“Artists from different disciplines have long been inspired by one another’s works, often with remarkable results. But both words and music suffer in Lee Hyla’s ‘Howl,’ a string quartet written in 1993 to accompany Allen Ginsberg’s 1956 poem of that name. “A performance on Friday at Zankel Hall by the stellar Brentano String Quartet made me [...]
Archive for March 12th, 2009
Allen Ginsberg’s “HOWL” Is No Sweet Music
Posted in Classical Music, Literature, Poets & Poetry, Writers & Writing on March 12, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
1st Annual “Dubai International Poetry Festival” Opens
Posted in Books, International Affairs, Literature, Middle East, Poets & Poetry, Writers & Writing on March 12, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
“The words of the late Palestinian poet and author Mahmoud Darwish echoed in a packed hall yesterday at the launch of the first annual Dubai International Poetry Festival. “The festival was inaugurated by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, in the presence of more than 100 regional and [...]
Today’s Sign of the Apocalypse: Chuck Norris Mulls Run for “President of Texas”
Posted in American West, Politics, Popular Culture, Sign of the Apocalypse on March 12, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
“On Glenn Beck’s radio show last week, I quipped in response to our wayward federal government, ‘I may run for president of Texas.’ “That need may be a reality sooner than we think. If not me, someone someday may again be running for president of the Lone Star state, if the state of the union continues to [...]
Munch-en Germany: “Obama-Fingers” Fried Chicken
Posted in Europe, Food & Wine, Obama, Race on March 12, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
“Sprehe, a company that has all manner of frozen delicacies on offer, has come up with a new product it calls ‘Obama Fingers.’ Far from being real digits, though, the ‘fingers’ in question are ‘tender, juicy pieces of chicken breast, coated and fried,’ as the product packaging claims. . . . “‘We noticed that American [...]
Happy Birthday “Ti Jean”: Remembering Jack Kerouac
Posted in Birthdays, Blues & Jazz, Books, Literature, New England, Obituaries, Poets & Poetry, Popular Culture, Writers & Writing on March 12, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Jack Kerouac, author of “On the Road” and progenitor of the Beat Generation as well as subsequent generations of literary dreamers, was born on this date in 1922 in Lowell, Massachusetts. He died in 1969 at age 47. Gilbert Millstein’s 1957 New York Times review of “On the Road,” which Dwight Garner called “probably the most [...]
