“Stakhanovite1 liberalism” was a labored term of abuse worked up by the late William F. Buckley to ridicule overproducing liberals. Coal miner Alexsei Grigoryevich Stakhanov was made a “Hero of the Soviet Union” by Joseph Stalin in recognition of his exploits with a jack hammer and his example was used to encourage others to overfulfill…
The Boswells—The Perfect Escape!
Connie, Vet, and Martha, riffing on Louis Armstrong’s classic “Heebie Jeebies”, recorded in 1930.
Reply to Fred
Fred Kaplan, who writes for Slate and whom I sometimes praise and sometimes ridicule, has a new post, with the disappointing subhead “America’s retreat from the world under Trump has shown why we’re still the indispensable nation”, causing me to post a long comment, which was so eloquent, and so unlikely to read by anyone,…
Regarding Michael Brendan Dougherty, who can, on occasion, strongly resemble a three-armed gorilla
What can you say about a man who can both beat his own chest and pat himself on the back at the same time? Michael Brendan Dougherty, or Mickey B, as I sometimes call him, manages this display of anthropoid dexterity in a recent column warning us never-Trumpers that “We’re Becoming Like Him”, taking the…
Stay strong, Alan Vanneman! Stay strong!
A couple of weeks ago I wrote a takedown of James Franco’s new film, with the rather harsh title “James Franco’s The Disaster Artist: Hollywood Caught In the Act of Kissing Its Own Ass”. The more I thought about it, the more I wished I had made the title “James Franco’s The Disaster Artist: Hollywood…
Gentlemen Drum Choir—“Bemsha Swing”
The Gentlemen Drum Choir perform at the 7th Annual Keith Hall Summer Drum Intensive in 2013. When Monk recorded “Bemsha Swing” for his 1957 album Brilliant Corners, drummer Max Roach availed himself of some timpani which happened to be in the recording studio. This recording seems to have encouraged “percussive” interpretations of the tune, which…
We have survived Trump. Can we survive the Republican Congress?
My answer is, probably not. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) are asking the FBI to investigate allegations (made by them) that Christopher Steele, author of the famous/infamous Trump dossier, may have lied to federal authorities. The basis for these allegations? Well, they aren’t saying. And Politico’s Kyle Chene, reporting…
Israel? Is that a country?
I guess I could also call this “The Saga of Jennie” because it’s genesis, so to speak, and center is WashPost pseudo-“Right Turn” gal Jennifer Rubin, about whom I recently wrote in the post “Jennie made her mind up”, noting, with pleasure, that Jennie’s political outlook had made not a right turn but a 180,…
Thelonious Dub— “Bemsha Swing”
Joe Bartone, guitar, with (maybe) Sean Rainey, drums, and John Von, bass. I couldn’t get a fix on the sax guy at all. From 2009. Posted by fpe
The Crown, Season 2: Yeah, Queen!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ME2umFQ_xBA Last year, I gave a severe thumb’s down to Netflix’s $100 million (seriously?) ode to Good Queen Bess II, aka The Crown, in a post wittily titled “Hey , Netflix! “The Crown” sucks!” and swore I’d never watch another episode. But then I came up with a head—viz, “Yeah, Queen!”—that was so damn funny—seriously,…