Weeknote
Weeknote 40, 2023
§1 My favorite song of 1923 The movie is from 1951, but this achingly American song first became a hit in 1923.
Weeknote
Weeknote
Weeknote 39, 2023
§1 Cinematic Poe Horror rarely entertains me, but The Fall of the House of Usher looks amazing. §2 The Great Fogu A favorite professor returns to the place I remember him from so well. He loved Columbus, and Columbus loved him back. §3 COVID booster Got the latest jab. On
Weeknote
Weeknote 38, 2023
§1 Self-gullibility If you believe yourself to be one of the few non-gullible people in a world of the credulous, are you not revealing your own gullibility? To fool yourself is still to be fooled, is it not? §2 Communication takes work One obstacle to meaningful online debate: Some people
Libraries
Weeknote 37, 2023
§1 Lunar Days “As the summer turns / I seem to fall away / Gaps in the light / The Lunar Days…” §2 The Lion Sleeps Tonight Which cover version is better? Anne Reburn's five-part self-a capella? Or They Might Be Giants' rock re-intepretation (featuring Laura Cantrell)? §3 What'
Music
Weeknote 36, 2023
§1 So much for that... A headline in the February 9, 2020 New York Times: “Oregon Learns to Love a Rivalry,” about the Ducks’ new rivalry in women’s basketball with Oregon State. A headline in the August 5, 2023 New York Times: “Ever-Shrinking Pac-12 Loses Oregon and Washington to
Music
Weeknote 35, 2023
§1 A basic question “Does learning that something you have read or heard about this topic is wrong make you reassess the rest of your understanding? If not, why not?”—Unknown §2 “...I daresay a lot of other blokes felt likewise” Every now and then, something reminds me of the
Music
Weeknote 34, 2023
§1 Spain 1, England 0 “Send a message to the fleet, they'll search for us in vain / We won't be there among the reaches of the Spanish Main...”—Al Stewart §2 Don't Speak Like Pomplamoose, PostmodernJukebox gets its transformations so very right from time
California
Weeknote 33, 2023
§1 Dance like Fosse / Dance, dance like Fosse... “Talk to Daddy” from Season 2 of Schmigadoon! is a brilliant piece of jewelry, and Dove Cameron's facial expressions are the gem at its center. §2 A pleasant throwback The new track “Tioga Pass” by Yussef Dayes (featuring Rocco Palladino)
Politics
Weeknote 31, 2023
§1 Arkansas Act 372 The willingness of conservative politicians and opinion-shapers in these days of Trump to speak ignorantly, lie brazenly, and act rashly has made it worthwhile to read how judges respond when their work is challenged in court. The latest worthwhile opinion (49-page PDF document) was written by
Music
Weeknote 30, 2023
§1 Pomplamoose Pomplamoose and friends show their chops on “Shotgun.” §2 Hot Hot Heat In the 2000s, I thought of this album as “Get In or Get Out” and nine tracks of filler. Listening to it again now, I'm less impressed by “Get In or Get Out,” but
Music
Weeknote 29, 2023
§1 Life's unexpected turns If a fortune teller had told awkward and unpopular high school student Janis Joplin that someday a famous French fashion firm would use songs she would sing to advertise their wares, what would she have thought? §2 Lyric “You might not like it now
Music
Weeknote 28, 2023
§1 Python A habit I'm working on breaking as I learn Python: Skimming lightly through the introductory material because “I already know that.” No harm is done by remaining open to the possibility that I don't. §2 “Skilljacking” “Will Truman” is the pseudonym of an ordinary