What is most fascinating about The Sorrows of Young Werther is how much its love triangle structure permeates our culture in one form or another. Ich habe das Herz gefühlt, die große […]
A few words about The Sorrows of Young Werther
Eleanor Rigby: the real and the imagined…
It would be enlightening to hear McCartney explain how he came to create such an effecting portrait of loneliness and existential pain. “I thought, I swear, that I made up the name […]
Some wasted words about Gregg Allman
By blending rock and roll, soul, country, blues, and jazz, the Allmans created a brand of music that nearly 50 years later sounds as fresh and original as it did when it […]
Your opinion vs. mine: where are the facts we can agree on?
Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts. — Daniel Patrick Moynihan But what about alternative facts? — 2017 by Carole McNall I’m cruising my Facebook feed when […]
Richard Farina’s Been Down So Long…a myth maker’s myth…
Richard Fariña was the Baby Boom generation’s chief myth maker. “The conscience of my elusive race gives not a fig for me, baby. But I endure, if you know what I mean.” […]
Strawberry Fields Forever… and ever… amen
“No one I think is in my tree…” John Lennon “Strawberry Fields” shouldn’t work – but it does. Brilliantly. The intriguing question is – why? Adulthood is all mixed up, as almost […]
The End…is all about the love….
St. Paul and Sir Paul were trying to tell me pretty much the same thing as I said goodbye to someone I loved very much and will miss for the rest of […]
Random thoughts about the record album – part 4: singers and songwriters, concepts and collections
The album was king, thanks to male singer-songwriters (Crosby, Stills, Nash, James Taylor), female singer-songwriters (King, Simon, Mitchell) and bands like Pink Floyd (Dark Side of the Moon) andThe Eagles (Hotel California). “You take […]
Random thoughts about the record album – part 3: the Beach Boys and the album as art and artifact
Sgt. Pepper’s gets a lot of credit for launching the “concept album,” but it never would have happened without Brian Wilson and Pet Sounds. “We were fed up with being the Beatles. We […]
Want to save local news? Kill off local newspapers. Really.
Consider this verdict based on the evidence of economics: Local print newspapers ought to die. Now. That’s what one observer believes, and he’s pretty convincing. Newspapers are on their deathbeds now, burdened […]
Progressive Culture | Scholars & Rogues 