Kneedeep in Infinity | Thomas Fortenberry

Jul 20 2010

The Maltese Falcons

Looted antiquities worth millions recovered from black market by Italian police

By Bija Knowles

More than 300 looted antiquities, estimated to be worth more than EUR15 million, were displayed to the press this morning in Rome, having been repatriated to Italy after they were discovered in a warehouse in Switzerland.

It was a scene slightly reminiscent of a Victorian detective novel, in which the robber and his looted candlesticks is unveiled before an impressed gathering of country house guests.

Only today’s unveiling took place inside the Colosseum rather than on the pages of a 19th century novel and while there was no criminal present, there was plenty of loot, which consisted of objects such as Etruscan ceramic vases, bronze statues from Sardinia and frescoes from Pompeii – 337 objects in total.

A investigation, code-named Andromeda, led by the carabinieri and the Swiss authorities, discovered about 20,000 artefacts in the free port of Geneva, stored in warehouses that were associated with an unnamed Japanese dealer.

The artefacts were illegally taken from archaeological sites in Lazio, Puglia, Sardinia and the area of Magna Grecia – southern Italy and Sicily. They span a period off 1,200 years, dating from the eighth century BC to the fourth AD.

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Jul 20 2010

The Future Realizes the Past Failed

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Jul 20 2010

Long Lost Charlie Chaplin Film Found

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Long lost Charlie Chaplin film found at antiques fair

A long lost Hollywood silent film featuring Charlie Chaplin is to be screened for the first time in nearly a century after being discovered at an antiques fair.

The comedy called A Thief Catcher was made in 1914 and was missing for so many years that Chaplin’s appearance in it as a buffoon policeman had been forgotten.

The 10-minute movie was discovered by the American cinema historian, Paul Gierucki, who bought a can of old film marked “Keystone” at an antiques sale in Michigan.

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Jul 18 2010

When Maturity Attacks

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Jul 18 2010

Books May Not Survive the Electronic Age

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Traditional books ‘may not survive electronic age’

Books may not survive in their current form as reading habits change during the electronic age, an expert has said.

Dr Bill Bell, from the University of Edinburgh, said the book format was going through a “seismic shift”.

Books may need to be adapted to include technology, he said, as new devices now encouraged different reading styles.

Dr Bell will join historians and IT experts at a conference in the city which will look at how new forms like iPads are changing the way people read.

The academic from the university’s School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures said books appeared to be enjoying a boom at the moment.

But he believes traditional texts may eventually be superseded by electronic books.

Dr Bell suggested they may need to become easier to navigate, with more information links to satisfy people who are used to flicking between different programmes on computer screens.

‘Hybrid experience’
Readers may also be less inclined to read texts straight through from start to finish and instead be diverted by links on screen, he said.

Dr Bell added: “There’s an older generation who might complain about shorter attention spans but there is a new literacy which has emerged among younger users and readers who are incredibly adept at multi-tasking.

“The older generation might want to read a book from beginning to end but it takes a different type of skill to multi-task and keep all of those things going simultaneously.

“It’s about having a hybrid experience, it’s no longer sitting and reading linearly from beginning to end, it’s about developing new kinds of skill.

“A new generation of authors are starting to think in more multi-linear ways about the way they can structure narrative.”

The three-day “Material Cultures” conference, which starts on Friday, will focus how electronic books and media devices might influence the world of publishing.

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Jul 17 2010

The Inception of Batman

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I just got freight trained. Inception is an excellent film that hit me like a train out of nowhere in the hustle and bustle of the every day — just like what happened to the protagonists.

Leonardo DiCaprio is, as always, amazing. Proving once again that he is the best of his generation. I was also pleasantly surprised at the side roles, including Ellen Page. She has an ability to be a central and powerful player, yet remain invisible and innocent, like a bystander.

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I must give Christopher Nolan a nod for writing and filming this monster (one part Matrix, one part Kane, one part Anna Karenina), even though it was nothing more than the glory of Cyberzen Kane-cum-Batman, complete with Michael Caine, to be honest. It was like a deep delve into Bruce Wayne’s twisted psyche, including the Scarecrow and the tibetan plateau fortress of Ras al-Ghul. But I digress.

This is a deep plunge down the rabbit hole and does just about everything perfectly. Nolan has mastered the cinematographic arts, including his use of sound, motion, and special effects. The story is quite elaborate and I can see why he is rumored to have labored over this for a decade.

This is one of the few films I want to watch again, to soak up nuances and explore pet theories, and will even look forward to the DVD full of director’s extras, so I can get some behind the scenes/minds info.

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Jul 12 2010

Live Unknowing

O man, when you were coiled in the cradle of the womb, upside-down, you were absorbed in meditation. You took no pride in your perishable body; night and day were all the same to you - you lived unknowing, in the silence of the void. Remember the terrible pain and suffering of those days, now that you have spread out the net of your consciousness far and wide.

~ Sri Guru Granth Sahib

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Jul 12 2010