February 25, 2004

Pseudopodium: putting the 'great' back into 'great life if you don't weaken'

Posted by John Holbo

With great power comes a little responsibility. As guest timberwossname, I inform you the best lit/film/culture online journal is Pseudopodium - formerly, Bellona Times. I wandered in one night by accident, while making my drunken way home. Well, it felt more like I fell through the roof, as Indiana Jones might find himself suddenly amongst the treasures of an ancient temple. For, you see, it’s one of those serially updated personal sites/online journals that goes back so far that it’s … older than blogging. Damn, you think, running a fingertrack through the dusty HTML. Place is old. 1999; 1997, even. Crap, some of this stuff was written in 1990. Frankly, it spooked me how good - smart and winning and heartfelt and erudite. Hazlitt and Howard Hawks, Nicholas Ray and Ruskin. I felt about uncertainly in this marvelous terrain, then with increasing delight; finally I was cramming my pockets with treasure to call my own ever after. I have returned regularly and very lately entered into edifying correspondence with its ten-times admirable demiurge, Ray Davis.

Now go and don’t come back until you have read for an hour. I could tell you which are my favorites, but I want you to have your own, that you found yourself.

Here’s the song that gave my title. Hope Ray doesn’t mind me provoking you all to strain his bandwidth.

UPDATE: Just to explain the joke, the connection between the two is, via the world, ‘with a kick to it’.

Posted on February 25, 2004 03:11 PM UTC
Comments

Before it was “Bellona Times”, it was “The Hotsy-Totsy Club”, named after a grotty little bar in Albany, California. Regardless, it’s one of the hidden treasures of the web.

Posted by Steve · February 25, 2004 04:48 PM

Just read the review of Lost in Translation. Didn’t realise it was possible to miss the point of a movie by that wide a margin.

Posted by Jimmy Doyle · February 25, 2004 07:23 PM

Ray & Dan Davies in a group blog would evoke a different tune …

Posted by nnyhav · February 25, 2004 09:53 PM

I’ve been reading Bellona Times, now Pseudopodium, for years. It’s the best thing he’s done since Waterloo Sunset.

Posted by Patrick Nielsen Hayden · February 26, 2004 04:06 AM
Followups

This discussion has been closed. Thanks to everyone who contributed.