Port 80

I just finished reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (Robert Pirsig), and the first question that sprang to mind upon completing it was “Why haven’t I read this until now?” It’s an absolutely brilliant book, at once intellectual and earthy. I am going to try to put some distance between myself and it before I attempt to comment further on it. However, for those who are interested and don’t have access to a copy, there is an HTML version of the book available here. Best of luck on your Chautauqua - I’m going to go read the sequel, Lila.

Since I don’t have much time now, I will limit my commentary to a subject on which I am one of millions to write. (Thus, I feel no particular obligation to be complete or thorough – I really don’t have two hours.) The most recent movie I have seen is The Two Towers. It’s altogether a brilliant film (no great surprise there). The only caveat is that you should either watch Fellowship of the Ring (ideally the extended version) or be very familiar with Tolkein’s books before going to see it – Peter Jackson has not provided any sort of an introduction to this film, but drops you straight into the story.

Incidentally, the soundtrack for that film is also excellent, highlighting so much of the beautiful scoring which falls into the background on the film. Of particular note are the stirring “Rohan” theme, and the “Uruk-Hai” theme. I do not think that I am overstating myself when I say that it is one of the best “evil” themes written since John Williams wrote the “Imperial March.”