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Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Summertime with Van



Holy Magnet
Give you attraction
Yea, I was attracted to you.
Your coat was old, ragged and worn
And you wore it down through the ages
Ah, the sufferin' did show in your eyes as we spoke
And the gospel music
The voice of Mahalia Jackson came through the ether
Oh my common one with the coat so old
And the light in the head
And the sufferin' so fine
Take a walk with me
Down by Avalon

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Don't Stop Believin'

Here's my take on the final episode of The Sopranos.

At first, I didn't like it, but the next day I did and think it will hold up over time as a proper ending, or non-ending.

I felt the opposite of the Six Feet Under finale which did a flash forward that showed what happened to every character. I liked it while I was watching it, but now I think it's trite.

Art shouldn't quench curiosity and wonder so neatly.

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Sunday, June 10, 2007

Born Under a Bad Sign

The final episode of The Sopranos airs in an hour so as I write. I'll miss it, but it's also nice to know the end of such a great work of art is coming. That way you can prepare for it, hopefully better than Tony has prepared for what I suspect might happen tonight.

There has been an insane amount of writing about the series over the last few weeks, but here are my three favorite recent pieces:

In "Yeats meets The Sopranos," Slate's Meghan O'Rourke talks about the use poetic and visual symbolism in the show.

Peggy Noonan's WSJ piece on Friday outlined why she thinks the show is a "masterpiece," but she asks what motivates show creator David Chase.

I unwittingly answered that for her in my Baltimore Examiner piece that also ran Friday morning.

Cross-posted at PoliticalMavens.com

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Thursday, June 07, 2007

Bob Dylan - Shelter from the Storm - 1976

I was burned out from exhaustion, buried in the hail,

Poisoned in the bushes an' blown out on the trail,

Hunted like a crocodile, ravaged in the corn.

"Come in," she said,

"I'll give you shelter from the storm."

Algore, philosopher

I've always had the feeling that Al Gore is talking down to people, an impression that gets stronger every time I hear him talk.

He is clearly enjoying the adoration without intellectual accountability  given him by the media and everyone who hates Bush.

But he really is profoundly ridiculous when you look at not just what he says, but how he says it and how he deals with diverse viewpoints.

Here's a little bit of what I mean.

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