Levon Helm, drummer and singer for The Band, died on Thursday in Manhattan. He was 71. The only live performances of his that I have witnessed were on film, or rather, in one movie, The Last Waltz. And in particular, there was one that stood out, whose memories have endured, clearly, distinctly, across the many,Continue reading “RIP Levon Helm, Thanks For The Memories”
Monthly Archives: April 2012
Anders Behring Breivik: An Argument Against The Death Penalty
Anders Behring Breivik has complicated matters for us. Most killers like him are not brought to justice; they kill themselves or are killed in the fracas following their murders. They do not create the opportunities that Breivik has created for us to think about appropriate punishments for those accused of heinous crimes. Breivik is nowContinue reading “Anders Behring Breivik: An Argument Against The Death Penalty”
Ann Patchett is Wrong About the Pulitzers
Ann Patchett has an Op-Ed in today’s New York Times, which waxes angsty over the failure of the Pulitzer committee to award a prize in fiction this year: This decision, besides affecting book sales, might lead readers to think there wasn’t any good fiction around. For as Patchett puts it, the Pulitzers are indispensable inContinue reading “Ann Patchett is Wrong About the Pulitzers”
Six Years of Walking To Work
This past weekend, I completed six years of walking to work. My daily commute is a thirty-minute walk, give or take a few minutes depending on whether I’m trying to get to class on time, or perhaps lugging a slightly heavier backpack than usual. Somehow, miraculously, my walking commute has ensured that while living inContinue reading “Six Years of Walking To Work”
David Simon is a Little Too Proprietary About The Wire
David Simon has made some waves recently in a series of interviews regarding the Wire (here; here; and here), viewer’s relationships to it (and its characters). I’m not going to repeat or reproduce Simon’s remarks here; please do chase down the links. But in a nutshell: Simon (was) is unhappy about the ‘pop’ understanding ofContinue reading “David Simon is a Little Too Proprietary About The Wire”
Record Albums, Artwork, and Physical Immediacy
At the corner of 7th Avenue and Flatbush in Brooklyn, a sidewalk entrepreneur has set up a vinyl LP sale. This has gone on for a few weeks now (and possibly longer). There’s a pretty wide selection on display, ranging from Johnny Mathis to Lil Wayne. I’ve never bothered to inquire about prices; I don’tContinue reading “Record Albums, Artwork, and Physical Immediacy”
‘A Ramble of Banalities’: Hitler’s Table-Talk
In his review of Heike B. Görtemaker’s biography of Eva Braun (Eva Braun: Life with Hitler, Knopf, translated by Damion Searls, reviewed in The New York Review of Books, April 26 2012, Vol LIX, Number 7), Anthony Beevor notes: Hitler’s “table-talk,” a ramble of banalities and crassly sweeping judgments on history and art, recorded asContinue reading “‘A Ramble of Banalities’: Hitler’s Table-Talk”
The Sneaker Pimps as Accompaniment for the Morning Newspaper
I’ve written before on this blog about the ability of music to recall specific memories: working as a bartender in a jazz bar, or suffering through a hot Brooklyn summer while working on a book. Today’s recalled memories are about a simpler time that might have felt hectic then but feels positively bucolic compared toContinue reading “The Sneaker Pimps as Accompaniment for the Morning Newspaper”
Ozzie Guillen, the First Amendment in the Workplace, and Bromance
The Florida Marlins’ suspension of its manager Ozzie Guillen for his ‘pro-Castro’ remarks provides yet another teachable moment about the First Amendment and its relationship to the workplace. (Guillen has been suspended for five games.) Guillen’s original remarks read: I love Fidel Castro. I respect Fidel Castro. You know why? A lot of people haveContinue reading “Ozzie Guillen, the First Amendment in the Workplace, and Bromance”
Game Not On: Santorum Exit Left
Rick Santorum is not our man any more; the Republican candidate tree has been pruned, and suddenly, we are left with Mitt Romney (and, I believe, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul). Now is the time for Rick to swallow the bile, and get on with the business of beating the Anti-Christ, er, Barack Obama, inContinue reading “Game Not On: Santorum Exit Left”
Samir Chopra 