The Thin Thread In A Silent Way / Miles Davis _______________________ John Fraim That’s the thing about life. You never know when you’re about to feel the end of it seems close somehow. Much closer than before. Quicker than a roulette spin in Vegas. The day had gone as well as it could after a […]
Journey back to 1967 at “Hitsville U.S.A.” nickname for Motown’s first headquarters and recording studio. The house (formerly a photographers’ studio) is located in Detroit near the New Center area of the city. Motown founder Berry Gordy bought the house in 1959. Gordy converted the house to use it as the record label’s administrative building and recording studio. After […]
(Note: Read the famous Tolkein manifesto on fantasy below first. Then, read the Q&As after it between me and my AI assistant.) On Fairy Stories By J. R. R. Tolkien (1947) “But in God’s kingdom the presence of the greatest does not depress the small. Redeemed Man is still man. Story, fantasy, still go on, […]
The Bitter Withy __________________________ The Ecology of Fantasy John Fraim I’ve been working almost exclusively with an AI platform since January 2025. Have used it much in creating the project Specters: AI Assisted Retrospection of 1770 – 1883. After completing it, I come up with this treasure of an essay today about art and creativity […]
A Still in Mt. Airy / Richard Yost & John Fraim (All other photos by RY) Mayberry is the beloved, idyllic fictional town from The Andy Griffith Show. The Andy Griffith Show, representing a simpler time in small-town America, largely inspired by Andy Griffith’s real hometown, Mount Airy, North Carolina. Visitors can experience this nostalgia […]
I’d Be Happy / Swing Out Sister (2008) I’d be happy to live without youIf I knew there could be more to love than thisIf I only knew thatI’d be happy to find a new loveI’d be loving someone else The British group Swing Out Sister has been one of my favorite groups over the […]
Jimi Hendrix in 1967 A powerful performance by Jimi Hendrix of one of his great songs. “The Wind Cries Mary” is written by Jimi Hendrix who wrote the song as a reconciliatory love song for his girlfriend in London, Kathy Etchingham. More recent biographical material indicated that some of the lyrics appeared in poetry written by […]
Ohio Countryside / Richard Yost Photographer & John Fraim Editor Hegel’s Familiar & McLuhan’s Environment John Fraim Miles Davis / In a Silent Way _____________________________________ In 2021, an important article appeared in the Hegel Bulletin titled “Hegel’s Concept of the Familiar: Toward a Philosophical Study.” The author was Hammam Aldouri, at the time, at Temple University. […]
Specters John Fraim & DeepSeek AI Assisted Retrospection 1770 – 1883 – 2025 River Man ______________________________________ Preface This is not a book. It is a retrospect in motion. In 1806, as Napoleon’s cannons shook Jena, Hegel finished The Phenomenology of Spirit—philosophy composed to the sound of history being unmade. He called this act “retrospect”: the owl of […]
Chris Rea, the musician behind the festive classic Driving Home for Christmas, has died at the age of 74. The singer died on Monday in hospital following a short illness, a spokesperson for his family said. A statement on behalf of his wife and two children read: “It is with immense sadness that we announce […]
