Disapproving Look-Off: Byron vs. Maggie Smith

We’ve been watching Downton Abby, an upstairs/downstairs style soap set in early 20th Century England. One of the highlights of the show is Maggie Smith, who’s given all the best one liners and glares (her character reminds me of Lady Catherine from Pride and Prejudice, one of my favorite literary “villains”). In particular I’ve enjoyed [...]

Read Full Post »

Ten Thousand Years

A lyric popped into my brain this morning, unbidden, from one of the loveliest songs ever written, “Amazing Grace.” Not the full lyric, just this snippet: If we should live ten thousand years… To be honest, in my brain it was only a thousand years. I had to google it to get it straight. Ten [...]

Read Full Post »

Thankitude

I like Thanksgiving. Though rooted in self-serving historical fiction, I think it has survived to a status of irreligious and apolitical purpose: simple thanksgiving and blessing counting. People of every political inclination take time off of their year-round umbrage to be grateful, to eat turkey and watch football. It’s all good. I am thankful for [...]

Read Full Post »

A Musical Interlude

Read Full Post »

Watching the Wheels

I’ve loved this song for many years. I even quoted one of the lyrics in my high school yearbook. I’ve come to appreciate it more as I look forward to fatherhood, especially because of this video that features nothing but home movies of John and Sean Lennon . Here was a guy who was as [...]

Read Full Post »

Blue

In a roundabout and unintended way, a friend reminded me of this song; one of my favorite from the 1990s. It’s an especially poignant one. It came out a couple of years after college, when I found I’d drifted away from most of my friends, which is what the song is about. That, and finding [...]

Read Full Post »

This is my favorite song right now

Read Full Post »

Max on the Island of Misfit Monsters

I had misgivings about a movie-length interpretation of Where the Wild Things Are, even in the hands of a capable director. The movie surpassed my expectations — it was far more of a disaster than I even imagined. In this version of the story, Max (a far more troubled boy than the one in the [...]

Read Full Post »

Mr. A-Z gets schooled

By now you’ve all seen this delightful video, since it was all over the blogosphere and the socialnetworkingasphere (is that a word?) this week. I myself can’t get enough. YouTube is best at capturing these moments of everyday wonderfulness. My goal for today is to write the way this kid plays uke and sings — [...]

Read Full Post »

You Rock, Dr. Stringz!

Tonight I’m going to see Andrew Bird, who is possibly my favorite musician to see perform live. His recorded music is great, but you kind of have to see him live to get it. I also love puppets, so this video always makes me happy.

Read Full Post »