of the flame — truly an officer and a gentleman. The shot below really captures the essence of this wonderful man with the safest of hands: a more appropriate guardian of one of the 20th Century’s most important cultural legacies one will not find. Every Pops fan needs to make a pilgrimage to the Louis Armstrong House Museum and if you are New York-based you have no excuse at all not to.
Ricky Riccardi, the museum’s Director of Research Collections, is an ebullient man whose love for Louis is surpassed only by his desire to share his depth of knowledge about his icon with others.
Tom Petty
Oakeshott’s Notebooks now in paperback
Yet more Oakeshottiana.
Odd fellows: academic ideas about racing certainties
More Oakeshottiana. Geoffrey Wheatcroft reviews the reissue of A Guide to the Classics in the TLS.
Sir Alistair MacFarlane on Michael Oakeshott
Sir Alistair MacFarlane on the significance of Oakeshott in Philosophy Now. I wouldn’t have guessed that the featured portrait painting is of Oakeshott: it is indeed Maurice Cranston.
Prickly Pear EquineOx
Here is an interesting tipple from Eau Claire. The nose is so compelling and though I preferred it neat (a good test) others mixed it with soda water or Pellegrino and thought it very pleasant. Small distilleries are doing terrific experiments in BC and Alberta outdoing the usual so-called premium brands of vodka and gin. If ever you are in the area I’d recommend you pop in for a tasting. The other gastronomic must is Longview Steakhouse but you’d need to reserve a place 3-4 months in advance (rated one of the top ten in the world).
Jazz, Creativity, and the Brain
Performance
Neuroscientists have recently begun to examine the elusive nature of human creativity. Join Dr. Charles Limb, bassist/vocalist Esperanza Spalding, and jazz pianist Vijay Iyer as they discuss this fascinating new science and examine improvisational art forms such as jazz.
Session
As part of a research study, Dr. Charles Limb, Francis A. Sooy, MD Professor and Chief of Otology/Neurotology and Skull Base Surgery at the University of California, San Francisco, took brain scans of musician volunteers while they were playing an instrument. He found that when musicians are improvising, the prefrontal cortex of the brain shuts off in large part. This is the part of the brain involved in conscious self-monitoring, that sensors you when you’re about to make an error.
