Jerry Roberts knows more about California than you, and me, and probably most of the people in the state put together. He's edited major newspapers, for decades; written columns, for decades; launched websites, written books, taugth at university — his rap sheet is as long as a cliche. He left teaching a year ago toContinue reading “To the stars, through the thorns: Gov. Jerry Brown”
Author Archives: Kit Stolz
Take Shelter — the birds are falling (again)
2012 opens with news of blackbirds falling dead from the sky in Arkansas — again. Thousands of dead blackbirds rained down on a town in central Arkansas last New Year's Eve after revelers set off fireworks that spooked them from their roost, and officials were reporting a similar occurrence Saturday as 2012 approached. Police inContinue reading “Take Shelter — the birds are falling (again)”
What really happened to the developer: Chekhov
The New Yorker's great theater critic, John Lahr, hasn't been writing enough. Then on Dec. 12 the magazine doesn't put the compressed grace of his review of Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard" on line, and further goes on in the truncated "abstract" it does post to mangle Lahr's dramatic wisdom. It's criminal! But no matter —Continue reading “What really happened to the developer: Chekhov”
Why does the White House disrespect Paul Krugman?
The great Steve Brodner wants to know why the White House ignores the left's most knowledgeable, effective, and lauded advocate. He writes: "Paul Krugman, locked out of Obama’s party with the 1%. Three years on, who had it right!!???"
From Adele to Frank Zappa: 2011 in music
This year in music has been simply overwhelming. Impossible to know where to start, but relieved to see veteran entertainment editor/critic Ken Tucker agree that this year has been a big one…and also that the discovery of 2011 is Adele. If any one musician held center stage in pop music this year, it was probably Adele, theContinue reading “From Adele to Frank Zappa: 2011 in music”
Two roads diverged in a wood: Robert Frost
Louis B. Jones pens a great essay on Robert Frost, which thankfully The Threepenny Review puts on-line. Here are two gems from it, set together: It seldom occurs to me, frankly, to contemplate any of the thirteen ways of looking at a blackbird; nor could I recite from memory more than a few lines of “Four Quartets,”Continue reading “Two roads diverged in a wood: Robert Frost”
Climate change denial at Drudge
The day after an excellent story by Justin Gillis in the Times lays out the impact of climate change denial in the GOP re: science, the popular right-wing Drudge site headlines theastonishing number of weather-related disasters that hit the U.S. this year — 2011: The year in extreme weather. Included was a NASA satellite pictureContinue reading “Climate change denial at Drudge”
Phoenix: Not busy being born is busy dying
Speaking of Dylan…one of his most famous lines, written forty-six years ago, is standing up to the test of time just fine, thank you, in Phoenix this year. How so? An example: The title of a High Country News story about the city's fate is called Demise of a Housing Growth Machine. The story focusesContinue reading “Phoenix: Not busy being born is busy dying”
The Little Drummer Boy — Bob Dylan
Just when you'd given up on him, he comes back in the perfect key, with the perfect song, and sings it not just faultlessly, but with soul — Bob Dylan, backed by the Ditty Bops. For this day, via John Fugelsang
Why we shouldn’t like writer’s houses
From a marvelous piece by April Bernard in the NYRB (only partially available on-line, I should add): Here’s what I hate about writers’ houses: the basic mistakes. The idea that art can be understood by examining the chewed pencils of the writer. That visiting such a house can substitute for reading the work. That realContinue reading “Why we shouldn’t like writer’s houses”
Kit Stolz 