Unrelated lookalikes
Ever meet someone who looks almost exactly like someone else you know? It happens to me every now and then. Once, for example, I was at a wedding, and the groom looked startlingly like my own son, so much so … Continue reading →
Category Archives: Arts
Quick…
…who painted this picture? It’s a portrait of Barney, the Scottish Terrier who used to be First Dog back when George W. Bush was president, and who died Friday at the age of 12 of lymphoma. Note that “43” in … Continue reading →
What’s in a name?
Iceland finally lets a girl use her own name. The amount of cultural control in these countries is very very foreign to us: A 15-year-old Icelandic girl has been granted the right to legally use the name given to her … Continue reading →
RIP Patty Andrews
The last of the Andrews sisters has died at the age of 94: As Patty remarked in 1971: “There were just three girls in the family. LaVerne had a very low voice. Maxene’s was kind of high, and I was … Continue reading →
Obama is heavy bored…and this is heavy scary
[NOTE: I thought this post, first published here in November of 2010, could bear repeating. I had forgotten the Jarrett quote with which it begins. But on looking at it again, it seems even more chilling than ever—and it was … Continue reading →
Is anyone else being driven somewhat nuts by this…
…or is it just me? You go to a public place that has a wide-screen TV. A restaurant or bar, or sports bar, for example. You’re having your hamburger and fries, or maybe a Cobb salad (that would be me). … Continue reading →
Gregory Corso: up down and all around
I was introduced to Gregory Corso’s poem “Marriage” by a boyfriend long ago, and it stuck in my mind because it was one of the few poems I’ve ever read that is genuinely funny; more a comedy monologue than a … Continue reading →
Musical interlude: a walk with Knopfler down Telegraph Road
For all you Knopfler fans, and for all you soon-to-be Knopfler fans (the only two kinds of people in the world), let’s take a walk down Telegraph Road: Here are the lyrics, which are worth perusal all by themselves: A … Continue reading →
Provide, provide
On one of the recent art threads, commenter “Smock Puppet” offered a link to a sculpture by Rodin entitled “She who Used to Be the Beautiful Heaulmiere”: The sculpture ‘Celle qui fut la belle heaulmié¨re’ is also known as ‘The … Continue reading →
Is there progress in art?
[NOTE: There was a great deal of interesting back and forth in the comments section here about how art has developed over the centuries, and what our greater ability to create lifelike representational art means. That’s what sparked this post.] … Continue reading →
Rescue 911: toddler plunge
Here’s another in my series of old “Rescue 911” segments. I notice that these haven’t gotten much commentary here. I don’t know how many of you watch them, but I continue to find them fascinating as well as incredibly moving. … Continue reading →
Those paintings in the encyclopedia
When I was little, the only reference book we had in the house besides a dictionary, thesaurus, and atlas was the World Book Encyclopedia for children, an official-looking set bound in blue. On rainy and/or boring days I would flip … Continue reading →