Ghost of a flea: Among the Quadi

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August 17, 2006

Among the Quadi

Act, speak, and think like a man ready to depart this life in the next breath. If there are gods, you have no reason to fear your flight from the land of the living, for they will not let any harm come to you; and if there are no gods, or they are indifferent to the affairs of men, why wish to go on living in a world without them or without their guidance and care? But in fact, there are gods, and they do care about men, and they have made it possible for men to guard themselves against what is truly evil. Were there any evil in what awaits us, they would have given us the means of avoiding it.

There is an Islington dinner party game which asks players to come up with a fantasy guest list of famous people from history.* Always at the top of my list is philosopher/emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. Reading his Meditations quite literally saved my life. While I have some technical questions for the man, my first motivation would be to thank him not only for having done me such a favour from so many centuries beyond the grave but for having taken the time to set down his thoughts in the first place. One of the most insightful essays I have ever read is Gore Vidal's "Robert Graves and the Twelve Caesars"; a piece in which he points out that the Roman emperors were among a relative handful of souls who have ever lived who could choose to do more or less whatever they pleased; often with unedifying results. With his choice, Marcus Aurelius not only lived a life on campaign in defense of civilization and the Light, he chose to write philosophy while he was at it.

An important difference between signing a petition decrying Israel and signing a petition condemning fascism is that the former is likely to make you popular at faculty meetings and smart Manhattan parties while the latter is adding your name to a jihadi hitlist. So, my profound thanks to Nicole Kidman, Michael Douglas, Dennis Hopper, Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Danny De Vito, Don Johnson, James Woods, Kelly Preston, Patricia Heaton, William Hurt, Ridley Scott, Tony Scott, Michael Mann, Dick Donner, Sam Raimi, Sumner Redstone and Haim Saban. By standing up as free men and women they have quite literally put their heads on the chopping block. These latter-day equestrians are all people who, like Marcus Aurelius, have sufficient wealth and social position to do much as they please and precious little incentive to risk that which they have. It is a sad commentary on our times that in stating the obvious these celebrities have also exemplified an ethical act.

Remember how long you have procrastinated, and how consistently you have failed to put to good use your suspended sentence from the gods. It is about time you realized the nature of the universe (of which you are a part) and of the power that rules it (to which your part owes its existence). Your days are numbered. Use them to throw open the windows of your soul to the sun. If you do not, the sun will soon set, and you with it.

*The Flea's more exacting variation also insists on a boy/girl/boy/girl seating arrangement.

She's a terrific actress too Update: The Flea's idée fixe compels me to add some further Kidman-media. China Daily reports Kidman enjoys dressing up while Xinhua, relying on China Daily, reports on her latest pilate related activities. Gripping stuff for the Kidman completists. More pressing is news Hugh Hefner is after Kidman for a Playboy cover.

"Nicole is bewitching, and the vision of her with a cigarette in one hand and her knickers in the other as a delicious French au pair will haunt my fantasies for months. ... I better add that she's a terrific actress too."

Quite right.

Posted by Ghost of a flea at August 17, 2006 09:44 AM

Comments

"An important difference between signing a petition decrying Israel and signing a petition condemning fascism is that the former is likely to make you popular at faculty meetings and smart Manhattan parties while the latter is adding your name to a jihadi hitlist."

Bang on. It always amazes me that folks who parade in the streets equating Jews to Nazis and Hezb'Allah to 9/11 firemen think they're the brave ones.

I'm still stunned that these folks spoke out; there is hope for Hollywood still.

Since Kidman's name seems to be at the top of the list, I wonder if she's the one who wrote the ad.

I'm still looking for the text of the ad itself, or heck, even a list of all eighty-four signers.

And I'd love to know where that bewitching picture of Kidman is from.

Posted by: refugee at August 17, 2006 11:12 AM

Ah. Here's a link to the ad. It's very simple, just the widely quoted paragraph and the list of signers.

The Malaysia Sun reports that "On the west coast the [Israeli] Consulate General [Ehud Danoch] in Los Angeles has been hard at work recuiting support from Hollywood movie stars. The envoy has been successful in getting more than eighty top stars to sign a statement blaming Hezbollah and Hamas for the recent conflicts, branding both as terrorist organizations, and saddling them with responsibility for the loss of civilian life."

Posted by: refugee at August 17, 2006 11:31 AM