Category Archives: art and humor

Greatest hurricane movie ever? Key Largo

Key Largo has to be the greatest hurricane movie ever, and one of starriest pictures of all time. The cast will knock you out: Beginning with Bogart and Bacall, and including Lionel Barrymore, Claire Trevor and Edgar G. Robinson, for crying out loud, who dominates the picture as a gangster threatened by the power ofContinue reading “Greatest hurricane movie ever? Key Largo”

Dear Sam Shepherd I miss you already

One of the most American of us all died yesterday. Sam Shepherd, I miss you today.                                       In tribute, let me quote a short piece from his countless marvelous writings. This one happens to be about hisContinue reading “Dear Sam Shepherd I miss you already”

Garrison Keiller on the piousness of climate activists

Humorists and contrarians so often seem to drink from the same well, as Garrison Keiller did this week in mocking Trump, Trump supporters, climate activists, Europeans, the Chinese, smokers, and himself in a column this week. No sensuous pleasure can compare to the thrill of righteousness, and when the poor schlump [Trump] stood in theContinue reading “Garrison Keiller on the piousness of climate activists”

What is the musical analog of poetry? (Moonlight)

Composer Nicholas Brittel talks to Song Exploder about how he discovered the theme to Moonlight: On what drew him to Moonlight: When I first read [the script], I was just overwhelmed by this feeling of beauty and poetry, that was really the starting point for my personal experience with the film. There was just thisContinue reading “What is the musical analog of poetry? (Moonlight)”

Earth will become like Mars: Discoverer of Global Warming

The great science reporter Andrew Revkin has been posting early newspaper stories about global warming (as we call it today). These stories go back a hundred years and more. From his Twitter account, here’s an interesting example, featuring a talk given at a Midwestern college by the Swedish scientist, Svante Arrhenius, who first calculated theContinue reading “Earth will become like Mars: Discoverer of Global Warming”

Baked Alaska

From The New Yorker, of course, in today’s daily cartoon. It’s worth noting that in earth’s long history yes, evidence of the existence of palm trees and other tropical plants living at the North Pole has been documented. A tropical Arctic existed for over a million years. Runaway global warming is not only possible, it’sContinue reading “Baked Alaska”

Who is the biggest climate villain in the land?

Well, we know who is the biggest, um, talker: From Tom Toles, of course, who follows up with a Denier’s Club of the usual misleaders. A deep post, adapted from his new book The Madhouse Effect with scientist Michael Mann, who originated the famous “hockey stick” graph that some folks very much do not wantContinue reading “Who is the biggest climate villain in the land?”

People of the PCT: Birdman

Met Birdman a day or maybe two south of Sierra City, in Section L, north of Donner Pass. He’s a true thruhiker: “flip-flopped” the AT last year (meaning he went up and back down). “And I’ll tell you, it’s a lot more dramatic finishing up at Mt. Katahdin than it is in Springer, Georgia!” heContinue reading “People of the PCT: Birdman”