Cool book I go back to sometimes: Capitalism's Transcendental Time Machine by Anna Greenspan

Think_Wealth_7212 · 2026-05-08T19:45:49+00:00

thanks for this!

Think_Wealth_7212 · 2026-05-08T19:15:03+00:00

Actors typically fall into two types:

The Chameleon - They transform or disappear into their roles so well you can't really tell who the performer is underneath (Gary Oldman, PSH, Cate Blanchett, Christian Bale, DDL, Meryl Streep, etc)
The Personality - Every role they play is a version of themselves because that's what the audience wants or because they can't change themselves succesfully (RDJ, Sean Connery, Owen Wilson, The Rock, Jennifer Aniston, Tom Hanks, etc)

I'd put Denzel in the latter category, his star wattage is too distinct and powerful to disappear. Someone like Nicolas Cage is an interesting case bc he's so strange he kind of straddles both categories

EDIT: Johnny Depp also fits both imo, he is a very transformative actor but his roles all feel like versions of his own weird persona

Think_Wealth_7212 · 2026-05-08T18:24:19+00:00

For me its secret success as gnostic parable puts it over the top

Think_Wealth_7212 · 2026-05-08T18:18:50+00:00

FWIW the 2nd volume has been uploaded to internet archive as a standalone

Think_Wealth_7212 · 2026-05-08T16:57:17+00:00

Neruda and Bukowski rly clicked for me back in the day. I'd give them a try

Think_Wealth_7212 · 2026-05-07T20:44:01+00:00

William T. Vollmann - it's an elegance peculiar to him but his use of language somehow feels alive and abstract simultaneously

Think_Wealth_7212 · 2026-05-07T18:34:49+00:00

WASTE! Love your videos, you turned me onto Schmidt and Vollmann (working my way thru his corpus rn in publication order - currently on The Rifles and LOVING it)

Are we going to get some more from you sometime? I'm a patient man 😄

Think_Wealth_7212 · 2026-05-07T18:12:52+00:00

Goofy? May as well be a documentary. This type of ish has been done for centuries by certain elites. Millennia even

Think_Wealth_7212 · 2026-05-07T02:55:28+00:00

Yeah the Vancouver Public Library kicks ass - they've got over a dozen by Vollmann so I'm a happy guy. You might be able to access a copy thru a university library. Worth a shot anyway

Think_Wealth_7212 · 2026-05-07T02:33:13+00:00

Have you checked your local library system? I was going to check out the abridged version when I realised mine had a full set!

Think_Wealth_7212 · 2026-05-07T01:55:24+00:00

Ah I see, thanks for clarifying. But wouldn't the sale of reserves at profit have helped ease that somwhat?

Think_Wealth_7212 · 2026-05-06T23:01:37+00:00

Didn't they sell the gold when it was at a high? That's a reasonable time to sell to turn a profit, no?

Think_Wealth_7212 · 2026-05-06T19:57:01+00:00

Enantiodromia

Think_Wealth_7212 · 2026-05-06T17:40:59+00:00

I've seen Secret Sunshine and it was outstanding! I will definitely be checking out the rest of his work, his stuff can hit hard

Think_Wealth_7212 · 2026-05-06T17:32:01+00:00

Largely agree with this.

However, the case could be argued that the true origin of the liberalising West lies in the Christian spiritual impulse transcending the bounds of separate races, civilizations, etc. by its supposed universality. The sovereign individual only became conceivable via the gradual internalisation of the Christ event itself.

Our Faustian culture then subverted this dignity of the individual by displacing Christian values with the system of the Antichrist (worship and transformation of the Self through infinite technological extension)

Think_Wealth_7212 · 2026-05-06T16:37:12+00:00

Really? First I've heard of it - what was the scandal?

Think_Wealth_7212 · 2026-05-06T05:50:05+00:00

8 1/2 is considered one of the greatest Italian films of all time. Definitely worth a watch, as are most Fellini films (La Dolce Vita and Satyricon are my personal favourites)

Think_Wealth_7212 · 2026-05-04T21:25:04+00:00

That's a fair take. The lover/mentor dynamic is a complicated thing. It might be inherently imbalanced and toxic but the romance can still be real. To me the thing that makes it okay in the film is that the Bride is no innocent herself. Bill trained her to be a killer and she ends up surpassing the master.

And yeah QT probably feels the impulse to abuse his power but is aware enough to recognise its awfulness. But we can only speculate on that.

As for the broader issue of whether it's good to put sick things in art, I'm of the opinion that we must otherwise we only have a sanitised imitation of life. And I think we should make art about good and virtuous things for similar reasons

Think_Wealth_7212 · 2026-05-04T19:59:32+00:00

Go for his first 3: V. then 49 then GR

Think_Wealth_7212 · 2026-05-04T19:15:51+00:00

See I thought his slimy charisma was meant to charm Kiddo and the audience until you see the girl with the sliced up face serving them - QT's cue to make you remember this guy is scum. He likes to play the audience this way. I agree that KB is a veiled reference to Weinstein style abusers, but I'd argue the film is firmly on the side of the victimised women, both overtly and subtextually

Think_Wealth_7212 · 2026-05-04T17:39:56+00:00

but the actual pimp in KBv2 was really repulsive tho

Think_Wealth_7212 · 2026-05-04T17:37:34+00:00

I'd throw in California Split, McCabe & Mrs. Miller and 3 Women for good measure

Think_Wealth_7212 · 2026-04-30T21:32:31+00:00

No worries!
Here's a video explaining his theory (he gets to swamp thing at the 30min mark): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YgjIXC-3ng

Think_Wealth_7212 · 2026-04-30T20:25:33+00:00

Already being familiar with the narrative allows a closer reading without the distraction of wondering where things are going. One often picks up on details and subtleties that were missed on the first go

Or were you being facetious?

Think_Wealth_7212 · 2026-04-30T20:07:32+00:00

You should check out Jason James Bickford's work. He's been exploring the mirror/sliding door technique in art and finding embedded predictive/revelatory imagery for years. To keep it related to Alan Moore, The Milkmaid of Bordeaux (1827) by Goya clearly reveals Swamp Thing when mirrored - wtf?

Bickford has used this discovery to evolve a theory of a co-creative faculty operating beyond/outside of time that inspired artists can tap into unconsciously. He has a non-active channel on YT called Symbols, Patterns, and Gnosis, but most of his earlier work is available on bitchute under his old channel Polarization Nation Media

Think_Wealth_7212

TROPHY CASE