CULTURAL TWEETING
IT’S SAID “IF the mountain will not come to Muhammad, then Muhammad must go to the mountain.” In a topsy-turvy version of this, I propose constructing cultural tweets that might … Continue reading
RENÉE FLEMING AND SUSAN GRAHAM—DIVA PALS
HERE’S A celebration of two U.S. divas, each beautiful, charming, at ease and amazingly competent in her art. What’s more, the two have been the best of diva pals. Renée … Continue reading
TRUMPING THE ARTS
IN MY CONTINUING efforts to relate Donald J. Trump to the arts, and vice versa, today let’s look at operatic characters who bring his personality traits to mind. With several … Continue reading
GREEK DEMOCRACY 1.0
IN MY GOOD old days, kids learned that ancient Greece was the birthplace of democracy. Indeed, even the word comes from the Greek: δῆμος, dêmos, people; and κράτος, krátos, rule. … Continue reading
GIVING IT STICK, MUSICALLY
BERNSTEIN’S WAS about average, 17 in. A jazzman’s is generally shorter. Lully perished from banging a toe with his. Wagner’s had ivory knobs. Serebrier managed to stab himself with his. … Continue reading
TALES OF NARCISSUS AND OF MACHIAVELLI
WHATEVER PROMPTED me yesterday to research the Greek myth of Narcissus and Italian Niccolò Machiavelli’s treatise The Prince? Ovid, 43 B.C.–17 A.D., wrote about the Greek myth of Narcissus and … Continue reading
CHOCOLATE, QUAKERS AND THE E.U.
CHOCOLATE CONFECTIONS led me off in different directions. Britain’s Cadbury chocolates ending up in Poland is the principal theme of James Meek’s “Somerdale to Skarbimierz,” in the April 20, 2017, … Continue reading
INCOME INEQUALITY—A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
“FOR YE HAVE the poor always with you…” “The vast gap between the rich and the poor has never been greater than it is today.” “The rich get richer; the … Continue reading
PRESIDENTIAL HERITAGES—AND CROWDS
INFLATED ESTIMATES of crowd sizes are continuing talking points these days. In countering such alternative facts, I offer here several non-crowd scenes that have presidential associations ranging from James Madison … Continue reading
MUSICAL MALFEASANCE
THE HISTORY of music is replete with examples of less than straightforward behavior. Here are three tidbits along these lines, stretching from 1700 to the latest of film scores. One … Continue reading
