Después de nuestra visita a la Sainte Chapelle conocimos el que es el palacio real más antiguo de París que se hizo célebre al convertirse en prisión de personajes importantes en tiempos de la Revolución. La Conciergerie, es un imponente edificio que ocupa el extremo occidental de Ile de la Cité, es el vestigio del más antiguo palacio real de Paris, convertido en prisión en el siglo XV. Esta función carcelaria se afirmó con el paso del tiempo, y en 1793 la Conciergerie llegó a ser el principal lugar de detención de prisioneros de la justicia revolucionaria. Considerada la antesala de la muerte, difícilmente un detenido salía en libertad, víctima de una justicia expeditiva y sangrienta. En total, el Tribunal Revolucionario dejaría un saldo de 2700 muertos durante 718 días de ejercicio, entre ellos la reina María Antonieta de Austria, Robespierre, Danton, los 21 diputados girondinos y muchos otros personajes destacados de Paris.

www.visitandoeuropa.com/paris/…/conciergerie.html

Let?s make two things perfectly clear:

1.No one paid Mike Danton to speak to me.

2.David Frost didn?t put me up to doing this interview, as Steve Jefferson insinuated in a phone conversation we had prior to the interview going to air. 

When I sat down with Mike Danton, I had no preconceived notions of what I was going to get out of him. Five and a half years ago, from what I could gather from TV clips or newspaper stories, Danton appeared a young, arrogant kid who kept everything bottled up to himself.

In the early years of his career with the New Jersey Devils he went way beyond your typical cocky top prospect. In a dispute with the Devils GM over a minor-league assignment, Danton was quoted as saying: “I’m not drinking Lou Lamoriello?s Kool-Aid anymore.” Not too many players talk that way about their GMs.

Instead, what I saw during our interview was an articulate, thoughtful guy, who expressed exactly what he wanted to say. Unfortunately, it wasn?t any more or any less than what he was prepared to say. 

Do I think there is more to this story that he could have shared?  Yes I do. 

Could I have pushed Danton harder on details surrounding his story on his biological father being the target and not David Frost? And could I have pushed harder on issues on how bad the public perceives his agent, David Frost?  Yes, I could have.

But I also could have risked the interview ending at the drop of a hat, with Danton getting up and leaving with so many story lines still untold.  I didn?t want that to happen.

What I believe is that Danton believes that it wasn?t David Frost he was trying to kill. And that?s an important distinction.

And while many people think it was Frost he wanted killed, the evidence provided by the U.S. government at Danton?s trial could not prove that it was Frost. If the FBI had concrete evidence that Frost was his intended target, the charge wouldn?t have just stopped at conspiracy to commit interstate murder for hire, it would have been attempted murder.

Basically, all the U.S. prosecutors had on Danton was that he tried to hire a hitman and that’s it. And for that he spent nearly six years in jail. The FBI couldn’t prove Frost was the target anymore than you or I could.

The attempted murder charge, which could have carried a sentence of 20 years, wasn?t levied.  How can you charge murder without proof of an intended victim?

Even the story that Danton showed a photo of Frost to the “hitman” was never brought into evidence because the prosecutors couldn?t prove it.

Mike Danton told me that, at the age of 23, he was assessed at being between the age of eight and 14 mentally, which helps explain why there was no rhyme or reason for what the hell he did back then.  He was a confused, sick person that desperately needed some help.

Today, I believe he did get help ? unfortunately he had to go to jail to get it ? and he admirably chooses not to pin his life problems on David Frost, Steve Jefferson or even the FBI.  He says he made some terrible decisions that he?s paid the fiddler for, and that kind of accountability is at least a good place to start in anyone getting a second chance. He certainly showed enough for doctors to recommend that he be granted early parole.

I say give him that second chance and if he screws up just once, then throw him to the curb.  But until then, let?s at least give him the opportunity to make good.

Garcia eyes Tamudo respectDanton insists father was murder target

WEB STAFF

Sportsnet.ca

If Mike Danton is to ever resume his NHL career, it will require the permission of the league’s commissioner.

Deputy commissioner Bill Daly told Sportsnet that the former St. Louis Blue, recently released on parole after serving 5 1/2 years for conspiracy to commit murder, must have a hearing with the commissioner “before he would be cleared to play.” Daly added there is the possibility Danton “would be subjected to an additional League-imposed suspension.”

Danton was never officially suspended by the NHL after he pleaded guilty to the crime in a St. Louis court in 2004. He was paroled in September and told Hockeycentral’s Nick Kypreos in an exclusive interview that it is his goal to once again play in the NHL.

Perhaps more critically, any return to the NHL would also require permission from the United States government in order for him to cross the Canada-U.S. border and to work in the U.S.

Danton insists father was murder targetBlues don’t interest Real ace

Bullet points:

*The French Revolution was very confusing.

*Only the most dedicated readers will persist for 747 pages.

*The Committee of Public Safety was, in some respects, similar to a co-op board or a PTA: factions, alliances, occasional moments of grace.

*Hilary Mantel does, as I’d read in a review somewhere, manage to make Robespierre sympathetic.

*Robespierre said, “History is fiction.”

Well, what novelist wouldn’t want a protagonist like that? As in Wolf Hall, Mantel is very concerned with the power of words. There’s a phrase in the more recent book where Cromwell thinks that writing a law is the ultimate test of the function of the words in it. Here, Danton (a legendary speechmaker) ruminates that “actions are being manufactured out of speech. How can words save a country? Words make myths, it seems, and for their myths people fight to win.”

I had hoped for something a little clearer than A Place of Greater Safety turned out to be. I hoped I would finally be able to slot into place the various forms of government: National Assembly, Legislative Assembly, National Convention, etc. Nope. On the other hand, I will never again forget which one was Danton and which Robespierre, the Incorruptible. And both of these are to some extent outshone by Camille Desmoulins, the volatile, charming journalist who did a great deal to popularize the theory of the revolution. Mantel has him thinking, “Writing’s like running downhill; can’t stop if you want to.” She gives him near-universal sex appeal and flexible sexual morals; a gorgeous wife similarly equipped, and a wicked wit. It’s always nice when an author can make you fall in love with her creation.

Mantel’s contemporary voice was not a surprise this time, and I found it very effective. Managing more characters, she sometimes has them address the reader directly, and sometimes lists dialogue as in a play. The flaw in this book, though, is that it gets hard to wade through. I’m a motivated reader: I finished Simon Schama’s Citizens. But round about page 500, with the length of a normal novel still to go, I flagged. A great deal of the conflict is simply argument. Alliances change, and, sure, lives are at stake but it’s very hard (despite the list of characters at the front) to keep track of who’s who and why being a friend of Brissot’s (or Fabre’s, or, ultimately, Danton’s) was such a bad idea. We know that most of these people will end up on the scaffold anyway.

And then, of course, it’s all pretty depressing. These men began with good intentions and deep affection for each other. They go through loyalty, mutual concern, tolerance, mistrust, suspicion, conciliation, renewed affection, willed indifference. Danton and Desmoulins died on the same day. Robespierre lasted a little bit longer, as one might expect of the cool customer with apparent ice water in his veins. And of course the French Revolution, according to some historians, took another hundred years to play out in its entirety.

Oh honey.

Let us explain something.

You cannot look smart with the decal still attached to the lens.

At the risk of pissing off DANTON, board member/contributor extraordinaire and HUGE Miley Cyrus fan (or as he calls her, “Miley C.”), we must say that JWG isn’t so much liking this.

But it doesn’t matter what we think.  What about the fans?

Click above and be amazed by the 23 pages of comments left about those glasses on her face.

We’re considering the opportunity cost of foming a JWG youth initiative.  I think we know where to start recruiting!

By WEB STAFF

sportsnet.ca

Former St. Louis Blues forward Mike Danton insists it was his father, Steve Jefferson, he wanted murdered in 2004, and not his agent, David Frost, as most people suspect.

In an exclusive hour-long interview with Sportsnet Hockeycentral?s Nick Kypreos to be aired Wednesday evening, Danton says he feared for his own life and his attempt to hire a hitman was a pre-emptive strike.

“My intended victim was my biological father, Steve Jefferson,” Danton, 29, tells Kypreos. “I was believing that there was somebody actually coming after me to end my life and the way I looked at it was I don?t want to die.

“I don?t know really what was going on in actuality, just my mind told me that this was going to happen and I reacted and made a terrible mistake.”

Danton was 23 when he was arrested by the FBI in April 2004 and charged with conspiracy to commit murder. He was playing for the St. Louis Blues at the time and his team had just been eliminated from the NHL playoffs.

Danton pleaded guilty in July of that year and in November of 2004 was sentenced to 7½ years in prison. He was transferred to a Canadian prison this past April and was granted parole in September.

The prosecutors at his trial claimed it was Frost, who Danton regarded as a father figure, who was the intended victim. Frost had been an influence in Danton?s life for years, including taking Danton into his home when a teenaged Danton moved out of the Jefferson?s Brampton, ON home, claiming abuse.

Steve Jefferson and his wife, Sue, have denied they abused Danton. Danton changed his name from Jefferson in 2002.

“From day one I?ve never said that (Frost) was the target,” Danton says. “That was the newspapers and the government agencies leaking that to the press and they ran with it.”

That?s just one of the revelations Danton makes in the revealing interview, in which he talks about his life in prison, his desire to return to hockey, and his relationship with Frost.

“It?s not sexual, I can tell you that,” Danton tells Kypreos of the relationship that began when Frost coached Danton?s junior team. “From the age of 14 I had always looked at (Frost) as a father figure.

“If I wasn?t talking to him on a daily basis, I talked to his wife, I talked to his kids and that?s the type of relationship that we had.”

Frost has had his own problems with authorities. In November, 2008 he was acquitted of sexual exploitation of two junior hockey players he used to coach, and was also later acquitted of the fraudulent use of Danton?s credit card while Danton was imprisoned.

Frost is no longer an authorized agent by the National Hockey League Players Association.

Danton says he has been skating since his release and he hopes to play hockey again, but that Frost won?t be part of his hockey future.

“Dave and I have talked and we both agree that it?s not the best thing in the world for Dave to be associated with my hockey,” Danton says. “My road consists of hockey. Dave Frost is not involved with my hockey.

“I?m going down this fork in the road, Dave?s going down that fork in the road. I?m going that alone and that?s where I?m going.”

Danton says he bounced around numerous U.S. prisons during his 5½ years of incarceration, most of that in Fort Dix in New Jersey and Sandstone in Minnesota.

While he says now that the experience “saved his life,” he admits he thought about suicide while behind bars.

“When I went into prison it was a bad time for me,” Danton says. “There were a couple of occasions where I actually shredded the towels and made a little noose.

“I was sick and tired of being alone. Sick and tired of being unwanted.”

Danton says regular therapy while in prison helped him to gain the confidence to heal himself.

“I really started being confident in making my decisions, handling myself in certain situations,” he says. “That?s when I knew that I was going to be all right, that I knew it didn?t matter what I was going to face, that I was going to be all right.”

For the complete interview, tune in to Sportsnet Wednesday. Broadcast times are:

Sportsnet East ? 8 pm ET

Sportsnet Ontario ? 9 pm ET

Sportsnet West ? 8 pm MT

Sportsnet Pacfic ? 9 pm PT

Canucks confident in race for ForsbergMata waits on new deal

“Bierzcie swoje sprawy w swoje ręce!” – tak Stanisława Przybyszewska sto lat temu opisała w swojej sztuce mechanizm rewolucji, która pożera swoje dzieci.

więcej na Moje Miasto Bydgoszcz

For your reading pleasure and sleeping safety, a post on how to manage winged pests in your brick mansions from our esteemed board member, Eric R. Danton.

Like these guys.

For the first 15 years I wore glasses, I had no particular place I kept them at night when it was time for bed. Usually, they stayed on a shelf near the sink in the bathroom, or on top of the dresser in my bedroom.

It took a brutal attack by a winged, bloodthirsty animal to change all that.

It was, I think, a Sunday night. The time was past 2 when I awoke to a distinctive leathery flapping.

I wanted to believe it was a bird. But birds don’t fly at night. I peeked out from under the covers to see a shadow gliding in circles around the room: a bat.

With blankets pulled securely over my head, I assessed my options. It was only four hours or so until dawn, so I could wait the little fucker out. Or, if I had any hope of getting back to sleep, I could courageously do battle with a creature of the night.

One problem with the latter choice: my glasses were on that shelf in the bathroom, down a short hallway. On the other side of the bat.

Throughout history, clear vision is a characteristic most warriors share. I was going to need those glasses.

When the flapping stopped for a moment, I turned on the bedside lamp. Like a tousled ninja, I rolled out of bed and crawled past my dresser, then down the hall to the bathroom, where I turned on the lights and put on my glasses.

I live in a condo in an old brick mansion. In a quirk of building rehabilitation, my unit includes a tiny balcony accessible only through a small door in the bathroom that is directly opposite the door into the bedroom.

Suddenly the bat reappeared, flying a circuit that included a U-turn in the bathroom. Hoping it would take the hint, I opened the balcony door and sat on the floor near the toilet, and though the bat came close to leaving, it didn’t. And then all was silent again.

Lest another bat join in this unconscionable persecution, I closed the balcony door.

There was no sign of the bat in my bedroom, so I stepped out of it and closed the door. I closed the door to the spare room, too, just in case. Then I went downstairs, got a knit hat from the coat closet — no way was that little bastard getting tangled up in MY hair — and turned on all the downstairs lights.

No bat.

Armed with a broom and a bucket, I crept back up the stairs, and searched my room once more.

No bat.

The spare room, then.

Carefully, I eased open the door. The only light source was a desk lamp, conveniently located on the other side of the room. I dashed over and turned it on.

No bat.

That left only the bathroom in the spare room.

After closing the door to the spare room, I used the broomstick to turn on the lights, and behold: the goddamn bat was perched upside down on the wall, resting.

Suddenly emboldened, I swatted at it with the broom, and missed. It flapped past me into the room, and began flying in circles. Every time it got close, I took a swing with the broom. Finally, I knocked it down, and swatted it again to stun it as it tried to get up. I put the bucket upside down over the bat, slid a newspaper underneath the bucket and carried the whole package to the master bathroom, where I tossed the bucket out the door onto the balcony. The bat flapped away, no worse for wear.

These days, I keep my glasses on the bedside table at night, just in case.

As if to reinforce this practice, I was reading in bed a few weeks ago, with the window open. I heard a high-pitched squeak and a thump, and I looked up to see a bat hanging on the screen, looking in at me.

After a moment, the bat took off into the night. I can’t help but assume it’s because it saw my glasses folded up on the nightstand, within easy reach.

– by Eric R. Danton

Let us know what you think.

We’re really interested.

We really want to know.

Du Contrat Social ou Principes du Droit Politique, écrit en 1762 par Jean-Jacques Rousseau figure parmi l’un de ses plus célèbres essais à l’instar d’Emile et de l’Education.

Considéré comme un ouvrage fondateur pour les pères de la Révolution Française, le Contrat Social aborde l’homme et ses relations au pouvoir, sa liberté, son lien à la culture et à la nature. Par ailleurs, Jean-Jacques Rousseau introduit ces notions fondamentales au discours révolutionnaire : le pacte citoyen garantissant l’égalité et la liberté de chacun comme base de toute société.

C’est pourquoi, Jean-Jacques Rousseau refuse et réfute l’esclavage qu’il considère comme illégitime. Il en vient d’ailleurs à prouver que le serviteur a beau être l’esclave de son maître, son maître est tout autant dépendant et donc esclave lui aussi des actes de son serviteur. Une pensée novatrice et irrévérencieuse qui fera le renom de l’auteur.

Par ailleurs, il vous sera capital de rappeler l’appartenance des idées de Jean-Jacques Rousseau à la pensée des Lumières auxquelles appartiennent Voltaire ou Diderot. Préconisant la liberté des hommes, un pouvoir doué de raison et non obscurantiste, la philosophie des Lumières s’épanouit avec brio chez Rousseau qui au travers du Contrat social propose l’idée d’un pouvoir bâti sur la volonté du peuple et amorce ainsi l’idée d’une démocratie.

Les Philosophes des Lumières appartiennent au XVIIIème siècle rebaptisé siècle des Lumières de par l’importance grandissante de la pensée philosophique au sein des sociétés contemporaines.

Phénomène d’origine française, son rayonnement a vite traversé les frontières et demeure un facteur fondamental à la Déclaration d’Indépendance des Etats-Unis et à la Révolution Française. Autour de ses figures les plus connues dont Voltaire, Diderot, D’Alembert ou Rousseau, la pensée de Lumières ouvrent une nouvelle voie vers la connaissance où la science joue un rôle prépondérant, comme le montre la très fameuse Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et métiers publiée en 1751, et où la raison est hissée contre l’obscurantisme et la tyrannie. Les Lumières posent les questions de la nature de l’homme, de son lien à la nature, à la culture, de sa faculté de raison et de sa liberté.

L’impact de la pensée des Lumières dans la société française demeure l’un des plus grands changements que compte l’Histoire de France. En effet, face à un monarchie de droit divin affaiblie et sclérosée, le besoin de renouveau politique se fait sentir plus que jamais et les inégalités sociales semblent plus illégitimes qu’avant. Et même si Voltaire ou Rousseau ne viennent pas  à toujours questionner frontalement l’existence de Dieu, le Clergé sera largement mis à mal jusqu’à sa quasi-destruction durant la Révolution Française.

Parmi les ouvrages qu’il vous sera capital de citer sur tout exposé ou réflexion sur la philosophie Lumières, il ne faudra oublier de mentionner Lettre sur les aveugles à l’usage de ceux qui voient de Diderot, Le Contrat Social de Rousseau, Candide ou l’Optimisme.

Chef, chef ! C’est pas par là !

Philippe Danton en el sotobosque de la Myrtisylva fernandeziana, en los altos de la quebrada Villagra, en la expedición de este año. Foto:ROBINSONIA/DANTON Y PERRIER

El Mercurio, Lunes 6 de Abril de 2009, por ALEXIS JÉLDREZ

Botánicos franceses hicieron el inventario de las especies del archipiélago Juan Fernández Alertan sobre la preocupante cantidad de especies introducidas. Existe un peligro ahí.

Dos botánicos franceses registraron todas las especies del archipiélago Juan Fernández. “Son 716 especies, de las cuales 213 son nativas y el resto (503) introducidas. Aquí la flora introducida supera largamente a la flora nativa”, comenta el botánico Philippe Danton, quien lleva 12 años viniendo a estudiar el tema. Su socio es Christophe Perrier; su organización, Robinsonia.

Empujón veloz

La gente ha introducido cabras u otros animales; “ellos además traen semillas en su pelaje”. También muchos llevan plantas para adornar sus jardines. -¿Se había hecho antes este trabajo tan completo? “

La Robinsonia saxatilis fue descubierta en 1999, en la Quebrada Corrales de Molina. Foto:ROBINSONIA/DANTON Y PERRIER

El primer catastro lo hizo Federico Johow en 1896″. El Dr. Johow, rector del Pedagógico, también fue botánico. En forma natural, en islas como las del archipiélago Juan Fernández o las Galápagos, una especie vegetal nueva se instala cada 8 mil años, plantea Danton: “La naturaleza habría necesitado 2.696.000 años para realizar lo que los hombres produjeron en 110 años”.

El problema de la isla es esta lucha. Lo peor es que, en estos casos de conflicto entre especies nativas y foráneas, se sabe siempre lo que va a pasar: pierde local. “En la isla existe un bosque, completamente original, al que yo le puse el nombre de Myrtisylva fernandeziana. Se parece al bosque valdiviano, pero es un bosque diferente, y es el único bosque que conozco en todo el mundo que tiene el ciento por ciento de las especies arbóreas endémicas. ¡Esto es algo extraordinario! Incluye insectos, pájaros y todo un ecosistema completo totalmente original y que no se puede encontrar en otra parte del mundo. Y eso hoy lo estamos perdiendo”.

Afortunadamente, todas las investigaciones de Philippe Danton y Christophe Perrier quedarán preservadas en un libro que el Museo Nacional de Historia Natural de París, del cual Danton es botánico adjunto, espera publicar el próximo año. Estará en español. Además, proponen crear zonas protegidas, hacer planes de rescate y fondos de investigación para crear un plan de conservación.

About a month ago I finally watched Wajda’s Danton and I thought it was a great film (with all the Polish parallels, of course) – now as a belated appreciation of the Bastille Day, I give you this delightful BBC dramatization (Broadcast 11. July, 2009 on BBC Two):

Egri가 The Art of Dramatic Writing에서 premise-character-conflict (unity of opposites) 이 세가지를 중심으로 연극을 쓰라고 닥달치는 이유는 premise 즉, 작가가 증명하고자 하는 대전제가 뚜렷해야 인물과 투쟁이 대전제를 증명하기 위한 초석으로 적절히 활용될 것이라는 믿음 때문이다. 이리하여 Egri가 그린 연극 청사진은 마치 오밀조밀한 톱니바퀴 많아서 숙련된 장이만이 만들 수 있는 기계식 시계를 떠올린다. 하지만 Egri와 같은 선상으로 이해할 수 있는 “무대에서 총이 등장하면 그 총은 반드시 사용될 것이다” 문구가 Buchner의 연극에서는 통용되지 않는다. Buchner의 “당통의 죽음”은 진지한 역사를 다루면서도 ‘나 여기에 있어’를 외치듯이극의 흐름과 무관한 뚱딴지 인물이 나타나기도 한다. 연극의 흐름이라는 틀 안에서 본다면 매우 혼란스러운 작가인 셈이다.

Shakespeare 이전의 연극 등장 인물은 “Greed”, “Lust”, “Naivete” 와 같이 단어를 의인화 시키는 것이 통상적이였던 반면, Shakespeare는 특정 인물 안에 각종 인간의 약점 세트를 집약시킴으로서 – Othello 안에는 자부심과 질투를, Romeo 안에는 성급함과 순진함을 – 드라마적 요소가 풍부한 씨앗을 심어놓았고 이를 바탕으로 그 어느 누구보다 인간 내면을 깊숙히 들여다 볼 수 있었다. 이에 반해 깊은 신앙심, 방대한 인문학적 독서량, 물고기 신경조직에 대한 발표 논문으로 박사 학위를 취득한 분석적 머리에 바탕을 두었기 때문일까, Buchner는 Shakespeare보다 한단계 더, 인간 내부에 존재하는 환상과 욕구를 분리한다. 그는 우리 삶에서 낭만, 환상이란 찌꺼기를 과감히 솎아내고 역사 그대로 담고 어디를 향해서 표류하고 있는지에 밝히고자 했다.

극작가란 제가 보기에 역사가와 다를 바 없습니다. 전자가 우리에게 역사를 재구성해 준다는 점과, 메마른 이야기를 전해주는 대신에 우리를 한 시대의 삶 속으로 직접 옮겨 놓는다는 점에서 그리고 인물 묘사 대신에 인물 그 자체를 보여주고, 기술(記述) 대신에 형상화를 추구한다는 점에서 후자보다는 우위에 서 있다고 하겠습니다. 극작가의 최대의 과업은 사실 그대로의 역사에 가능한 한 가까이 다가가는 일입니다. 그의 책은 역사 자체보다 더 윤리적이어도, 덜 윤리적이어도 안 될 것입니다. 역사란 사랑하는 주 하나님께서 젊은 아낙네들이나 읽으라고 만드신 것이 아닙니다.

Georg Buchner, 양친에게 보내는 편지 中에서

작품을 통해 실패는 성공의 어머니 혹는 역사는 승자의 전유물과 같은 이분법적 역사관에서 – Buchner가 편지에서 말하는 젊은 아낙네들이 읽기 위한 역사를 “역사관-A”이라 부르자 – 벗어나서 있는 그대로를 담아온다. 역사관 – A는 역사가가 나쁜 의도를 가지고 왜곡했다기 보다는 징검다리와 같이 띄엄 띄엄 남겨진 불완전한 증거와 기록 사이를 메꾸기 위해서 비이성적인 인간 머리에서 나온 논리적 추측이 이뤄질 때 필연적으로 뒤따라오는 근본적 짐이자 한계이다. 한국 정부가 일본의 역사왜곡을 비난해왔지만 우리 역사 또한 그에서 자유롭지 않음을, 그리고 우리 개개인마저 역사관 – A의 오류를 거듭 범함을 알 수 있다. 변호사가 피고측에게 불리한 자료를 제외한 기타 증거물과 ‘논리’로 재판의 결과를 유리한 방향으로 끌고 오고, 사랑하는 사람과 만나고 헤어진 후 어떤 기억을 추억으로 간직하고 어떤 추한 기억을 버리는지 돌이켜보면 우리 또한 역사관 – A로부터 자유롭지 않다. 어쩌면 진화를 통해서, 생존을 위해서 역사관-A 입장을 취하도록 유전적으로 코딩이 되어있는지 모른다. 하나 덧붙이자면 나는 역사관 – A는 미학적 – 사람은 논리적이며, 대칭적이 곧 아름다움이며, 황금비율이 안정적이다 등등 – 관점과 밀접한 관계를 맺고 있다고 생각한다.

이에 반면, Buchner는 역사관 A를 벗어던진다. 주변 친구들은 Danton에게 Robespierre과 맞서 싸우라고 권유하지만, 그런 싸움조차 뛰어들기를 거부하는 그를 보고 너무 게을러서 죽음을 맞이하게 될 것이라며 체념해버린다. 다려진 옷만 입고 술도 안 마시는 청렴결백한 Robespierre과 달리, 여자의 허벅지를 탐하고 인간의 추한 욕구를 거스름 없이 드러내는 당통을 보면서 일부는 그를 게으르고 외설적이다, 성경에 충실치 못한 사람이라 생각할 것이다.그래 – 당통의 세계관은 확실히 생존 스킬 측면으로 볼 때 빵점짜리임이 틀림없다. 하지만 Buchner가 당통을 통해서 알리고자 하는 것은 한낱 루저인생이 아닌, 삶 그자체였다.

작가는 세상을 있는 그대로 묘사해서는 안 되고 세상이 어떻게 존재해야 할 것인가를 묘사해야 한다고 말하는 사람이 있다면 저는 그 사람한테 이렇게 얘기하겠습니다. 하나님께서는 분명 이 세상이 어떻게 존재해야 한다는 것을 이미 다 아시고 이 세상을 만드셨을 텐데, 그런 하나님보다 더 좋은 세상은 만들고 싶지 않노라고 말씀입니다.

사람이 어떤 삶을 살아야하는가에 대해서 말하기보다 사람이란게 그럴 수 있기 때문에 그 모습 자체를 보여주면서 “얼어붙은 바다를 깨는 도끼”를 우리에게 던져줬다.  하지만, Buchner가 시보다 보수적인 희곡을 통해 깨부순 벽을 실제 우리는 200여년이 가까이 지난 지금까지도 안전지대 안에서 – 인류 역사상 이토록 과잉보호 받는 세대가 있을까 – 서성일 뿐, 넘어서지 못하고 있다. 그렇게 해서 독서가 반복되고, 만남이 반복되고, 역사가 반복된다.

반복; Recollection과 Repetition.

(To be continued)

KINGSTON, Ont. — The former pro hockey player imprisoned in a murder-for-hire plot targeting his Kingston, Ont., agent has taken a significant step toward freedom.

The Kingston Whig-Standard reports Mike Danton has been transferred to minimum-security Pittsburgh Institution in Kingston.

Inmates are moved to minimum-security prisons as preparation for release into the community either on parole or through automatic release after serving two-thirds of the sentence.

The newspaper says Danton was moved to Pittsburgh after his case was reviewed at the federal assessment unit inside Millhaven Institution.

Danton was transferred to Canada on March 19 to complete his sentence, after he had served a little more than four years in prison in the United States.

He was playing for the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League when he was sentenced in November 2004 to 7 1/2 years in prison.

He pleaded guilty to offering a hitman $10,000 to kill David Frost, his former junior hockey coach, mentor and player agent.

The hitman was a police informant.

Danton’s U.S. sentence translated into a six-year, two-month, two-week sentence in Canada for conspiracy to commit murder.

He was eligible to seek full parole as soon as he arrived in Canada.

Officials with Corrections Canada and the National Parole Board have said previously that it could take several months for Danton to be fully assessed and for reports to be prepared that are necessary before officials can make a decision on release.

The parole board often requires inmates to spend time in minimum- security prisons before it will consider release.

Danton’s transfer to Pittsburgh means that he is considered a low threat to escape and a low risk to public safety in the event he escapes.

Pittsburgh does not have any armed guards or fences. The roughly 200 inmates at the prison can simply walk away at any time.

The board will automatically schedule a hearing but Danton could choose to waive it and stay in prison.

In that case, he likely would be freed at his statutory release date of June 11, 2010.

Danton, a native of Brampton, Ont., played junior hockey in Deseronto, Ont., in the mid 1990s, when Frost coached the team.

In November last year, Frost, who lives in Battersea, Ont., was acquitted on charges of sexual exploitation. He was accused of orchestrating and joining sex parties involving his teenage players and young girls.

The judge said Frost was “loud, vulgar, offensive, aggressive, abrasive and intimidating” but he said there were too many problems with the testimony of female witnesses to convict him of the sex crimes.

Danton spent parts of three seasons playing for the St. Louis Blues and New Jersey Devils.

In 87 career NHL games, he had nine goals, five assists and 182 penalty minutes.

Malkin avoids Game 3 suspension
Atletico release Seitaridis
Dokic’s Dad on trial over threatening ambassador
Pens commit long-term to Bylsma

Can’t wait to leave these two behind…

I’m addicted to the Criterion Collection right now.  I’ve got a little over 60 titles and I’m still mapping out which cinematic adventure to get next.  Danton was just released as spine #464 in the DVD collection and it’s definitely a great addition to Criterion.

Gérard Depardieu and Wojciech Pszoniak star in Andrzej Wajda’s fantastic depiction of the French Revolution and the ideological clash between man-of-the-people Georges Danton and cold hearted Jacobin extremist Maximilien Robespierre, the two key figures of this period. Wajda draws parallels to Polish “solidarity,” a movement that was being quashed by the government as the film was in production.

Wadja has a large body of work that includes films that are more psychological and romantic in nature—most based in contemporary Poland or in the horrific years of World War II.  Danton (1983) appears to be a period piece by the front cover and conversely not about Poland at all.  Wadja lays out the blueprint for an passionate allegory on the uselessness of a violent revolution—and of course the clear parallels between the French Revolution and twentieth century Poland.

The movie is based on the play, The Danton Affair, by Stranislawa Przybyszewska—a communist whose sympathies were with the radical Robespierre.  Wadja then decided to flip the play on its ear in 1975, making Danton the protagonist and by 1980 at the apex of the Solidarity liberation movement, he transforms his play into a film, with production taking place in Poland and location scenes being shot in France.  Just like the actual problems presented on screen, the filming of Danton was tangled up by a Soviet coup in December 1981—creating a totalitarian regime that halted production permanently.  Taking the movie to Paris, Wajda only returned from Polish exile in 1989 after the Jaruzelski government fell.

Taking place in 1794, Danton starts almost five years after the fall of the Bastille.  Following the period when the newly formed revolutionary government begins to create a Committee of Public Safety and the Revolutionary Tribunal to suppress its enemies and raise military forces, we find Danton and Robespierre as the central figureheads arresting and executing huge numbers of suspects, including Marie Antoinette and Duc d’Orléans—the period known as the Reign of Terror.

This film raises some complex questions in rather simple ways seen through the interactions between Danton and Robespierre, presented in opposing political, logical and humanistic ideologies.  Danton is Wajda’s crowning achievement not only in the context of film, but also as a piece of historical significance, and Criterion does a beautiful job of reminding us why.

The DVD is a two-disc set with the film presented in its original 1:66:1 aspect ratio, video interviews with Wajda, screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière, Polish film critic Jerzy Plazewski and a 42-minute behind-the-scenes documentary about the making of the film.  For the history buffs, check out this little masterpiece.

86 out of 100

Danton – Criterion Collection

Danton – The Auteurs

Shattered Topaz is proud to present

The Clockwork Ball
Saturday, April 25th
at 12 SLT
with DJ Danton Thirroul

A steampunk-themed formal ball
on an airship above Shattered Topaz Mall
to raise money for Relay For Life
Sponsored by The Sherbet Lemon RFL Team

Attire is formal Victorian or steampunk-inspired

]]> http://bigbazar.wordpress.com/2009/03/08/le-carrefour-chocolat-viennois/ Sun, 08 Mar 2009 16:14:17 +0000 Sarrdanapale http://bigbazar.wordpress.com/2009/03/08/le-carrefour-chocolat-viennois/

Ce café, il existe encore en province. Mais à Paris et, a fortiori, dans le sixième arrondissement, ce petit établissement surprend.
À quelques mètres des Editeurs ou du Danton, il est là, trois tables en bois, des bancs simples, encore la vieille ardoise et une décoration années 50 un peu minable.

Lire la suite sur Chocolat Viennois.

The DNC was rife with stories of how Obama turned conservatives into liberals. I even read this story about how this former KKK member decided the change Obama represented with enough to make him liberal too. So, I’d like to declare myself one of the only former liberals who Obama turned moderate (conservative). It all started on Obama’s first day of office…when nothing happened. OK so I should probably concede and admit that Obama is only human and I should not have expected miracles from him in the first place, but lets look at what did happen till now…nothing. Stimulus bill has failed and economy is further digressing, and yet I have passed by 20 books at Barnes and Nobles all about Obama’s success story. What happened to the troops in Iraq? Those 50,000 non-combatant troops that are to stay there till 2011? Money is being spent casually and people are going wild with Obama craze that they are now blind to any criticism against him. Perhaps what pushed me over the edge was that while people are struggling to find enough money to keep their hosue (or buy that BCBG dress that is meant for m…them), Barack is modeling for men’s health magazine and making time for MTV while Michelle is posing for Vogue. What pushed me over the edge was that one children’s book all about Obama’s life story. HE HASN’T DONE ANYTHING YET! I don’t understand the proliferation of Obama success novels when there hasn’t been anything for him to succeed at (in his current occupation). Maybe we should rid our society of the idealistic ways of Danton and perhaps sway to the realistic motives of Robespierre. Maybe we aren’t ready for democracy and need for a stronger government to take control and sweep up this mess…

The ever-popular Dublin sims are reeling in the wake of a heated bar fight which began in Dublin 3’s Fibber Magees last night and resulted in the virtual death of popular DJ and Dublin resident Danton Thirroul. SL Dublin emergency services, who found Mr. Thirroul lying face down in the nearby river, said;

“After it was hit by the torpedoes, the Danton clearly turned turtle and rotated several times. … You can see where it slid along the seabed before coming to a rest.”

Witnesses report that the fight began with a disagreement with DJ Isobela Capalini. Thirroul had consumed dangerously excessive amounts of Jack Daniels prior to his argument with Ms. Capalini, who allegedly refused to hand over her lingerie collection to Thirroul following the gift of a pink thong. Capalini is now being detained by local police for questioning regarding the illegal possession of submarine torpedo launchers dating from the 1910s, as well as a two metre long pole of unknown purpose.

Read the rest of the story here.

(Thank you, Darth^^)

The Danton was carrying over 1,000 men at the time

A French battleship sunk in 1917 by a German submarine has been discovered in remarkable condition on the floor of the Mediterranean Sea.

The Danton, with many of its gun turrets still intact, is sitting upright in over 1,000m of water.

It was found by the Fugro geosciences company during a survey for a gas pipeline between Algeria and Italy.

The Danton, which sank with 296 sailors still onboard, lies 35km southwest of the island of Sardinia.

Naval historians record that the Danton’s Captain Delage stood on the bridge with his officers and made no attempt to leave the ship as it went down.

The French government is now keen to see that the site is protected.

“Its condition is extraordinary,” said Rob Hawkins, project director with Fugro GeoConsulting Limited.

“After it was hit by the torpedoes, the Danton clearly turned turtle and rotated several times. You can see where it dropped some infrastructure on the way down and then impacted on the seabed.

“You can see where it slid along the seabed before coming to a rest,” he told BBC News.

The wreck is just off the point where the southern pipeline meets Sardina

 A comparison with the original plans for the battleship – in particular, the position of its 240mm guns – confirms the wreck’s identity.

The final resting place is a few kilometres from where people have traditionally thought the ship met its end.

“The French Admiralty did argue with us for a while that it should have been several nautical miles away, but we reminded them that modern GPS methods are more accurate than the sextants they used in those days,” said Mr Hawkins.

Details of the discovery were released on Thursday at a press conference at the Museum of Science and Technology in Milan.

The pipeline is being built by the Galsi (Gasdotto Algeria Sardegna Italia) consortium and will be the deepest underwater conduit for gas ever constructed when it becomes operational in 2012.

Finding a safe route for it was extremely challenging, said Mr Hawkins.

About 20% of the course lies on the abyssal plain in water depths of about 2,850m. There are also steep descents from the continental shelf.

Fugro can deploy an array of geophysical survey equipment

 Fugro deployed its Autonomous Underwater Vehicle to gather bathymetric (depth) and geophysical data.

It also used Remotely Operated Vehicles to make more detailed surveys of particular locations, such as where sediment conditions were uncertain or the route crossed known submarine telecommunications cables.

The discovery of the Danton, named after the French revolutionary Georges Danton, means the 66cm-diameter pipe has to take a slight detour to avoid the war grave.

The ship was less than 10 years old at the time of its loss, but already outclassed by the newer HMS Dreadnought design being introduced by the British.

The 19,000-tonne, 150m-long vessel was carrying over 1,000 men when it was attacked by Germany’s U-64 submarine at 1317 on 18 March, 1917. Patrol boats and a destroyer managed to save most of those onboard.

The Danton was travelling between Toulon and Corfu, where it was due to meet up with other vessels in the French fleet. Many of those making the trip were actually crewmembers for the other ships at Corfu.

__________

Full article and photos: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7898890.stm

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See also:

Découverte de l’épave d’un cuirassé français coulé en 1917

Construit à l’arsenal de Brest en Bretagne et mis à l’eau en 1910, le Danton faisait partie de la 1ère flotte de la Méditerranée pendant la Première Guerre mondiale.