What a crowd, what a crowd. I haven’t seen so many buckle shoes since John Milton’s bar mitzvah. And I want to tell you. John Alden is here with us tonight. Is this an ugly Puritan? Seriously, John. Lose the pointy hat. Seriously. Why do Puritan men die before their wives? Because they want to!…
P.G. on the Web
Josh Frost has a terrific cartoon version of the first half of an early Bertie & Jeeves story here. For more Frost, check out the Adventures of Nathaniel Bright, here. If you want to know more about P.G. Wodehouse, the creator of B&J, go here. Like many writers, I’m a P.G. Wodehouse addict, though a…
The Mind of Ross
Ross Douthat, whom I sometimes like to call Ross Dumbfuck,* leaves off caterwauling about the possibility that the Republican Party will abandon its “abortion is murder” mantra (which does not, of course, imply that women who get abortions are murderers) to say what needed, so much, to be said about … Adrian Grenier: Sometimes I…
Alan Vanneman has a heart of gold
To prove it, I’m linking to one of the noirest, if not bêtest, of my bête noirs, the Weekly Standard, to bring you Irwin Stelzer’s words of wisdom re the economics and the politics of the auto industry. Bottom line: Let GM go Chapter 11, and provide government backing for GM warranties. “Throw in government…
Matthew Yglesias makes fun of 101-year-old man
At his blog, Matthew Yglesias snickers at Washington Institution Mark Russell, noting in amazement that Mark’s trademark toothless wit is offered as special bonus for anyone ponying up $440,000 for the Shoreham’s “44th Commander-In-Chief” package—four days and nights in the Shoreham’s Presidential suite, tickets to the Inauguration, and more! “I’ve gotta say, ‘in-room dinner with…
Words stolen from Alan Vanneman’s brain, when he was helpless and asleep
“I Often Dream of Trains may be the most Syd Barrett-influenced album of Robyn Hitchcock’s career ….” David Malitz, Wash Post, Nov. 20, 2008. Oh, and how about that mammoth shit?
It was worse than a crime, it was a kirchick
Over at the New Republic, Jamie “Joe Lieberman is stunning” Kirchick inadvertently creates a new noun in his pathetic attempt to shelter the Joeman from the righteous wrath of the Democrats, who most certainly should bounce Joe’s lying ass from the chair of the Homeland Security & Government Affairs Committee, that noun being “kirchick /cur’chik/…
Lowering the Bar
Over at the Weekly Standard, Stephen F. “Dick Cheney is stunning” Hayes is chatting with Sarah Palin. Stevo’s a definite Palinite, but, as he tells us, he’s not afraid to ask the tough questions: I started by asking her about the question of the day–whether the federal government should bail out the Big Three automakers….
Little Rootie Tootie Mania!
Well, pretty much. Back in the early fifties, Thelonious Monk wrote a tune, so the story goes, for his son Thelonious Jr. called “Little Rootie Tootie.” He recorded it for Prestige, which was not all that excited about Monk’s limited sales. Then after Monk moved to Riverside, the tune was redone, with Hall Overton rewriting…
Stan Getz—“Out of Nowhere,” Dusseldorf, 1960
Stan Getz used to worry about being the Jewish Lester Young. Well, nice work if you can get it, I would say. When Stan was on, as he very often was through the Fifties, he was half a step behind Lester, if that. Here in Germany in 1960, with Jan Johansson piano, Ray Brown, brass,…