“Fictionalized” version of the Thomas-Hill case on HBO
Bias, anyone? I uniformly hate these “fictionalized looks” at history.
Continue reading →Category Archives: Arts
Edward Villella: on “a guy” called Stravinsky
In my relative youth, Edward Villella was one of my favorite dancers—and to tell you the truth I was more than a little bit in love with him. Here he talks—with his usual modesty—about what it’s like to be in … Continue reading →
The Wainwright divorce chronicles
It isn’t so often that you get two singer-songwriters who marry and then divorce, and who both write songs about it. Two offerings in this genre are from Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle, who were married for a few … Continue reading →
Last leaves
I don’t usually write about my dreams, but last night I had one that was so vivid I feel the need to do so. And no, it wasn’t about politics. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve either dreamed less or remembered … Continue reading →
RIP Patty Duke
Patty Duke has died at the age of 69. A star actress even as a child, she had in some ways a difficult road, with mental illness (manic-depression) that eventually got under control, which enabled a long marriage and apparently … Continue reading →
The consent of children
Photographer Sally Mann wrote a lengthy article in which she justifies, explains, expounds, and defends some controversial photos she took of her own children. She asserts that, since her children had the final say over every photo and whether it … Continue reading →
Early Frost and late
Here’s a very early poem by Robert Frost: “The Tuft of Flowers.” And by “very early” I mean very; Frost was probably about 22 when he wrote it (1896 or 1897). You can tell it’s early if you know anything … Continue reading →
Violette Verdy: once more, with feelings (the Girl in Green)
I recently wrote about ballet dancer Violette Verdy, who died on February 8. At the time I wrote that post, I had not seen the following videos. In my post I mentioned Verdy’s astounding and unique musicality; I think these … Continue reading →
Dueling Concerto Baroccos
In 1941 George Balanchine choreographed the ballet “Concerto Barocco” to Bach’s Concerto in D minor for Two Violins. When I write “choreographed to,” I really mean it, because the dance has virtually no plot except to express the music, with … Continue reading →
On being a blogger these days: truth, Trump, and a whole lot of other things
I’m what you might call a mid-level blogger. I’ve been doing this for eleven years, and I’ve reached a certain level of readership that’s more than I ever thought it would be when I began but less than I later … Continue reading →
Limbaugh and Levin, and campaign 2016
I don’t listen to Rush Limbaugh—or to any talk shows, actually—often. But I’ve listened now and then, often enough—to Limbaugh and also to Mark Levin—to get a basic feel for both of them. For example, I’ve noticed that for about … Continue reading →
How many of these most lied-about books have you read?
Here’s the list of the 20 books that people most often think they should have read, say they have read, but often haven’t read. For me the grand total of books on that list actually read is eleven: (1) Both … Continue reading →