February 28, 2006

De Jon-Fen

- Do you think I'm wonderful?
- No.
- Why?
- Because so many girls are wonderful. I imagine hundreds of men have called their loves wonderful today, and it's only noon. You couldn't be something that hundreds of others are.
- Are you saying that I am not-wonderful?
- Yes, I am.
- Do you think I am not-beautiful?
- You are incredibly not-beautiful. You are the farthest possible thing from beautiful.


Libros & Libreros

¿Cómo ordenas tus libros?

February 27, 2006

Mediocres

"They do not desire anything more than everything they have know".

Alexander Perchov (J. Safran Foer, Everything Is Illuminated)


February 26, 2006

La coma de Pío V

Mi amigo Wolfgang me escribe desde Florencia, a propósito de la coma de Carlos V:

Zu der Komma-Geschichte Karls V. in deinem Blog kannst du noch das beruehmte "Comma Pianum" ergaenzen, das sich am Ende der Bulle Ex omnibus afflictionibus von Pius V. gegen Bajus findet, vgl. Denzinger-Schoenmetzer 1980. Du findest hier eine korrekte Darstellung: http://spazioinwind.libero.it/utos/De%20Gratia.htm.


Ich kopiere dir einfach den entsprechenden Abschnitt:


Pio V nel 1572 con la bolla Ex omnibus afflictionibus confuta con 79 tesi la dottrina di Baio. Tra queste tesi è celebre la censura [DS 1980] che ha dato origine al cosiddetto "comma Pianum" cioè una disputa attorno all'interpretazione da dare alla censura papale dove tutto dipende dalla posizione nella quale viene messa una virgola:

"Quas quidem sententias stricto coram Nobis examine ponderatas, quamquam aliquo pacto sustineri possent[,] in rigore et proprio verborum sensu ab assertoribus intento[,] haeretias, erroneas, suspectas, temerarias, scandalosas et in pias aures offensionem immittentes respective, ac quaecumque super iis verbo scriptoque emissa, praesentium auctoritate dammamus, circumscribimus et abolemus."

Non si capisce se le parole in "rigore ... intento", siano da collegare con la frase precedente (quamquam aliquo pacto sustineri possent; 1° interpretazione) oppure con la seguente (haeretias, ... praesentium auctoritate dammamus, circumscribimus et abolemus; 2° interpretazione). In altre parole ci si chiede se bisogna inserire una virgola dopo intento (1° interpretazione) o dopo sustineri possent (2° interpretazione). Se vale la prima interpretazione, le proposizioni di Baio sono condannate nel modo in cui vengono formulate (è questa la proposta dei baiani). Se vale invece la seconda interpretazione le proposizioni vengono condannate nel senso inteso dall'autore (è l'interpretazione preferita dagli avversari di Baio).


Y de la Catholic Encyclopedia copio el siguiente fragmento de la voz "Michel Baius", donde se cuenta el contexto de la polémica (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02209c.htm):


"1 October, 1567, Pope Pius V signed the Bull, "Ex omnibus afflictionibus", in which were to be found a number of condemned propositions, but without mention of Baius' name. According to the usage of the Roman Chancery, the papal document was without punctuation, divisions, or numbers. Again, as had been done before in several instances, the objectionable propositions were not censured severally, but to the whole series were applied various "notes", from "heretical" down to "offensive". Moreover, not only was Baius' name not mentioned, but for obvious reasons of prudence in those days, so near the Reformation, the text itself was not to be made public. Those facts gave occasion to many quibbles on the part of the Baianists: What was the exact number of propositions?–76, 79, or 80?–Were they, or were they not, Baius' propositions?–Why had not a copy of the Bull been given to those on whose honour it was supposed to reflect? In the famous sentence, "quas quidem sententias stricto coram nobis examine ponderatas quamquam nonnullæ aliquo pacto sustineri possent in rigore et proprio verborum sensu ab assertoribus intento hæreticas, erroneas . . . damnamus", was the comma Pianum to be placed after intento or after possent, the meaning being reversed according as the comma came after the one or the other word?"

February 21, 2006

Melancolía


“¿Por qué todos los hombres que descuellan en la filosofía, la política, la poesía o las artes se manifiestan como melancólicos?"

Aristóteles, Problemata physica, XXX,1.


"Atardecer. Laura" por E. Munch (1888)

El violín de Ingres



En el París del XIX corría el rumor de que Ingres era un gran violinista. A juicio de Saint-Saëns, eso no podía ser verdad. A pesar de habérselo pedido expresamente, nunca quiso tocar ni una sonata siquiera. De joven "sí tocaba: era el segundo violín de un cuarteto, pero eso fue todo", le aseguró.

Otros pintores eran mucho mejores violinitistas, como Doré, y sobre todo Hébert. Pero de todos, el pintor con más sensibilidad musical y tenor excelente era Henri Regnault.

Un siglo después de que Ingres pintara "La Bañista de Valpinçon" (1808), Man Ray encontró el violín perdido, y lo fotografió justo detrás de Kiki en 1924.

En el francés coloquial, la expresión "le violon de Ingres" se estableció, y significa un pasatiempo que se ejecuta con brío y pasión. A pesar de lo que pueda haber dicho Saint-Saëns...


En defensa del diseño industrial

Transcribo un párrafo (en traducción inglesa) de las "Memorias musicales" de Camille Saint-Saëns, que no tiene desperdicio alguno:

"Modern peoples are not artistic. The Greeks were, and the Japanese were, before the European invasion. An artistic people is recognized by their ignorance of “objects of art,” for in such an environment art is everywhere. An artistic people no more dreams of creating art than a great nobleman of consciously exhibiting a distinguished manner. Distinction lies in his slightest mannerism without his being conscious of the fact. So, among artistic peoples, the most ordinary and humble objects have style. And this style, furthermore, is in perfect harmony with the purpose of the object. It is absolutely appropriate for that purpose in its proportions, in the purity of its lines, the elegance of its form, its perfection of execution, and, above all, in its meaning. When an outcry is raised against the ugliness and tawdriness of certain objects in this country, the answer is, “But see how cheap they are!” But style and conscience in work cost nothing. Feeling for art is, however, inherent in human nature. The weapons of primitive peoples are beautiful. The prehistoric hatchets of the Stone Age are perfect in their contours. There is, therefore, no question of creating a feeling for art in the people, but of awakening it".


Estárbox


Subject: Starbucks
Date: 10/20/98 10:11:59 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: NY152
To: Shopgirl
The whole purpose of places like Starbuck's is for people with no decision making ability whatsoever to make six decisions just to buy one cup of coffee. Short, tall, light, dark, caf, decaf, low-fat, non-fat, etc. So people who don't know what the hell they're doing or who on earth they are, can, for only $2.95, get not just a cup of coffee but an absolutely defining sense of self: Tall! Decaf! Cappuccino!

February 18, 2006

Preferencias

Descubro que mi género literario favorito es el e-mail.

The Shopgirl Kathleen Kelly wrote once:
"What will he say today, I wonder. I turn on my computer, I wait impatiently as it boots up. I go on line, and my breath catches in my chest until I hear three little words: You've got mail".

La geografía del puntuar

Debo a un regalo de M la siguiente anécdota, atribuida a Carlos V: el emperador recibió en cierta ocasión la siguiente sentencia:

"Perdón imposible, que cumpla su condena".

Su magnanimidad recorrió la coma:

"Perdón, imposible que cumpla su condena".

La posición de la coma transformó la suerte de un desdichado.
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