I’m not yet finished editing the “American Values” video, some of the images of which are in this collage on your left, but I wanted to share a bit about the making-of the project, which is turning into one of the most serendipitously rewarding things I’ve stumbled into in quite some time. I’ll start at…
Read MoreI’m soliciting your help, readers, with a video project I’m putting together focusing on “American Values.” Think of it as a cross between the old NPR program “This I Believe,” a Pew Research Poll, a snapshot of American diversity a la Flickr, and something like your senior thesis. I want to know what you– all…
Read MoreThe picture to the left is of a former student and advisee of mine, Kyle Ference (author of the Refudiating Through Life blog). During his time at Rhodes, Kyle was in many ways the very ideal of a liberal arts student. He was smart and hardworking, affable and well-liked, committed to socially-conscious extracurricular activities, a…
Read MoreI basically took the month off from this blog in January, so I hope I haven’t lost too many of you. Making the transition from sabbatical life back to full-time teaching was more formidable than I had anticipated, and before I knew it, this blog had lapsed a lot. My apologies for that. For whomever…
Read MoreThis week’s Memphis Flyer apparently has a story about my Why I Chose Memphis series on this blog. I say “apparently” because I am currently in Omaha, NE, at an artists-and-philosophers “Think Tank,” so I haven’t seen the piece myself yet. Someone sent me this link to the Flyer piece, though. So, if you came…
Read MoreLet me just be clear at the outset: the following list is not meant to represent the best of 2010’s music in any kind of remotely “objective” sense. This is my list. It represents my year in music. My musical tastes tend toward the rootsy, the groovy and the nostalgic. I prefer simple, but well-constructed,…
Read MoreRight out of the gate, 2010 looked to be a very promising pop culture year. Back in January, at one of the early American Idol auditions, we were introduced to aspiring contestant General Larry Platt, who regaled the judges with his seemingly-improvised yet totally-infectious original composition “Pants on the Ground.” Before America’s favorite non-plussed judge…
Read MoreThere are still a few weeks left in 2010– and who knows what else may happen… or, ahem, be “leaked”?– so in advance of posting my comprehensive “Year In Review” list, I thought I’d do a few specialized lists. Since the last few weeks of the year are mostly holding-pattern time in sports, it’s the…
Read More
Recent Comments