Madeline and its philosophy; a shootout
Winter is here in earnest. Snow covers the ground (thankfully, the sun sets appreciably later than at solstice-time). Samuel and I hardly ever go out strolling any more – unlike the little girls who walk around Paris, “in rain or shine,” in Madeline, which has become Samuel’s favorite book.
We read it daily. I used to struggle with the lines of poetry because they’d often break in the middle of a clause, but now I can utter them smoothly enough. The trick is to stress the RHYMES: “Madeline woke up two HOURS / later, in a room with FLOWERS.”
Madeline is not a very profound book, though the philosopher Thomas Hurka quotes from it to summarize his theory of what distinguishes the virtuous: “They smiled at the good / and frowned at the bad.” He omits the line: “And sometimes they were very sad.” (I suppose that when these little Parisian girls are sad for the soldier who has returned, wounded, from the colonies, it can be construed as another example of their “frowning” at the bad.)
On the other hand, the girls neglect to “thank the Lord [they] are well”; indeed, they are sad that they are not ill (they covet the benefits that their friend receives as compensation for having been ill). Perhaps they are not so virtuous after all.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
And now, some outdated news too important not to mention. Barcelona defeated Liga de Quito in the “return” leg of Ecuador’s championship round and, for the sixteenth time, won the Serie A.
I missed the game, alas. It was held on Tuesday night of last week – not on Wednesday night, as I had expected. Apparently, Barcelona “parked the bus” all game long and waited for the penalty shootout. Not very glorious.
Then again, just winning in Quito is difficult enough. This was Barcelona’s first victory in Liga’s stadium since it was inaugurated in 1997.
I was especially pleased for Matías Oyola, Barcelona’s captain and long-serving midfielder, who played his last game before retiring. He scored in the shootout. He contributed to three of Barcelona’s championships.
Here is a video of the shootout.
We read it daily. I used to struggle with the lines of poetry because they’d often break in the middle of a clause, but now I can utter them smoothly enough. The trick is to stress the RHYMES: “Madeline woke up two HOURS / later, in a room with FLOWERS.”
Madeline is not a very profound book, though the philosopher Thomas Hurka quotes from it to summarize his theory of what distinguishes the virtuous: “They smiled at the good / and frowned at the bad.” He omits the line: “And sometimes they were very sad.” (I suppose that when these little Parisian girls are sad for the soldier who has returned, wounded, from the colonies, it can be construed as another example of their “frowning” at the bad.)
On the other hand, the girls neglect to “thank the Lord [they] are well”; indeed, they are sad that they are not ill (they covet the benefits that their friend receives as compensation for having been ill). Perhaps they are not so virtuous after all.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
And now, some outdated news too important not to mention. Barcelona defeated Liga de Quito in the “return” leg of Ecuador’s championship round and, for the sixteenth time, won the Serie A.
I missed the game, alas. It was held on Tuesday night of last week – not on Wednesday night, as I had expected. Apparently, Barcelona “parked the bus” all game long and waited for the penalty shootout. Not very glorious.
Then again, just winning in Quito is difficult enough. This was Barcelona’s first victory in Liga’s stadium since it was inaugurated in 1997.
I was especially pleased for Matías Oyola, Barcelona’s captain and long-serving midfielder, who played his last game before retiring. He scored in the shootout. He contributed to three of Barcelona’s championships.
Here is a video of the shootout.
