My review of Silk Stockings, Fred Astaire’s final dancing film, is up at the not entirely safe for work Bright Lights Film Journal. I’ve now reviewed all 27 of Fred’s dancing films for Bright Lights, and the link for each is given below. Flying Down to Rio The Gay Divorcee Roberta Top Hat Follow the…
Niall Ferguson wrong-foots me
Generally, I’m not a fan of Niall Ferguson, that frenziedly self-promoting neo-imperialist Caledonian, who now hangs out at the American Enterprise Institute, where he spends his time toasting Winston Churchill and telling us Yanks that we’re not man enough to run the world the way the Brits did. But in his latest effusion, Civilization, which…
You don’t get it—she deserved to die!
That seems to be the gist of conservatives’ complaints regarding the Romney campaign’s argument that if Ranae Soptic had lived in Massachusetts, she wouldn’t have died of cancer, thanks to RomneyCare. Ranae’s sad story is the centerpiece of the, um, “controversial” ad made by Ranae’s surviving spouse Joe on behalf of Priorities USA, a pro-Obama…
No Country for White Men
This used to be a white man’s country. All the good jobs were reserved for men, and most of the good jobs for white men. After World War II, blacks crowded into the great Midwest Great Lakes manufacturing swath that ran from Gary, Indiana up to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but with the constantly expanding economy, there…
Tampa strippers ready for Republicans—there’s a First Amendment too, ya know!
Over at the New Republic, Emily Witt lives up to her name with a hilarious take on the doings at Mons Venus, 2,500 square feet of fun in Tampa, Florida, site of this year’s Republican Convention. Joe Redner, owner of the Mons, who doesn’t believe in God and thinks g-strings are optional, and his long-time…
The Guns of Aurora
The recent murders in Aurora, Colorado had no more impact on the possibilities for new legislation regulating firearms than a snowflake on the bosom of the Potomac, as Everett McKinley Dirksen might have said. The NRA definitely had the bit between its teeth with the infamous “Fast and Furious” “scandal”—which I strongly suspect is a…
George Patton, even worse than you thought
You’re (probably) familiar with the story about how General George Patton slapped a soldier for claiming to be suffering from shell shock. But it gets worse. According to war correspondent George Seldes, in his autobiography Witness to a Century, in his anger, Patton 1) slapped the wrong guy and 2) exclaimed “There is no shell…
Elio Villafranca Trio—“Let’s Cool One”
With Marcus Mc Laurine on bass and Chuck Mcpherson on drums. Recorded at the Bassline, NYC. Posted by ElioVillafranca
Pseudo-New Yorker
Legal humor here. “We can fly. We just don’t like to.” “I just want to make sure that you guys really migrate.” “You guys know where you’re going, right?” “I’m not really flying, per se. It’s more like advanced gliding.” “Yeah? Well, maybe you shouldn’t have gotten in my pond.” “Oh, I can hold formation….
Ryan Lizza, way too easy on Paul Ryan
Andrew Sullivan, or one of his minions, collects a number of reactions to Ryan Lizza’s profile of Rep. Paul Ryan for the New Yorker. Lizza makes a point of “nailing” Ryan on spending projects for his own district, as quoted in Sullivan’s post: When I pointed out to Ryan that government spending programs were at…