December 2023
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Well, at least during this papacy. The fort is betrayed even of them that should have defended it. And therefore seeing the matter is thus begun, and so faintly resisted on our parts, I fear that we be not the men that shall see the end of the misery. Wherefore, seeing I am an old…
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Maybe even on vinyl, just for fun? However: Apparently it's out of print. Used CDs are available pretty inexpensively. Or I could buy it as an MP3. But on Discogs there are several LP copies at reasonable ($15-30) prices. Those are used copies, and the only reason I can think of for the discrepancy is…
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A couple of years ago I found myself with a strong and persistent urge to get to know Rilke's Duino Elegies, one of the landmarks of German poetry and of modern poetry in general. I suppose the impulse had been there in a mild way for many years, but I don't know of anything in particular…
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I can't find it now, but I'm almost certain that it was someone's comment here, probably Rob G's, that made me aware of Kleiber's recording of these two symphonies. I don't think it was all that long ago–five years? surely not ten?–but it was probably before I had most currently available recorded music at my…
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From the New York Times: DeSantis Says He Would Pass a Bill to ‘Supersede’ Obamacare I'm not even bothering with a link, just as I didn't bother clicking on the headline. I wouldn't have been able to read it, and in this case the headline is the story. I hope I don't have to tell…
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Douglas Murray, in his weekly poetry column at The Free Press, pays tribute to the most famous poem of Andrew Marvell, "To His Coy Mistress." (I was told long ago that his name is pronounced "marVELL," rhyming with "bell.") I should say "deservedly famous." The poem is a standard anthology piece, and until yesterday I don't…
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I guess I've heard this a dozen times or so, and it's still funny.
Light On Dark Water 