Introduction Several weeks ago I began running the first episodes of “James Thurber, A Reader’s Guide,” a rambling consideration of Thurber’s works, examining his life and work in some detail. The links to the first two parts are given below. Part 3 continues my discussion of Thurber’s early life. Part 1 Part 2 Part 3…
Wynton Marsalis—“Tight Like This”
Wynton, coming within shouting distance of one of Louis Armstrong’s greatest records. From a 1999 concert celebrating the music of Louis. Posted by Austin Casey.
Pseudo New Yorker
Legal humor here. “I’m listening to Ella—Harold Arlen, “Hooray for Love”—and this little fucker flies in the window and goes apeshit on my ass.” “He says it will make me a humanitarian, but it’s totally not working. At this point, I hate everyone.” “The chick next door hired him and she weighs like two hundred…
Robert Samuelson, idiot
I have been in the past quite complimentary of Wash Post columnist Robert Samuelson. Well, I can’t take it all back because Bob often gets it right. But in this wretched post, “Defunding defense,” Bob gets it grossly and gratuitously wrong. It’s the “gratuitously” part that I can’t forgive, although the “grossly” part is, in…
Alan Vanneman, eternally naïve
Yeah, it seems like it was only a week ago I was praising Ross Douthat for speaking intelligently about the situation in Ukraine. Well, that was then. Now Ross is on a roll, to wit: Is it really so ridiculous to believe that the Syria crisis confirmed certain impressions that Putin had already cultivated about…
James Thurber, A Reader’s Guide, Part 2
Introduction Last week I ran the first part of “James Thurber, A Reader’s Guide,” the first in a series of about, well, thirty-five. If you want to go back and read it, it’s here. The first part ended with me rambling on about how I liked Thurber much more than another *New Yorker* author, Wolcott…
Pseudo-New Yorker
Legal humor here. “Take it from me, Slim, fighting crime ain’t all fast cars and pretty girls. Batman ain’t afraid to get ugly if ugly gets the job done.” “Short answer? de Blasio.” “If you know a better way to clean up 8th Avenue, tell me about it.” “Look, don’t tell me about the L…
Delfeayo Marsalis and Future Focus—“Blue Monk”
Delfeayo on trombone, with Marlon Jordan, trumpet, Mark Gross, alto sax, Vincent Gardner, trombone, Charnette Moffett, bass, and Herlin Riley, drums. Posted by Uptown Music Theatre.
Ukraine—It’s like catnip for neocons!
I’m not going to bother linking to any of the multitudinous stories ruminating about the meaning of Putin’s latest folly. I’m sure that William Kristol, Charles Krauthammer, et al. are fulminating at length over the Crimean Invasion. Putin is laughing at us! He’s eating our lunch! He is playing chess with tanks and we are…
The surge that wasn’t, the surge that didn’t
Max Boot’s rather un-Bootish* review of Robert Gates’ memoir, Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War, gives me an opportunity to take another whack at Bob, who in some ways was not that bad a SecDef. I mean, he didn’t bomb Syria or Iran. Nice guy! Still, there are things from Bob’s memoir that rub…