Here’s something to wash away the taste of last night’s DerpFest extraordinaire. From the NPR story on Black Violin: Kevin Sylvester says that when most people see a 6-foot-2-inch, 260-pound black man, they don’t expect him to also be a classically trained violinist. A recent exchange with a woman in an elevator, when he …
Music
I was dreaming of the past
For some reason, my wife and I decided to watch a terrible Diane Keaton/Michael Douglas rom-com that began and ended with the song “Both Sides Now”. As you may know, the popular version of that song prominently features a harpsichord. What are the best songs with harpsichords in them? I’ll go with “In My Life”, …
Saturday Morning Open Thread
Promises to be a beautiful summer Saturday around here, and I’m planning to enjoy it with the Spousal Unit. Politics will still be here when we all come back, I’m sure… What’s going on in your neighborhood?
Let me clear my throat
I have a hot take that I’ve been meaning to share with you for a while but couldn’t find the right time til now. Here it is: singing crappily on popular records is the ultimate white male privilege. Let’s leave polarizing examples like Bob Dylan and Neil Young out of this for now. Can you …
#BlackLives Matter: Say A Name
At the Washington Post, immigration defense lawyer Raha Jorjani asks the Swiftian question “Could black people in the U.S. qualify as refugees?“: Suppose a client walked into my office and told me that police officers in his country had choked a man to death over a petty crime. Suppose he said police fatally shot another …
Late Night Open Thread: Another Large & Contentious Democracy
Shamelessly stolen from commentor Shroedinger’s Cat, whose post on India’s 68th Independence Day taught me things I did not know, even though I’ve been a Kiplingophile* since I was tiny and I try to keep up. I like this version of the national anthem — and it’s not as though anyone patriotically bound to “The …
Late Night Open Thread: Another Large & Contentious DemocracyPost + Comments (67)
Saturday Evening Open Thread
ETA (why not): Went to the gym, did some grocery shopping. Should go spray Serenade on the tomato plants, but now it’s looking like we might get those ‘scattered showers’ (& nothing brings rain as predictably as spraying the garden, not even washing the car). What’s up in your neighborhood?