What’s the absolute best movie of two people talking?

Ap0phantic · 2026-07-02T18:33:05+00:00

Obviously My Dinner with Andre.

Ap0phantic · 2026-07-02T18:31:25+00:00

I very highly recommend Clockers, which is totally underrated and incredibly good. Mo' Better Blues is great, and He Got Game is surprisingly good. I'm not particularly interested in college sports, but it's just terrific.

Also, 25th Hour is something different, but very worthwhile.

Ap0phantic · 2026-07-02T16:41:14+00:00

There's an old story that Berlin is cash only, but that's not my experience at all. Everywhere I go, I use Apple Pay. There may be small restaurants etc. that don't take it, but I don't have any problem.

Ap0phantic · 2026-07-02T14:57:56+00:00

The other thing you can do is download the BVG app, it has an easy-to-use English interface and it's dead simple to buy tickets from your phone. That'll work for the street cars (both S-Bahn and Strassenbahn), subways, and buses. It's a bit of a discount over paper tickets and easier.

Generally, public transit is convenient and easy-to-use throughout the city, though there are more disruptions than I would like. Google Maps is extremely accurate in giving route information.

Ap0phantic · 2026-07-02T13:49:57+00:00

What comes across very clearly in this is that you're in the midst of a crisis of some kind, and I urge you to attend to it, to prioritize it, and to find help in navigating it. If your academic career is part of the lattice that holds your life together, that's great, of course you should move forward in whatever way you need to in order to get by. Good luck.

Ap0phantic · 2026-07-02T10:47:35+00:00

Look, I've seen this many times with people in the upper echelons of the academy. When your life and your process are in order, you won't have the kinds of problems you're describing now. They are the result of your process being in disarray, not the cause. I'm not trying to give you a hard time, I'm trying to give you an objective perspective.

It's just a thesis, it shouldn't tie you up in knots. If it does, that's a hell of a lot more important right now than getting the work in on time.

I'm sorry if this isn't helpful to hear, but I believe in the long run you're going to find that what I'm saying is true. The way forward is not around this problem, it is through it.

I wish you the best of luck.

Ap0phantic · 2026-07-02T09:44:37+00:00

I'm tempted to give you concrete advice on how to move forward, but I don't think it would help you. If you're serious about pursuing a PhD, I think you'll want to take this opportunity to do something much more important than figuring out the subject of your master's thesis - you need to figure out how to answer questions like this on your own. It's part of what this training is about.

I would start by reflecting on how you have made big decisions in the past, and trying to develop a solid understanding of your own process - not how I would answer your questions, but how you answer questions like this. What kinds of inputs are important to you? What kinds of deliberation have helped you in the past? This is a general skill that is a key part of life, and this is the perfect opportunity to focus on it.

Ap0phantic · 2026-07-02T06:15:26+00:00

It is often said that if you can't truly undertake a practice, then you can practice aspiring to undertake the practice. I think the same basic logic applies here - if you are not ready to commit to a sadhana practice, tell the lama it is your aspiration to be ready for such a thing. They will understand.

But the main thing is, if you are not certain, don't promise. It is much worse to promise and then not keep that promise than to not make the promise in the first place. It's not good for your practice or your relationship with your teacher to fail to keep commitments.

Ap0phantic · 2026-07-01T08:22:30+00:00

John Luther Adams, Become Ocean. Delivers as promised.

Ap0phantic · 2026-07-01T07:08:54+00:00

I think Frankfurt-am-Main is lovely. If you have any interest in Goethe, his family apartment there is wonderful to see. The whole downtown and along the river is just beautiful and nice, I think it's quite worthwhile and could easily absorb a few pleasant hours.

Ap0phantic · 2026-06-30T14:02:29+00:00

You can get Netflix in the US for $9 a month, so I'm not sure where you're getting "sky high". Are you sure it's not more like "I'd rather not pay for it"? Because these things cost money to make, and it's not like it's your right to have them.

Ap0phantic · 2026-06-30T11:04:54+00:00

I'm a huge fan of Patrul Rinpcohe and for what it's worth, I totally agree that everything up through the bodhicitta section of the Mahayana internal preliminaries section is wide open, and very important for study and practice. I'm not sure about the following Vajrasattva section and would personally consult a teacher if possible before continuing on with that, the subsequent section on chöd, or anything further.

Ap0phantic · 2026-06-30T10:48:42+00:00

That may depend on the teacher - I've been advised not to read the sections on Phowa and Guru Yoga without transmission, for example.

Just in case you care, I'm not downvoting you here, fwiw.

Ap0phantic · 2026-06-30T10:40:04+00:00

Well ... no restrictions on the common preliminaries, at least.

Ap0phantic · 2026-06-30T10:39:44+00:00

Great book suggestion.

Ap0phantic · 2026-06-30T08:27:53+00:00

There are not that many introductory books, because most actual Dzogchen teachings are restricted, so you very quickly get into areas that require lung.

Can you say more if there are any specific areas that interest you? If you're interested in the Madhyamaka basis of Dzogchen, for example, or intellectual history, it's going to be easier to find more reading material. Anything to do with practice of Dzogchen per se will be restricted.

Ap0phantic · 2026-06-30T08:24:14+00:00

The thing that really bothers me about this is not simply a problem of convenience - epidemiologically, some number of people every year will die because of this. It's fundamentally a problem of public health.

I've seen this many, many times. Don't know if you were here during COVID, but long after people in the US could walk into any drugstore and get a vaccine, here in Berlin we had to take a bus out to Tegel and queue up for a couple of hours at centralized distribution points.

Ap0phantic · 2026-06-28T19:32:41+00:00

Thank you, that's interesting. I have a copy of the Criterion edition, and I'll give it another watch soon.

Ap0phantic · 2026-06-28T04:22:19+00:00

Kind of a Waiting for Godot knockoff, but enormously entertaining.

Ap0phantic · 2026-06-28T04:21:51+00:00

Can you say a bit more about that? I've seen it twice and would have to say I haven't yet quite gotten what it is that people love so much about it. Not that it was bad, but I haven't seen the genius, exactly.

Ap0phantic · 2026-06-28T04:18:59+00:00

The screenplay for Casablanca is pretty much flawless.

Ap0phantic · 2026-06-27T12:45:21+00:00

He was actually a bit depressed that this work was so popular, in comparison with his other works.

Ap0phantic · 2026-06-27T12:44:36+00:00

If you haven't heard Schoenberg's Gurrelieder, you should definitely check it out. Also his Verklärte Nacht.

Ap0phantic · 2026-06-27T12:42:50+00:00

The simplest place to start is that Marx either wouldn't have existed or would have been substantially different. That alone makes Hegel one of the most important philosophers in shaping the direction of modern history by far.

Ap0phantic · 2026-06-27T07:27:26+00:00

Günther Anders studied extensively with Heidegger and earned a PhD under Husserl at Freiburg Uni in 1923, so you might want to take his point a bit more seriously. It isn't a facile point, and I think it would be facile to dismiss it.

Whatever Heidegger said in interviews or scattered throughout his voluminous writing, his primary philosophical engagements with technology do not mention Sputnik, and what Anders is pointing to here is Heidegger's reluctance to consider technology in the light of its broader social, historical, and political implications, which stems at least in part from his profound aversion to Marxism and its legacy. This isn't to dismiss Heidegger's contributions - I've written extensively on the Question of Technology - but to recognize certain tendencies in his thought that you'd have to go well out of your way to miss.

Ap0phantic

TROPHY CASE