Evelyn Waugh was a Man, or Glory for Dummies

I'm sitting in the corner with my dunce cap on, meditating on the theme of glory:

"Art is the symbol of the two noblest human efforts: to construct and to refrain from destruction." - Evelyn Waugh

"I have foresworn myself. I have broken every law I am sworn to uphold. I have become what I beheld and I am content that I have done right." - Elliot Ness (The fake one who looks like Costner)

"The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it." - Flannery O'Connor

"Reason, thou see'st, hath all too short a wing." - Dante, in Paradiso

"Sit tight, hold the fort and keep the home fires burning. And if we're not back by dawn, call the president." - Jack Burton

"There is a limit at which forbearance ceases to be a virtue. " - John Bunyan

"That'll do, pig. That'll do." - Farmer Hoggett

Gained In Translation

I'm fascinated with Japan. I like Scarlett Johannson. However, if Bill Murray hadn't fallen off the exercise machine, I'm not sure I would love Lost In Translation so deeply, maybe not even at all.

I'm sure that's got to be frustrating for a mature actor like Murray. He's been around for thirty years, and here I am crediting him for a dumber pratfall than he ever had to do when he was a kid on Saturday Night Live.

But I love him for that level of humility. Sometimes, I think that's what great comedy is: human frailty, and someone brave enough to be naked about it.

Comedy has become such a small word. It hasn't been the right size since Dante.