Why is modern popular music so awful?
Here’s an interesting video for a change of pace. Some of the music isn’t au courant, but that’s probably because it was made three years ago. But the points are still relevant, I think:
Continue reading →Category Archives: Arts
And now for something completely different – Karen Carpenter explained
A voice teacher analyzes Karen Carpenter’s singing: I would describe her voice much more simply: “like velvet.” Or “like syrup; like honey.” But he is far more astute, pointing out all the shadings and change-ups that the rest of us … Continue reading →
Robert Frost for our times
[NOTE: This is a revised version of a previous post.] Robert Frost’s poem “A Case for Jefferson” isn’t great poetry—even though it’s a poem by a master of the genre. It’s more in the vein of light verse, which Frost … Continue reading →
Is it time for the Gods of the Copybook Headings to return?
Or perhaps they already have. I’ve written before about how a course I took in college on Russian Intellectual History stopped me from joining the left in the late 60s. Here’s an excerpt: It was there I learned – without … Continue reading →
It’s not the same old song
Canadian sparrows have changed their tune: A new bird song is spreading like wildfire among Canadian white-throated sparrows, at a scale not seen before by scientists. Birds rarely change their chirpy little tunes, and when they do, it’s typically limited … Continue reading →
I probably haven’t watched anything on CBS since Rathergate…
…and even prior to that, I don’t think I had watched them for several decades. I watch very little network TV and not much TV at all. I suppose somebody does, though. And now this: CBS has announced a target … Continue reading →
Now it’s Andrew Sullivan’s turn…
…to say buh-bye: “I am trying hard to create in this magazine a civil, respectful, intellectually honest space for political debate,” Haskell [the New York editor] said. “I believe there is a way to write from a conservative* perspective about … Continue reading →
“Kafkatrap” is the new name for ye olde double bind
A double bind is a social science term for “heads I win, tails you lose.” It goes like this: A double bind is a dilemma in communication in which an individual (or group) receives two or more conflicting messages, with … Continue reading →
For the Fourth: He’s a Yankee Doodle Dandy
[NOTE: This is a slightly-edited repeat of a previous post.] I saw that film on TV maybe 30 times when I was a child. Loved it, and in particular loved the idea that James Cagney—whom I already knew as a … Continue reading →
Making the acquaintance of the Periodic Table
[NOTE: This is a slightly revised repeat of a previous post – and today’s attempt to get away from politics.] When I was in junior high school, there was a large poster of the Periodic Table of the Elements that … Continue reading →
To make men free
The NY Times and the left (but I repeat myself) would have you believe that America’s founding principle of the most basic kind was slavery, and that all along slavery and racism have been the driving forces behind the US. … Continue reading →
To despair or not to despair?
That is the question – or at least, one of the questions. I know that some of you – maybe most of you – are feeling some despair right now. Maybe a lot of despair. What we’ve been seeing – … Continue reading →