Monthly Archives: September 2016

Yeah, It’s the Guardian…

… so I shouldn’t be surprised, but I still found myself stopping at a line from a review of Candice Millard’s account of Winston Churchill’s time in the Boer War: For Millard, Churchill (whose mother was American) is not an … Continue reading

Posted in Culture, Politics | 1 Comment

In Which the Prof Receives a Birthday Surprise

So I turned 51 sometime before I woke up today (but I prefer to think of myself as three 17-year-olds in terms of size and general maturity level), and I’ve been receiving well wishes from lots of folks via the … Continue reading

Posted in Family, Literature, Pixel-stained Wretchery, Why I Do What I Do | 2 Comments

Paging Andrew Stevens…

Mr. Stevens, would you be kind enough to give me a holler at my prof-dot-mondo-dot-blog at gmail-dot-com address? I’m interested in some Intellectual Chaos, if that remains a going concern. (And of course, anyone else who wishes to reach me at … Continue reading

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“Radio is a Sound Salvation”: Gig Report

The Berries found their way into a new venue last night, as we made our debut at Greenville’s Radio Room. We set out on our expedition to the Upstate after a 6:30 load, and reached the venue a few minutes … Continue reading

Posted in Alternating Feet, Music, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

In Which The Prof Preaches The Gospel According to Sam Spade

Having failed to learn his lesson last time, the campus pastor asked me to deliver the message at today’s weekly chapel meeting. Here’s what I said. In Arlington, VA, Dashiell Hammett is probably spinning in his grave this morning. He … Continue reading

Posted in Culture, Education, Faith, Literature | 2 Comments

How’s That for Relevant?

In today’s Seven Deadlies session, we were talking about the sin of Pride and its near relative, Vainglory. As part of this, we read a chunk of Prudentius, and a couple of questions from Aquinas’s Summa Theologica. During the discussion of Vainglory, … Continue reading

Posted in Culture, Education, Faith, Literature, Medievalia, Why I Do What I Do | Leave a comment

Birthday Wishes and Other Saturday Potpourri

Yesterday marked a couple of anniversaries that I find personally rewarding. In 1988, Tom Browning pitched the only perfect game in the history of my beloved Cincinnati Reds: I remember that, however, because it was also the Mad Dog’s birthday, … Continue reading

Posted in Alternating Feet, Culture, Family, Music | 2 Comments

In Which the Truth Is Confirmed

Yeah, I’m a dork. I mean, I know this — I tell my students that a professor is simply a geek who has given up his or her amateur standing. Nonetheless, I occasionally give myself reminders that flood me with … Continue reading

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

Movin’ On Up

Well, maybe not to a dee-luxe apartment in the sky, but the annual rankings from US News and World Report are out, and Mondoville has made a dramatic — even startling — upward move in the rankings. We’re now the 16th-ranked … Continue reading

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Pre-Game Potpourri

I’ll be going to my first home game of the Mondoville football season in a few hours, but in the meantime, here are some of the usual odds and ends for a Saturday. *** Observed a Mondoville tradition for the … Continue reading

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