How big is the universe … compared with a grain of sand? ‘You’ll never get your head around how big the universe is,’ warns astronomer Pete Edwards of the University of Durham in this film about measuring astronomical distances. ‘There are as many stars in the universe as there are grains of sand on the…
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Including pain And sorrow Part VIII Amsterdam, June 30 2021– According to Robert Musil, Rainer Maria Rilke was the greatest German-speaking poet since the Middle Ages. He had made the poem “perfect for the first time.” Musil made his oft-quoted statements in a 1926 article shortly after Rilke’s death, and at first glance his preference seems…
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Where To This Time? Anton Foek Amsterdam, June 8 th 2021–Kalmykia is in Southern Russia. North of the Caucasus it is bordered by the Oblasts of Volgograd, Dagestan, Astrakhan, Rostov and Stavropol Krai. It has access to the Caspian Sea and the Volga River. The Republic has many natural resources and wildlife including the protected…
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Life Itself Part VII Amsterdam, June 30 2021– Different people have different opinions on Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926). Thomas Mann thought he was an “Austrian snob” whose “large-scale affectation” was unpalatable. Robert Musil, on the other hand, called him the most important German-speaking poet since the Middle Ages, a great modernist and prose innovator, too.…
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Part VI Amsterdam, June 30 2021– Rainer Maria Rilke’s last great love was a woman he called Merline, whose real name was Baladine Klossowska. Rilke had met this painter, eleven years her junior, in Paris before the First World War. In 1919 he renewed contact with her when both were living in Switzerland, and until his…
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Restoration of a Vintage Watch This time I am restoring a Rolex Oyster Perpetual Date.The reference number is 1500, it has a stop-second (movement stops when the time is set) and an instantaneous date circuit. Automatic Watch The Rolex 1570 caliber, an automatic movement with 26 jewels and a KIF Ultraflex shock protection. It beats…
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Eagles perform “Hotel California” at the 1998 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. Looking for more Induction Ceremony memories from Eagles? Visit the band’s official Hall of Fame online bio: http://rockhall.com/inductees/eagles Dive into the full 1998 Induction Ceremony video collection at rockhall.com/inductees/classes/1998 and watch all videos, read from the official Hall of Fame…
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Learning from Art Part V Amsterdam, June 30 2021– “Spiritually speaking, I stay miles away from my bookcase when I write,” says Stefan Hertmans. “Yet reminiscences of other literature haunt my books, quite unconsciously and unintentionally. You can find traces of Rilke’s The Diary of Malte Laurids Brigge in all my prose work.” The poet,…
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The Student and Teacher Part IV Amsterdam, June 30 2021– Strange, but true: Rilke is popular. New editions of his work appear regularly and he is widely read, especially in the circles of theo-, anthroposophists and ex-believers. In America there has been a small Rilke cult for some time. He is raved about, especially by…
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Read Rilke or the Artist as a Teacher Part III Amsterdam, June 30 2021– Writers are often asked: why do you write? Readers are never asked: why do you read? Literary theory does indeed look at all kinds of aspects of a work of art, but something is grossly neglected, according to literary scholar Jan…
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