The virtuosic violinist with the classic-rock repertoire I mentioned yesterday also does “Separate Ways” by Journey, which is, I must say, the only Journey song I like — and predictably, it’s their fastest and most dire-sounding one, since that’s how we alternative rock fans normally roll when not listening to Journey (similarly, as noted in […]
I wonder sometimes if classical music would have such a reputation for moral and cultural superiority among some conservatives if it hadn’t happened to have been the case that William F. Buckley loved Bach.
In any case, it was in part out of a traditionalistic desire to edify myself that I listened to the virtuosic violin-playing […]
Ten years ago this week, a grand jury was listening to Linda Tripp’s tapes of her conversations with Monica Lewinsky.
In the present, New York’s governor has just resigned over the revelation he hired prostitutes.
In both cases, I think even someone like me who thinks the law should not control consensual sex can rightly take great […]
Some media updates of interest, the first three being media items pointed out to me by Ali Kokmen:
•Jonah Goldberg got edited from eighteen minutes to an awkward six on The Daily Show — but his book (my December Book Selection) still went to #1, and I hope that means Random House hasn’t really gotten rid […]
As noted by PiecesOfFlair, Brian Carney of the Wall Street Journal (a newspaper that did a marvelous job of gloating over Spitzer in the top editorial yesterday) wrote a great remembrance of Gary Gygax, creator of the game Dungeons & Dragons. Carney is the brother of John, Tim, and Mike, the first two of […]
Well, last night “Thirsty” Dave Hansen, having spoken to us between sets, dedicated his song “A Power Tool Is Not a Toy” to me and Scott Nybakken, the two guys in the audience at the Rodeo Bar who knew of him from our days in Rhode Island when he was with the novelty rock act […]
In one of the funniest remarks in the history of electoral politics, William F. Buckley, when asked what he would do first if elected mayor of New York City, said “demand a recount.” Great though it would have been to have him running New York City — he didn’t even attend ethnically-themed parades when […]
One of the more tiresome aspects of being a libertarian is being told by leftists that you’re a crypto-conservative of the worst kind who wants a new aristocracy of corporate overlords to crush women and ethnic minorities, and then being told by conservatives, often later that same day, that you’re a crypto-leftist of the worst […]
“How are you even a conservative?” my rock-band-promoting friend Heather Lowe once asked, back around 1995, when it seemed obvious to me conservatism was turning its attention to the important things, like economics and reducing government waste — and equally obvious to a lot of South Carolinians like Heather that conservatism pivoted […]
I decided I could no longer even aspire to hipness within a few months after U2’s Las Vegas “Popmart” concert, which took place on April 25, 1997 — getting one of the lowest ratings of any broadcast in the history of the network. I realized I was out of touch with the public, […]
1. Koli prevailed, according to the audience vote, in the Debate at Lolita Bar yesterday on the question “Should We Deport All the Illegal Aliens?” though her opponent, Gerard Perry, also did a fine job. Perhaps the most aggressive questioner of Koli in the audience was writer/gossip-hound Doug Dechert, who apparently is both conservative […]
I’ve mentioned “fusionism” before, the conservative effort to yoke together free markets and traditionalism — something that William F. Buckley (like me, more or less) genuinely believed in but also something that’s a convenient way of providing a political coalition with a coherent philosophy that appears to resolve its internal tensions.
The tricky part about holding […]
Say what you will about illegal immigration — the topic of our Debate at Lolita Bar tomorrow night (Wed., March 5, 8pm, 266 Broome St. at Allen St.) between Gerard Perry and Koli Mitra. The big advantage of the more general migration of human beings from one region to another is the draining of […]
As it happens, I became one of those random members of the public who gets asked his opinion (who I was complaining about two blog entries ago) as I was rushing to meet up with those conservative friends (mentioned one blog entry ago) yesterday.
A cold and weary-looking Fox News producer with a camera crew stopped […]
If all goes according to plan, a brief, impromptu bar gathering will occur today that will include some people with slightly different ideas about what the most essential element of civilization is, including:
•Arkansas state representative Dan Greenberg, with whom I once discussed the half-joking question “What one human being would you put in the escape […]
