Monthly Archives: August 2012

Chickens (New York State Fair)

Posted on August 31, 2012 by zjb

Aggressive birds. I suppose there is nothing remotely likable about chickens. At eye level up in their cages, the rooters are incredibly intimidating. Trying to photograph the big guys with their big chicken heads and big chicken chests, their combs … Continue reading →

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Bacon Deep Fried Chocalate (New York State Fair)

Posted on August 31, 2012 by zjb

Sweet and savory, the State Fair is a laboratory for the low arts of the synthetic human imagination. There ought to be a law against this kind of stuff…oh, right, there is. I did, however, try the glazed doughnut hamburger, … Continue reading →

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Cows (New York State Fair)

Posted on August 30, 2012 by zjb

I like the large bodies, how they fill out the frame and take up space, how they all stick together. There’s nothing more glorious than this slow, gliding gait. Unfairly, Nietzsche defamed the herd mentality of bovine life. And not just … Continue reading →

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Animal Politics (Fox Fables) (Berechiah ha-Nakdan)

Posted on August 30, 2012 by zjb

Sovereignty means that the strong eat the weak, who survive only by their wits, all and each out for their own against the other. This is what we learn about animal life, the unvarnished truth in Fox Fables, the English translation of Mishlei … Continue reading →

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Pigs (New York State Fair)

Posted on August 29, 2012 by zjb

Meat is murder, I guess, but this is the way we live. I’m very ambivalent about the pig. Or maybe not. Actually, I just don’t like them. I don’t like the smooth, pink, a little-too-human skin. Why can’t I be more generous? The … Continue reading →

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Islam and Enlightenment (Gender, Jokes, and the Difference that Makes no Difference) (Nathan the Wise)

Posted on August 29, 2012 by zjb

One of the caricatures of the Enlightenment is that the entire system is predicated upon a universalism that precludes cultural difference and particularism. It’s a lazy caricature typically used by conservatives and crypto conservatives to beat up liberalism. It does … Continue reading →

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Physical & Abstract (New York State Fair)

Posted on August 28, 2012 by zjb

Both physical and abstract, the Midway at the State Fair is the most exciting place. That’s where the rides are. You move through a place defined entirely by noise, color, lights, height, shapes, velocities, and repitition. But once the sun … Continue reading →

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Reason, Religion, Style (Lessing in Jerusalem)

Posted on August 28, 2012 by zjb

2012 was an extraordinarily busy year for me regarding publications, mainly by accident. There was a huge backlog of old material prepared and/or submitted years ago that have finally seen the light of day. This one was not in the … Continue reading →

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Polis (New York State Fair)

Posted on August 27, 2012 by zjb

  I always find thrilling the approach from the Orange Lot parking lot and the walk over the bridge spanning rt.690 down towards the main entrance of the New York State Fair fairgrounds. It’s an alternative universe, just over there. … Continue reading →

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Maimonides and Visual Sensation (Aesthetics)

Posted on August 27, 2012 by zjb

(Mark Rothko, Orange Red Yellow [1961]) My article on Maimonides and the visual imagination was just published, included as part of the published proceedings of a conference on Maimonides and Kant held some time back at Arizona State University. It … Continue reading →

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