Word: splendid
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Understand: MacNeil/Lehrer is indeed splendid; Ken Burns should be funded in perpetuity; documentaries sympathetic to black homosexuals and skeptical of Republicans are just fine by me. I have raised money for the A.C.L.U., call myself a Unitarian and give dollar bills to almost every bum who asks; I have standing to question just how essential PBS is these days...
This time Stoppard climaxes a splendid intellectual farrago with a poignant image of two couples dancing, literally and metaphysically, in the dark. One embraces in the dawn of the romantic 19th century, the other at the twilight of the nihilistic 20th. Both are confronting the little tragedy of death and the grand tragedy of entropy, the inevitable darkening and chilling of the universe. This dual moment, and the glittering double story that precedes it, are full of more affection and compassion than Stoppard has ever shown before...
...Splendid talk about freedom can't argue this away. There is no reasonable way to justify risking your life in the mountains. You climb at the mountain's sufferance, and get back down if the mountain lets you. Why this is important is not clear, especially to those of us who do it. Once, in a pompous mood, I wrote, "We climb for the same reason that smoke rises and poodles bite doormen: it is our nature." This is baloney, but true baloney. The expert strung out below a featureless overhang knows it, and the ignorant weekenders...
...Owada seems to have the world at her feet. On June 9 she will marry Crown Prince Naruhito, who will be the next Emperor of Japan, the world's oldest monarchy. The Japanese royal family does not have private wealth like Britain's Queen Elizabeth, but the government takes splendid care of it. More important, the imperial family enjoys the nation's respect, unlike the beleaguered Windsors, who may be only a few tapes away from oblivion. As crown princess, Owada will deal with the world's most powerful and interesting people -- statesmen, business leaders, educators, artists -- and travel...
Cookbook of the Year: The Splendid Table: Recipes from Emilia-Romagna, the Heartland of Northern Italian Food, by Lynne Rossetto Kasper