Year: 2020
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American Virus-Response Solutions
Magazine mashups from American Libraries, September/October 2020
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Ghost Papas: Fatherhood in ‘The Patriot’ and ‘Interstellar’
I recently rewatched The Patriot for the first time in a long while. I was big into this movie as a lad, so rewatching it as a thirtysomething dad was something of an experiment to see how my adolescent tastes hold up. There’s good (John Williams’ score, Mel Gibson as likeable movie star) and bad…
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Recent Views
More photography here and on my Instagram. As much of a selfie I’m willing to muster: From back in coat-wearing weather, the cover art for our future family band’s debut album: Backyard greenery: Exploring the tiny patch of wildness in our suburban backyard: A fence post in the local park that’s seen better days: Our…
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The Last Dance
Pretty much inhaled the Michael Jordan docuseries The Last Dance on Netflix. As I was a mere lad during the Chicago Bulls’ extended championship run in the ‘90s, the series really added color and context to the on- and off-court happenings I wouldn’t have understood at the time. Though a Wisconsinite, I didn’t feel any…
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Playing havoc
Jay Rosen, writing back in May about the Trump administration’s response to COVID-19, remains accurate: To wing it without a plan is merely the best this government can do, given who heads the table. The manufacture of confusion is just the ruins of Trump’s personality meeting the powers of the presidency. There is no genius…
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Home is where we all are back to school
My first magazine mashup in a while. This one is courtesy of the July 2020 issue of Costco Connection:
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We Americans
This Fourth of July, the words that are echoing in my mind more than any others are the lyrics of “We Americans” by The Avett Brothers, from their recent album Closer Than Together. They beautifully capture the cognitive dissonance I feel about being an American, and even made me tear up the first time I…
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Media of the moment
An ongoing series on books, movies, and music I’ve encountered recently. Songs for Singin’ by the Okee Dokee Brothers. My eager anticipation was rewarded with this double-album’s worth of characteristically clever, catchy, and joyful tunes. I may have teared up during “Jubilation”. The Last Temptation of Christ. Sure, there are few regrettably ’80s moments and…
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Statues and ‘Star Wars’
In an email thread about the controversies surrounding the removal of statues, I suggested we relocate all statues to museums and use the space for parks and Little Free Libraries. But that’s destroying history! First Amendment! Statues aren’t history, as this Twitter thread by Elle Maruska articulates well: Statues are mythology. Statues are hagiography. If…
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When the past isn’t past
Alan Jacobs: If you step back from the endless flow of social media and the internet more generally, and sit down with a book from the past that appears to have absolutely nothing to do with the affairs of the moment, something curious and rather wonderful can happen. Unexpectedly and randomly — stochastically — you…
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Feet stuck in the muck and eyes trained to the sky
I’d never heard of the poet Timothy Murphy until reading about him in the Prufrock newsletter that mentioned him after his passing. He specialized in poetry about hunting, something I’ve accumulated an amateur’s worth of experience in over the years. Intrigued, I checked out his book of poetry Hunter’s Log: Field Notes, 1988-2011 from the…
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Healthy not-knowing
Hat-tip to Austin Kleon for the above snapshot of his journal entry: “The true gift of children is they destroy what you think you know and provide the opportunity for healthy not-knowing and growth.” Children aren’t necessary for achieving healthy not-knowing and growth, but they’re a hell of a good catalyst. See also: “The rules…
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Refer Madness: Various Vignettes
Refer Madness spotlights strange, intriguing, or otherwise noteworthy stories from the library reference desk. Since transitioning to a new position at work last year, I’m no longer on the reference desk. (Also the library is currently closed due to COVID-19, so there’s that.) But I didn’t want to let my list of ideas for this…
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An ‘Unorthodox’ Harmony
It’s good to know that even in quarantine, my old friend synchronicity can still visit me. I watched the Netflix miniseries Unorthodox after reading the review from Vox‘s Alissa Wilkinson and am so glad I did. Based on the true story of a young ultra-Orthodox Jewish woman fleeing her community in Williamsburg, it’s just four…
# film, First Things, harmony, Judaism, marriage, movies, music, Netflix, religion, review, synchronicity, television -
Songs for Singin’
The Okee Dokee Brothers (probably my favorite band right now) are releasing their new two-disc album Songs for Singin’ two months early “so families can listen to some positive tunes while they stay home.” The first single is “Hope Machine”, a jaunty tune that was written before COVID-19 but still pointedly speaks to the current…