A SELF-SUPPORTING NOBLE COMPOSER—AND A WOMAN AS WELL PART 1
THERE’S A LONG HISTORY OF COMPOSERS depending upon nobility for their livelihood: Vivaldi and Emperor Charles VI, Bach and Prince Leopold of Anhalf-Cöthen, Handel and the British royalty, Haydn and … Continue reading
LIAR, LIAR, MIDDLE EAST ON FIRE
I SUPPOSE WE SHOULDN’T BE SURPRISED that someone who continues to lie about the 2020 election would persist in falsehoods. However, this latest horror taking place in the Middle East … Continue reading
IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST
I AM A MEMBER OF THE PUBLIC. And thus, I read with interest and involvement Ashley Ahn’s “F.C.C. Chair Threatens to Revoke Broadcasters’ Licenses Over War Coverage,” The New York … Continue reading
MIX: FREEDOM (BUT BE PREPARED TO SKIP THE ADS)
DESPITE BEING SOMETHING OF A LUDDITE, every so often my Internet sleuthing reveals a new fav, in this case, modern composer Richard Einhorn’s piece Freedom. I discovered it and more … Continue reading
LAMENTABLE OR LUDICROUS—OR BOTH? PART 2
YESTERDAY, FRANK BRUNI GOT US THINKING about the Trump administration’s lack of professionalism. Today in Part 2, let’s consider Donald “The Golf Cap” Trump himself. Protocol Honoring the Fallen. There’s … Continue reading
LAMENTABLE OR LUDICROUS—OR BOTH? PART 1
HAVING READ FRANK BRUNI’S “We Are Being Governed by Unserious People,” The New York Times, March 9, 2026, I’m left with an intellectual quandary: Are Trump and his cohorts lamentable … Continue reading
THE MITFORD SISTERS (AND BROTHER) PART 2
YESTERDAY, WE BEGAN EXPLORING varied adventures of the fabled Mitford sisters, acknowledging their brother as well. Today, there’s the last three in birth order: Unity, Jessica, and Deborah. Unity Mitford. … Continue reading
THE MITFORD SISTERS (AND BROTHER) PART 1
IF YOU’RE PLAGUED BY A MAGA UNCLE or other errant family members, rest easy: It coulda been worse. I doubt there was any more dysfunctional set of offspring than those … Continue reading
THE CRUCIBLE—AN OPERA FOR OUR TIMES
IN THE MARCH 2026 OPERA WITH OPERA NEWS, Eric Myers discusses Robert Ward’s The Crucible, based on the McCarthy-Era Arthur Miller drama. Here are tidbits gleaned from this article, together … Continue reading
DOUBLING DOWN—AND REMINDING ME OF AN OLD JOKE
SPEAKING, UNDER OATH, ONE WOULD ASSUME, before a Congressional committee, Kristi Noem outdid herself in the Trump administration’s practice of doubling down. Examples of this are offered in “Noem Sticks … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 