Legal humor here “Damn it, Smithers! This ‘Sword of Justice’ business is wearing mighty thin!” “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Everything is ‘urgent’ with you!” “I don’t care if Harrison gave you frontsies! Wait in line!” “All right, girlfriend! You just brought a knife to a gunfight! And this little missy shoots to kill!” “Well, shiver me…
Joey does Bird—“Anthropology”
Jazz prodigy Joey Alexander, with Russell Hall on bass and Sammy Miller on drums at the Jazz Standard in New York. Posted by trender18
Phony Evenhandedness, Case Nos. 377,421,904-6
Golly! That President Obama! When Republicans tell outrageous and disgusting lies, he just tells the truth! Why, he’s almost as bad as they are! That’s the gist of the bizarre rap of TV big-shot (five Emmys!) Jeff Greenfield in a recent piece for Politico Magazine, headed “Getting the Politics of Fear Right: Trump exploits our…
Mike Titlebaum Trio with Nicholas Walker and Greg Evans—“Stuffy Turkey”
Get it? One of Monk’s less frequently played tunes. Mike on sax, Nick on bass, Greg on drums. Recorded at The Gates in Ithaca, NY, 9/29/13. Posted by Mike Titlebaum
In which Ralph Douthat fashions a seemingly serviceable argument—though only seemingly so—out of a most dubious sow’s ear
When I first read Joyce Carol Oates’ now notorious tweet “All we hear of ISIS is puritanical & punitive; is there nothing celebratory & joyous? Or is query naive?”, I could only conclude that Joycie had been sipping too deeply of the elderberry wine, and decided to pass along. Ralph Douthat, however, took up the…
Thank you, General Petraeus!
I’m definitely not a fan of Gen. David Petreaus, who arguably should be a convicted felon rather than a self-confessed misdemeanorist, but he definitely merits a thumbs up from all thirteen of us in the “Let’s stay out of the damn Middle East” crowd, when he said publicly that sending U.S. troops to clean up…
Pseudo New Yorker
Legal humor here “Soot may be dirty, but it’s real, you know what I’m saying? Solar power ain’t shit. Ain’t no solar power when the sun don’t shine. That’s what I’m saying.” “You know what gets me? Kids don’t read Tootle no more. That’s what gets me. Because that’s where it all started.” “Yeah I’d…
Dave Samuels—“Bemsha Swing”
The Dave Samuels Trio, featuring Mark Walker on drums and Oscar Stagnaro on bass, performing a tune jointly composed by Thelonious Monk and drummer Denzil Best. Recorded at the 2009 Berklee Percussion Festival. Posted by Gustavo Agatiello
Jurassic Parks: Stevie and the Dinosaurs, Part 6
(NOTE: Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park series is one of the best franchises on film, particularly if you like dinosaurs. For the past month I’ve been running a strikingly unbalanced review of the four films, because I’m a big fan of parts 1 & 3, while distinctly unenthusiastic over parts 2 & 4. Today’s chapter begins…
EDITOR’S NOTE: Alan Vanneman regrets to admit that he has nothing intelligent or informed to say about the ISIS crisis. Instead, he will write about nail salons.
You read Sarah Maslin Nir’s two-part exposé of New York nail salons the New York Times. You read the “How I got the story” interview with Nir in the Times. You read the rebuttal by nail salon owner and former New York Times reporter Richard Bernstein. You read the NYT rebuttal to Bernstein’s rebuttal. And…