https://youtu.be/VESKjoxAmZg Comedy, said Aristotle, shows us as worse than we are. Well, let it never be said that Hollywood neglects the Stagirite. A case in point is that cynic’s delight, Bojack Horseman, co-created by Raphael Bob-Waksberg and Lisa Hanawalt, now in its third season on Netflix, filling us in on all those glamourous folks in…
Author: Alan Vanneman
Peter Thiel explained: He hates chicks
OK, let me unpack that. Thiel is on record as saying that chicks shouldn’t be allowed to vote, because they don’t vote the way they should: “Since 1920, the vast increase in welfare beneficiaries and the extension of the franchise to women — two constituencies that are notoriously tough for libertarians — have rendered the…
Wynton Marsalis Septet—“Brake’s Sake”
When Thelonious Monk signed with Riverside Records in the mid-fifties, producer Orrin Keepnews had elaborate plans for selling Monk to the greater jazz world, plans that included de-emphasizing Monk’s original compositions. Somewhat miffed, Monk, who miffed easily, took a gig as a sideman on a date with saxophonist Gigi Gryce and used the date to…
Alan Vanneman won’t shut up about Paul Ryan
Well, I won’t. I won’t, because I now have a theory to justify my bombast. For months—nay, years—I have been berating the mainstream media for its continuing Paulie worship (catch up on all the bombast right here). Well, now that the scales have been falling from some eyes, thanks to Paulie’s continuing embrace of Donald…
Pseudo New Yorker
Legal humor here “You’ll get a level playing field when you’ve earned a level playing field.” “Like so many things, like, indeed, life itself, this office is unfair.” “This is nothing. When I started, it was a 57° slant.” “Perhaps it’s stating the obvious, but if you can make it here, you can make it…
Paul Ryan a total whore, liberal media is shocked to discover
It is shocking, isn’t it? Young, slender, matinee idol handsome—and smart!—Paul Ryan is in fact a total whore, as the New York Times editorial page—liberal media personified—is shocked to discover, though the Times prefers “weak opportunist”. Even the battle-hardened Weekly Standard was startled by Paulie’s “surprisingly enthusiastic” suck-up to the Donald. It’s the Times, of…
Pornography not a “crisis” but a “problem”, says Judith Shulevitz. What sort of problem?
Okay, this is not as important as, say, Melania Trump’s tribute to husband Donald, which in itself is not that big a deal, I mean, for an immigrant.1 It’s not like she committed rape, for Pete’s sake. So what I’m writing about is even less of a big deal. But still. In the first place,…
Nothing from Cleveland at this website
I may be writing about pornography and Shakespeare later this week, but not in the same post.
Chris Potter—“Ask Me Now”
Chris Potter, tenor sax, Andy LaVerne. piano, Rufus Reid, bass, and Adam Nussbaum, drums. Recorded at the Aebersold Summer Jazz Workshop, July 2015. Posted by Andy LaVerne
Lake Wobegon, Adieu
Garrison Keillor’s farewell to Lake Wobegon is not shown above. That’s a 30-year-old clip from the Letterman show. It’s my intent to weave the two together, so hold on tight. Like many people who commented on Keillor’s farewell, I was not a regular fan of A Prairie Home Companion. However, whenever I stumbled across it,…