There are times when something just flat-out resonates -- not "just" resonates, but hits you smack dab between the eyes. On three occasions during the past month or so, I’ve been gobsmacked with music. Two of these “gobsmackings” came from random selections from Austin FM stations; the other from a Bob Dylan CD. But more…
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Belated comments regarding VE Day 2020
VE Day just passed, and it’s been seventy-five years since very early morning on May 7, 1945 when General Alfred Jodl, representing the German government, surrendered formally at the Allies HQ in Reims, France. A separate treaty was signed with the Soviet Union in Berlin the next day. The war continued for a few bloody…
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An Article in The New Yorker
For over ten years, I’ve subscribed to The New Yorker. In our book club, a group of men mostly in my age group, an impressive and eclectic group (of which I’m still a newbie after sixteen years of active participation), I still feel like a person who is not all that well-read. At any rate,…
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A Night on the Town with Janis Joplin
My wife and I moved to Austin in the summer of 1984. It was hot then, no surprise; it’s even hotter now. Maybe it just didn’t bother then us as much, I don’t know. I do know the winters then were much colder. That first winter we had three significant snowfalls, including one of thirteen…
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