Henry Kissinger has added yet another sin to his already grievous record, in the form of a fat tome, ponderously titled On China.* Because there is no way that I’m going to put another penny in Dr. K’s pocket, I’ll quote extensively from Michiko Kakutani’s review in the Times. Kakutani calls the book” fascinating, shrewd…
New at Bright Lights: Archer!
A brief blurt of praise for the ligne claire charms of TV’s Archer over at Bright Lights. Yeah, I was lazy this quarter. So sue me. Whole thing, NSFW as always, here.
J.J. Johnson, Sonny Stitt, & Howard McGhee—Charlie Parker’s “Now’s the Time”
Three of Charlie’s children try to show the old man they can run with the big boys. Sorry about the ads but this is some serious footage. There doesn’t seem to be any information about the rhythm section. I probably should be able to recognize them, but I can’t. Posted by zemry.
Jive at Five? Nu-uh. Jive around the clock!
Just to update a few stories: Last week I wrote about serial liar John Brennan, U.S. deputy national security advisor, whose fabulous account of the Navy SEALs raid on Osama’s compound proved to be not only fabulous but fabricated. President Obama and others hastened to add “context,” which, as Slate scribe William Saletan ably explains…
And you thought your parents were weird!
Janny Scott’s book, A Singular Woman The Untold Story of Barack Obama’s Mother is out, and the reviews are in—two of them, at least, from Jacob Weisberg at Slate and Ian Buruma at the New York Review of Books. Both reviews, while not entirely inaccurate, dance gracelessly around the obvious fact that our president’s mom…
The silence of the Post
Have you heard about the big controversy in New York? I mean, the decision of the board of trustees of City University of New York not to grant an honorary degree to playwright Tony Kushner, because he isn’t pro-Israel enough to suit their tastes? The controversy, and the backlash—the board says it’s reconsidering—has been huge….
Name that Monk Tune: Paul Carr’s Quintet with Special Guest Randy Brecker
“Rhythm – A – Ning!” says steelydanbowler, and he’s right! (Check out his 300 game here!) Posted by JazzVideoGuy.
Brennan, John, utter incompetency of in his position as U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor
“Thinking about that from a visual perspective, here is bin Laden, who has been calling for these attacks, living in this million dollar-plus compound, living in an area that is far removed from the front, hiding behind women who were put in front of him as a shield,” Brennan said. “I think it really just…
Bombs can kill people, Part II
I was in Vietnam when Ho Chi Minh died. I remember being baffled by the joy that spread throughout the battery with the news. The death of Osama Bin Laden is certainly far more consequential than that of Uncle Ho’s. There’s little doubt that Al Qaeda is now a spent force on the world scene….
Bill Holman’s orchestra—Dizzy Gillespie’s “Dizzy Atmosphere”
Thelonious Monk always claimed that Dizzy stole this from him, which I find hard to believe. Posted by “mytime44”