America, My New-Found-Land
Tony Judt is an English professor that provides a unique perspective on the United States after driving cross-country to an appointment at UC-Davis in the ‘70s.
John Donne describes his mistress as an “America”: a new-found-land awaiting erotic discovery. But America herself is a mistress, rebuffing and seducing by turns—even in overweight and boastful middle age she retains a certain allure. For jaded Europeans, the contradictions and curiosities are part of that allure. It is an old-new land engaged in perennial self-discovery (usually at others’ expense): an empire sheathed in preindustrial myths, dangerous and innocent.
MetaFilter posts about The Merry-go-round Broke Down – the cartoon of cartoons:
(a SLYT [single link You Tube video] 40 years in the making) showing one frame from every Warner Brothers theatrical cartoon made from 1930-1969 (thankfully at a rate of about 3 per second). See the evolution of animation! Porky Pig’s successful diet in ‘37! Michigan J. Frog’s memorable single appearance! And illegal alien Speedy Gonzalez replacing American toons in the ’60s!
(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)
