Friday Odds & Sods Graduated Cum Laude

Hello, all! I hope this holiday weekend finds you well! Even though our Labor Day was specifically designed to hinder the international solidarity of the working classes, I must admit that I still enjoy having a little break at the end of a long, hot August. And if nothing else, it is good that the sartorially-challenge have at least some guidance to picking out their wardrobe for the winter. All this aside, grab a beer, take a load off your feet, and enjoy this week's Odds & Sods!

• Two depictions of societies in transition between old ways and new: The end of feudalism in the Channel Islands and the end of the boom times of gaming in Atlantic City
• From the Folkways Section of the archives: The history of y'alld and the current state of folk music
• Finally, the secret history of how bubonic plague almost destroyed New York.

You Down With Friday Odds & Sods?

Hello, friends. As ever, I hope this week finds you well. I myself have been having pleasant week, enjoy the slow cooling of the weather that marks the end of summer and the approach of fall. These transitional times have always been my favorite part of the year, containing as they do all the pleasure of anticipation of opening a new life chapter in addition to the satisfaction of closing an old one. May autumn bring such satisfaction to you as well, dear readers, but let's first turn to this week's Odds & Sods.

• To start the round-up, an interesting article that uncovers a new perspective on the  Southern rationale for secession: Stopping the Red Menace! 
• Speaking of the Confederacy, this article explains the disturbing number of White Supremacists who are latching onto the Donald's presidential campaign.
• Finally, two stories that use the Ashley Madison hack to prove the truth of the old adage that on the internet, nobody knows you're a dog: No women actually used the site, and the women who were on it were company-made profiles.
• A little blues-y number for your late-summer-early-fall listening pleasure.

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Saturday Odds & Sods wgah'nagl fhtagn

Hello once again, amici and amicae. I hope this penultimate full week of August finds you hale and hearty. I want to take this opportunity to extend belated birthday wishes to the Old Man of Providence, H.P. Lovecraft. Although certainly not without his flaws, both artistically and ethically, Lovecraft tapped into a vein of horror that will continue to resonate as long as we suppress a shudder when thinking about the yawning abyss of time and space revealed above our heads in the night sky. Let us turn our heads (not too quickly, lest the Great Old Ones see us) back to more terrestrial matters and take a look at this week's Odds & Sods,.

• To begin with, a horror story of a different sort, an account of the lynching of Leo Frank.
• Two interesting looks at the workings of modern writing: An interview with the New Yorker's book reviewer and finding out how Joan Didion became Joan Didion.
• Although I cannot personally vouch for their efficacy, if you happen to run into Cthulhu or Nyarlathotep when out for a stroll it might not to be a bad to idea to try some of these magic spells from Late Antiquity.
• Finally, some poetry from Mr. Lovecraft

Friday Odds & Sods is Hard at Work or Hardly Working

Humans are, on the whole, expert at dealing with set categories and states.  These situations play to our ancient strengths: Present someone with a definite binary scenario, say whether to flee a sabertooth tiger or not, and 99 times out of a hundred they will accurately and concisely distinguish between their two options and make a choice that will result in the cat going hungry.  On the other hand, force an individual to distinguish between 17 essentially identical varieties of catsup (not to mention ketchup) in the grocery story aisle, and even the most stout-hearted soul will be reduced to the muttering of vile epithets sotto voce. Hence bewilderment of modern life, a plethora of options but none of actual consequence. Let us, my friends, act with firm conviction and turn to this week's Odds & Sods!

• To begin with, two articles from the Horseman section of the archive: the shocking discovery of the Volos Centaur and the bleak humor of Bojack Horseman (about which my own thoughts anon).
• And if one needs a further dose of bleak absurdity after the above, check out the Wikipedia editing wars on George W. Bush.
• Finally, happy anniversary to the Rocky Horror Picture Show, 40 years young today! May you still be playing as a science-fiction double feature for many, many years to come.

Friday Odds & Sods Can't Even Anymore

My dear friends, there are times when one must wonder at the depths of perversity hidden in the human soul. Such was the case yesterday when, against my better judgement, I was a witness to the combination Lusitania/Hindenburg/Johnstown Flood that some have termed a Republican primary debate. Even back in the days of Aristophanes, democracies have had their buffoons as well as their heroes. The people deserve to be represented by someone like themselves, after all! Yet it is terrifying to think that of the 10 men on stage last night, nine of them seemed to be acting more like Survivor (or is that The Apprentice?) contestants than possible next presidents. I leave out of this condemnation The Hon. Sen Cruz, who is clearly serious about running for the office. That office is unfortunately Reichsfuhrer-SS. Dark days indeed, my friends! Let us take what comfort we can from this week's Odds & Sods.

• In more somber news from last night, Jon Stewart hung up the reigns on The Daily Show. It was certainly nice to see the many tributes from his correspondents and staff, and the Boss' send-off was appropriately moving. In honor of the occasion, a look back at the near-two decade span of his tenure. 
• Not to return too much to unpleasant topics, but this article has a very interesting look at the sort of people who think Donald Trump is exactly who this country needs as its next president. 
• Finally, if things get too tough out there, remember that NASA is discovering more and more options for relocation every day!

Friday Odds & Sods Endures - In Enduring, Grows Strong

A thousand thousand greetings once again,  amici mei. Although it hardly seems possible, this Friday finds us with the year two-thirds complete, and judging by the weather at least, thoroughly well done. I hope that 2015 has been a happy and productive time for all of you thus far, or if not, at least reasonably tolerable. Let us close our another chapter of the rolling year with a look at this week's Odds and Sods! 

• If university Comp Lit departments got a dollar for every article published on the theme of "whither the humanities" then they would be, if not completely solvent, at least able to open a few new hiring lines. Still, one supposes it keeps adjuncts busy and out of trouble, and noteworthy examples of the genre should be recognized. On that hand, one article that has both good and bad in it, and one that is just ugly. 
• I have tried to avoid direct comment on the increasingly turgid soap opera that is our democracy, but the fact that Donald Trump has a more than zero chance of being our next president forces my hand. In that spirit, a writer reviews the collected writings of the Donald and the psychosexual ugliness of the Republican primary 
• As a palette cleanser after this distasteful business, a well-written review of of a Victorian writer who deserves more attention

Friday Odds & Sods is Burnt To a Crisp

Apologies for the missing post last week, ever-faithful friends. This time, however, I have a much better excuse than writer's block, for last week found me slowly melting into a puddle under the heat of the late July Sun. Of course, such experience, despite it is obvious discomforts, can be a boon, if only for the occasion it lends around four in the morning for the mind to concentrate on questions of great import. To wit: "Who am I?", "What am I doing with my life?", "Why did I not take the opportunity to get an air conditioner when I had a chance?" Alas, dearest friends, I cannot say that I found any answers to these queries during my long, hot, sleepless nights. But I do know that these many more questions of great moment can be found in this week's Odds & Sods.

• I believe I have had occasion previously to remark on my admiration for Joseph Mitchell, like myself a Tar Hell gone to make good in the Metropolis. A talented writer and never one to let the facts get in the way of the truth, I must admit Mitchell is a bit o a hero of mine. I therefore highly recommend this profile of Joe Gould, alias Professor Seagull, the subject of Mitchell's most famous story. 
• Continuing on with the subject of eccentrics, fakers, and frauds, two stories about climbing to the heights on the basis of not very much at all: The illusionist who charmed LA's elite for a pretty penny and how pundits continuously fail upwards.
• A final mystery for the post: Who killed one of the most famous philosophers of the Renaissance? 

Friday Odds & Sods Can Dance if it Wants Too

Hello once again, loyal readers.  Another week of hard labor and hot weather goes into the history book and an too brief weekend comes to separate off more of the same.  All too often, life seems sometimes like the wag's definition of insanity, that is, to repeat the same action over and over again and expect a different outcome.  Of course, one imagines similar complaints could be levelled after every point in man's history - no doubt the hunter-gathers of the Rift Valley were heartily sick of having to pick berries day in and day out.  If there is any grace to be found, then, it must be in the small moments of joy and wonder that populate our time on Earth, and such, I hope, you will find in this week's Odds & Sods. 

• As a proud student of the Humanities, I have of course spent a lot of time working in retail.  This has been a valuable experience for several reasons, not the least of with is the cultivation of a strong sense of humor to serve as a survival mechanism.  I offer this compendium as a secondary means of inoculation for those not so blessed to have worked in the field  
• Speaking of the the Humanities, two stories from the frontline of the modern liberal arts: The emptiness of the digital humanities and Aeschylus on stage at Syracuse
• The Greeks, of course, were the inventors and masters of political speechmaking, a natural outgrowth of democratic politics where a large number of people need to have their opinions swayed in a short amount of time to get anything done.  One can only imagine the bitter tears they would weep reading the memoirs of a modern-day speechwriter

Saturday Odds & Sods is Watching the Fireworks

Happy Independence Day to all my American readers, a belated Happy Canada Day to our neighbors north of the border, and a pleasant Saturday to everyone else. It is starting off as a bit cloudy and cool here in the Metropolis for the Fourth, an unexpected but certainly not unwelcome meteorological development. Having spent the past week engaged in the sort of strenuous white-collar labor to which one should definitely not become accustomed, I'm looking forward to the opportunity to engage in the patriotic pastime of drinking, eating, and losing some extra digits in loud explosions. In any case, I hope your Fourth of July gets off to a bang with this week's Odds & Sods!

• To begin things off on a light note, an examination of Taylor Swift as apotheosis of artistic passive-aggression.  
• If you're still looking for something to read at the beach, and really summer is a third over so get on that, 10 neglected authors that deserve some love.
• In a more serious vein, two more articles for the Future is Terrifying department: the sad end of Japan's lonely elderly (and those who clean it up) and how to get by in a world with no work.
• Finally, the most American song I know, in honor of the holiday

Friday Odds & Sods Working All Day, Every Day

Another week brings the arrival of summer and with it the near midway point of another year.  I hope that the arrival of another season finds you well, Dear Reader, and that you are reading this in a beach chair or at least a comfortable hammock.  I, unfortunately, have been forced to spend this week in the drudgery that, alas! all too often makes up the majority of one's waking life.  But never fear! Friday Odds & Sods is here to provide a brief moment of living wakefulness as we move on into July

• As the poet said, he who speaks another language gains another soul. Of course, even the most fluent speaker must sometimes acknowledge that there are certain gaps of nuance that prevent complete mastery.  How then, a student might ask, are we to cope?
• A graphic that succinctly shows how Wikipedia is the most awful (in the original sense of the term) website ever.
• Finally two articles about the intersection between public memory, politics, good taste, and morality: The coming battle over Confederate monuments, and one man's obsessive collection of Hitler memorabilia.

Saturday Odds & Sods Will Never Let You Down, Baby

I hope, dear reader, you will forgive me for a late update to your weekly roundup of all the content fit to aggregate, or what a more naive age would have called steal.  It is a gloomy Saturday afternoon in the Metropolis, but a quiet and calm one, and for that I am grateful. Indeed, as some wise philosopher observed, the first sign of aging is the desire no longer to carouse on a Saturday but instead to see to domestic comforts.  Be that as it may, dear reader, I hope your weekend has gone well and will continue to go well, and will be at least marginally improved by this week's Odds & Sods.

• Two items on the misuse and abuse of the truth for political ends: The cinema under the Nazis and the mental gymnastics of climate change deniers. 
• On the lighter side of politics, a history of how Taft attempted to unseat Teddy's Bear as the nation's stuffed animal of choice.   
• The ability to choose when to die through doctor-assisted suicide is one of those topics that everyone has an opinion on and yet has probably not done much thinking about. This article, on the unforeseen consequences of legalized physician-assisted suicide in Belgium, thus serves as a useful corrective.  

The Guard Dies, It Does Not Surrender

Some mood music to get started with.

Napoleon Bonaparte was by all accounts a most exceptional man.  Indeed, such a statement seems laughably insufficient when presented with the plain facts of his biography.  One man rises from absolute obscurity in the remotest backwater of the Mediterranean to the supreme height of power, overthrows century-old dynasty, rewrites the map of Europe to his whim, makes even his brothers, sisters, in-laws, friends into glorious monarchs--and then in a reverse that could come straight from Sophocles, he dares much, loses more, and after one last grand bid for glory, is left abject on the remotest rock in the Atlantic.  

On The Banks of the Gyoll

Apologies, Dear Readers, for the lack of posting last week.  Just as the swallows return to Capistrano and the bankers to the Hamptons, so to does the summer mark my return to my ancestral stomping grounds in the Sunny South.  Unfortunately, divers distractions and a desire for a bit of unproductive, unhurried leisure kept me from my customary literary pursuits and robbed you of new content from your no-doubt favorite blog author.

Of course, the primary issue with free time is finding something to fill it.  And surely you know enough of  your host by now to guess that many long Southern afternoons would find me in tearing through the pages of a good book.  And in the spirit of summer's beachside paperback thrillers, I too turned from my usual academic fare for a rousing tale of action and mystery: The Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe.   Set in the incredibly distant far future of South America where the Sun has turned red and begun to die, the story follow Severian, a journeyman of the Torturer's Guild, as he unknowingly becomes a key player in a series of events that will save or damn the world.

Pictured: The Dying Sun.  Not Pictured: Surviving Life

Of course, the proof of the tale is in the telling, and the above could be the basis for a plodding sequence of pointless melodrama.  But Wolfe is a master of his art and know how to make the alien world really feel alien.  One technique that is particularly effective is Wolfe's word choice, which instead of taking the usual path of the genre writer and simply inventing terms for a story's monsters, mythology, and the like, pulls from the obscure vocabulary of prehistoric behemoths, medieval armaments, and classical mythology, frequently even leaving your humble correspondent reaching for a dictionary. For instance, rather than the world being infested with ogres or orcs, it is wild smilodons and megatherium stalking the hinterlands of Severian's world.  

Friday Odds & Sods is Riding the Blinds

Hello, All!  This weeks post comes to you from the wilderness of southern Virginia through the miracle of government-standard WiFi and courtesy of the decaying remains of America's once-great passenger rail system.  All people have their particular hobbyhorses, and one of mine happens to be a fondness for trains.  Even though air travel might offer to get me to my destination in a mere two hours, I prefer to take a more leisurely journey down the East Coast, even with all the attendant bumps and jerks as we roll down the line.  There is something to be said, I think, for turning travel not just into a rush from one point to another, one that would ideally obliterate all notions of space, into a part of travel just as worthy as departure and arrival.  At the very least, having a few hours on the rails is an excellent opportunity to catch up with all the tasks left undone before one embarks on a vacation!

• History, to wax etymologically for a moment, is simply an inquiry, and as Herodotus knew, is just at home in the farmer's hut as in the palace of the King of Kings.  In that spirit, the recently-uncovered writings of three schoolboys of the 1890s.  
• NPR offers a helpful new service in addition to providing Carl Kasell's voice on your home answering machine: A new website that will tell you how likely a machine is to make you completely economically redundant.
• On a more serious note, it was recently announced that a prominent study about the effect of personal narratives on people's opinions about gay marriage was a near complete fabrication.  As someone with many connections both personal and professional to the world of academia, and especially to the social sciences, I find this a particularly disturbing development.  Certainly it does not take the most keen-eyed of observers to note that there is a problem with dishonesty in many studies in both the so-called hard and soft sciences.  Yet given the perverse system that we have created in higher education, combining the worst features of the kill or be killed free market and the stingy resources of federal funding, where one's entire career can hang on getting the right grant or being published in the right journal, is it any wonder that such scandals are a regular occurrence?  This before even considering how many of these falsehoods go unsuspected and undetected.  The Academy at its best expands the frontier of human knowledge in all areas, and certainly men being what they are will never be free of the malicious or the craven who are in the main responsible for these disasters.  But I think it should be apparent that our current university system is deeply flawed, with false reporting being one of the most obvious symptoms, and is in desperate need of top to bottom house cleaning.  

Friday Odds & Sods Flies To Close To The Sun

The sad truth about man is that he is a creature designed to seek satisfaction but never obtain it.  No sooner has one metaphorical itch been scratched then doubtless you will fine taht the poor animal has developed three more to replace it.  When the weather is cold, he wishes for warmth, and when it due time it becomes warm, he wishes for cold again.  And so it goes.  It is sometimes hard to escape the conclusion that life is just a long series of gripes culminating in death.  Yet it is also true that from time to time we are capable of seeing beyond just the immediate surroundings of our irks and peeves and catch a glimpse, however fleeting, of something that convinces us to soldier on and try a new path.  It is on this theme that I would like to dedicate this week's Odds & Sods

• First off, a story about a young boy in Nepal, the miracle that occurred (or didn't), and a Westerner's attempt to understand the nature of faith.  
• This year marks the 750th anniversary of Dante's birth, a man who knew something about taking a journey into the darkest places and coming out into the light of the stars
• Finally, a humorous look at what happens when people cede too much control over their life's travels to their technology

Friday Odds & Sods is Ridin' With the King

I only had the pleasure of seeing B.B. King perform once, at a concert near Asheville.  It must have been around the summer of 2010 or so, right after I had graduated from college. At the time my vantage point and now my memory prevent the relating of too many distinct observations from that evening.  One thing that does stand out in my mind even today is this: Here was a man who both had the fortune to do what he loved near every day and also have his art be recognized as touched by genius.  I can think of no better life to lead, and certainly if there was a man who deserved it be B.B. King.

• Sometimes it may seem as though the activities of the Thiels, DeGrasse Tysons, and other of our public intellectuals are just as concerned with policing and disparaging the Humanities as they are with the promotion of the Sciences.  In particular, philosophy has been dismissed as pie-in-the-sky speculation with no relevance to the thinking person today.  A nice rebuttal to this point of view from the pages of Scientific American.
• Two quick articles on the hilarious and heartbreaking human obsession with real estate: Fixing the Lewis Carroll-esque India-Bangaledesh border and the honest if horrible thoughts of a Brooklyn real estate agent.  
• While oftentimes the internet is simply grand experiment in inculcating solipsism on a generational scale, this website from the BBC offers a useful corrective, showing exactly how much the world has gone about its business during your life without any influence from you at all.
• The King is dead.  Long live the King.

Friday Odds & Sods Has Lost its Deposit

Does it not seem, amici mei, that it was only an inconsequentially short time ago that the northern inhabitants of Her Majesty's Britannic realm narrowly voted against the dissolution of the same?  And yet now does it not appear that last night's election results show that, while the Gaels may for the moment languish under the heels of Downing Street, a separation is in fact accomplished, de facto if not de jure?  While the injunctions of logic may command not to multiply entities, politics has its reasons that reason does not know, and your humble correspondent would not be surprised that the passing of a few short years does not bring Scotland into full-fledged membership of the community of nations.  Given the sclerotic and generally disastrous course of politics this side of the Atlantic, it is with a certain sense of schadenfreude that we observe the tumult in the Mother Country.  Yet never fear, though the ravens may abandon the Tower of London, Friday Odds & Sods will remain a fixed point in a changing world

• Among the other momentous results of last night's election, the youngest candidate since the 1600s was elected to the Commons at the ripe old age of 20.  Yet this is nothing to the current record holder, the Earl of Albermarle, who answered his country's call at the age of 13.    
• Doubtless at the point the Cleggs, Farages, and Milibands of the world are in need of a stiff drink.  If there tipple of choice happens to include Bourbon, they would be wise to heed this article pointing out the false claims and empty marketing of many current brands.    
• While every election has its heroes and villains, I would struggle to name a modern politician who has reached such distinctly Shakespearean heights of criminality and madness as Richard Nixon.  To appropriately count our blessings that he has permanently decamped to warmer haunts, four articles on his rise, decline, and fall.
• Finally a song for winners and losers both, whether in elections or in life

Friday Odds & Sods Will Never Try to Change You, Baby

Once again we are met, Dearest Friends, in that Friday rendezvous which I hope has brought you some pleasure on your pre-weekend afternoons.  Life, as the man remarked, is very short, and the fact that you have chosen to spend even a few seconds with my writing is enough to make me profoundly grateful.  But enough mawkishness!  Outside days are getting longer and skirts shorter, so let us get to the main events of this weeks Odds & Sods.

• An unearthed Baltic shipwreck allowed the sampling of some 170-year-old champagne. As soon as I find out where to get a sip, I will let the rest of you know
• Two stories about fame, and the curious afterlife of merchandising that deceased stars have, in the lives of Kurt Cobain and Johnny Cash.
• Additional Notes on the Way We Live Now: How a failed Kickstarter campaign never ends, either for backers or owners
• Finally, a musical selection from the often-imitated-but-never-duplicated bluesman, B.B. King

Friday Odds & Sods Hates to See the Evening Sun Go Down

An unexpected cold spell favors indoor pursuits this weekend, I believe.  Not that your humble scribe is ill-disposed to such undertakings, but still by the end of April it was to be hoped that the weather would have taken a permanent turn for the pleasant.  Still, lacking a weather-controlling satellite or other piece of super-villain paraphernalia, it is best to follow the English custom in matters of poor weather: Boil some tea, lower the blinds, turn up the lights, and open a book.  How lucky we are then, Dear Reader, that through the miracle of modern technology I can, if not improve the weather, at least provide you with some reading material through this week's Odds & Sods.

• Continuing from last weeks look at the intersection of entertainment and politics, two stories of people at the nexus of such commingling: Steven Seagal as Putin's BFF and Cornel West in the age of Obama.  
• It is always a nice surprise to discover some unknown realm of beauty that had previously escaped one's knowledge, such as in this description of the art of the Chinese novel.  
• With the 100th anniversary of the Great War, a story of a poet who symbolized both the euphoric nationalism and underground dissent of the era
• Finally, I had the pleasure last night of attending a concert by the great Dom Flemons, whose music I highly recommend if you need a soundtrack to your weekend.  

Friday Odds & Sods is a 12 O'clock Fellow (In a 9 O'clock Town)

Hello once again, loyal readers.  It seems from all available visual and tactile evidence that spring has well and truly arrived.   And with the coming of longer days and pleasanter weather, people once again are going about with smiles on their faces and songs in their hearts.  Even your humble narrator, usually one to more indoor pursuits, has found himself heading to the park for pastoral frolics.  Of course, while spring fever may be in the air, this has not prevented me from assembling your weekly blog round-up.  As steady as the ticking of a grandfather clock, here comes this week's odds and sods.

• With the Presidential campaign season hard upon us, I though it would be interesting to take a look at two stories about the manufacturing of reality, or as a laymen might put it, lying.  In the first case, how Russia is attempting to win the media war in Ukraine, and in the second, how pundits are attempting to win the war on democracy.
• Another historical anniversary occurred this week in a year already teeming whit them, the martyrdom of Abraham Lincoln.  In commemoration, an article about the man who shot John Wilkes Booth that reminds us how weird history actually is.  
• An interesting account of the mixing of Mohawk and Catholic traditions on the Canada-New York border. 
• Finally, an interview with an NYC bluesman. 

Friday Odds & Sods is Up All Night

I have always loved the nighttime, I think.  Or rather, to put it more accurately, I have loved staying up late.  There are some people, of course, loveable though misguided, who think staying up late means getting hammered with company on Red Bull and Vodka at the club before rolling back to their respective apartments to terminate their union.  This is all well and good, so far as it goes, but lateness, as with most good things in life, requires a conscious separation from the everyday.  Between the ruling duality of hustle and bustle in the daytime and unconscious oblivion at night, one who has chosen to stay up late in solitude has chosen to take a third option, and at three in the morning can take at least some comfort in his sleeplessness in looking out awake at a drowsing world.  But let us leave these insomniac musings and carry on to the Odds & Sods.

• Some further files on the way we live now, Economics Division: A pawn shop struggles on the in the rust belt, a town makes it's living as a death row tourist trap, and the creative economy turns into the drudgery of being a valet to the elite.
• Writing, as someone must have said, is in general a mug's game.  The hours are terrible, and the pay is worse.  Therefore, my hat is always off to those who make it work and do it well.  Into that select group I include one of my personal writing heroes, Joseph Mitchell.
• Finally, for some night music, A Little Night Music:

Friday Odds & Sods is Free and Clear

Like many people of limited faith and uncertain convictions, I am fascinated by stories of belief and believers.  It was thus with great interest that I watched the documentary Going Clear last Sunday, and it's depiction of the history of Scientology.  Aside from proving the continuing validity of Mr. P. T. Barnum's marketing strategy, what was particularly striking to me was just how much devotion could be created so quickly through tin cans and paperbacks.  As an outsider looking in, perhaps the essence of faith will always be a mystery to me, but in the spirit of exploration, I present this week some stories of new manifestations of faith.

• While it may be true that the letter killeth, some degree of text seems necessary if a faith is to stick together.  In that spirit, the collected Operating Thetan levels of Scientology and a read-through with commentary on Dianetics.
• As Terence once said, there really is nothing new under the sun.  As proof, the story of messiah of the 1930s, Father Divine.
• Finally, if you feel the need to really get away from it all and regain some of your faith in humanity, might I suggest a vacation to the most isolated spot on Earth.  

Friday Odds & Sods is Slightly Soggy but Still Crisp

Apologies, Dear Reader, for last weeks omission in posting.  Alas, the calls of sordid commerce proved an overwhelming distraction.  Fortunately, I have received some much needed down time, allowing a return to more idle pursuits.  Chief among these, of course, is the enjoyment of returning spring weather, but never fret, I have also taken a few moment to provide this weeks Odds & Sods.

• From the Antipodes Department, a website that should be useful for anyone undertaking an subterranean expedition to China this spring
• And turning to our Metropolitan Division, two looks at the housing situation in New York, first on the ironies of gentrification in Little Italy and second at the Ozymandias-like building habits of the rich.
• It is taken as an article of faith in Our Innovatively Disruptive Modern Era that the crowds are wise, that sharing is caring, and that the combined efforts of an infinity of monkeys out does the work of every Shakespeare.  In that spirit, the best pieces of fakery ever to be posted on Wikipedia.  

Friday Odds and Sods is Up Against It

With warmer if soggier weather slowly seeping in, I find myself in a much more upbeat frame of mind as this week comes to an end.  Our ancient ancestor realized, after all, that spring was a time for renewal and rebirth, and after a winter like last one I could do with a bit of both.  While Fitzgerald may have said there were no second acts in American life, that certainly does not leave out the possibility of making a fresh start that incorporates the best of what has come before.  Apologies for the verbosity, but the pleasant weather has given me the freedom to take long walks that allow me to indulge in my favorite pass time, idle speculation.  Hoping that they will give you some pleasure on a sunny spring weekend wherever you are, I present this weeks Odds & Sods.

• Continuing with our apocalyptic theme from last week, two stories of decline and fall on a more personal level, Muhammad Ali and Evan Bayh
• An interesting account of the use of dogs in Dante's Divine Comedy
• While the standard narrative of the Civil Rights Movement is of non-violence overcoming the South's prejudice, this article provides another perspective with a history of Black self-defense in the early 20th Century
• Finally, a pleasant tune for a Saturday in March

Friday Odds & Sods is in Like a Lion

Snow falling in March is something that I, as a son of the Sunny South, have very little experience of.  At any rate, such precipitation is hardly the harbinger of spring that I have been expectantly scanning the horizon for.  Nevertheless, we continue on, if for no reason than for want of a better alternative.  Such thoughts, I am sure, will dissipate with the snow that now lines the sidewalks, but until then, stay warm with some more Odds & Sods.

• For those interested in the mindset behind current events in the Middle East and elsewhere, I recommend these two articles about the attraction of the Caliphate in Muslim thought and the allure of the apocalyptic mindset in general.
• Continuing with the theme of the world's end, an amusing bit of literary archaeology unearths a depiction from 1906 of an abandoned New York in 2015.
• A less cataclysmic story, but one that fits into the category of decline and fall, in this case of the newspaper industry and the barbarian kingdoms arising in their place, such as the Daily Mail Online.
• To close out the week, a song about endings 

Friday Odds & Sods is In a Class of Its Own

Another week passes away into history, and with it the month of February in the year of our Lord Two Thousand and Fifteen.  Speaking for myself, this has been rather a time of waiting, one of the sensations I find least enjoyable in life, removing as it does the sense of agency found in hope and replacing instead with an anxiousness that soon turns into boredom. Waiting for spring, waiting for a call, waiting for anything, turns time from a space of events into merely a succession of featureless days that await the division into  "before" and "after." But one thing I promise that you will never have to wait for, Dear Reader, is this week's Odds & Sods

• Some historical articles for this weekend, for how can we prepare for the future if we are ignorant of the past?  To begin, two looks at the decline and fall of great artists, Orson Wells and Truman Capote.
• Second, the relationship between geography and destiny: How Portland became and stayed nearly all white, and how Easter Island shows both mankinds resilience and stupidity.
• Finally, the interaction between art, history, and memory through the lens of American Sniper.

Mo' Moai Mo' Problems

Friday Odds & Sods Would Really Like It To Be Spring

Hello, amici mei!  I hope you are managing to keep warm on a very freezing Friday afternoon.  Your humble correspondent himself is wrapped under several layers of blankets and sweaters and is sipping hot chocolate like there is no tomorrow.  Nevertheless, like unto the ancient couriers of Persia, neither rain nor snow nor dead of night shall keep me from providing you with your Friday round-up, and that goes for incredibly cold weather as well. So without further ado, I present this week's Odds & Sods.

• A psychiatrist has a session booked to look into a case of writer's block, but instead becomes the one under examination. 
• Two perspectives on modern Scandinavia, the mutually reinforcing strands of extremism in Norway and the trade-offs between life in the American and Swedish dreams.
• The witches of southern Chile were not to be trifled with.  Although if they knew a spell to make the weather warmer, I think we could come to an understanding.
• Finally, a little concoction to make your winter nights go by just a little faster: The Whisky Sling - Heat 6 oz water, pour in a teaspoon sugar, add 2 oz Whisky (Preferably Scotch or Rye). Mix thoroughly and enjoy.  

The Winter of 1888 in New York

Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler

Hello once again, mes amis.  I hope that the recent spate of cold weather has not dampened your spirits on Fat Tuesday.   Although I myself am rather one to purse my indulgences with dispatch, there is something to be said for alternating between feast and famine, if only to have more respect for the later and thankfulness for the former.  I would love to continue, dear reader, in the prolix way that you no doubt have come to love, but alas, a mild case of mid-winter illness had made me unfit for both writing and enjoying a proper Mardi Gras alike.  I would ask therefore, gentle reader, when you are out tonight that celebrating you raise a glass to your poor invalid correspondent.  Lest you think I come empty handed, here are some songs to help make your Mardi Gras party complete.

Friday Odds & Sods is Very Superstitious

Happy Friday the 13th, faithful readers!  I trust that being the rational, intelligent, sensible people you are, you discount such a holiday as mere superstitious nonsense.  I must admit that I, however, have spent the day avoiding ladders, black cats, and graveyards and making sure that my John the Conqueror root is still fresh.  I'm not superstitious of course, but then one can never be to careful, can one?  In any event, I recommend staying safe, staying warm, and relaxing with this weeks Odds & Sods.

• First off, two articles that venture into the fraught question of the relationship between the artistic creator and his creation: An examination of the nature of artistic authenticity and the commingling of art and politics in Birth of a Nation
• Moving on, two stories proving once again the truth that from the sublime to the ridiculous is only a step, a report from the North Korean International Film Festival and the invention of a soul singer who never sang a note
• And finally, a sad story about the man who helped give birth to cybernetics but eventually ran into the limits of logic, Walter Pitts
• A song that needs no excuse to be posted, but one that is especially appropriate today

Happy St. Gregory II Day!

Why the Feast of Pope Gregory II should be the mid-February holiday of choice instead of Valentine's Day.

or 

Another attempt to conquer the internet with listicles

1) Unlike St. Valentine, St. Gregory II has the distinct advantage of being a real person.

Not that it ever hurt Santa Claus's career

2) While St. Valentine exists solely to boost chocolate sales in the doldrums between Christmas and Easter, Gregory II defended the Western Church against the iconoclasm of Emperor Leo III, thus marking an important new development in the relationship between pope and emperor.

Ain't no party like an iconoclast party, because an iconoclast party permits no graven images

3) Really, isn't it time Burt Reynold's birthday becomes a major holiday?

Happy Birthday, Burt!

Friday Odds & Sods is Not Just Another Pretty Face

One-twelfth of the way through another year, and although it might not look or feel like it, signs of rebirth are none the less trickling through the wintery air.  Take, for instance, the return of the name Bush to our politics, which rather like unto a Hammer Horror monster, refuses to stay dead for long.  Or on a slightly more optimistic note, the return of Harper Lee to the literary arena, no doubt heralding the revision of high school syllabi across the country, and about which more below.  In that same spirit, your humble correspondent has finally recovered from his doubt of the grippe, and is once again ready to provide you with the highest quality Odds & Sods.

• Continuing with our theme of literary maps from last year, Google provides a map of Middle-Earth, which although a tie-in to a mediocre movie, is nonetheless of interest.
• To return to the matter of Harper Lee, two articles paint a portrait of a reclusive artist in decline and those who would try to profit off the situation.
• In other notes from the Lost and Found files, the Tolstoy's wife's long-lost novel and the prayer notebook of Flannery O'Connor.
• Finally, to close out the week, some mellow music for a weekend spent warm indoors by the fire.  

  

I May Not Know Art, But I Know What I've Liked

...on Facebook, re-tweeted, put on Instagram, et cetera.

An anecdote, to begin: A friend and I were in the Impressionist wing of the Met the other day (don't worry, this isn't the start of an exercise for my writing workshop).  I must admit that generally I find art museums rather depressing.  Something about seeing those encircling lines of portraits and landscapes on the walls like a well-preserved collection of pinned butterflies puts me in a funereal state of mind.  Nevertheless, the liveliness of Monet, Manet, Gauguin, and Pissarro made up for their institutional surroundings and proved a fine way to spend an afternoon.

Some Pissarro for you

Of course, my companion and I were hardly alone in our idyll.  My years as a dazzling urbanite have made it second nature to ignore the crowd, yet on this occasion I was struck by an odd activity: Out of a crowd of say around 30 people in the room with us, I would estimate at least a half to three-quarters spent their time rushing up to each painting, taking out their phones, snapping a picture of the picture, and then hurrying onto the next canvas to repeat the process.

Friday Odds & Sods is Too Cool For School

Or for most any other activity this week.  Although the promised Snowpocalypse or Snowmageddon or Snow-Letter-to-the-Ephesians turned out to be a bit of a bust, at least in the Metropolis, your Humble Scribe was unfortunately taken ill much of the week and could not enjoy a Snow Day along with the rest of the city.  But never fret, Dear Reader.  Not even being stretched out on my sickbed will keep me from delivering your weekly Odds & Sods!

• An article in the New Yorker about the evolution of the first gay rights movement in Wilhelmine Germany, especially interesting as a counterexample to the usual interpretation of German history as being an autobahn direct to the Third Reich
• In honor of the upcoming Sunday's festivities, a look at the very bad year of Roger Goodell 
• From the Lion in Winter files, two stories: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar writes a novel and David Simon goes from Baltimore to Yonkers
• Finally, a song about medicine that will speed up any convalesence

In 1814, We Took A Little Trip...

So I am admittedly about three weeks off from commemorating the actual 200th anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans.  But in my defense, I was probably still really hungover from New Year's at that point.  And since the Battle of Fort St. Philip just concluded a week and 200 years ago and since this is around the time of the British evacuation from Louisiana and since this is my blog, by God, and I will do with it as I please, I feel quite justified in marking the occasion of General Jackson triumph with this post.  

Now Memorialized in Stamp Form!

Now at this point, this post could go in a couple directions.  We could talk about the battle, and how cool it is to think about Jean Lafitte and his crew of pirates blasting away at Redcoats.  Or this would be a great opportunity to discuss the evolving reputation of Andrew Jackson over the last 200 years, from "Savior of New Orleans" to ruffian responsible for the Trail of Tears.   That would in turn be a nice segue into considering the historical understanding of the War of 1812 itself, and how it has mostly faded from the historical consciousness of the nation.

But in point of fact, I think it much more fitting to the spirit of New Orleans and the spirit of history and the spirit of lazy Sundays to turn over analysis to the hands of very capable Zydeco musicians.  

Friday Odds & Sods is Best Served Chilled

Hello once again, gentle reader!  It seems hard to believe that we are already almost done with January, and thus one-twelfth of the way closer to the end of the year.  Or if you wish to adopt a more positive view on the matter, you can say that  we have almost 11 more months of seeing what 2015 has in store.  I generally would not be so positive in matters chronological, but I think it is always wise to give readers options when possible.  Speaking (or rather writing) of options, continue on to see what's on tap for this week's Odds & Sods

• Further tales of the Way We Live Now: Lindsay Lohan has a mobile game.
• In honor of Monday's celebration, and as a personal recognition of where we as a nation have been, and where we're going, Dr. King's Letter from a Birmingham Jail
• As a big fan of the blues, I was excited to hear that Folkways is going to be reissuing Leadbelly's recordings in the near future.  In honor of that, their Tumblr is doing a song by song review of Leadbelly's influences as well as later recorders of his work.  Check it out
• Finally, a little more Leadbelly to close out the week, and a good soundtrack for anyone who's a got a ramblin' mind

Holiness on Trial: Thoughts on the Euthyphro

Among the hazards of being a recent escapee from academia is the persistent impulse, despite numerous signs to the contrary, to buy books.  The holiday season is particularly perilous, with the unwary ending up with armfuls of tomes that will most likely end up in some corner or closet until that fateful moving day when, walking to the van with an overstuffed cardboard box of unread paperbacks, the fateful question is asked: "How did I end up with so many books?"

Be that as it may, I have stolen a few moments in the New Year to begin cracking open some of my new treasures.  One book in particular that I wanted to share is an enjoyable translation of Plato by R.E. Allen.   It has that particular combination of artistry and directness that is always the sign of a quality translation, and the introduction, though a bit dated (the book was originally published in 1984), is both lucid and very sound-minded when dealing with some of the wilder branches of Platonic speculation.  The volume I'm reading has an interesting mix of dialogues, consisting of the Apology, Euthyphro, Meno, Gorgias, Menexenus, and Crito.  I've just finished the Euthyphro, which I had not previously read, and wanted to share some thoughts on the dialogue.

Friday Odds & Sods is In It To Win It

Now that we have reached the halfway point in January, Dear Reader, I wonder if it is not about time to start coming to some conclusions about the tenor of 2015.  Certainly, world affairs seem to be taking the same downward slope that they have been since lighting a fire was deemed the disruptive innovation (or is that innovative disruptor?) of 100,000 BC. Nevertheless, as long as the sun will rise tomorrow, one has the obligation to hope for better things.  Here's hoping that this week's Odds & Sods provides a note of inspiration for all and sundry

• From the archives of the Metropolitan desk, the story of Freedomland, the greatest theme park the Bronx has ever seen.   
• Speaking of archives, for legal historians or anyone with an interest in crime and punishment, this site contains the complete proceedings of the Old Bailey from 1674 to 1913.  
• Finally, two stories to provided a glimpse of The Way We Live Now and a new spin on an old adage: Social media giveth and social media taketh away
• For this weeks song, a number that I find myself coming back to every now and again this time of year

  

Friday Odds & Sods is Nolens Volens

A busy (and freezing) but rewarding weeks is concluding for your humble correspondent. There is something about this time of year, and the forced confinement indoors that it brings, that really allows one to focus down to the bare essentials of tasks, and the dispatch them with dispatch.  Of course, dear reader, writing for you is never just item off my checklist, but rather a thing of beauty and a joy forever, and it is in that spirit that I present to you this week's Odds & Sods.

• In the category of news from the Metropolis, two items: An audacious plan from 1916 to join Brooklyn and Manhattan, and a look at the impact of the police strike on one community.
• I'm not one generally to offer much comment on newly-breaking current events, but I found this interview with author Michel Houellebecq to be an interesting insight into the psych of modern France
• A handy website for figuring out what to do with the last drags of your New Year's Eve party
• And finally, an enjoyable little tune with a long history

Friday Odds & Sods is In With the New

A confession of sorts: I have never really been one of New Year Resolutions.  I certainly have some goals that I can reel off if needed as well as ambitions and hopes for 2015, but nothing that carries the combination of weight and weightlessness I associate with a Resolution.  A New Year Resolution, after all, is both a definitive stand towards the next 365 and a quarter days, and also so very easily broken.  One need only look at the variety of exercise equipment that will begin filling the nation's trashcans in the coming weeks to see this is the case.  I like to keep things loose when it comes to starting the new year, letting things develop and reacting accordingly as I strive to become a better person than I was the day before.  Of course, as I mentioned, I do have some things I want to accomplish this year, in particular to become a busier and better writer and hopefully you, gentle reader, will be the beneficiary of that!

• Some reading for you as we start the New Year includes a cure for all the partying you did Wednesday night and the story of a famous New Year's Eve death.
• RIP today to Mario Cuomo, who eloquently summed up the best part of the American experience.
• Small children try to explain who Socrates was and why he's important.  
• A song to serve as a reminder, if case any was needed, about the inevitable passing of time and the need to still keep laughing nonetheless.