What collie guy? This collie guy. What bear? This Chinese bear: A Chinese zoo has been forced to deny that its sun bear is actually a human in a costume, after video of one standing on its hind legs raised … Continue reading →
The real Lewis Carroll, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, created the original “Alice” stories for the young Alice Liddell and her two sisters one day when they were rowing on the Thames. The story was originally spoken extemporaneously, but the girls liked … Continue reading →
The singer has died at the age of 56: Irish singer Sinéad O’Connor has died at the age of 56, her family has announced. In a statement, the singer’s family said: “It is with great sadness that we announce the … Continue reading →
[NOTE: I wrote about the “Fast Car” brouhaha involving the Luke Combs cover version two days ago. That sparked further thoughts – thus, this post.] The strength of the song “Fast Car” is due in no small part to its … Continue reading →
He had a long run: 96 years. He kept singing to the end, although he gave up performing in 2021 due to slowly advancing Alzheimer’s. From his Wiki page, I learned that Bennett was also a lifelong artist. You can … Continue reading →
It’s come to this: One recollection that I can confirm with the aid of historical evidence is that [in 1988] ‘Fast Car’ by Tracy Chapman was everywhere. I heard it in seedy gay bars, at civil-service leaving dos, at family … Continue reading →
I missed this story back when it first happened, in April of 2022. This explains what I’m referring to: A large organization that drives the training of U.S. librarians and their use of public funds has chosen a self-described “Marxist … Continue reading →
[Hat tip: Commenter “Barry Meislin.”] RIP Milan Kundera. Long-time readers here probably recall that Kundera has been one of my favorite authors and almost certainly was my favorite living author, someone I’ve quoted time after time on this blog. You … Continue reading →
Alla Shelest was virtually unknown in the West, but she was an eminent dancer in the USSR during the 30s, 40s, and 50s. Here she is trying to teach a younger dancer what’s known as épaulement, which is “the nuanced … Continue reading →
I’ve finally done some actual work on Gerard’s book – using the Amazon self-publishing platform, which my research points to as the most user-friendly. However, there’s still a steep and rather tedious learning curve there, and so I’m nowhere near … Continue reading →
By popular demand, I’m going to try to explain Plisetskaya’s jumping ability as shown in a recent open thread. Here’s the video again: You won’t see other women in ballet jumping like that. You’ll see a few men getting that … Continue reading →
When I was watching this video, I thought about a Bee Gees comparison before Fil made the same point. Were the Bee Gees the male Andrews sisters? Sort of. But I have one disagreement with Fil here – which is … Continue reading →