Spitball Army

Exhausted, so working my way through the @nytimes “1,000 Best Films Ever” list. So far today, two real duds: Lust for Life and Silk Stockings. Lust is so comically overwrought, I expected Kirk Douglas’ Van Gogh to morph into one of Lon Chaney Jr’s monsters. Just bad. The theme music for Lust for Life sounds as […]

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Lists! And none of them are in ranked order. Also, none of the lists include the couple of handfuls of things that I forgot. Here goes: My favorite music of 2010 (the source material for this coming Sunday’s playlist): Mandelring Quartett / Schumann: Piano Quintet Josh Rouse / El Turista I disliked this album at first, […]

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A giant tiled wall of jewel-toned loops and curves — one of the last commissions by the Conceptual artist Sol LeWitt — was unveiled in the 59th Street-Columbus Circle subway station by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority last week.

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I protested loudly (to myself) a couple of weeks ago when I read Michael Pollan’s piece in the New York Times Magazine. In “Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch,” Pollan posits that the relatively recent glut of TV cooking shows is partially responsible for Americans spending less time in the kitchen. I disagree.

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1984 was a landslide victory year for Ronald Reagan. His Democratic opponent was former Vice-President Walter Mondale. Reagan’s re-election was practically assured as, under his first term watch, the economy showed definite signs of revival. It seemed that there was little for the Democrats to do than go through the motions, and pretend that their candidate stood a chance.

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Transcribing correspondence from the World War II era, starting with that of Beverly Anderson, has been an ongoing, truly enjoyable experience for me, and an educational one. I have always had a fascination with history, particularly cultural history, and find the War era especially rich. “Ancient” American culture is a puzzle: discovering what was once in vogue, what customs we have retained, what practices have fallen by the wayside. I have been particularly surprised with phrases and sayings from this period, some familiar and some that might as well be in a foreign language.

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“If I can make it here, I’ll make it anywhere.”

So goes the line from the well-worn song “New York, New York.” And, apparently, the inverse rule applies, as well. The last of the giant music retail stores in New York City shuttered completely yesterday, according to this morning’s New York Times.

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Donna Reed, iconic now as the quintessential mid-20th Century American woman, was also the epitome of the “hometown girl” to many men who served in the armed forces during World War II. Because of her exposure in the movie houses of the time, and also due to the rounds she would make regularly on the U.S.O. Canteen circuit, Ms. Reed was the recipient of hundreds of fan letters from Gobs, Flymen and Marines stationed overseas and on the home front. Her children have recently made the 341 letters to their mother – mostly handwritten – public.

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Tomorrow the print version of The New York Times will run a story entitled “36 Hours in Birmingham, Ala.” written by Jim Noles, but today it is up on the newspaper’s website. Noles hit many of the high points – the bragging points – of our city, including Frank Stitt’s Highlands Bar & Grill and the Hot & Hot Fish Club, Vulcan Park, Workplay, the Civil Rights Museum. All of the photographs are by my neighbor, fellow Crestwoodian Gary Tramontina.

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