Archives for March 2010

Algren was the author of more than a dozen books. I'm betting that his two most famous novels -- The Man With the Golden Arm and A Walk on the Wild Side, one a tragedy and the other a comedy -- will last longer than any of the novels by Mailer, Vidal, Updike, Cheever, Kerouac, Vonnegut, Pynchon, de Lillo, Roth, Bellow, or Bukowski. Algren would have been 101 today. He was born March 28, 1909, in Detroit. In 1975, when this video was made, he left Chicago for Paterson, N.J., moved on to Hackensack and finally to Sag Harbor, N.Y., where he died … [Read more...]

Robert Parry said it for me. The bottom line is this: When the American Right is offended, the "corrections" come fast and are sweeping, even in highly dubious situations. Sometimes heads roll. But when the American Left feels aggrieved, the "corrections" are slow and grudging, often very narrow in scope and still misleading. Nobody is likely to get punished. Parry cites egregious examples in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and at CBS. … [Read more...]

"Symphony Space has given us a wonderful present for Sebastian's 325th birthday," says Mike Lawrence, whose terrific documentary, BACH & friends, will have its New York premiere at Symphony Space's Peter Jay Sharp Theatre on May 16. The Sunday evening premiere, beginning at 7:30 p.m., will be followed by a screening of complete performances of the Bach works that were excerpted for the film, which will be shown again on May 23 and 30. Tickets go on sale April 1. Take a look at one of the performances, Robert Tiso playing the "Toccata and Fugue … [Read more...]

This appeared two weeks ago: (Click to read) This appeared a decade ago: (Click to read) Which pretty much says it all. Postscript: March 22 -- Well, well ... no it doesn't. The Vienna Philharmonic has permanently appointed its first woman concertmaster. Will wonders never cease? … [Read more...]

When I saw The Hurt Locker back in August, I thought, "Finally a grunt's-eye view of the war in Iraq. And not so gung-ho either." Leave it to my staff of thousands to straighten me out. Bill Osborne wrote in an e-mail message, "I thought it was a subtle form of American war propaganda that could work as a kind of perverse, macho recruiting film." He cited Hurt Locker screenwriter Mark Boal's acceptance speech, dedicating his Oscar to the troops, at last night's Academy Awards: His statement lets the cat out of the bag. It's a war movie that … [Read more...]

Click logo for mugshots and flowcharts: There is abundant evidence that war crimes were committed by the Bush Administration. ... The question is very simple: Will any officials of the Bush Administration who are responsible for the "war on terror" be indicted and held accountable for those crimes? -- War Criminals Watch If the Obama Administration and the Congress have anything to say about it, apparently not. … [Read more...]

Perversity Think Tank A Seminar on the Concept of Perversity by Supervert 32C Inc. Click photo to watch video: … [Read more...]

Bach on the organ? Of course. On the piano? Certainly. On the cello? Naturally. On the violin? Sure. But Bach on the banjo? The ukelele? The mandolin? How about the glass harp? Or the clarinet, the guitar, and the double bass. And let's not forget a cappella. You hear them all -- brilliantly filmed and recorded -- courtesy of BACH & friends, a gorgeous two-hour documentary by Michael R. Lawrence. The film, three years in the making, is not a stunt. It delivers musicianship of the highest order on every one of the instruments. We're talking … [Read more...]