The above wonderful lithograph is by Georg Scharf, based on a watercolor painted by English geologist Henry De la Beche in 1830, based in turn largely on fossils discovered by Mary Anning, the self-taught paleontologist whom I read about at age nine, as previously discussed in yesterday’s brief post regarding Christopher Colombus. “Duria Antiquior” is…
Author: Alan Vanneman
The Columbus Myth Myth
I’m too lazy to link to any of the many articles commenting on the culture wars swirling around Mr. European Hegemonist himself, Christopher Columbus. But I would like to complain, a little, about the myth of the Columbus myth. We are taught that we were taught that Christopher Columbus was a great and good man…
The Coming Republican Crack Up? Fumin’ Donors and Fumin’ Members!
There seems to be an amusing level of, you know, stress breaking out among both Republican money bags and Republican Congress folk as Republican “ideas” collide with, you know, reality. Over at Politico, Alex Isenstadt and Gabriel Debenedetti report that “Angry GOP donors close their wallets”, while the Washington Examiner’s David M. Drucker tells us…
The boring Mr. Hefner. The second of a two-part series on the memorable departed
When Hugh Hefner died, I honestly assumed that the reaction of many people would be “He was still alive?” Well, I was wrong. In fact, ole’ Hef’s death served as the springboard for an astonishing amount of tongue-clucking from a wide variety of double-dome bigwigs, including Ross Douthat and David French. Mr. Cotton Tail, it…
Emanuele Arciuli–Elliott Carter’s “Night Fantasies”
Last week I posted a video of Spanish pianist Ricardo Descalzo playing “Eine Kleine Mitternacht Musik”, a nine-part suite/“rumination” by George Crumb on Thelonious Monk’s “Round Midnight”, one of 21 “variations” commissioned by Italian pianist Emanuele Arciuli. There are videos of Arciuli himself playing Crumb’s suite, but the sound wasn’t very good and I couldn’t…
Who influenced our culture more, Hugh Hefner or Anne Jeffreys? The first of a two-part series on the memorable departed
Well, I guess it’s Hef, although I always wondered why people took someone so artificial and synthetic seriously, but I’m going to lead with Anne, shown above with co-star and husband Robert Sterling. I knew Anne and Bob entirely through Topper, as George and Marion Kerby, spirits who haunted the eponymous “Cosmo Topper” (Leo G….
Republican ZombieCare, just waitin’ for John McCain to die
Yeah, I should be happy. Two things that I wanted to happen so much that I was afraid to say that I wanted them to happen—the collapse of the Republican attempt to repeal ObamaCare and the victory of presumptive senator Roy “Super Bigot” Moore1 in the Alabama Republican primary—have happened. But I’m still not happy,…
#Indefensible? Sure, but that’s why I love her!
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin wants tax cuts for the rich so he can afford his wife. Afterwords However, it is totally not true that Steve said “Only morons pay the estate tax.” That was chief White House economic adviser Gary Cohn.
Ricardo Descalzo plays Crumb—“ Eine Kleine Mitternacht Musik”, an homage to Thelonious Monk’s “Round Midnight”
Spanish pianist Ricardo Descalzo plays “Eine Kleine Mitternacht Musik”, a nine-part suite/“rumination” by George Crumb, giving a nod to both Monk’s title and Mozart’s “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik.” Crumb is 1 of 21 contemporary composers commissioned by Italian pianist Emanuele Arciuli to write variations on “Round Midnight”. The nine parts are titled Nocturnal theme, Charade, Premonition,…
Trollin’ Donald
The President of the United States is getting in a pissing match with the National Football League? And he’s cracking down on, you know, foreigners? Possible subtext: Please ignore the fact that I’m totally screwing up both health care and tax reform and God knows what else, not to mention all that Russia shit. Did…