The Top 10 Reasons I Love Bear Grylls
Sean Murphy1. His name is Bear. (Not literally, but still...) How did you get the nickname Bear? I was christened Eddie, that became Teddy, and that became Bear! Not very butch…
High Altitude + Heavy Lifting = This Guy
Some blame it on the rain. Some blame it on the woman. I blame it on the altitude. As well as the Keystone Lites, the Hazed n' Confused and the…
Another Great Bluesman Has Left The Building
John Cephas, R.I.P. Sad news coming across the wire this morning. A nice appreciation in today's Washington Post here. Of course, it gets tiresome adding another name to list of…
YouTube + Marc Ribot = Epic Win.
To continue with the theme from yesterday: Thank god for jazz. Thank god for YouTube. (Fellow DC denizens may want to take note: I posted the Art Ensemble of Chicago…
Mardi gras in my mind
Mardi gras makes me think of New Orleans and all the good things I associate with The Crescent City. Among many other things, New Orleans makes me think of snapping…
Meet the New Dross
Smug? Check. A face you have an irrepressible compulsion to punch? Check. Ambitious as he is talentless? Yup. Able to convey vapidity with almost artistic effortlessness? You betcha. Give this man a talk…
A Planet of Playthings
While writing about Flannery O'Connor the other day, I made the half-serious, half-sardonic observation that dedication like hers is probably impossible to imitate today because of all the noise, electronic…
Funding for the Arts–the old fashioned way
From Folio: After months of negotiations with the Internal Revenue Service over thousands of dollars owed in unpaid taxes, non-profit literary magazine the Oxford American Friday received a much-needed…
Do You Believe in Miracles?
On Feb. 22, 1980, in a stunning upset, the United States Olympic hockey team defeated the Soviets at Lake Placid, N.Y., 4-to-3. (The U.S. team went on to win the…
Malcolm, Malcolm – Semper Malcolm*
On Feb. 21, 1965, former Black Muslim leader Malcolm X was shot and killed by assassins identified as Black Muslims as he was about to address a rally in…