It needs to be said that a pandemic is not just something that invades us from without. A pandemic is a cataclysmic process that reveals what lies within a society. A fire in a public space might seem to be a mainly physical event. But the catastrophe lies not simply in the fire but inContinue reading “Plague is an Alchemical Fire”
Author Archives: pfannkuchea
Paris Beyond the Plague
I’ve been in Paris since the first of November on a second extended stay in six months. I’m in the same Montmartre apartment and am experiencing the aftermath of the year of isolation and lockdown. In August I couldn’t get the pass sanitaire so I was mostly shut out of public places and could onlyContinue reading “Paris Beyond the Plague”
Hookah Haven
I spend much of my life in the tax haven isolated. It sucks and Nana’s recent message that she is seeing someone makes me feel truly alone on the continent. But the brief moments of human interaction that I get are exhilarating. I went to see Andrew (Weeks) in Paris last week which helped greatly,Continue reading “Hookah Haven”
Thoughts on Poetry in Time of Plague
I was talking with Leo G. about national differences in the use of abstract words like honor, love, or justice. We agreed that in the Hispanic world such words have often been used with less irony than elsewhere. It occurred to me that one could cite Jose Martí in support of this thesis. Martí becameContinue reading “Thoughts on Poetry in Time of Plague”
Teal Toussaint
I spent Toussaint trapped inside my 425 € prison cell. To make the day go by a little quicker I decided to listen to Weezer’s Teal Album. The album is a collection of music covers by the band but there are two songs that stuck out to me. The first is their cover of NoContinue reading “Teal Toussaint”
Afterthoughts on the Socialist Countries
I agree that what attracts us to the idea of socialist or communist countries is the desire for human solidarity and for the perspective of human beings creating their own world. But the reality of countries like Communist Rumania or East Germany was the mass-scale pitting of citizens against one another. A huge percentage ofContinue reading “Afterthoughts on the Socialist Countries”
Chinese Conversations
ANDREW Nana once asked for my opinion on the PRC. People often ask me about China, and I rarely give an answer that isn’t couched in a thick layer of irony. I blare ‘The East is Red’ in the background as I answer their question in such a way that they won’t make me defendContinue reading “Chinese Conversations”
How the Commons became Commodities
Recently I was reminded of Raoul Peck’s film Young Marx, a slightly ludicrous buddy movie about young Karl and Friedrich groping their way to world revolution. But it must be said that Peck did his homework. There is a powerful opening scene in which wood-gathering German poor folk are ridden down in a forest byContinue reading “How the Commons became Commodities”
Living in the End of History
“I think you’re wrong about the instinct for beauty. Human beings lost that when the Berlin Wall came down. I’m not going to get into another argument with you about the Soviet Union, but when it died so did history. I think of the twentieth century as one long question, and in the end weContinue reading “Living in the End of History”
A Client Satisfaction Survey for Passengers Crossing the River Styx and Entering the Land of Shadows
On a scale of one to ten, I was very satisfied/ totally repulsed by the last leg of my journey. Typical response: “Breaks the scale for bad. Worse than anyone can imagine. Service was ok but conditions were awful.” Would you say that crossing the Styx provided a meaningful conclusion to your journey through theContinue reading “A Client Satisfaction Survey for Passengers Crossing the River Styx and Entering the Land of Shadows”
Normal Thoughts 