MR writes: I mentioned "Day In the Life" in the same breath as "Rite of Spring," and the "Eroica" in class today. Free chicken wings if you can guess the context for all these... TR: Uh, context here is simple: false endings. MR: Neat idea. I've never thought of the Eroica's ending as false. There are about a zillion fat tonic chords leading up to the final one. Does that ring false to you? Stravinsky's nubile maiden gets metaphorically screwed (gets dead, too), so I can see how that's a radical departure from bourgeois truth--besides … [Read more...]

ASSIGNMENT DESK A new White House house press corps scandal emerging, blurbed for today's Here and Now. On the heels of this, from pressthink, Jan. 19: Elliott reported again today on the furor in public relations circles caused by the Armstrong Williams corruption case, in which one of the leading PR agencies, Ketchum, which is a big firm (1,100 employees) funneled $240,000 from the Department of Education (DoE) to Williams, the conservative syndicated columnist and television host, who was paid to promote the No Child Left Behind Act … [Read more...]