After last year’s globe-spanning celebrations marking the bicentenaries of the births of Wagner and Verdi, the field of composers-to-be-commemorated may look rather sparse as we survey 2014. To be sure, none of this year’s honorees…
Posts published in “Essays”
Every now and again I will come across an article or a documentary or a book about an artist no one ever heard of until that artist died and it was discovered she left behind paintings or drawings or sculptures or musical compositions or novels or poems or mathematical equations or architectural designs hailed by some authority or another as works of towering genius.
An epidemic of sky-rocketing medical costs has afflicted our country and grown to obscene proportions. Medical bills are bloated with waste, redundancy, profiteering, fraud and outrageous over-billing. Much is wrong with the process of pricing…
“I’ve killed more plants than anyone I’ve ever known,” he says with a smile. He learns a lot from failure. But usually the experiments fall somewhere between success and failure and this is much harder.
The 49ers were outcoached against Seattle. Just like we were outcoached in the Super Bowl against the Ravens (e.g., first and goal on the five with time running out and what happened?). And just like we were outcoached against the New York Giants two years ago in the conference championship at home (e.g., letting the shaky Kyle Williams return punts even after the dinged-up Williams was diving all over the place. What happened?
A question of manners: What is the proper way to inform a friend that you have already heard the story they have started to tell for the 53rd time? Equally vexing: What is the proper…
Should a grown man have a secret friendship with a young teen? In real life, of course, it’s dicey; but in this novel, it works. These two lost souls learn to trust each other, shyly share the memories of their beloved, and slowly begin the so very necessary healing of this broken family.
I’m sure we all have better things to do than watch that emotionally involving, spacey-fiction example of Disraeli-era “one nation” Tory-conservative spin, Downton Abbey.
Dennis Rodman's recent trip to North Korea with a team of retired NBA players to take part in an exhibition game was akin to John Lennon and Yoko Ono going to bed in public to…