Welcome to a Chronicle of Culture
Posted in Books, Music, Philosophy, Politics, Science on Aug 29th, 2010
I read The Sunday New York Times, so you don’t have to: Aug. 29
Still no end to these awesome Upstate New York global warming mornings. The coffee’s on, last of the stuff from some island in the Flores Sea. First music of the day: Now is the Hour, Charlie Haden Quartet West.
1, In today’s lead [...]
Posted in Books, Life During Wartime, Music, Politics, Science on Aug 15th, 2010
I read The Sunday New York Times, so you don’t have to: Aug. 15
The coffee this morning comes from an island off Sumatra. “You get a geography lesson with every cup,” said my coffee guy, Java Joe, as he filled my usual order for a pound of whatever beans he was roasting that day, and [...]
I read The Sunday New York Times, so you don’t have to: Aug. 8
I generally don’t remember my dreams; but last night, John Mellencamp came to stay at our house while he recorded his new album. He was kind of a talkative guy, and while we were sitting around the dining room table, listening to [...]
Posted in Books, Cuisine, Politics, Science, Technology on Jul 18th, 2010
I read The Sunday New York Times, so you don’t have to: July 18
It is 7 a.m., and already two beef-broth injected brisket are on the smoker. First music of the day: The Mahavishnu Orchestra’s Between Nothingness & Eternity. The coffee is Costa Rican. It is a beautiful morning on the deck.
1, Today’s lead story, [...]
Posted in Cuisine, Philosophy, Politics, Science, Sports, Travel, Visual arts on Jun 27th, 2010
I read The Sunday New York Times, so you don’t have to: June 27
I’m back to reading The Sunday Times for you, after a two-week absence that I’m blaming on barbecue and jazz. This morning, Miles Davis’ Miles in the Sky is drifting out the deck speakers, chicken thigh quarters are marinating in a Mexican [...]
Posted in Science on May 5th, 2010
Stephen Hawking is a Peeping Tom
I see where Stephen Hawking (Hailed in an April 28 post by The Critical Mass as “an astrophysicist so brilliant I can’t understand how he puts up with the rest of us”) says that time travel may be possible. I’ve known it for a decade. My garage is a time machine. I was just [...]
Posted in Books, Life During Wartime, Music, Philosophy, Politics, Science, Visual arts on May 2nd, 2010
I read The Sunday New York Times, so you don’t have to: May 2
It is a morning of scents here. A salmon, for my friend Frank’s 70th birthday later today, is in the smoker on the deck. The lilacs have peaked, the flowering crabapple tree is an explosion of white blossoms.
1, No one’s shouting “Drill, [...]
Posted in Science on Apr 28th, 2010
Planet Earth: A prime candidate for elimination
By all accounts, Stephen Hawking may be the smartest man on Earth, an astrophysicist so brilliant I can’t understand how he puts up with the rest of us. I’m sure he could read our minds, if he wanted to put up with such trivia, or just kill us with [...]
Posted in Books, Cuisine, Music, Politics, Science, Travel, Visual arts on Apr 18th, 2010
I read The Sunday New York Times, so you don’t have to
First music of the day: June Christy’s Something Cool, a 1955 record that introduced the “vocal cool” period, and one of the excellent pieces of old vinyl that I picked up during my new favorite holiday, Saturday’s Record Store Day. “I don’t ordinarily drink [...]
Posted in Books, Music, Philosophy, Politics, Science, Sports on Mar 28th, 2010
I read the Sunday New York Times, so you don’t have to: March 28
First music of the day: The Mozart opera Idomeneo. By 10 a.m., three chickens are being slowly oak-smoked on the grill. It will be a good day.
1, I’ve been waiting all week, like a kid the week leading up to Christmas Day, [...]