The Unnameable

[cpratt]

I am at my happiest when I'm not thinking. The best way to get to that place is to be entirely caught up in the moment of something beautiful, of something awesome, of something profound

Comments

[ednixon]

I've never thought of the characterization of a particular vintage as having or having a lack of "agency". or any agenda. It's a new outlook that I will attempt to apply from now on when tasting merlots, etc.

[cpratt]

Think of it as the difference between watching a movie that's emotionally affecting because it seems somehow true or honest in a way that's emotionally affecting because of what it intrinsically is - say, Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles or Au hasard Balthazar - as opposed to a movie that is emotionally affecting because they've spent the money on fancy cinematography, a score that coldly, calculatingly pushes emotional buttons, that kind of thing (Beyond Rangoon comes to mind as does Dying Young). It might still work, the expensive, fussed-over version, but it can also serve to screw up something that might well have been good if they'd just left it alone (taking merlot as an example, it's probably better with lower alcohols and moderate oak, but if you get one that's high alcohol, lots of heavy toast oak, and has been through a spinning cone or had MegaPurple added to it, you might wind up with a pretty bad wine made from once-good materials, like a beautiful woman married by patently fake breast implants).

[ednixon]

So thusly,
"Inception" = MadDog 2020 or CloDuBois
"Women In Love" = Twomey Merlot 2005

Obviously I'm not well versed in fine wines, and I haven't seen "Inception" yet, but I feel like I have from the trailer.

[cpratt]

As long as you drink the Twomey in front of a fireplace on a bearskin rug, yes.

[mlr]

It's nice to read your thoughts again. Doubly nice for quoting S.o.M.

I posted this before - one of the references to wine in Horace (via Ezra Pound).

Ask not ungainly askings of the end
Gods send us, me and thee, Leucothoë;
Nor juggle with the risks of Babylon,
Better to take whatever,
Several, or last, Jove sends us. Winter is winter,
Gnawing the Tyrrhene cliffs with the sea's tooth.

Take note of flavors, and clarity's in the wine's manifest.
Cut loose long hope for a time.
We talk. Time runs in envy of us,
Holding our day more firm in unbelief.

[cpratt]

Thanks for the link to the original text - I didn't understand what Pound was getting at here, but McHugh does a far better job (in my opinion) of translating a simple reminder to strain your wine before drinking it. (After all, there was probably a lot of sediment in it, so you'd be wise to make the best of what you already have before attempting to enjoy it.)

[art_thirst]

Your music references I found interesting because you've turned me on to some listening I don't think I would have found on my own (from a long previous post). I think of you when I hear something I consider obscure and complex, and of course, good.

[bikerbearmark]

Chris, I have often marveled at your taste in music. After this post, I think I understand better, though I still have to admit that some of your favorites are a bit of an intellectual exercise for me, as I believe some of my favorite wines have been for you.

That said, I did not know you were a fan of Boards of Canada or Walt Whitman, and I'm looking forward to talking more about these!