The voices behind the Simpsons
This video is fun (hat tip: Ace of Spades). In such company, even the insufferable James Lipton becomes almost bearable:
Continue reading →Category Archives: Arts
On David Remnick, Jack Cashill, and the authorship of “Dreams From My Father”
I happened to catch David Remnick on television the other day pluggng his new biography of President Obama, The Bridge. It was the first time I’d ever seen New Yorker editor Remnick, and I was transfixed by the hushed and … Continue reading →
Ice skating: jumping, turning, spinning
In both ballet and ice skating, the best jumpers tend to be more compact. Jumping not only takes extreme athleticism and coordination, it also requires exceptionally strong legs—particularly the thigh and butt muscles. Conversely, the more elongated the torso and … Continue reading →
Sculpture for our times
The Anchoress ponders a new sculpture by Antony Gormley called “Event Horizon,” which has appeared as street art in New York City. It features: …a naked fiberglass-and-metal naked man at random spots in the city. From March 26 to August … Continue reading →
Inspirational quotations for the day
Mark Twain time travels: …Rome’s liberties were not auctioned off in a day, but were bought slowly, gradually, furtively, little by little; first with a little corn and oil for the exceedingly poor and wretched, later with corn and oil … Continue reading →
The Milgram experiment lives: on French “reality” TV
[NOTE: If you don’t know what the Milgram experiment was, please see this.] Well, I guess it had to happen. The Milgram experiments repeat themselves, the first time as tragedy and later as farce. And is it any surprise that, … Continue reading →
Reality TV feeds off itself
As controversial sextuplet mother (her sextuplets are not controversial; the mother is) Kate Gosselin and most recent Bachelor Jake Pavelka graduate from their respective shows to appearances on the newest “Dancing With the Stars,” (are you still with me, guys … Continue reading →
Literal videos
I seem to have stumbled on the phenomenon of literal videos relatively late in the game. A bunch of them went viral at You Tube last spring, and somehow I missed them. But if you, like me, weren’t familiar with … Continue reading →
I’m a blogger, not a tweeter
Twitter has never held any appeal for me. 140 characters? C’mon, that’s barely enough to get me started. And have you ever noticed how nearly everyone who tweets ends up sounding like a Valley Girl? But blogging attracted me right … Continue reading →
Comment of the day: power and the rule of law
Commenter Wolla Dalbo writes: I think that a lot of commenters here are basing their analysis on a false assumption, and that false assumption is that the Democrats care at all about the rule of law, parliamentary procedure, Democracy, our … Continue reading →
White House jello
What is White House jello? No, it doesn’t refer to Obama’s spine. It refers to this work of jello art, constructed by Liz Hickok, and sent to me by a thoughtful reader:
Continue reading →Davis and White: ice dancing, with an accent on the “dancing”
Ice dancing is a funny sport. Even more than other types of ice skating, it accentuates the showbiz aspects and plays down the athleticism—although just try it yourself for a moment and you’ll see how much of the latter is … Continue reading →