Yesterday, a Los Angeles federal jury awarded $7.4 million to the family of late, great R&B singer Marvin Gaye for copyright infringement by contemporary pop-icons Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams. The jurors determined that Thicke’s 2013 chart-topper “Blurred Lines” copied elements of Gaye’s 1977 hit “Got to Give It Up.” Although they were instructed to consider only…
Read MoreYesterday afternoon, I saw the new film Fifty Shades of Grey, based on the erotic romance novel of the same name by E.L. James. I hadn’t read the books beforehand, which I expect I would have found insufferable if the general consensus about the quality of their prose is even half-true. (Judging from the stilted,…
Read MoreJust a few months ago, in September, I somewhat unceremoniously celebrated my 8th year at the helm of this still-imperfect, though incrementally improving, work-in-progress blog. My first couple of years were an experiment, to be sure, but I found my stride here at RMWMTMBM around 2008 or so, and it’s been mostly gravy since. I’m…
Read MoreEach December since 2010, I’ve dedicated a few posts to subject-specific “Year in Review” lists. (You can view my previous years’ lists here.) In the past, these lists have customarily appraised the highs and lows of politics, music, film, literature or pop culture for whatever year was drawing to its end. That is to say,…
Read MoreHow we ought to understand the terms “civility” and “collegiality” and to what extent they can be enforced as professional norms are dominating discussions in academic journalism and the academic blogosphere right now. (So much so, in fact, that it’s practically impossible for me to select among the literally hundreds of recent articles/posts and provide…
Read MoreFair warning: there’s a LONG and semi-complicated backstory to my current obsession with today’s song selection, so I need to beg your forbearance in advance, dear readers. For fans of Memphis music, I can promise you won’t be disappointed, as this may be one of the most interesting music stories you’ve heard in a while. For the…
Read MoreOnce again, I’ll be participating in the 30 Day Song Challenge on this blog for the entire month of June. I did the Challenge for the first time in 2011 (read my picks here) and then I did it again last summer (read those picks here), though I used a different prompt-list the second time. The Challenge works…
Read MoreToday, I begin my annual Year in Review lists for 2013. (If you’re feeling nostalgic, you can check out my past lists for the 2010 Year in Review, 2011 Year in Review and 2012 Year in Review.) I make several lists every December, but almost every year, the Music list is my favorite to compose. …
Read MoreIt’s time for the next installment of my 2013 Year in Review Lists: the 2013 Year in Politics. Each December that I do this, it gets increasingly difficult to distinguish between the stories that properly belong on this list and those that fit more comfortably on the Year in Pop Culture list, which says something…
Read MorePrompted by a recent piece on newAPPS, I’m (somewhat reluctantly) forced to acknowledge the renewed attention to a not-at-all-new phenomenon in the world of Philosophy over the last couple of years, namely, the dramatic under-representation of women in our profession. Here’s what you need to know up front, assuming that some of you readers are…
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