WHAT IS CLASSICAL MUSIC?
COMPOSER/CONDUCTOR MATTHEW AUCOIN ASKS “Do You Actually Know What Classical Music Is? Does Anyone?,” The Atlantic, April 15, 2025. This captures my eye because I include classical among my musical … Continue reading
HURRAH FOR MAC ’N’ CHEESE (AND FOR HISTORY AND NON-BINARY GENDER)
SO THERE I WAS, READING “THE ORIGINAL MACARONI CHEESE” by Eleanor Barnett in BBC HISTORY. She evidently knows her stuff, being as she is a food historian at Cardiff University. … Continue reading
MY NEW FAV AT THE ATLANTIC
“IT TURNS OUT,” ALEXANDRA PETRI WRITES IN THE ATLANTIC (with tongue firmly in cheek), “someone in the Trump administration automatically texts you a free scoop as sort of a welcome … Continue reading
MISS MANNERS AND TRUMP PART 2
TRUMP’S UTTERLY CALLOUS COMMENTS following the recent Minnesota horrors prompted me to consult Miss Manners as something of a purgative. Here in Part 2 we continue with her views on … Continue reading
CELEBRATING JUNETEENTH
TODAY, JUNE 19, 2025, IS THE FIFTH OFFICIAL FEDERAL CELEBRATION of the Juneteenth National Independence Day, enacted on June 17, 2021 by President Joe Biden. Etymology. Wikipedia recounts, “Juneteenth is … Continue reading
A WONDERFUL GIGGLE
PATRICIA MARX HAS IDENTIFIED “TRUMP’S TO-UNDO LIST” coming in The New Yorker, June 23, 2025. If you’re not already a subscriber, I encourage you to buy a copy as an … Continue reading
A QUEENS FELON’S BIRTHDAY? WHO CARES? A MILITARY MARCH SOMEWHERE? NOT WORTH THE TIME
HERE ARE TIDBITS ABOUT TODAY JUNE 14, assembled from a variety of sources including Britannica and the Britannica Book of the Year. Quoted comments are Britannica’s; the rest are my … Continue reading
AN ADDLEPATED UNCLE DON PART 2
YESTERDAY, WE EXAMINED UNCLE DON’S ADDLEPATED WEAVES about robotic Bidens. Today we continue with his bizarre behavior as exhibited at this year’s recent West Point graduation ceremony and during our … Continue reading
ADDLEPATED UNCLE DON PART 1
TO A RELATIVELY SELECT FEW, I am myself an uncle, sorta. So it is with personal sensitivity, in Parts 1 and 2 today and tomorrow, that I address the concept … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 
MISS MANNERS AND TRUMP PART 1
MY MISS MANNERS’ GUIDE TO EXCRUCIATINGLY CORRECT BEHAVIOR is the updated 2005 edition, not that things haven’t changed in the past two decades. In particular, Trump’s reactions to recent Minnesota … Continue reading →