1984

I've been rereading 1984 and some literary criticism of it I've collected over the last twenty years. What a great book.

I thought I'd try to make a Big Brother poster. Not too bad, I think:

The black-mustachio'd face gazed down from every commanding corner. There was one on the house front immediately opposite. BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU, the caption said...

"Does Big Brother exist?"

"Of course he exists. The party exists. Big Brother is the embodiment of the party."

"Does he exist in the same way I exist?"

"You do not exist," said O'Brien ...

"I think I exist," he said wearily. "I am conscious of my own identity. I was born and I shall die. I have arms and legs. I occupy a particular point in space. No other solid object can occupy the same point simultaneously. In that sense, does Big Brother exist?"

"It is of no importance. He exists."

"Will Big Brother ever die?"

"Of course not. How could he die? Next question."

In the Mercury News

The man deported for lying about academic status apparently

raising the question, is there such a thing as a Nobel candidate? I thought everything was done in secret—there's no "Long List" for the Nobel prize, right?

He also claimed in his visa application that he had been nominated for a Nobel Prize for "outstanding research in applied economics, quantum physics and mathematical sciences," and had earned doctorates in "quantum economics" and "econo-physics" from the "University of Berkley."

I'm reminded me of another (I'll admit, not quite related) question, recently resolved to my satisfaction—how is the "Berkeley" in the old song "A Nightingale sang in Berkeley square" supposed to be pronounced? Is it BARKLEY? Apparently yes—I heard an old Bobby Darin recording on the Sirius radio just yesterday.

There's a certain category of old standard that is mostly boring and dumb as a written, but only comes to life when a performer takes it and morphs it into something better. "When the Saints Come Marching In" is a good example, and "A nightingale sang in Berkeley square" is an even better one. I can't even think of the melody of that song, except the "in Berkeley square" part, right at the end.

The man who lied about his academic status was just improvising, in my opinion. I wish him well back in Pakistan.