Far too much historical analysis falls into two questionable schools of thinking, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt is the perfect subject for both. The first is the great man theory, where one man single-handedly changes the world because that is what he was put here to do. It suits the American outlook nicely, since this is the John Wayne view of life: a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do, no matter how many injuns or cattle rustlers stand in his way. [Read more →]
April 14, 2009
I dream I’m just outside of New York City on the day of Dumbledore’s wedding and there is a strange plant growing in the fountain at the reception site. The plant troubles me, but Dumbledore just looks at it knowingly. Obviously, evil forces are planning something bad. A few days later frogs confirm this and Dumbledore and I have to evade an enormous underwater monster who is out to flood the world. Meanwhile, in the city, some officials complain about the drought. Mickey Mouse, who has become incorporated into some nearby skyscrapers, bends the buildings over causing some residual water to pour from the rooftops into the center of town. This saves the city from drought. [Read more →]
Wednesday, May 6, 2009, is Hump Day for our national Teacher Appreciation Week, a week we appreciate only on weekdays — May 4 to May 8 — according to the Yahoo note which informed me of such week last night.
So I arose this morning not with the alacrity, wit, and wide smile of some of my favorite educators; rather, I experienced an acute anxiety attack as I understood I had not yet done enough to appreciate teachers this week. [Read more →]
I’ve only ever read two of Mary Gaitskill’s story collections: Bad Behavior, her first (published in 1988), and Don’t Cry, her latest. Both are highly charged works of fiction — strong, full of sexuality, intensity, and intelligence. After reading both of these collections, I have come to the conclusion that if I ever had the chance to meet Mary Gaitskill I would be quite intimidated. Her writing is tough and confident, somehow masculine and feminine at the same time, which doesn’t make it feminist — it makes it authentic. [Read more →]
The Yankees are dead to me; they have been for a while. I think it started when they acquired Randy Johnson instead of Carlos Beltran. But this off-season and first month has just been too much. The Yankees just don’t get it anymore. They care about the fans and real baseball about as much as Big Oil cares about the environment. [Read more →]
After appearing in more than one hundred films, Sir Michael Caine dropped his usual fee to star in the low budget Is Anybody There?, because it was the only screenplay he had ever read that made him cry. Films about vital people experiencing aging and dementia tend to provoke that reaction. This film is somewhat predictable, but the magical setting and stellar performances by leads Michael Caine (Clarence) and young Bill Milner (Edward) turn what could be a clichéd tearjerker into a life affirming meditation on death and aging. [Read more →]
There are a few holidays that chefs really like. Cinco de Mayo is one of them. Great Mexican food is so fun and easy to prepare, so go ahead and celebrate with my Shrimp and Avocado on Crispy Tortillas!
Did you know that North Carolina schools teach an abstinence-only curriculum? For those of us slow on the uptake… that means no contraception is discussed at all! So they teach you how to have sex, and about the consequences of sex (pregnancy, STD’s), but not how to protect yourself from those consequences. And, as might be expected, they have the ninth highest teen-pregnancy rate in the country. Hello people of North Carolina, your kids are having sex, deal with it! [Read more →]
Secularism is good for the prosperity of religion. The absence of a state-sanctioned faith has afforded opportunities for religious beliefs, congregations, and dogma to compete for the affirmations of citizens. Secularism creates, in a sense, a free socioreligious market. [Read more →]
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane has plenty to recommend it: the Salem Witch Trials, crazy grad school mentors and a hot, agnostic steeplejack. Certainly sounds like a good start to a story, combining historical fiction, a bit of mystery and maybe something a little supernatural. It starts with a very interesting question about the Salem witch trials, one that is not normally addressed in the history books: What if some of these women really were witches? Katherine Howe might have an answer for that. Her ancestors include Elizabeth Howe, hanged as a witch in Salem in 1692 and Elizabeth Proctor, another accused witch, whose story is the basis of Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible. [Read more →]
I have been reading Justine, the first volume of Lawrence Durrell’s Alexandria Quartet, which I had not looked at since college. It has been a happy reunion, conjuring much of the same magic as before, its cadences echoing in the mind like favorite tunes, causing one to feel as one had not for so very long.
Durrell, I gather, has fallen into neglect since his death in 1990. [Read more →]
Private Practice (Thursday, ABC, 10PM) — I wasn’t able to watch TV this week. “What?!“, you scream? I have a good excuse. I was in Miami celebrating the upcoming nuptials of my bestie, Emma. I have a lot of catching up to do. However, between sun, cocktails, and late night boozing, I managed to watch the season finale of Private Practice on www.abc.com. And all I can say is, WTF?! [Read more →]
It’s always puzzled me that, at least in some forums, Joseph Conrad is seen as an adventure story writer, as though he wrote for teenage boys. Admittedly, some of his long stories like Youth, Nigger of the Narcissus, and Typhoon have incredible scenes of high adventure and action, but even these are great works of literature. His The Secret Agent, too, with a title that suggests all the elements that go with the spy genre, will surprise, but hardly disappoint, anyone picking it up for an enjoyable read. [Read more →]
This week, hearings started in Congress about the need for a college football playoff. The threat is that the BCS will not be able to refer to their championship game as a “national championship” if a playoff is not involved. Now, from my review of online commentary and conversation with other college football fans, I would say that although it is very clear that a playoff is greatly preferred as the way to determine a champion, there is a faction out there that thinks that the government should spend its time on the economic issues facing the country, rather than worry about how a game picks its ultimate winner. Personally, I am thrilled at the government’s involvement. [Read more →]
10. Seriously, did you see that vacuum cleaner?!
9. Due to the bad economy, he was out of money for hookers.
8. She made the first move.
7. Just one in a series of girlfriends who sucked the life out of him.
6. He’s only human!
5. It was the anniversary of their first date.
4. Somebody had sudsed it up and it was looking particularly fine!
3. He was trying to make his home vacuum cleaner jealous.
2. It was purely physical; he didn’t want any attachments.
1. His wet vac was on the fritz.
Be prepared to be dazzled by names of important white men you’ve never heard of and distant dates from Pennsylvania’s past. Take 1848. . . Please! Try to remember the year 1848 because that’s the last time that Pennsylvania had a Democratic governor and two Democratic United States Senators. At a news conference last Tuesday Arlen Spector announced an unexpected Democratic Party Pennsylvania trifecta in a race no one saw running at post time. [Read more →]
Wolverine Origin (graphic novel) and X-Men Origins: Wolverine don’t have much in common. They deal with different stories in different ways. The book is great and the movie is okay. [Read more →]
In 30 years of watching the symphony orchestra business, I’ve never seen anything quite as remarkable as the recent story in the Washington Post describing a voluntary concession, nay “donation”, of wage and benefit reductions totaling $1 million offered by the musicians of the Baltimore Symphony. Orchestra management was actually taken by surprise by the news. [Read more →]
If you check out the various lists touting the greatest movies of all time, you’ll notice that the top spot varies between two films, The Godfather and Citizen Kane. Which is the best? Well, for me, the answer is obvious, because one of those movies changed my life and the other did not, and that’s the measure of a movie’s greatness. Every time you see a movie, you are changed a little bit, but some movies, rare movies, can change your life. [Read more →]
Dude, dude, DUDE, dood, duude…
It sounds ridiculous but the word “dude” is a significant part of my social identity. Dude defines me by generation, possibly social class, and almost certainly my suburban upbringing. [Read more →]
