I was never a big fan of country music. I bought the first couple of Outlaws albums (Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Jessie Colter and Tompall Glaser) and one or two by Emmylou Harris, but I just couldn’t and can’t tolerate the kind of string-heavy glammed-up music Nashville was selling in the Fifties and Sixties. When …
After getting home at five in the morning, and leaving a note for Fritz saying I would be down for breakfast at 10:45, I had set the alarm for ten o’clock. That had seemed sensible, but the trouble with an alarm clock is that what seems sensible when you set it seems absurd when it …
It would appear from this article that too many Bush appointees remain in the upper levels of Federal scientific agencies. . . . scientists charge that the Obama administration is not doing enough to reverse a culture that they contend allowed officials to interfere with their work and limit their ability to speak out. “We …
I stole the title from the NYT: With a goal from Andres Iniesta in the 26th minute of extra time, Spain became the seventh country to win the World Cup, beating the Netherlands by 1-0 before 85,000 fans at Soccer City in Johannesburg and millions of television viewers around the world. From Catalonia in the …
Continue reading ‘Felicidades Espana, Campeones del Mundo!’ »
One of the musical clips on This American Life was from “Twisted,” a song Joni Mitchell recorded on her “Court and Spark” album. I went to YouTube to find a recording of the entire song and was astonished to learn that Mitchell didn’t write it. I’ve always assumed she wrote every song she performed on …
This is bitterly wonderful. Long story short, artist creates piece of graffiti in rundown collapsing industrial plant. Gallery takes artwork, exhibits it. Owner of industrial plant finds out, sues. City says “Aha! We’ve been trying to find out who owned that land and plant for years! Because of this lawsuit, now we know!” And now …
That’s what Eric Alterman calls our current system of government in a long and somewhat depressing (for liberals) essay in The Nation. A sample: it is has become easier and easier for a determined minority to throw sand in the gears of the legislative process. America’s system of political representation, now more than two centuries …
I first ran across the name Meg Gardiner in one of John Scalzi’s The Big Idea posts, wherein he turns the floor over to an author who explains what prompted him (or her) to write his newest book. The concept sounded interesting: The novel’s about the collision of fame and power. Also about the collision …
Applauding Governor Lingle’s veto of the civil unions bill, here’s Republican Lieutenant Governor Duke Aiona, who’s running for the top job: Aiona commended the governor for making “a courageous decision” to veto the bill. But he also blasted the Legislature for trying to put pressure on the governor by not calling for a special session …
Continue reading ‘Gubernatorial candidate doesn’t like hard decisions’ »
On the last possible day for vetoes, Governor Lingle exercised her right and vetoed a civil unions bill. House Bill 444 would have given same-sex and heterosexual couples the ability to enter into civil unions and receive the same rights, benefits and responsibilities as marriage under state law. Same-sex marriages, civil unions or domestic partnerships …
Continue reading ‘Hawai’i’s Republican Governor vetoes civil unions’ »