Category Archives: arts

When he was good

Posted on February 8, 2012 by oddmanout215

From Rod Stewart’s first solo album (1969), released not long after he broke with the great guitarist Jeff Beck. This was before Stewart stopped singing songs about working-class misfits and turned into a Hollywood poof (“Do Ya Think I’m Sexy”). … Continue reading →

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Naomi Wolf’s Madonna crush

Posted on February 8, 2012 by oddmanout215

Madonna is “that forbidden thing, the Nietzschean creative woman.” I didn’t know this until I read journalist Naomi Wolf’s complaint about reporters who diss the Material Girl whenever she “steps out of her pretty-girl-pop-music bandwidth” to make a movie or … Continue reading →

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Hope you don’t find no shadow…

Posted on February 2, 2012 by oddmanout215

Groundhog people with your groundhog ways I see you in the sun but you fly when the shadows get long This is an alternate version of the song that appeared on Clear, the third Spirit album (1969).

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Newt promises the moon

Posted on January 28, 2012 by oddmanout215

Newt Gingrich was in Florida the other day, speaking of plans to build a colony on the moon. This is funny, but cruel. Florida’s economy collapsed when the housing bubble burst. There will be no more housing booms in Florida, … Continue reading →

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A life-affirming little theft

Posted on January 27, 2012 by oddmanout215

Call Jennifer Egan’s A Visit From the Goon Squad a collection of interrelated short stories. Or call it a novel, if you like. The book has won several prestigious awards, so Egan might not care what you call it. She … Continue reading →

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A masterpiece, exclusively for you

Posted on January 24, 2012 by oddmanout215

I like Betsy Lerner’s blog, about the craft and business of writing. Here’s her response to someone who asked how long a writer should wait for a response from an agent to whom the writer has offered an “exclusive submission”: … Continue reading →

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From Bryan Ferry’s ‘Dylanesque’

Posted on January 18, 2012 by oddmanout215

The line it is drawn/The curse it is cast/The slow one now/Will later be fast/As the present now/Will later be past/The order is rapidly fadin’/And the first one now will later be last/For the times they are a-changin… Dylan recorded … Continue reading →

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‘What’s the Use of Getting Sober…’

Posted on January 14, 2012 by oddmanout215

This one’s almost as good as “Five Guys Named Moe.” Albert Murray, from his book Stomping the Blues: The element of frolicsome mockery in [Jordan’s] verbal delivery is as obvious as the downhome earthiness represented by the instrumental accompaniment. Incidentally, … Continue reading →

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‘Five Years’

Posted on January 12, 2012 by oddmanout215

This I’m posting in connection with the scary news item from the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. The nuclear weapons situation last year looked so grim — everybody has them! — that the scientists reset the Doomsday Clock a minute closer … Continue reading →

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Terrence Malick’s dream of life

Posted on January 10, 2012 by oddmanout215

I’ve been writing too often about politicians — dull creatures, in most cases, with bad ideas and base motives. So here’s a belated review of my favorite movie of 2011, director/writer Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life. I only saw … Continue reading →

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