I haven’t watched the Harry and Meghan interview, but I’ve read about it. Apparently, Meghan and Harry see racism even in a question about the possible skin color of her baby. Perhaps the person asking was merely curious? Maybe even … Continue reading →
If you’re unfamiliar with the genre of the reaction video, it involves a song – usually one popular between the 1950s through the 1980s, but it can be any song – which a person listens to for the first time … Continue reading →
Love this song, love this guy’s energy and his discussion of the song. It is indeed a “rather peculiar” melody, but it sure does work: [ADDENDUM: Here’s an older post of mine about Cat Stevens.]
Continue reading →I’m baaaack! Yesterday’s shot took much longer than I thought it would – not the shot itself, but waiting in line in the car. By the time I got back I felt like chilling out rather than writing, and even … Continue reading →
[NOTE: Part I can be found here and Part IIA here.] As I’ve written before, until recently all I knew about the Bee Gees were a few of their disco-era songs and a vague recollection of longish hair, and I … Continue reading →
Commenter “Lee Also” writes this: I have always felt that, as doctors take the Hippocratic Oath when they receive their degree, Portia’s Speech should be administered to freshly minted JD’s as an oath: “The quality of mercy is not strained; … Continue reading →
[Hat tip: commenter “huxley”.] It strikes me that this is a good metaphor for what’s been happening to the idea of justice at the hands of the campaign for “equity” [emphasis mine]: For decades leading symphony orchestras have used “blind … Continue reading →
This would be funny if it weren’t so ominous: House Democrats are pressing cable and streaming services over their decisions to host channels that the lawmakers accuse of spreading misinformation and conspiracy theories that lead to “real world harm.” Reps. … Continue reading →
I’ve gotten fascinated by the process of songwriting, something I don’t understand. I think I can safely say I will never write a song. But there are people who do it from childhood on, over and over. Sometimes they never … Continue reading →
In my recent explorations in the field of popular music, I was reading an article in which a certain person’s singing voice was described as having vibrato, and I immediately thought, “No, it was tremolo.” Then I suddenly realized that, … Continue reading →
Commenter “Philip Sells” asks a good question: Does not Orwell’s concept of Newspeak presuppose something like Sapir-Whorf? And commenter “Frederick” responds this way: Yeah, it did, which lessened the book a bit for me…Reading it now is a little jarring… … Continue reading →
I’m not that old, but pedagogical practices in my youth seem absolutely archaic compared to whatever passes for education these days. For starters, we had Washington’s Birthday and Lincoln’s Birthday, and they were on their actual real birthdays: Lincoln on … Continue reading →