What do Charlie Parker and Theodore Dreiser have in common? Well, damned little, you might say, seeing has how the creator of bebop and the master of early twentieth century American naturalist fiction never met, but there is a connection, however tenuous. In 1947, Parker went into a recording session, joined with Miles Davis on…
Author: Alan Vanneman
The “Tragedy” of Mitt Romney
A double tragedy, in fact, for poor old Mitt was born with both no shame and no balls! A typical Republican, in other words! I was, in fact, quite willing to let poor Mitt go gentle into that good night until pretty near incessant praise for the guy started to get me down, most particularly…
Yeah, I flunked Econ 101! What’s your point?
As a matter of fact, I I didn’t flunk Econ 101, because I never took it! So what? To quote Mel Brooks, I’m an old man and I’ve got a right to talk. And, to quote another old man, Richard Nixon, “I am not an intellectual, but I do read books!” Well, I do and…
More disinformation from the NYTimes? You betcha! Good Information from the Washington Post? Strange, Yet True!
Yep, yep, yep. It’s Washington Post 1, New York Times 0 on the Vanneman-o-meter, which measures, of course, “TRUTH”! The matter at hand is Missouri v. Biden, a recent decision by the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals partially affirming—with the emphasis on “partially”—a wide-ranging (as in “loud mouthed” and, well, “Trumpy”) lower court’s preliminary…
Disinformation, Krugman style
Okay, I hate to call out Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman on what is, perhaps, not a huge deal, but we have the right to expect “more” from a Nobel dude like Paul, and I’m afraid Paul’s “error” here is more than a foot fault. In the course of a rap on the irresponsible…
Transitional Group— “Played Twice”
From the Julian Joseph Jazz Academy. Trumpet – Jo-Gerard Re’em; Tenor Sax – Ruben Ross / Alex Dmochowski; Guitar – Scipio Mosley; Bass – Jedd Bailey-Smith; Piano – Tara Jerome / Isla Cummings; Drums – George Harvey. Posted by the Julian Joseph Jazz Academy. July 21, 2017.
Two Thumbs Down for the Barbienheimer!
Yeah, I hit the Multiplex for a double disappointment, both Barbie and Oppenheimer—“not so hot” and “pretty dumb”, respectively. Click on the links provided for the gory details.
Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” Q: What would life be like if smart girls ruled the world? A: Not so hot!
Mattel’s legendary high fashion gal on the go Barbie is pushing 65. Most of the jokes in Greta Gerwig’s monster, monster hit of the same name have a similar vintage. Seriously, is there a single gag in this movie that couldn’t have appeared on Saturday Night Live back in 1975? But the monster success of…
Socio-political-cultural notes from all over: Jack Goldsmith is a gosh-darn liar, Joe and Bibi may be pulling a fast one, and Oliver Anthony is a jive turkey
O mores O tempores, eh, motherfucker? What a list, what a list, what a list. Oy vey, oy vey, oy vey. First and worst is elegantly bearded Harvard prick in chief Jack Goldsmith, whose motto is “not as bad as John Yoo”, which may or not be true, because John stabs you in the chest…
Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer”: Actually, it’s pretty dumb
Two thirds of the way through Oppenheimer, I asked myself “Why did Christopher Nolan make this picture?” Because, except for a few cheesy nits, which I will most assuredly pick later, what we have gotten, about two hours in, is essentially a pseudo documentary, a laboriously accurate, $100 million reconstruction of the events leading up…