Monthly Archives: July 2010

Saturday Night Music Break

In keeping with my band’s first gig in months, I thought I’d pass along links to a bit of what I’ve been listening to of late. Status Quo: Pictures of Matchstick Men. Status Quo soldiered on far longer than anyone … Continue reading

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On University Spending Cuts and Collegiate Cash Cows

Professor Eva von Dassow of the U of Minnesota is my new heroine. The good people at The Educated Imagination clued me to a lovely three-minute speech Prof. von D. delivered to the U of M Board of Regents. Follow … Continue reading

Posted in Education, Politics | 1 Comment

Aging Gracefully as a Weekend Warrior

I started playing drums on borrowed gear when I was in elementary school, and got my first set of my own when I was thirteen. Almost 32 years after that, I’m still playing, in a band that basically does first-generation … Continue reading

Posted in Music, Why I Do What I Do | 5 Comments

A Brief Note About Moral Equivalence

The cover of the latest Time magazine is intensely disturbing. It is a portrait of a once-beautiful young woman named Aisha, who had the temerity to flee her abusive in-laws. The local Taliban leader had her nose and ears cut … Continue reading

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Pathfinding: Natural Libertarians and the Myth of Concern

At the American Enterprise Institute’s journal, The American, there’s a nifty article by Lee Harris on the phenomenon of what he calls “natural libertarians,” those folks who knew they couldn’t stand the idea of someone else owning them, someone else … Continue reading

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A Brief, if Non-Commercial, Plug

One of the questions I’ve kicked around in my time here is the value of humanities education these days. One of the answers I’ve run across is that the humanities are a way of opening ourselves up to other lives, … Continue reading

Posted in Culture, Education, Literature, Why I Do What I Do | 1 Comment

Burdens of Proof

The National Association of Scholars (NAS) is a group for which I have considerable sympathy, and I’m glad they’re around, although I’m not a member. However, I’m not very comfortable with a recent essay by the association’s president, Steve Balch. … Continue reading

Posted in Culture, Education, Politics | 1 Comment

How Twigs Get Bent: Northrop Frye

UPDATE: Welcome, Frygians! Thanks for dropping by! When people ask me why I’m a medievalist, I sometimes joke and say medieval studies are relatively uncontaminated by theory. Now that’s not quite true — to read is to interpret, and interpretation … Continue reading

Posted in Education, Why I Do What I Do | 3 Comments

Home Again, Home Again…

Jiggety jig. David Foster at Chicago Boyz offers an interesting take on a stock phrase — “liberal guilt.” It’s suggested that liberal whites, for example, are motivated by remorse for the past maltreatment of visible minorities. While we could debate … Continue reading

Posted in Culture, Faith, Politics | 2 Comments

Yes, I’m Still Here, and Some Suggested Reading

I made it back from my Northern safari on Monday, and followed that with a run to the ancestral lands this week, so that I could take care of some family business. I’m currently in another bookstore coffee shop, having … Continue reading

Posted in Culture, Politics | 4 Comments