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The Mess We’re In: Politics, Economy and Journalism
OVER the last few weeks, I’ve been asked on several occasions if I can explain what the hell happened to this country. (I’ve been in London and Ireland for some of that time.) The ... read more
AJBlog: CultureCrashPublished 2017-07-21
What a Swell Party. Wonder Why we Were There?
Penelope leaving the party What a swell party it was, to be sure. Our taxi driver asked the armed policeman whether he could drive through the front gate of Buckingham Palace? He was told no, ... read more
AJBlog: Plain EnglishPublished 2017-07-21
“Public Trust” Bust: Berkshire Museum to Jettison 40 Works (including 2 artist-donated Rockwells)
Why should it matter if the Berkshires lose two major paintings by Norman Rockwell, when there are already so many in the vicinity? That mindless mindset seems to be driving the deplorable decision by the ... read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrlPublished 2017-07-21
Join the Party!
Ready to dance? Taneisha Duggan shares her reflections on the power of community and invites us to join the party in this video. June Challenge from Taneisha on Vimeo. ... read more
AJBlog: Field NotesPublished 2017-07-21
Opera: America’s War Without End
Anthony Haden Guest calls “The Plain of Jars” — a chamber opera by Keith Patchel about America’s secret war in Laos — “the lineal descendant of Stravinsky’s ‘Nightingale’ and Alban Berg’s ‘Lulu’ and ‘Wozzeck.'” Click ... read more
AJBlog: Straight|UpPublished 2017-07-21
Good and bawdy
In today’s Wall Street Journal drama column I review the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival’s new production of Twelfth Night. Here’s an excerpt. * * * With two Broadway successes, “Hand to God” and “Present Laughter,” ... read more
AJBlog: About Last NightPublished 2017-07-21
Replay: Randolph Scott and Lee Marvin in Seven Men From Now
The climactic scene from Seven Men From Now, directed by Budd Boetticher, written by Burt Kennedy, and starring Randolph Scott and Lee Marvin. The score is by Henry Vars: (This is the latest in ... read more
AJBlog: About Last NightPublished 2017-07-21
Almanac: Burt Kennedy on writing the Budd Boetticher-Randolph Scott westerns
“The formula is a leading man who comes into a situation that is not his problem, can walk away from it at any time, and finally stays there and solves it. And usually mine was ... read more
AJBlog: About Last NightPublished 2017-07-21
The Fable of One Turtle and Four Humans: A Story of Community
How did the turtle cross the road? The answer according to Greg Milo: thanks to a cardboard box and a community. One Turtle and Four Humans As a former high school teacher and ... read more
AJBlog: Field NotesPublished 2017-07-20
Growing Together
Laura Gisler shares a beautiful meditation on what community means to her through these drawings and reflective, poetic words. hearts interdependently linked. growing/feeling/oxygenating/expressing/nurturing- nourishing/healing/supporting. cellularly to systemically. sustained: chloroplasticly by the sun, xylemicly by the ... read more
AJBlog: Field NotesPublished 2017-07-20
So you want to see a show?
Here’s my list of recommended Broadway, off-Broadway, and out-of-town shows, updated weekly. In all cases, I gave these shows favorable reviews (if sometimes qualifiedly so) in The Wall Street Journal when they opened. For more ... read more
AJBlog: About Last NightPublished 2017-07-20
Almanac: Hannah Arendt on hypocrisy
“ What makes it so plausible to assume that hypocrisy is the vice of vices is that integrity can indeed exist under the cover of all other vices except this one.” Hannah Arendt, On Revolution ... read more
AJBlog: About Last NightPublished 2017-07-20
Recent Listening In Brief: Mitchell, Zeitlin, Cole
Roscoe Mitchell, Bells For The South Side (ECM) If you have followed Mitchell’s searching music over the past 50 years, Bells For The South Side will reassure you that the septuagenarian composer, ... read more
AJBlog: RiffTidesPublished 2017-07-19
The World Is Your Classroom (Or Gym)
Naomi Even-Aberle introduces us to her community: her gym. She shares how impactful it can be to take part in the successes, failures, and challenges of her students and peers as well as their extending ... read more
AJBlog: Field NotesPublished 2017-07-19
“Money is a kind of poetry”: Lee Siegel’s The Draw
ONE of the finest memoirs I’ve read in many moons comes from veteran literary and culture critic Lee Siegel. His book The Draw tells the tale of an intellectually serious young man in a ... read more
AJBlog: CultureCrashPublished 2017-07-19
Part of Something Bigger
Jaclyn Roessel reflects on the first time she felt like a part of a community, when she was 12 years old and had her Kinaaldá ceremony, in which she became a woman and felt the ... read more
AJBlog: Field NotesPublished 2017-07-19
Snapshot: Hans Hotter sings Schubert
Hans Hotter sings Schubert’s “An die Musik” at a 1964 Tokyo recital: (This is the latest in a series of arts-related videos that appear in this space each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) ... read more
AJBlog: About Last NightPublished 2017-07-19
Almanac: Henry James on popularity
“You must be prepared on many occasions in life to please no-one at all—not even yourself.” Henry James, The Portrait of a Lady (courtesy of Levi Stahl) ... read more
AJBlog: About Last NightPublished 2017-07-19
One Jupiter
Jupiter, Florida in northern Palm Beach County is home to a very large population of Guatemalan immigrants. In April 2015, Onesimo Lopez-Ramos, an 18-year-old member of that community, was murdered outside his home by a ... read more
AJBlog: Engaging MattersPublished 2017-07-18
Joe Fields, 1929-2017
On July 12 we lost Joe Fields. During his long career Fields was the guiding spirit of record labels committed to unalloyed jazz. He started the Cobblestone label and later changed its ... read more
AJBlog: RiffTidesPublished 2017-07-18

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