Leonardo and the Strength of Meekness...4 - WEEk 29, 2019 - Leonardo da Vinci's "The Virgin and Child With Saint Anne and Saint John the Baptist." ...
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WEEk 29, 2019
public domain
Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Virgin and Child With Saint Anne and Saint John the Baptist.”
Leonardo
and the Strength of Meekness...4
2 | ARTS & TRADITION Week 29, 2019 Week 29, 2019 ARTS & TRADITION |3
Space Frontiers/Getty Images
boggle the imagination. In 1969 alone,
NASA launched three manned Apollo
What Our
This summer spacecraft. Supporting them on the
features ground were men and women,
thousands of them, pushing
many events
Readers Say:
hard as a team to make a lu-
nar landing a reality.
celebrating The technology available
the 50th to the astronauts and en-
gineers half a century
anniversary ago bring smiles of
incredulity. The com-
of Apollo 11. puters used to get
It’s the only sane newspaper It's bringing morality Apollo 11 from the
shores of Florida to
amidst all this insanity. back to newspapers. the Sea of Tranquil-
STAN K., PASTOR LISSA T., BUSINESS OWNER ity and home again
had 4 KB of memory,
a horse-and-buggy
antique compared
It's the only paper that You're presenting the to today’s laptops and
phones.
I know of right now that facts and letting the Slide rules—for younger
actually gives you the honest, reader decide. readers, this was a hand-
old fashioned journalism. TERRI B., BUSINESS OWNER operated instrument that
DRUE L., BUSINESS OWNER looked like a ruler and could
be used to multiply, divide, cal- The full
culate logarithms, and perform moon dur-
ing NASA’s
other functions—were also a vital part
Everything I read in it is fair and balanced, of the engineering behind these flights.
Apollo 11 lunar
landing mission,
compared to other newspapers. An example: African-American Kath- cov- on July 21, 1969.
JUNE V., RETIRED BANKER erine Johnson, a college professor and erage of
Lunar module pilot Buzz
$1
Space Frontiers/Getty Images
Aldrin deploys the Solar mathematician, calculated the trajectory the astronauts and to preserve these
Wind Composition experi- of Apollo 11 to the moon with a slide rule moments for posterity.
ment, as part of the Apollo and a pencil. Nine months after Apollo This summer features many events cel-
11 lunar landing mission. 11’s landing, when an emergency forced ebrating the 50th anniversary of Apollo
the crew of the ill-starred Apollo 13 mis- 11. You can find a listing of these galas
sion to abandon their mission and return at Space.com.
to Earth, engineers and astronauts used And if you can’t attend one of these
Astronaut Neil Armstrong
FIRST MONTH! inside the lunar module on
slide rules to quickly calculate informa- formal celebrations? Not to worry. On
tion that had not been programmed into July 18, the moon will be full. By July
July 20, 1969.
the computers. 20, it will be waning but will still be 89
History Shepard became the first American to Yet another technologi- percent visible. Weather permitting,
fly into space. Less than three weeks cal triumph was the live fill a glass with your favorite beverage,
Fly Me to the later, President Kennedy announced
plans to land human beings on the
television footage of the
moon landing. Some
walk to the backyard of your home or
the balcony of your apartment, sit in
Moon
moon. Eight years passed, and that vow 600 million viewers the dark in a lawn chair or at a picnic
became a reality. around the planet, table, take in that big, beautiful piece
What should strike us as equally in- approximately a of rock above you, and toast one of the
Subscribe to The Epoch Times credible is that the moon landing oc-
curred only 66 years after the Wright
fifth of the world’s
population, were
greatest accomplishments in the history
of mankind.
Brothers lifted off at Kitty Hawk, North able to watch his-
Please visit: ReadEpoch.com Carolina. Think about it: Orville Wright’s
first flight lasted 12 seconds and covered
tory in the making.
Innovative engineers
Jeff Minick has four children and a
growing platoon of grandchildren. For
Time to Celebrate
120 feet. A blink of Clio’s, the muse of like Stan Lebar and 20 years, he taught history, literature,
NASA/Newsmakers
history’s, eye and we’re going to the Dick Nafzger helped and Latin to seminars of homeschool-
moon and back. create the cameras and ing students in Asheville, N.C. Today,
Engineers and
The number and frequency of Apollo transmitting stations that he lives and writes in Front Royal, Va.
TRUTH AND TRADITION flights before and after Apollo 11 also permitted NASA to provide See JeffMinick.com to follow his blog.
Astronauts
American Values. The 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon walk
Traditional Journalism. Jeff Minick Academy at West Point. The pace was
‘‘I
exhausting, the hazing intense. After
t was the best of times, it was the someone decided that we plebes should
worst of times. ...” Charles Dickens witness the moon landing, the cadre of
RISKING EVERYTHING
wrote those lines thinking of the upperclassmen who had charge of us
It’s the only sane newspaper years prior to the French Revolu- marched my classmates and me into an
amidst all this insanity. tion. I write them thinking of the sum- auditorium, where we spent the next few
Reader mer of 1969. hours fighting to stay awake.
That summer, our country was mired Those commanding us strode up and
TO GET YOU THE TRUTH
in the war in Vietnam. In the streets down the aisles like caged lions, prod-
of Greenwich Village, gays and police ding us awake and shouting at any-
duked it out in what became known as one whose eyes were closed. My main
the Stonewall Riots. Senator Ted Kennedy memory of that historic evening is of
drove his car off a bridge on Chappaqui- my exhausted classmates seated in the
ddick Island in Massachusetts, leaving semidarkness, their heads, like those
his passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne, to of newborn babies, bobbing back and
drown. Charles Manson and his crew of forth, up and down. IN DECEMBER 2000, a few months after we began publishing, more than a dozen of our
wing nuts committed murder in hopes
of sparking a revolution. In August, more reporters were arrested in communist China. They were given 3 to 10 year prison terms
than 350,000 people listened to rock mu- for the crime of reporting the truth. All were tortured.
sic, played in the mud, and some cavorted On July 20, 1969,
naked at Woodstock, New York, leaving
behind tons of trash. American astronaut Neil
And the best of times? At 10:56 p.m. Armstrong stepped from Since then The Epoch Times continues to bring truthful and
EDT on July 20, 1969, American astronaut
Neil Armstrong stepped from the lunar the lunar module onto uncensored news to people oppressed by the lies and violence of
module onto the surface of the moon
the surface of the moon. communism. We’ve grown to publish in 23 languages and in 35
$1
and famously proclaimed, “That’s one
small step for (a) man, one giant leap for
countries, with our headquarters being in New York. All this time, we’ve
mankind.” All of the manned space flights were maintained a serious and rigorous approach to news: report truthfully,
Fifty years have passed since Arm- feats comparable in their audacity and
strong uttered those immortal words. execution to the voyages of such daring
dig deep, and remain non-partisan. Go to ReadEpoch.com to find out more.
Most people who witnessed this tele- explorers as Zheng He, Christopher Co-
$1
vised event will never forget looking at lumbus, and Ferdinand Magellan. Like
the grainy pictures and listening to the their predecessors on land and sea, the
static-filled transmissions from 240,000 astronauts understood the risks involved
miles away. All over the world, in the
middle of the night and the middle of
in space exploration, and some paid for
their adventures with their lives.
It’s the only sane It’s broad. It’s inclusive
the day, they watched in fascination as
Armstrong, followed by fellow astronaut
When we consider the sacrifices and
courage of these men and women, we newspaper amidst and it’s truthful. FOR THE
FIRST MONTH! “Buzz” Aldrin, took that giant leap for
mankind. Meanwhile, the third astro-
might find deeper meaning in that line
from “Star Trek”: “To boldly go where no all this insanity. PAUL TAYLOR, FIRST MONTH!
naut on this odyssey, Michael Collins, man has gone before.” All of our astro-
STAN KRZYSTON, PASTOR CANDIDATE FOR U.S. SENATE
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TRUTH AND TRADITION
have only the haziest of memories of
the astronauts bouncing on the lunar Technology in 1969
SUBSCRIPTIONS
THE REAL NEWS!
surface. On that day, I was three weeks First up is the rapidity with which we
into Beast Barracks at the U.S. Military reached the moon. On May 5, 1961, Alan
4 | ARTS & TRADITION Week 29, 2019 Week 29, 2019 ARTS & TRADITION |5
early as 1499 to 1500 and others composure, innocence, and of these faces share the same
as late as 1506 to 1508. Some just compassion? The longer I look, three-quarter perspective.
Reaching Within: all photos in Public Domain
throw up their hands and say the deeper I feel these qualities Anne and John, who both
What Traditional Art Offers the Heart a range that encompasses the have been immortalized. face and mirror Mary and Je-
Mary
Leonardo
extremes of those dates. Mary, who exemplifies fem- sus, are slightly shaded, like-
The drawing is not a typical inine virtues such as gentle- ly because the master artist exemplifies
cartoon, which most often ness, modesty, deference, and wanted to acknowledge the feminine
was a preparatory work for nurturance, has long been a lack of their spiritual status
a painting or fresco. It bears symbol of meekness, charac- in comparison to that of the
virtues such
no pricked holes along the terized, for example, in the Madonna and child. as gentleness,
sketched lines that would Christmas carol “Silent Night” Baby Jesus seems to be wrig- modesty,
have been dusted with char- as “tender and mild.” gling out of Mary’s arms as she deference,
and the Strength of
coal to transfer the image onto But while meekness can patiently watches him give a
a canvas or wall. So it may be mean submissiveness, its syn- benediction to St. John, who and
that Leonardo intended it as a onyms include patience and one day will baptize him nurturance.
completed work. forbearance, and even adjec- and set him on his journey
Meekness
It is similar in subject mat- tives like long-suffering and as savior.
ter to his painting “The Virgin resigned. Taken together—in a visual
and Child With Saint Anne,” Anyone who’s been a moth- arc moving from Anne to Mary
now in the Louvre. But little St. er or has closely watched a to Jesus to John—this is an im-
John does not appear in that mother knows that patience age of human love meeting
painting. Instead, the toddler is crucial to the role. But unless God’s compassion as it pours
Jesus is playing with a lamb, a child has turned wayward, forth, beyond the family, to
meant to symbolize the sac- we don’t often think of moth- the world, as represented by
rificial lamb he is destined to ers as long-suffering. Jesus’s benediction to John.
become. But aren’t they? In the course
Bernardino Luini, who is of rearing a child and even in Strength and Compassion
said to have worked with the years beyond those early The image of Anne’s finger
Leonardo, certainly based his ones, mothers are likely to pointing to heaven seems al-
own painting “Holy Family endure the pain that their most out of place in this inti-
With Saint Anne and the In- children do, whether it’s a mate scene. As Anne gazes at
fant John the Baptist” on Leon- cat scratch, doing poorly on a her daughter, why is her hand
ardo’s cartoon but added Je- test, a romance turned sour, or telling us something else? It
sus’s father, St. Joseph, as well. bouts of chemotherapy. Every seems unconnected to the
trial the child faces, the moth- story of family love and God’s
From Motherhood to er, in some measure, does as compassion.
Motherhood well. I believe Leonardo shows us
Leonardo said a lot by setting What tremendous strength a way to better ourselves spiri-
these figures, as they are, in this requires! How strange that tually. The finger is pointing to
one nearly static pose. The we should see these attributes heaven for our sake.
drawing tells a story of moth- as weakness. In the attributes How can what is depicted
erhood through time—for of patience and forbearance, in this drawing speak to us?
nothing suggests the mother- we can see in Mary the wis- First, of course, we can un-
child bond more aptly than a dom to gracefully submit to a derstand that Anne and Mary
child on a mother’s lap. power greater than her own. represent more than mothers.
Over the generations, from This, however, takes strength It is not only mothers who
lap to lap to lap, mothers hold of character. can empathize with the pain
their children until they see Leonardo makes just this of their children; fathers can
them off and into the world to point. Taking another look at as well. And, going one step
embark on their own journeys. Mary and Anne, we see that further, the ability to show
Of the two mothers, the larger these women are not meek in empathy and compassion is
and more substantial one is the sense of weakness. Irre- not reserved for parents alone.
St. Anne, who holds her child spective of the soft expressions Since every life in its course
Mary as an adult: Mary as a on their faces, Leonardo em- must submit to troubles, ill-
mother herself. bodied them with tremendous nesses, and death, on this
Mary cradles her own child, strength: These legs are more point, all humanity is one
still a babe, as he reaches out. than sturdy. These laps are family. And we can, as all tra-
He is almost crawling away solid and can bear the weight ditional spiritual paths remind
from her, out to his own future of the world. us, treat each other with com-
meeting with John the Baptist. Of course, this is not just a passion as we suffer through
“Holy Family Sharon Kilarski What Traditional Art Offers The tight grouping, especial- painting about motherhood life together.
with Saint the Heart. ly of those in the family—Anne, and children. Not only are But doing so requires pa-
Anne and the Art has an incredible ability Mary, and Jesus—shows clearly these biblical figures, but St. tience to endure insults,
Infant John to point to what can’t be seen If just one work by Leonardo the bonds between them. But Anne’s index finger points to disregard faults, and allow
the Baptist,” so that we may ask “What da Vinci sings for me the word even more so do their expres- heaven. ourselves to feel each other’s
1503, by does this mean for me and for genius—genius, that is, in the sions. Our eyes follow St. troubles as our own.
Bernardino
everyone who sees it?” “How original sense of the word, Anne’s. She looks adoringly Radiant With Compassion How well Leonardo’s draw-
Luini.
Pinacoteca has it influenced the past, and which describes a life guided at her daughter, who in turn Somehow, with just touches of ing reveals that enduring for
Ambrosiana. how might it influence the by a spirit or even a higher pow- gazes at her son. white chalk, Leonardo man- others is the same thing as
future?” “What does it sug- er—it is his drawing “The Virgin aged to show a soft light on compassion. When we reach
“The Virgin
gest about the human experi- and Child With Saint Anne and Reclaiming Meekness St. Mary and the Christ child within for the strength to en- and Child With
ence?” These are some of the Saint John the Baptist.” Overall, it is Mary’s face that and around Mary’s head, and dure, we approach the sub- Saint Anne” by
questions we will explore in Scholars don’t agree when the transfixes me. Was there ever the light seems to emanate lime, and rest there in perfect Leonardo da
our series Reaching Within: work was created; some say as a face with such sweetness, from within them. And both composure and peace. Vinci. Louvre.
all photos by New Asia Chamber Music Society
Classical Music (Left) together. The organization has grown from
Wei-Yang “Andy” a small group of friends with a shared pas-
The New Asia Chamber Music Society
Lin, one of the sion into a world-class association that has
founders of the performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center,
New Asia Chamber and more.
Music Society, was Looking back, Andy definitely recognizes
Blending classical Western music with Asian culture a member of the
renowned string
the positive impact that music has made on
quartet Amphion. He his life. “Musicians dedicate countless hours
is a master of Western to practicing an instrument or learning a
Angela Feng he received his doctorate degree in musical instruments such as new song. When you play an instrument,
arts from SUNY Stony Brook. the piano and viola, as you aren’t just mindlessly repeating the same
The performance has come to an end; the Nan-Cheng also received his undergradu- Andy Lin well as the traditional motion over and over—you have to have co-
musicians’ bows remain fixed in the air as ate degree from Juilliard. He and Andy met believes that Chinese erhu. ordination and concentration,” Andy said.
their last note rings into the awed silence back when they were in high school. The two through (Middle)
“There are so many little details you must pay
of the chamber hall. Then, all at once, the were quick to bond over their shared expe- attention to.” He believes that through play-
trance is broken as the audience snaps out rience as Taiwanese immigrants and their
playing Three of the New
ing music, one can cultivate self-discipline,
Asia Chamber Music
of its dazzled stupor and breaks into spirited passion for music, striking up a friendship music, Society’s directors– concentration, and endurance.
applause. that has lasted nearly 20 years (and count- one can (L–R) violinist Tien- Nan-Cheng says that even as a top musi-
The New Asia Chamber Music Society, or ing). Together, they have accumulated nu- cultivate self- Hsin “Cindy” Wu, cian, he has yet to have a “perfect” perfor-
NACMS, has hosted dozens of concerts over merous awards and are widely recognized cellist Nan-Cheng mance. “You will never have a perfect day;
the years, bringing together top musicians as top musicians in the industry. discipline, Chen, and violist Andy you need to accept that there will always
from all over the world. Among the talented In 2010, Andy and Nan-Cheng founded the concentration, Lin–perform on the be imperfections,” he said. To him, music is
same stage.
artists are Wei-Yang “Andy” Lin and Nan- New Asia Chamber Music Society together. and Andy and Nan-Cheng founded the orga- as well as a three-year contract with Lincoln passion,” he said. a never-ending journey of refinement and
Cheng Chen, the association’s co-founders. They started out with two additional co- nization with relatively low expectations. In Center. However, due to personal issues, the Both Andy and Nan-Cheng were trained (Right) self-improvement.
Andy currently holds the position of artistic founders; however, one ended up returning
endurance. the beginning, they were mainly looking to group ended up disbanding. in Western classical music, but their East- Over the years, Andy and Nan-Cheng have
Nan-Cheng Chen,
director, while Nan-Cheng is the executive to Taiwan, while the other got married and have fun and meet other musicians. In the Following the disbandment, Andy decided ern identity remains an important part of co-founder of the grown from passionate teenagers to esteemed
director. Together, they have set the stage quickly became busy with other responsi- first few years, they would do three or four to focus all his energy on NACMS. He and their career. In addition to recording classical New Asia Chamber artists at the top of their field. Through es-
for a new generation of young and gifted bilities. concerts a year at most, with a few smaller, Nan-Cheng began by holding a fundraising Western music, NACMS has invited compos- Music Society, tablishing NACMS, they have created a plat-
virtuosi. All four of the original members happened local performances in between. It wasn’t dinner for the organization. It was massively ers to create melodies that use traditional graduated from The form for young musicians all over the world
Twenty-two years ago, Andy left his home to be from Taiwan, but they didn’t want to until three years ago that Andy and Nan- successful and raised over $80,000, thus Asian instruments, as well as combinations Juilliard School of to come together and share their talent and
in Taiwan to come to the United States and limit the organization to just Taiwanese mu- Cheng really picked up steam and began kickstarting NACMS’s subsequent success. of Chinese and Western instruments. Music in New York. passion. While being a musician is often
study music at the Idyllwild Arts Academy in sicians. Therefore, the name “New Asia” was taking NACMS more seriously. To Nan-Cheng, “music is a special lan- Over the years, NACMS has faced many demanding and challenging, the two have
California. At the time, he was only 13 years conceived. “We came up with the phrase The reason for the initial lull was Andy’s in- guage.” Classical music training has not challenges. Its status as a nonprofit makes never regretted their choice. “For me, work is
old. He went on to pursue his undergraduate ‘New Asia’ because we want to showcase a volvement in the award-winning Amphion only taught him to truly understand music it reliant on volunteers, which often makes my life because I love what I do,” Andy said.
and master’s degrees at the prestigious Juil- new generation of Asian musicians, as well String Quartet, which took up most of his but also to appreciate all the behind-the- things difficult. However, both Andy and
liard School, where he majored in piano and as the integration of Asian and Western cul- time. The group was very successful, and it scenes workings. “I feel very grateful that Nan-Cheng are grateful to have the oppor- Republished with permission from
minored in viola and the erhu. Afterward, ture,” Andy explained. had contracts with various record companies I was given this opportunity to pursue my tunity to build community and bring people Elite Lifestyle Magazine.
6 | ARTS & TRADITION Week 29, 2019 Week 29, 2019 ARTS & TRADITION |7
ALL PHOTOS BY Sony Pictures
Writing Matters Film Insights
Finally, let me recommend “Style: The Mark Jackson grew up in Spring Val-
Art of Writing Well.” Here F.L. Lucas, a ley, N.Y., where he attended a Waldorf
With Mark
British classical scholar and writer who school. At Williams College, his pro-
fessors all suggested he write pro-
died in 1967, left us a book that bestows fessionally. He acted professionally
the twin pleasures of fine writing and
Jackson
for 20 years instead. Now he
5 Books That Can Help Us
excellent advice. Though I have not read writes professionally about
“Style” cover to cover, I have returned to acting. In the movies.
it again and again, drawn in particular
Become Better Writers
by the charm of Lucas’s writing and by
his stress on “Courtesy to Readers,” that
The Marvel
duty owed by all writers, from the poet
to the CEO, to write as clearly and as
Hannah Olinger/Unsplash truthfully as possible for their readers.
Jeff Minick Lucas’s self-deprecation, his many ex- Spider-Man (Tom Holland) trying to save the world.
S Cinematic
amples, his humor, and his deep knowl-
ome writers and teachers edge of literature make him a joy to read. disgruntled former employee of someone we
among us, praise be to all of A grand treat, but too advanced for most all know quite well, and therefore, in a sense,
them, are obsessed with writ- high school and college students. “Spider-Man: Far From Home” is the story of
Universe Cranks
ing, grammar, syntax, and our In the Information Age, as some have the karmic ripple effect of a former superhero
English language. They argue for concise labeled the 21st century, our ability to ‘Far From Home’ rolling out: how his bad side affected some
diction, debate the use of “like” versus communicate via the written word is and, conversely, how his good side affected
“as,” condemn sloppy usage, and are vital. Good writing is important not is a comedic high others. Gyllenhaal makes Mysterio both lik-
horrified by misspellings. Recently, for only in commerce—poor communica- school romance. able and dangerous at the same time.
instance, a reader of one of my book re-
views chastised me for spelling Mary
Chesnut of Civil War fame as Chestnut,
a mistake that brought an immediate
tion costs businesses billions of dollars
per year, according to Inc.—but also in
our personal affairs. Which of us has
not sent an email or text we regretted, or
Back up Again So, as mentioned, this is the story of Peter
Parker transitioning out of the shadow of his
mentor. What will it ultimately transition
to? Hopefully, to a maturation story where
“mea culpa” from me. misinterpreted one sent to us by a friend Peter becomes a man.
or family member? I’ve personally never been a fan of skinny,
teenage Spider-Boy. Young Tom Holland is
great, but I’m wanting to eventually see
If I learned just one Spidey morph into a full-blown, 6-foot-4,
new trick or technique Many bookstores mean, stacked, ripped, deep-voiced, grim
from the book, that devote several superhero you don’t even want to think
about messing with. Spider-Man. Not boy.
advice was worth shelves to these Spidey’s quippiness has always been his
schtick, but I imagine, rather, a mash-up of
much more than the books on writing and Deadpool’s dark quippiness and Batman’s
few dollars I’d spent. composition. nocturnal taciturnity.
This is my personal Spidey vision. Allow
Many bookstores devote several me to paraphrase myself: But as a former
shelves to these books on writing and Few of us possess the talents of a Leo trainer, this reviewer feels that the Spidey
composition, ranging from such classics Tolstoy or a Jane Austen, but through producers should consult a fitness coach
as Strunk and White’s “The Elements of practice and diligent revision, and about specificity. The spider-bod should be
Style” to the recently released “Dreyer’s through the study of such books as those rockclimber-ish. All that pulling and haul-
“English: An Utterly Correct Guide to reviewed here, all of us can become bet- ing and grabbing that Spidey does should
Clarity and Style.” (Some guardians of ter writers. result in some truly epic lat muscles (latis-
the language would shoot down “ut- simus dorsi).
terly,” arguing redundancy.) In these Jeff Minick has four children and a Spider-Man should also have Popeye fore-
works, we find writers who love the growing platoon of grandchildren. For arms, with all the grip-strength require-
English language with the fondness of 20 years, he taught history, literature, ments in his line of work. Build a better
children for their mother. body for Spidey! Put a sinewy bodybuilder
and Latin to seminars of homeschool-
A score or so of these guides share a like 1970s Frank Zane, or a swole Ultimate
ing students in Asheville, N.C. Today,
home on the shelf above my desk. Robert Fighting Championship fighter like Cheick
Hartwell Fiske wrote four of these vol- he lives and writes in Front Royal, Va. Kongo, in the Spidey suit.
umes: “To the Point”; “The Best Words”; See JeffMinick.com to follow his blog. They can keep the newest iteration of the
Just about all of us could stand to improve our writing. Spidey suit though, which has X-Games
type, wing-suit capabilities. Anyway, we
“Silence, Language, and Society”; and first I used with upper-level high school shall see.
“Elegant English.” Fiske was the founder students in my final years as a teacher;
and editor of Vocabula Review, an on- the second I bought because of the plea- Mark Jackson dissonance-resolution. (Above) MJ (Zendaya) and ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’
Spider-Man (Tom Holland)
I
line site devoted to the encouragement of sure the first book delivered. Speaking of awkward, it also gets a lot of Director
’
clear expression. I am proud to say that Wilbers addresses the fundamentals d thought we’d finished the Mar- mileage out of Aunt May cluelessly calling enjoy a class trip to France, in
Jon Watts
“Spider-Man: Far From Home.”
several of my articles passed Fiske’s dis- for constructing sentences, paragraphs, vel Universe storytelling marathon Peter’s “Spidey sense” his “Peter Tingle,” Starring
cerning eye and appeared on Vocabula. and essays, all with exercises designed to with “Avengers: Endgame.” Twenty- which will make all boys in the audience (Below) Samuel L. Jackson (L) Starring: Tom Holland, Samuel L.
That Fiske was obsessed with writ- underline the lessons taught. In “Keys to two movies! It was done. Cooked. Iron resonate with mortification memories, and Jon Favreau. Jackson, Jake Gyllenhaal, Marisa
ing and composition is evident in the Great Writing,” Chapter 4 “Music” with Man had died. Thor got fat. Gone was where one had to holler, “Mom!?! Stop!!” (Bottom)Tom Holland (L) and Tomei, Jon Favreau, Cobie Smulders
prepared statement he wrote before his its emphasis on beat, rhythm, and com- the little tidbit of a post-credit-roll scene Jake Gyllenhaal in “Spider- Running Time
untimely death from melanoma in 2016: position, along with dozens of practical we’d all gotten so used to. Shirking Responsibility Man: Far From Home.” 2 hours, 9 minutes
Robert Hartwell Fiske, owner and tips, is particularly valuable both to the But no! Here we are right back at it again! Peter’s now famous, but fame is not his Rated
editor of the Vocabula Review since its novice and the veteran writer. I was about to walk out of “Spider-Man: Far thing; he’s not feeling it—not feeling the PG-13
genesis in September 1999, has died. Vo- The fourth edition of “Style: The Basics From Home,” when the movie usher whis- heavy mantle of Iron Man-type world sav- Release Date
cabula, I am sorry to say, will die along of Clarity and Grace,” written by Joseph pered at me, “You should stay for the post- ing-ness. No. He and his classmates go to July 2
with him. My apologies. I have taken Williams and revised in this edition credit-roll scene.” France, hilariously chaperoned by teachers
great pleasure in getting to know you, by Gregory Colomb of the University Stephen Wilbers’s “Keys to Great What was I thinking? The Marvel Cine- Mr. Dell and Mr. Harrington (J.B. Smoove
Strunk and White’s “The Elements of
my readers. And I will miss you might- of Virginia, offers excellent lessons in Writing” addresses the fundamen- matic Universe (MCU) had merely pulled a and Martin Starr).
Style” is a classic text on the subject.
ily. I wish you all an auspicious fate, sentence and paragraph cohesion, em- tals for constructing sentences, James Brown type fake-out stage exit, where All Peter can think about is the lovely MJ,
a long-lived life. (Even though many phasis, and concision. On page 58 of my paragraphs, and essays. they’d throw a cape over James and he’d be again played with great awkward quirkiness
people pronounce copy, alongside escorted, limping, off stage, too tired and by the deeply charismatic Zendaya.
long-lived with a six principles of beaten down to continue, only to shake it off However, this is summer blockbuster
short i sound, the concision like and dash back to the microphone for another season, not to mention a July 4th weekend
long i is correct. “Replace a phrase encore! The MCU is the Hardest Working opening; therefore—blockbuster writ large—
Long-lived derives with a word” Man, er, Franchise, in Showbiz: the Godfa- and that means some ‘splosions need to hap-
from the word life, and “Change ther of Soul, er, Superheroes. pen. Many ‘splosions.
not the word live.) negatives to af- Now, you knew 2017’s “Spider-Man: Are you familiar with how the term
Now there, my firmatives,” a Homecoming” was going to be hard to beat. “blockbuster” came to be? A blockbuster
friends and read- note remains Not to mention “Far From Home” arrives on was an illegal 1970s firecracker that kids
ers, is a man who from the days I the scene six months after “Spider-Man: Into managed nevertheless to get their hands on.
departed this world taught style in the Spider-Verse,” which actually won an It was a quarter of a stick of dynamite. Can
displaying courage, the classroom. Oscar. So along with “Avengers: Endgame,” you imagine kids playing with such a thing
wit, and class. “Drum these into that’s not one, but three hard acts to follow. in this day and age? Blockbusters blew many
Here are five other students,” the Not to mention one risks Spider-saturation. a (male) teenage digit to kingdom come. So
books I frequently note says. After like I said—blockbuster-sized ‘splosions.
examine or else reviewing these Teen Romance While Peter and class are on their Euro-
have used when six points, I hope This Spidey flick is a very entertaining tran- pean class trip (hence, “Far From Home”)
teaching composi- I beat that drum sition: the emergence of Peter Parker from along comes former S.H.I.E.L.D. director
Robert Hartwell Fiske’s “Silence, tion to students. In In “Style: The Art of Writing Well,” F.L. good and loud. I relied on “Style: The Basics the shadow of his mentor Iron Man. What Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) with some
Language, and Society” is one of purchasing these Lucas, a British classical scholar and Gregory Rop- of Clarity and Grace” in the will it ultimately transition to? I’ll muse depressing news about an imminent, dire
the four volumes of his I own. writer, combines the twin pleasures of classroom.
books, my reason- er’s “The Writ- more about that later. attack and an “Are you going to step up?”
ing proceeded as fine writing and excellent advice. er’s Workshop: “Far From Home” picks up where “Aveng- challenge.
follows: If I learned Imitating Your ers: Endgame” left off. It’s been five years Peter pretty much has no choice but to
just one new trick Way to Better since the great, purple, bald god Thanos work with Fury and a new superhero
or technique, that advice was worth Writing” harkens back to the practice finger-snapped the cosmos into disarray, named Quentin Beck, aka Mysterio (Jake
much more than the few dollars I’d of copying the style of other writers, and Iron Man finger-snapped it back into Gyllenhaal), who has the most ridiculous
spent. or sometimes literally copying their ordered existence again. Which was so im- superhero costume ever seen in the Marvel-
work, until you find your own voice mensely cosmic. verse (there’s a good reason for that)—a mix
5 Winning Resources and rhythm. My Advanced Placement So to counteract all that bombast, the of something like Thor’s bodysuit with a
Constance Hale’s witty “Vex, Hex, Composition students often undertook franchise has to start small again. Basically, helmet that looks like a big snow-globe.
Smash, Smooch: Let Verbs Power Your Roper’s exercises, often with produc- “Far From Home” is a comedic high school Apparently, Mysterio’s here from another
Writing” reminds writers that verbs are tive but hilarious effects, by modeling romance, with Peter (Tom Holland) and planet (maybe another universe) to fight
the engines of a sentence. She begins by passages from such works as Geoffrey MJ (Zendaya) pining for each other, Peter’s these new monsters called Elementals,
quoting the verbs used by Julius Caesar, of Vinsauf’s “Poetria Nova,” “The Ten chubby buddy Ned (Jacob Batalon) pining which are basically earth, wind, and fire
Saint Matthew, Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Commandments” from the book of Deu- for prim, cheerleader-looking Betty (An- swirled up into anthropomorphic form by
Saul Bellow, and even her dog Homer, teronomy, and Charles Dickens’s “Great gourie Rice), and even Jon Favreau’s avun- some uninspiring CGI. Tidal waves rise up
who “understands the commands sit, Expectations.” cular Happy hilariously crushing on Peter’s out of canals and smash the lovely Venetian
stay, heel, and fetch.” Dull verbs, dull Roper enrolls his readers in a true Aunt May (Marisa Tomei). architecture with big water-fists. And such.
writing. writer’s workshop, with many well- It’s young, geek love to the max, all of
“Vex, Hex, Smash, Smooch: Let Verbs Next up are two books by Stephen constructed exercises, which, for those “The Writer’s Workshop: Imitating Your which can be summed up by that favorite Karmic Ripple Effect
Power Your Writing” reminds writers that Wilbers: “Keys to Great Writing” and willing to pitch in and do the work, can Way to Better Writing” harkens back to the millennial word: “Awkward!” But it’s deli- Gyllenhaal as Mysterio is quite good. But is
verbs are the engines of a sentence. “Mastering the Craft of Writing.” The help boost composition skills. practice of copying the style of other writers. cious awkwardness with great payoffs of Mysterio really a good guy? He might be the
8 | ARTS & TRADITION Week 29, 2019
Film Review
An Indie Thriller With an Interesting Premise
Indie Rights
Ian Kane
hen it comes to
movies, there are
certain elements
that can engender a
viewer’s sense of immersion. Sure,
character development, motives,
backstories, and so on, are all fac-
tors that lend to building up our
immersion. However, an often
overlooked item that is usually
What can you do when the
only perceivable to very discern-
police pull you over and you
ing moviegoers is characters mak- have a corpse in the trunk?
ing believable decisions.
Think of a typical horror or
thriller flick in which people make
totally incomprehensible decisions Schadt wrote the film’s script, gle’s girlfriend, Robin (Constance for the victim make him—as the
when faced with obvious danger. and I found the premise simple yet Brenneman), takes the corpse-car main character—utterly unrelat-
We’ve all witnessed these types of Scenes that relatable, at least at first. The dead out shopping. From there, we are able. I found myself rooting for
movies where people walk directly may have body doubles as the film’s plot de- treated to back-and-forth cuts of his demise.
toward potential threats (such as vice as well as the main hook, beg- Eagle cycling to the local stores in
foreboding, dark closets, or some-
seemed good ging the audience to consider what order to find her, and shots of her Following the
thing clearly hazardous) instead on paper fall they would do in such a situation. shopping. He’s got to get to her be- Female-Victim Trend
of away from them. This can ter- completely It’s entirely believable, since this fore she opens the trunk to store her Unfortunately, “Silent Panic” falls
minally derail any good setup a flat on the big kind of tragic event is within the shopping bags. What transpires is into the ideological trap of promot-
movie has built up to that point. realm of possibility given a conflu- so mind-drubbingly unbelievable ing the idea of perpetual female
Director Kyle Schadt’s (“Sun- screen. ence of bad, bad circumstances. that it garnered some “yeah, right” victimhood. Why don’t we ever
land”) new indie thriller “Silent But, as the saying goes, “There is guffawing from the audience. see any films that feature women
Panic” certainly has a great setup. nothing new under the sun.” That As Eagle’s character becomes finding dead men? It would be in-
Ex-con Eagle (Sean Nateghi, “Me, certainly holds true for film plots. annoyingly unbelievable, his two teresting to explore how they deal
You, and Five Bucks”), Bobby (Jo- In this case, a group of friends cohorts don’t fare much better. with similar circumstances. Now
seph Martinez), and Dominic (Jay discovering and then trying to Bobby and Dominic appear to be that would be original!
Habre) are a trio of buddies who decide what to do with a corpse slightly more sensible than Eagle. Or, as one reviewer wrote about
are wrapping up a camping trip. isn’t exactly an original plot. It’s But then one of them suddenly “Silent Panic”: “Make the corpse
As the chums get back to Eagle’s been done before in films such as turns to drugs in order to deal male and go for laughs? Could have
car, they get a nasty surprise— “The Loft” and “The Upper Foot- with his stress, and things spiral worked.” (“Weekend at Bernie’s”
there’s a dead woman in the trunk. age.” However, coming across a out of control. This turn of events comes to mind.)
“Look, I’m not comfortable ‘Silent Panic’ random body that (spoiler alert) not only felt contrived and clichéd, To the film’s credit, it does fea-
callin’ the cops, and I think we none of them had any involvement but it also gave the impression that ture some solid cinematography
Director
all know why,” Eagle says right Kyle Schadt
with, is a new twist on things. the filmmakers were becoming by Jordan Rennert (“The Perfect
away, having served prison time The second act starts off strong, self-conscious of their rabidly Dose,” “House of Demons”), which
for crimes he purportedly never Starring mainly powered by the reasoning disintegrating script and had to captures the quiet sense of des-
Sean Nateghi, Joseph
committed. He believes he’ll be the Martinez, Jay Habre of Eagle’s bad-boy past and his inject something “edgy” in order peration (at least when Eagle isn’t
first one to be blamed by overzeal- reluctance to contact the authori- to prop it up. blabbering) and eventual isolation
Running Time
ous detectives. The others are also 1 hour, 36 minutes ties. Soon, however, things begin The plot soon deteriorates from that the characters find them-
confused and fearful of the reper- to devolve into what resembles a unbelievable to downright ridicu- selves in.
Not Rated
cussions of their recent discovery. melodramatic, made-for-TV mov- lous when Eagle starts to go to to-
Ultimately, they agree to remain Release Date ie. Scenes that may have seemed tally irrational lengths to try and Ian Kane is a filmmaker and
hush-hush about the corpse, but July 5 good on paper fall completely flat cover up a crime he never com- author based out of Los Ange-
that fateful decision eventually on the big screen. mitted. Meanwhile, his egocentric les. To see more, visit
comes back to haunt them. One example of this is when Ea- nature and lack of compassion DreamFlightEnt.com
ALL PHOTOS BY Twentieth Century Fox/Disney
Film Review
‘Stuber’
Kumail Nanjiani as Dave
Bautista’s Nagging Wife
Mark Jackson an Indian version of Tony Randall
from “The Odd Couple,” except up-
Stu + Uber = “Stuber.” graded with millennial-speak and
Who’s Stu? Stu’s a narrow-shoul- 2019 potent sarcasm, and lots of
dered, effete, meek, mild, polite, man-screaming (because Vic does
fastidious Indian man, living in dangerous things).
America (played by Kumail Nan-
jiani). He works as a retail clerk at Vic and Stu’s Excellent highly predictable flattening of Vic, a cop (Dave Bautista, constantly at odds with Stu’s …
a sort of Home Depot and Costco Adventure small trees and running into L), takes Uber driver Stu well, let me see—how would I de-
mash-up, but drives an Uber to So, we already talked about Vic’s ditches—Bautista can’t really make (Kumail Nanjiani) on a scribe Stu? He sort of uses the so-
supplement his income. Stu’s also LASIK, but I didn’t mention that it work. This movie would have hit night of chasing bad guys, called gay voice, but he’s not gay.
viciously sarcastic, with world- Vic scheduled his LASIK appoint- the stratosphere had the exceed- in “Stuber.” But his sarcasm and observational
class, passive-aggressive, comedic ment on the same day as an art- ingly funny Rock teamed up with “read-out” ability, combined with
timing. gallery sculpture debut by his es- Kumail Nanjiani, because Kumail a talent for verbally dressing-down
Stu has a highly unintelligent, tranged daughter (Natalie Morales). Nanjiani is a very, very funny man. ‘Stuber’ opponents might also appear to
bullying boss who calls him “Stu- So Vic should attend that, but he’d But Dave might eventually catch Director derive from gay culture. So where
ber.” Stu does not like his boss, or rather chase his drug-dealing perp. up to Dwayne. Michael Dowse does this not-exactly-effeminate,
his job. Stu also, unfortunately, This kind of thing is, of course, the Starring not-exactly-gay character come
doesn’t love his Uber gig because reason they’re estranged. All in All Kumail Nanjiani, Dave from?
the endless stream of messy, rude Now Stu, years before, managed “Stuber” is basically a 93-minute Bautista, Iko Uwais, He’s not exactly a weak man. He
people who enter and exit his to friend-zone himself with Becca commercial for Uber, and as such, Natalie Morales, Betty has no problem whatsoever speak-
Gilpin, Jimmy Tatro, Mira
leased, electric Uber car is con- (Betty Gilpin), the love of his life. it’s rather entertaining. It has loads Sorvino, Karen Gillan ing his mind, even knowing his
stantly putting Stu’s star rating in But he never told her how he felt, so of cartoon-y hyperviolence, but it’s larger cohort might pound him
Running Time
jeopardy. she started dating a famous athlete, really the comedic chemistry of 1 hour, 33 minutes
to smithereens (which is great for
who then dumped her. Now she’s Dave Bautista and Kumail Nanji- supplying an endless stream of
Enter Vic depressed and needs comforting; ani that charges this movie, in the Rated conflict). He can stand up to Vic
R
Vic (former World Wrestling En- this is Stu’s chance. He desperately same way electricity charges Stu’s verbally any day; he gives Vic a
tertainment (WWE) wrestler Dave needs to drive over to Becca’s and Uber car. Release Date piece of his mind at a moment’s
July 12
Bautista) is an enormous, blind say nice things. It’s Vic’s hypermachismo, hulk- notice. He does have problems tell-
cop. Blind? Blind because he just But then rude, messy Vic gets in ing muscle, and stoicism being ing Becca he loves her. OK, here it
had LASIK eye surgery. But when his car. As mentioned, Vic, after is: Stu sometimes functions as Vic’s
he hears that a dangerous drug blindly landing in the ditch, has to nagging wife.
dealer (Iko Uwais) he’s been tail- use the Uber app that his daughter Kumail Nanjiani is very And so this persona conflict
ing for a lengthy period of time is installed on his phone for him. funny as a polite and between the two naturally pro-
on the loose, Vic jumps in his car, Dave Bautista, the former WWE fastidious Uber driver, gresses to their becoming friends.
runs over a mailbox and a small wrestler who plays the character of in “Stuber.” Chasing a death-dealing drug
tree, and lands in a ditch. Vic must Drax the Destroyer in the “Guard- dealer, with shoot-em-ups, car
therefore call an Uber. ians of the Galaxy” franchise, is a chases, and the bleeding and puk-
So “Stuber” is kind of buddy- little bit of a poor man’s Dwayne ing that accompany all that, will
cop movie combined and an odd- Johnson, aka The Rock—that other make all involved feel like they
couple movie: a cop reluctantly former WWE wrestler turned actor. went through a war together, and
teaming up with a regular Joe, like Dave’s not as funny as Dwayne. this is always very bonding for the
“Rush Hour” and “48 Hrs.” Vic’s He’s got potential, but his talent menfolk.
a bull in a china shop, and Stu’s hasn’t blossomed yet. All that Stu, meet Vic.
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