happy birthday hippopotamus king!

[lorentzen-nicklaus]

 theodor w. adorno, who died in 1969, was born 98 years ago.

 follows an outtake from chapter 122 of "minima moralia", a book written in  
 american exile and, probably, read by pynchon while painting the rainbow. the  
 idiot-translation (there are, by the way, at least three professional ones) is 
 my own:

             "nicht die letzte der aufgaben, vor welche denken sich gestellt 
             sieht, ist es, alle reaktionären argumente gegen die abendländische 
            kultur in den dienst fortschreitender aufklärung zu stellen."

             an important responsibility of contemporary thinking is to 
              transform all the reactionary arguments against occidental        
               culture into means of proceeding enlightenment. 



kai frederik (sniffed yet never sneezed)