In 1927, Frenchman Julien Benda wrote La Trahison des Clercs (“The Treason of the Intellectuals”), a plea, basically, for a return to Enlightenment thinking. Well, we could definitely do with a little more enlightenment thinking these days—and a little more enlightenment as well—but our real problem is not so much treacherous intellectuals as treacherous billionaires…
James Franco’s The Disaster Artist: Hollywood Caught In The Act Of Kissing Its Own Ass
Greg Sestero’s now reasonably famous book The Disaster Artist, co-written by Tom Bissell, is much better than Producer/Director/Star James Franco’s quite famous movie The Disaster Artist, each telling the story of the making of Tommy Wiseau’s all-conquering cult classic, The Room. Book beats film! Book beats film! Book beats film! Well, not necessarily, but the…
Anat Fort— “Bemsha Swing”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7CkzoDTBTE The Israeli pianist live in concert, 2/16/2017. Posted by Yaniv Grady1 If you go to his site, you’ll see some chick doing standup in Hebrew. Jews are funny! Who knew? ↩︎
The silence of the Krauthammer
Long-time WashPost columnist Charles Krauthammer, whom I have usually denounced but sometimes praised for a full decade, is one of the most prominent talking heads on the planet. He has been too ill to write his column since early August. But if you want to know how Charlie is doing, don’t read the Post, because…
Yeah, but can Paul Krugman pull off a pair of black leather gloves?
Or even pull them on, amirite? Yeah, Paul Krugman, and a lot of other wise guys, are making fun of Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin’s one-page nonexplanation of why the Trump Administration’s handout to the rich won’t cost Uncle Sam money—the supposed executive summary of a nonexistent “study” compiled, according to Steve, by the combined labor…
Never-Trumpers, learning to lie back and enjoy it
You can’t blame anti-Trump conservatives—well, you can’t blame them too much—for squirming under the pressure of having to constantly agree with, you know, liberals that Donald Trump is a continuing disaster and disgrace to the United States of America, easily the worst man ever to occupy the White House, a man without honor or scruple….
The Met at the Movies: Enjoy it while you can!
Back in October, I reviewed the Metropolitan Opera’s performance of Thomas Adès new opera, The Exterminating Angel, noting at the time that I’d also be reviewing the November 18 performance as broadcast in movie theaters—thanks to the continuing miracles of the digital age, Met performances are broadcast in high def to theaters in 70 countries…
I hate the New York Times! They make me agree with John Stossel!
I’m not a big fan of John Stossel, who hangs his hat, and his moustache, which was once the property of Harry Reems, at “Reason” magazine. John was once a hyperventilating talking head, à la Sixty Minutes, hyperventilating in the name of mainstream liberalism, until he saw the light à la Milton Friedman, and now…
Thunk!—“Bemsha Swing”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugcpK8U9OBM Stephen Gauci, Tenor Saxophone; Kenny Wessel, Guitar; Michael Bisio, Bass; Jeremy Carlstedt, Drums. Recorded in Brooklyn, 2013 Posted by Stephen Gauci
Real presidents effectuate regime change
When did “regime change” become the mark of a “real” president? Well, not to keep you in suspense, but it was in the brief reign of George Herbert Walker “Bad Ass” Bush. While still a mere VP, Georgie wanted President Reagan to green light the removal of Panama strongman Manuel Noriega—basically a CIA “asset” gone…