Yesterday I was on the telephone with my credit card company, waiting to discuss a bill, and I coughed. Once. Softly. Immediately the electronic voice on the other end said, “Sorry, but I don’t understand that response.”
Continue reading →“Esplanade” is a work by modern dance choreographer Paul Taylor that highlights the difference between modern dance and ballet. Ballet dancers are sometimes drawn to Taylor’s more graceful pieces such as “Esplanade,” because at first glance seems it seems as … Continue reading →
Hey, if you expect me to know what’s going to happen in that bizarre and shrouded country, you’re weirder than the North Koreans: But I will join in the speculation as to whether the above emotion is real or not … Continue reading →
Wow. Just wow.
Continue reading →Robert J. Samuelson says yes. Paul Krugman says no. I say we’ll be arguing about this stuff for the next 100 years at least.
Continue reading →After Christopher Hitchens’ death I went back and re-read a couple of his old essays, including this one on women and humor (or their lack thereof). It’s written in his trademark style: witty, self-assured, and breezy; the musings of a … Continue reading →
Now comes the news that North Korea’s Kim Jong Il (age variously reported as 69 or 70) has died. It’s been rumored for several years that he’d been gravely ill with a stroke and then pancreatic cancer, but his official … Continue reading →
A brave man, dead at 75 after a long, fruitful, and eventful life that had many twistings and turnings, Havel went from prison as a dissident to a long tenure as president during a time of transition from the Communism … Continue reading →
[NOTE: Bumped up from yesterday.] There’s still plenty of time left to order from Amazon via the handy neo-neocon widgets on the right sidebar. I’m a big procrastinator, so I know. And there’s even time to sign up for 2 … Continue reading →
In the comments section of this thread from a while back, a number of people praised the old Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, and especially the charms of amateur productions. I’m in complete agreement. The librettos may be outdated in many … Continue reading →
Remember Reagan’s eleventh commandment, “Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican?” This year the interminable debate format and the large size of the field has made it almost inevitable that just about everybody’s been violating it, and it … Continue reading →
…chocolate-covered jalapenos? Don’t think so. But correct me if I’m wrong.
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