This shot of Ronnie and William F. Buckley, taken in 1988, Reagan’s last year in office, fascinates me. Ronnie looks pretty much stuffed, ready for Madame Tussaud’s. But even though he may not remember what he had for breakfast, or the name of the dude in the cheap suit who keeps talking his ear off,…
Author: Alan Vanneman
Is the South finally going to look in the mirror? Well, which South do you mean?
Back in the day—way, way back in the day—in 1953, the day of McCarthy, as a matter of fact—southern historian C. Vann Woodword published a famous article, “The Irony of Southern History,” which began as follows: “In a time when nationalism sweeps everything else before it, as it does at present, the regional historian is…
New Book!
I have a new book out (obviously). James Thurber A Reader’s Guide consists of a long (30,000+ words) essay treating Thurber’s work in some detail, plus a handful of short, Thurber-related pieces discussing Thurber compatriots Harold Ross, E. B. White, and Wolcott Gibbs, and/or dithering over words. It’s available, along with my other books, via Amazon as…
Joshua Redman Quartet @ Visioninmusica 2014
Joshua Redman, saxophone; Aaron Goldberg, piano; Reuben Rogers, bass; Greg Hutchinson, drums. Tunes performed: I’ll Go Mine (Redman), Barracudas (Gil Evans), Posted by Visioninmusica
And you never will, either
Conservative dude Matt Lewis, a “senior contributor” at the Daily Caller, notes nervously that Scott Walker’s wife Tonette is dangerously squishy on the subject of gay marriage. In fact, Matt says, first wives have historically been a pain in the neck for right-thinking right-wingers: “From Betty Ford to Laura Bush, we’ve never had a pro-life…
Pseudo New Yorker
Legal humor here “The rain does fall on the just and the unjust alike. For the immaculately coifed, things are a little different.” “Hey, hey, Mr. Skeptical Environmentalist! Wet enough for you?” “Okay, ‘It always rains on the unloved’ is a saying. You know who said it? Charlie Brown. Do you want your psyche to…
Fareed Zakaria, mixing marmalade with applesauce
In a column bearing the stentorian head “With an absent United States, China marches on”, a mildly hyperventilating Fareed Zakaria warns us that those clever Chinese folks are trying to win friends and influence people with “an avalanche of cash.” Fareed says that, according to David Shambaugh “if you add up China’s promised investments in…
It’s “President Obama,” Mr. Hiatt
Yes, in Washington, DC, the preferred honorific for the president of the United States is “President” rather than “Mister,” something that Mr. Fred Hiatt, editorial page editor for the Washington Post, is evidently yet to comprehend, judging from a recent Hiattian rant, entitled “Despite Mr. Obama’s ‘engagement,’ Cuba continues its repression,” complaining that the president…
Edward Gibbon, Part V
In Part I of this near-random collection of jottings, I remarked that Edward Gibbon, despite his near-obsessive concern with politeness and polish, tells you more about the sex lives of historical figures than virtually any modern historian. I also remarked that his modern-day fans, despite their frequently amazing levels of erudition and enthusiasm, studiously avoid…
Maiko—“Straight, No Chaser”
Maiko on the fiddle, of course, with three Japanese dudes, whose names appear on YouTube in Japanese script, which Tumblr can’t handle. Filmed at JZ Brat, Shibuya Tokyo. Posted by Jazz Violin maiko