Reihan Salam—the “thoughtful” bald conservative without the big, bushy beard—is off on a seriously non-thoughtful tear at the National Review, warning us of existential doom and existential boom in the form of the “Sarmat”, a hypersonic ICBM that Russian President Vladimir Putin is waving in our faces. According to Putin, who has never been known…
Author: Alan Vanneman
David Cannadine’s Victorious Century: A bit too victorious, if you ask me
A couple of months back I bounced a post, pithily entitled Forward!, off Kyle Sammin’s review in the National Review of David Cannadine’s new book, Victorious Century, The United Kingdom 1809-1906. I said at the time “I have read the introduction, and I’m definitely looking forward to the rest. Kyle’s review only encourages my appetite.”…
The “Crimes” of Joy Reid
Joy Reid, a celebrity hitherto unknown to me, since I don’t get cable, is in danger of being stripped of her celebrity status on the grounds of anti-gay wisecracks she ran on her blog some 10 years ago. Among other things, it appears that she repeatedly accused former Florida Governor Charlie Crist of being a…
“Summery” is the cruelest of homonyms
Or non-homographic homophones, to be more precise. That is to say, a word that “Word” will not mark as incorrectly spelled, even though it’s not the word you meant, because you misspelled the word you meant. The most common of these little buggers, to use a more convenient term, are possessives/plurals, which, I suspect, will…
Jazztory— “Four in One”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zcguot5lU7I Bulgarian jazz? Yeah, baby! Hot from Sophia, Club Studio 5. Alexander Logozarov, guitar; Arnau Garrofe Farraz, tenor sax; Boris Taslev, bass; Borislav Petrov, drums/producer/host. Posted by Jazztory Archive
Yo, Josh Barro! There is no “tragedy”, and no “dignity”, amongst the GOP! They are Trump’s toadies, one and all!
Josh Barro, who writes for the Business Insider (which describes me perfectly), is not uniformly an idiot. He just writes like one with alarming frequency. A few weeks ago, Mr. Barro chose to descant on the “great tragedy” of Paul Ryan. Well, excuse me while I kiss the sky, and then vomit. Sorry, Josh. To…
Ronald Radosh, last seen turning his back on Ethel Rosenberg
No one appointed me as Ronald Radosh’s nemesis/conscience. So I appointed myself. I have assumed this burden out of a mixture of admiration, sympathy, and disappointment. In 1983, Radosh and Joyce Milton produced one of the classic works of Cold War scholarship, The Rosenberg File, demonstrating, as clearly as anything can be demonstrated that —Julius…
Tongue of Newt!
Here is my new novel, in all its glory, glowing with a cover designed by noted mid-Pennsylvanian photographer Ben Cohen (although Ben did not take the cover shot), and telling the story of Jerry Callahan, a small-town Ohio boy out to make it big in the hard-hearted District of Columbia, circa 2008. Jerry makes a…
Nabonga! Caution! Gorillas—and women—can be hazardous to your health.
A little set-to on Facebook regarding Nabonga, a 1944 gorilla flick that marked singer/film star Julie London’s maiden voyage on the silver screen, prompted fellow Bright Lights Film Journal dude C. Jerry Kutner1 to challenge me to a review. Well, with this, that, and the other thing, including pushing forward a new novel to publication…
Aaron Diehl Quartet—“Four In One”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1GXT8CEIPw Dominick Farinacci (Trumpet), Aaron Diehl (Piano), Paul Sikivie (Bass), Lawrence Leathers (Drums), featuring Wess Anderson (Alto/Sopranino Sax), with additional guests Wynton Marsalis (Trumpet) and Victor Goines (Tenor). Posted by Aaron Diehl