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Free Music

Website Ionarts alerts us to "the amazingly successful free podcast of the classical concert series at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum."

Over 40,000 downloads of classical concerts? Maybe it's not all doom and gloom in the classical kingdom.

Link below is to the Gardner's podcast site, which actually wants you to share the music: "You are free to share and reproduce these podcasts, and pass this great classical music along to your friends and family. The same goes for the individual tracks you’ll find sorted by musician and composer in the Music Library. We only ask that you…

March of the Emperors

This one minute commercial for the French movie channel Canal+ nearly had coffee spurting out my nose.

Tall Tale Postcards

When I traveled through Wisconsin in the '70s, you could still buy these for a quarter at junk shops around the state. Sure wish I'd taken advantage of the opportunity—as if we needed more stuff around here.

Ars Longa, Vita Brevis

As a child who grew up reading the light humor of S. J. Perelmam and James Thurber, I worshipped at the altar of Art Buchwald. I didn't know it at the time, but, looking back on it, he taught me a tremendous amount about the importance of voice. If the practice truly is treacherous, well, Buchwald certainly made it look easy.

Oh my gosh, how on earth did anybody ever manage to be so consistently funny on a twice a week deadline? When I was growing up, receiving Buchwald's annual collection of columns was as much a part of Christmas for me as getting the new Beatles album.

Buchwald…

Writing Out Loud

Good morning, _____.
Thank you so much for following the show blog. My goodness, these shows are such great work. Writing, in general, you know, is a kind of solitary activity. I think that's partly why I've been drawn to it; I'm a kind of solitary guy. But this team-effort show-blogging stuff is not solitary at all. The entire process runs opposite to what I normally think of writing and to how I approach writing. By the end — actually, almost right from the start — I am feeling completely drained.

These shows leave me feeling a bit behind — more behind than usual, that is —…

Rule #1 for Peaceful Coexistence

Never go to sleep mad at one another.

No, <I>You</I> Apologize

"I was here first," grouses Bagheera.

"Were not," ripostes Huckleberry.

"Was so."

"Nah unh!"

And so we pass the day.

Remembering Michael Brecker

This video is making the rounds of the internets. It's a good way to remember a player who got far less respect than he deserved.

Venom Soup

As history goes, the U.S.A. is weird shape these days. But not all is lost. Yeah, we got our shit: the war in Iraq, a warped, unconnected, hilariously inarticulate jackass for a president, a porous border with Mexico (oh wait, the republicans billion dollar fence will solve that). But just when it looks like it's all sliding down a rat hole it's good to remember that hey, we still got Ted Nugent. U!S!A!U!S!A!U!S!A!

That's right "The Nuge," as he's known among those who suspect he's a cartoon come to life—and truly what other choice is there?— once made poor man's Stooges music with the…

Philosophical Ruminations and Direct Imperatives

Steven Pinker has some interesting thoughts about language and the brain, but 'm linking to this article mostly because I can't resist its headline.