Monthly Archives: November 2012

My ringside view of the Mingus Big Band, just before the musicians detonated another of their tactical nuclear weapons. The club was still standing by the end of the set, but it was a close-run thing.

I’m reading Scott Berg’s biography of Sam Goldwyn, a book with no end of terrific anecdotes. I particularly like the one explaining how, in 1913, the immigrant who had been born Schmuel Gelbfisz, but who had changed his name to … Continue reading →

Bear in mind that a prime minister or two may well be lurking in this dispatch from Reuters photographer Eddie Keogh. As the school’s website explains: The skill consists in the remorseless application of pressure and leverage as one advances inch … Continue reading →

Amid the good cheer, the food, the drink and all the rest, a reminder that there’s one more reason for Americans to be thankful: Or as the French Ambassador to the United States said back around 1910: “America is the … Continue reading →

A conspiracy theory is born? JFK’s secretary clearly had ideas of her own. [Via Terry Teachout]

Ta-Nehisi Coates has been having trouble getting to grips with Raymond Chandler. His readers come to the rescue. I wouldn’t mind having that kind of help with Tolstoy. After three attempts, I still haven’t been able to get through “War … Continue reading →

Benjamin Britten’s centenary prompts some awkward questions from Martin Kettle. On An Overgrown Path (now belatedly added to my blogroll) has been pondering the issue too. [HT: London Jazz]

It’s twenty years since the rest of the world first fell in love with the voice of Cesaria Evora, — FIP has an anniversary post here. And it’s almost a year since she passed away. I still can’t believe she’s gone. … Continue reading →

Stephen Walt, co-author of “The Israel Lobby”,  has joined the online throng. The conversation is about to become much more interesting.

New York magazine talks to Tina Brown about the digital future and the doomed luxury liner known as Newsweek: Was it really losing $40 million a year? I’m not supposed to reveal the exact numbers. But I will tell you it … Continue reading →