by admin | Dec 30, 2010 | News
I started this year of columns with a piece on Mark Twain. It’s fitting that the year should end with another dip into his bottomless well. One of the landmark literary events of 2010 was the publication of the first volume of Twain’s autobiography, which...
by admin | Dec 23, 2010 | News
This week, all over Perry County, cars and trucks laden with wrapped gifts and pots of food will be delivering their passengers to two great holiday gift traditions: the exchange of presents and the potluck supper. In the run-up to the holidays, as empty boxes from...
by admin | Dec 16, 2010 | News
It’s rare, but every now and then network television declares a holiday from its typical dumbed-down fare and gives viewers what they didn’t even realize they craved: a showcase of Western civilization. Right now, there’s a prime-time show on NBC...
by admin | Dec 9, 2010 | News
When I was a young man, I loved Moliere’s Misanthrope. Alceste, the hero – or rather, comic antihero – of the play, fed up with the artifice and false manners of 17th century Paris, resolves to tell everyone exactly what he thinks, whether or...
by admin | Dec 2, 2010 | News
“How was Metropolis?” Shana asked. I’d finally gotten around to watching the new, restored version of Fritz Lang’s classic 1927 silent film, which she’d spotted on the cable schedule and kindly recorded for me. “Crazypants,” I...
by admin | Nov 25, 2010 | News
Last week, in the runup to Thanksgiving, I undertook an evil little job: insulating between the basement joists with fiberglass batts. No doubt many of you have been there, too, especially in this era of expensive oil. You buy those pressurized packages of batts that...
