ideonexus

interweaving ideas

  • Three Dimensional Politics

    Should you join the “Looney Left” or “Radical Right”? First let’s define the terms Left and Right with their synonyms in American Politics “Liberal” and “Conservative”. In a world of verbally incontinent partisans, we have lost their true meaning: Liberal – Favoring proposals for reform, open to new ideas for progress, and tolerant of the…

  • Great Films: Ingmar Bergman’s “The Seventh Seal”

    The Seventh Seal Antonius Block has returned from 10 years in Crusades to the shores of Sweden, a country being ravaged by the plague. There, on the beach, he meets Death, and knows that it is his time. Antonius challenges Death to a chess match, if he wins, Death must let him go free. Death…

  • Dreams of Apocalypse

    “The Earth is degenerating these days. Bribery and corruption abound. Children no longer mind their parents, every man wants to write a book, and it is evident that the end of the world is fast approaching.” – Assyrian Stone Tablet, c.2800BC The Y2K Bug infused the media with warnings of impending doom for the new…

  • The Theater Experience

    Seeing the film “Mystic River” in the Regal Cinema multiplex demonstrates the power of the theatrical exhibition over television’s presentation. With its much larger dimensions, the theater’s screen draws the audience into the film’s action to the exclusion of all else. This world creation through the theater’s visual superiority grows even more enhanced with its…

  • Noir Archetypes

    In the films “Devil in a Blue Dress” and “Murder, My Sweet” the Hard-Boiled Detective protagonist encounters a menagerie of characters who are deceptive, dangerous, and powerful, all working either directly or indirectly to complicate his quest for the truth. The Floozy appears to help the Detective, while actually pursuing her own motives. The Mad…

  • The World of Doggie

    Director Wu Tianming creates a real-life fantasy world as the stage for his film “King of the Masks”. With this backdrop, we follow the story of an eight-year old girl, Liu, as she struggles against tradition, adult authority, and the need to survive in her quest for a family. While her actions are grounded in…

  • The Evolution of the Internet

    The first computer my family owned was the Timex/Sinclair 1000. It had 2K of RAM, 4K of ROM, and a tape-player drive. I played chess with it a few times. I would make my move, press “play” on the tape drive, and come back in an hour to see what the computer had done. The…

  • Ryan’s Account of Hurricane Isabel

    Thursday September 18, 2003 10:30 AM – Doug calls to tell me I should move my car to the ODU parking lot. I debate this with my wife. ODU is a 15 minute walk away, I complain, and I might lose my hat. 10:45 AM – Mom calls me to tell me that the police…

  • Cognitive Schema: Your Cognitive Schema and You

    A Cognitive Schema is the organization of knowledge about a particular concept or subject. When I speak of Your Cognitive Schema, not to be confused with a Self-Schema, I am talking about the incredibly complex Web of ideas inside of your mind you use to make sense of the world. It is an evolving system,…

  • The Memepool: The Idea Marketplace

    Local, National, and Global means of communication, our minds, our histories all form a collective Idea Schema that we are all working to change or reinforce, whether through discovery, argument, or force. This vast, complex network of ideas forms a sort of soup, similar to the Earth’s genetic soup. Ideas compete like genes in this…

  • The World of Apu

    “Pather Panchali” explores the microcosm of an impoverished Indian family’s daily life. Their poverty is apparent in the state of their home, holes in the walls, worn-out wooden doors and window coverings. Cats wander about everywhere like pests, plants grow in the courtyard, and everywhere is open spaces, letting the home merge with the natural…

  • David Lean’s Directorial Style

    Two aspects of David Lean’s directorial style are most striking. Using the technique of letting scenes “introduce” one another, Lean maintains congruity across different scene locations and characters. Lean also uses visual metaphors and the symbolic actions of his characters to give his storytelling depth. “There are two men in there, one half-mad, the other…