Jim Ferguson sings "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning," accompanying himself on bass: (This is the latest in a series of arts- and history-related videos that appear in this space each …
Love is so short, forgetting is so long. Pablo Neruda, "Poem 20" (trans. W.S. Merwin) Continue reading Almanac: Pablo Neruda on love at About Last Night.
From 2005: I expect a lot out of the books I read, and when they fail to deliver the goods, I toss them aside with a clear conscience and no second thoughts. Life is so very short"and so oft…
"Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man's sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as …
Isaac Stern and Alexander Zakin perform Wieniawski's D Major Polonaise on a 1955 episode of The Jack Benny Program: (This is the latest in a series of arts- and history-related videos th…
Now hatred is by far the longest pleasure; Men love in haste, but they detest at leisure. Lord Byron, Don Juan Continue reading Almanac: Lord Byron on hatred at About Last Night.
In today's Wall Street Journal I review a webcast of the 2009 PBS "Great Performances" made-for-TV film of Rupert Goold's modern-dress Macbeth, starring Patrick Stewart. Here's an excerpt. *…
A new episode of Three on the Aisle, the podcast in which Peter Marks, Elisabeth Vincentelli, and I talk about theater in America, is now available on line for listening or downloading…
Bob Crosby and His Bobcats play "Complainin'," a composition by Jess Stacy, in a 1951 film clip. The band includes Stacy on piano, Matty Matlock on clarinet, Billy Butterfield on trumpet, Ed…
"Remember, it's never too late to social climb"but better earlier, I have found." Whit Stillman, Twitter (September 25, 2020) Continue reading Almanac: Whit Stillman on social climbing at Ab…
Hilary Teachout, my partner and life's companion, died six months ago today, having undergone a long-awaited double lung transplant that failed. I went straight from her deathbed back into l…
"The human heart dares not stay away too long from that which hurt it most. There is a return journey to anguish that few of us are released from making." Lillian Smith, Killers of the Dr…
Milton Berle is the guest on an episode of This Is Your Life, hosted by Ralph Edwards and originally telecast live by NBC on June 6, 1956: (This is the latest in a series of arts- and hi…
"In nine cases out of ten, a woman had better show more affection than she feels." Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice Continue reading Almanac: Jane Austen on feigning affection at About…
From 2004: Speed reading, if that's what I do, comes naturally to me: I've never taken a course in it. I think I'm glad I read so quickly, but it's like spelling really well or having …
"The power of the Latin classic is in character, that of the Greek is in beauty. Now character is capable of being taught, learnt, and assimilated: beauty hardly." Matthew Arnold, S…
Connee Boswell sings "Basin Street Blues," "Nobody's Sweetheart," and "Rockin' Chair" (with Woody Herman) on a 1950 episode of The Ed Sullivan Show: (This is the latest in a series of ar…
"Only mediocrity can be trusted to be always at its best. Genius must always have lapses proportionate to its triumphs." Max Beerbohm, "Dan Leno,"Â Saturday Review (November. 5, 1904) Cont…
"The demagogue is one who preaches doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots. The demaslave is one who listens to what these idiots have to say and pretends to believe …
In today's Wall Street Journal I review an Irish Repertory Theatre webcast of Geraldine Hughes' Belfast Blues. Here's an excerpt. *Â Â *Â Â * Geraldine Hughes gave a great performanc…
"Like all very wealthy women, Alice had strange cold pockets of miserliness." Richard Stark, Flashfire Continue reading Almanac: Richard Stark on the cheapness of the rich at About Last N…
In today's Wall Street Journal "Sightings" column, I write about the disastrous decision of a small museum in upstate New York to sell its only important painting"and what it means for th…
Buddy Rich and his big band perform a medley from West Side Story arranged by Bill Reddie on TV in 1969:Â (This is the latest in a series of arts- and history-related videos that appear …
"When technology makes it perfect, art loses." Brian Eno (quoted in Wired, January 1999) Continue reading Almanac: Brian Eno on technology at About Last Night.
From 2010: "No doubt the day is almost here when it will be possible for people like me to download the Complete Performances of Everybody to our computers…except that I'm no longer that k…