Been watching some older #movies such as Cleopatra from 1963 and Ben Hur.
It's a really nice change of pace (quite literally). Movies are slower, take more time, show things and thanks to the practical effects, hold up well. I also like how "fit" and "attractive" characters were just people rather than dehydrated steroid recepticles.
I was surprised how great Cleopatra was. Very close to the amazing depcition of that time period in the marvellous #Rome by #HBO
Prepping for a talk tomorrow re: the 1800 election & found this quote in a Jefferson letter post-election:
If the Federalists usurped the government (stole the election by declaring a president pro tem) he was "w/those who were determined not to permit it. because that precedent once set, would be artificially reproduced, & end soon in a dictator."
The 1st fraught presidential contest & already implications of "stretching" the Constitution (as the Feds put it) were clear.