This is not good news: The Ebola virus is spreading exponentially in Liberia, the World Health Organization said, predicting thousands of new cases there in the coming weeks. The agency said Monday the number of new Liberian cases is moving … Continue reading →
I was raised on the songs of Tom Lehrer. I knew the song “The Elements” from the version appearing on this record, which I had pretty much memorized in childhood (the other songs, that is; “The Elements” went too fast … Continue reading →
I thought Joan Rivers was a funny comedienne, outrageous and bold. But I can’t say I followed her career very closely, or her life. So I was surprised to read, in this warm tribute written by her friend Peggy Noonan, … Continue reading →
The first duo: And the second:
Continue reading →When I was in junior high we had to memorize a lot of poetry. One poem was Kipling’s old chestnut (which was not quite as old at the time as it is now, but then again, neither was I) “If.” … Continue reading →
A while back I went to the Boston Ballet to see Balanchine’s “Serenade.” Oh, there were other ballets on the program, but I shelled out the money for one reason and one reason alone: Serenade. I’ve written briefly about the … Continue reading →
Somebody’s been making a ton of money off Cozy Classics, which are board picture books for toddlers. They feature a single word per each of twelve pages and are meant mostly to amuse their parents, I would guess: Read the … Continue reading →
Read this, and think of ISIS: THE SECOND COMING (W.B Yeats) Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed … Continue reading →
That Nobel Peace Prize for Obama certainly was premature, wasn’t it? Since he has become president, it’s been a challenge to name a part of the world that has not gotten worse rather than better. Turns out that America as … Continue reading →
For the balletomane on your gift list (especially the young ballet student), this is pretty and rather clever: A reader alerted me to the clock, which is designed by Meike Harde. It seems to be available right now only through … Continue reading →
The phenomenon was mocked in “My Fair Lady” but its origins predated that, in “Pygmalion,” Shaw’s play from which “My Fair Lady” and this speech of Alfred Doolittle’s was taken. Isn’t it interesting that, despite writing this, Shaw was a … Continue reading →
…says Leonard Cohen. A likely story. If Cohen’s mind is like the DMV, it’s not like any DMV I’ve ever been to. Cohen’s interview is a fascinating reflection on creativity and work: Before I can discard the verse, I have … Continue reading →