Saturday, September 14, 2013

Tania Grossinger, Memoir of an Independent Woman

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Don't let the title Memoir of an Independent Woman make you think this is strictly chick non-fic. Most women will, I think, find it in...
Saturday, September 07, 2013

"Gift" is a noun, "gifted" is an adjective, "give" is a verb.

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I'm on my usage high horse again. It isn't all that high. As I've said before , I'm not some fusty pedant who worries abou...
1 comment:
Monday, September 02, 2013

Seamus Heaney, 1939-2013.

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I confess to having read very little of Seamus Heaney's poetry, just snippets quoted here and there. They were enticing; Heany is one ...
Sunday, September 01, 2013

Pete Seeger, "Solidarity Forever"

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I was surprised and delighted when I walked into Key Food early this morning and heard this playing on the PA system. Some of my fellow shop...
Saturday, August 31, 2013

Happy 68th, Van Morrison.

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May there be many more happy days...and Wild Nights. Addendum:  Returning from my Sunday morning walk, with my iPod set on shuffle, I hear...
Sunday, August 25, 2013

The Blind Boys of Alabama, "Free at Last," live at the White House.

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"Now is the time to make real the promise... ." Dr. Martin Luther KIng, Jr., August 28, 1963.
Saturday, August 24, 2013

"Catnip Capers": a Terrytoons animation from 1940

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A little weekend silliness. Some of us can remember when a visit to the movie theater began with a newsreel and an animated cartoon, along ...
Tuesday, August 20, 2013

"C'mon Everybody": Led Zeppelin covers Eddie Cochran.

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Led Zep does tribute to one of my favorite early rock artists, Eddie Cochran , at the Royal Albert Hall ("Now they know how many holes....
Monday, August 19, 2013

Okay, so I have this thing about dolphins.

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I've had a soft spot for dolphins since I was seven years old and saw them sporting around the French liner Liberté as my mother and ...
Sunday, August 11, 2013

Broken Darling, "Dust"

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I found out about this song, and the band Broken Darling , through a comment on Brooklyn Heights Blog by a neighbor of mine whose nom de bl...
Saturday, August 10, 2013

Karl Junkersfeld's "A Tale of Two Bridges"

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My Brooklyn Heights Blog colleague made this video. He gave it the title "A Tale of Two Bridges" because it includes scenes of ...
Monday, August 05, 2013

No, you can't reach a crescendo. Or can you, if you're a famous writer?

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Miles Hoffman, a fine fellow I'm sure, takes umbrage with F. Scott Fitzgerald, the historian James M. McPherson, George F. Will, Will...
Monday, July 29, 2013

A cliché captured on camera.

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A gray catbird ( Dumetella carolinensis ) surveys an earthworm (probably Eisenoides sp. ) early in the morning in Brooklyn Bridge Park ....
Saturday, July 27, 2013

J.J. Cale, 1938-2013

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J.J. Cale , the Oklahoma native singer and songwriter whose work was performed by Eric Clapton and Lynyrd Skynyrd, among many others, died t...
1 comment:
Monday, July 22, 2013

Richard Wagner, Götterdämmerung, Seigfried's Funeral March

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Today is the bicentennial of Richard Wagner's birth. The clip above, thanks to mitjanus , is of Siegfried's Funeral March from Gö...
Sunday, July 21, 2013

Bing and the Duke: "St. Louis Blues."

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In 1932, Bing Crosby recorded this with Duke Ellington and his orchestra. An early example of Irish soul music, anticipating The Commitments...
Monday, July 15, 2013

Rembrandt van Rijn, 1606-1669

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Google's search engine start page today reminds me that this is the 407th anniversary of the birth of perhaps the most celebrated pain...
Saturday, July 13, 2013

Dolly, Faut y croire. Happy Bastille Day!

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Dolly was one of France's most popular rock bands from the early 1990s until 2005, when their bassist, Mickaël "Micka" Chambe...
Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Michael Simmons, "As I Walk by the Moon"

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My erstwhile Lion's Head drinking companion Michael Simmons , now living in L.A., has been a steady source of mostly music related mate...
Monday, July 08, 2013

British Pathé Newsreel: S.S. United States wins the Blue Riband on her maiden voyage.

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The Blue Riband ? It's an award that is not likely ever to be given again. It was for the passenger ship that made the fastest crossings...
Thursday, July 04, 2013

Messrs Shreve, Lamb and Harmon, and Usher, wish you a happy Fourth.

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Shreve, Lamb and Harmon's 1931 masterpiece, still the world's tallest art deco building, is resplendent in its Independence Day il...
Tuesday, July 02, 2013

Pirates best in MLB?

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My Mets have been showing some signs of life lately, so my earlier speculation that they might give the 1962 Mets a run for the season loss...
1 comment:
Sunday, June 30, 2013

Neil Young sings Ian Tyson's "Four Strong Winds." Happy Canada Day!

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One great Canadian singer and songwriter performs a song by another, with some help from Willie Nelson.
Saturday, June 29, 2013

The Texas Archives War

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The statue in the photo above is of Angelina Eberly.  I'd never heard of her until I read Gail Collins's column Wendy and the Boys...
Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Sounds of the Niagara Frontier: the Rockin' Rebels, John Fogerty, and Screamin' Dick Biondi.

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"Wild Weekend" by the Rockin' Rebels was recorded in 1959 by two Buffalo DJs, Tom Shannon and Phil Todaro, for their Mar-Lee (...
Sunday, June 16, 2013

Happy Father's Day; happy Bloomsday.

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Today is Father's Day, so best wishes to all my fellow dads. This year it's also Bloomsday, the anniversary of the day in 1904 whe...

Van Dyke Parks, "Donovan's Colours."

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Van Dyke Parkes is a musical genius who surprised and mostly delighted the rock crit world in 1968 with an album titled Song Cycle . My frie...
1 comment:
Monday, June 10, 2013

The (short) life of pie.

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We were expecting company Sunday evening, so my wife made a good sized pie using rhubarb and strawberries sourced (maybe even curated ) fr...
Saturday, June 08, 2013

Cape Cod photos: the walk to Skaket Beach and back.

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Following our visit to Cape Cod Brewery on Saturday morning, and a satisfying pizza lunch, the sun came out. I decided to take a walk. Th...
Wednesday, June 05, 2013

Lou Reed and Sharon Jones

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There was good and not so good news last week about two of my favorite musicians. The good news about Lou Reed was that he had a successful...