I’ve been reading and listening to many reviews of the Nolan film The Odyssey. The spread of opinions is extremely wide – everything from a great masterpiece to a piece of horse manure, with plenty in-between. The film is doing … Continue reading →
Congress may be about to make Daylight Savings Time the permanent time in the US, rather than shifting back and forth seasonally between Standard and DST. The seasonal shifting is annoying to many people, but the change would pit the … Continue reading →
Here’s an interesting piece on the phenomenon of late fame. Robert Graboyes concentrates on music: Johann Sebastian Bach is one of history’s three greatest composers (along with Beethoven and Mozart), but his fame didn’t really blossom until the mid-19th century—75 … Continue reading →
First, a bit of background (if you’re unfamiliar with the story of the Andes crash, there may be a few spoilers here). I first read the definitive book on the subject, Alive, when it came out in 1974. I was … Continue reading →
Obama is in Canada in order to give the keynote speech to a group called Canada 2020, which has the goal of furthering “a more just, inclusive and forward-thinking Canada.” That’s “just” as in “social justice” or what Thomas Sowell … Continue reading →
I first saw the movie Rebecca on TV when I was about ten years old, and was immediately taken with it. I went on to read the book when I was very young, too, and loved it. The movie is … Continue reading →
Yesterday I wrote a post about Liz Warren’s desire to confiscate more of Jeff Bezos’ money. The title of the post was, “How much money does Jeff Bezos need, anyway?” Afterwards, a line from Shakespeare kept coming to me: “Oh … Continue reading →
[NOTE: Today is Presidents’ Day or Washington’s Birthday – or both – and this is a repeat of a previous post.] I’m not that old, but pedagogical practices in my youth seem absolutely archaic compared to whatever passes for education … Continue reading →
This will not surprise you: The 250th anniversary of America’s founding provides an opportunity to reflect on—and fight over—the country’s extraordinary story. Unfortunately, many of the serious scholars who study America—its history, literature and culture—fail to provide a balanced and … Continue reading →
The number of Christian believers in Germany has been falling rapidly, and this presents a problem: what to do with all those empty churches? Maybe it’s time to re-purpose them as mosques – it’s certainly happened before; just ask the … Continue reading →
I’m extremely pleased to announce that Gerard Van der Leun’s poetry book, Into the Smoke of the World and other poems, is ready for purchase. Poetry was very dear to Gerard’s heart, and this beautiful book features almost all of … Continue reading →
Too many murders, both of the public political and jihadi type, and of the private. They signify different things and threaten different things, but there’s this quality to it: Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed … Continue reading →