It was perfect - fire against ice, black against white, city guy vs. mountain man - every Blazers-Lakers game of the next 10 years would be an event, and the mind reeled at all the incredible Western Conference playoff matchups to come.

Except…it didn’t happen.

Of course cocaine is not addictive, darling. I should know, I’ve been doing it for years. - Tallulah Bankhead

Reggie Jackson said “if I played in New York they’d name a candy bar after me,” and they did. Thurman Munson said “I unwrapped it and it told me how great it was.” Dave Anderson of The New York Times said it was the only candy bar that tasted like a hot dog. But they were throwing sand against the wind, and the wind blew it back again. Patton said Americans can’t stand a loser, and he was right. And they like their winners loud.

The Criterion Collection version - “new 4K digital restoration, approved by director Richard Lester” - looks fantastic.

What happens when we manage to quiet our minds somewhat and take greater account of what is real? Do we encounter Platonic ideals or the Jungian subconscious? Do we encouner angels or fiends? Or (worse?) do we actually encounter ourselves? This is the fate of most who cover “Dear Prudence”. Uncannily, the song has a knack for taking on the personality of those who play it, and bringing out the best in them.

Booker is 6-5. Paul George is 6-10 and Kawhi Leonard is 6-7. Both George and Leonard were NBA All-Defensive Team last year. Did not matter.

Our minds must have relaxation: rested, they will rise up better and keener. Just as we must not force fertile fields (for uninterrupted production will quickly exhaust them), so continual labor will break the power of our minds. They will recover their strength, however, after they have had a little freedom and relaxation.

Historian Arnold Taylor argued that the design of the castle was a representation of the Walls of Constantinople. The conscious use of imagery from the Byzantine Roman Empire was therefore an assertion of authority by Edward I, and influenced by the legendary dream of Magnus Maximus, a Roman emperor. In his dream Maximus had seen a fort, "the fairest that man ever saw", within a city at the mouth of a river in a mountainous country and opposite an island.

Stonehenge with comet Neowise.

Special credit to New York Times writer Dennis Overbye for use of the work “festooned” in a scientific article.

Dave’s True Story returns.

Close your eyes and you’ll be there

it’s everything they say

I remember the strong impression it made as I gazed at the plate in my history book. I was particularly taken with the imposing depiction of the French fleet, choosing this one day - with all the chips on the table - to go toe-to-toe with the Royal Navy.

Many towns and cities…chose to surrender and as a result survived. The taxes the Mongols subsequently imposed on these places were generally considered fair. Many surrendered because they had been so exploited and humiliated by the Khwarazmians that they assumed the Mongols could not be any worse.

Wang Wei wrote:

The morning rain of Weicheng dampens the light dust,

The guest house is green with the colour of fresh willows.

Let's finish another cup of wine, my dear sir,

Out west past the Yangguan, old friends there'll be none.

It was an eventful tournament for Capablanca. He lost a game when Ilyin-Genevsky, the father of Soviet Chess, sacrificed his queen to gain a winning advantage, admitting later that he had “played like a madman.”

It would not be the last time.

Robert Hass once said of the poetry of Tomas Transtromer that “it’s so pure, I don’t know what to do with it.” I feel the same way about Tun-huang, the 1959 novel by the late Japanese National Treasure Yasushi Inoue.

Only the soldiers were caught, like sleepwalkers

Wakened unaware, naked there in the street.

Fatuous in flowers, their tanks, tamed elephants,

Wallowed among the crowds in the square.

National Theatre is going to stream Antony & Cleopatra for the next seven days, starting today.