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- “To me, music is no joke and it’s not for sale.” — Ian MacKaye
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- “Ballet taught me to stay close to style and tone. Literature taught me to be concerned about the moral life.” — Joan Acocella
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Category Archives: Founding Fathers
“Our prevailing passions are ambition and interest. Wise government should avail itself of those passions, to make them subservient to the public good.” — Alexander Hamilton
It’s Alexander Hamilton’s birthday … or thereabouts. The year is in question (he often lied about his age), but January 11 is generally agreed-upon as the day he came into this fallen world. “Give all power to the many, they … Continue reading
Posted in Founding Fathers, On This Day
Tagged Aaron Burr, Alexander Hamilton, Federalist Papers, politics, war
20 Comments
NYFCC: Best Non-Fiction Film: My Undesirable Friends: Part I — Last Air in Moscow
This year, the NYFCC awarded Julia Loktev’s five-and-a-half-hour documentary My Undesirable Friends: Part I — Last Air in Moscow Best Documentary. There were many good docs this year, it was a very strong year, but this one was undeniable. For … Continue reading
Posted in Founding Fathers, Movies
Tagged Benjamin Franklin, documentary, Russia, Ukraine, women directors
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Happy Birthday, Library of Congress
As the daughter of a librarian, I had to write a post in tribute. This post is for my dad. On this day, in 1800, President John Adams approved legislation that appropriated $5,900 to purchase the books that would create … Continue reading
“Would not these pointed Rods probably draw the Electrical Fire silently out of a Cloud before it came nigh enough to strike, and thereby secure us from that most sudden and terrible Mischief!” — Benjamin Franklin
A re-post for Benjamin Franklin’s birthday, born in Massachusetts on this day in 1706. My grandmother had a big illustrated copy of Poor Richard’s Almanac, which I had practically memorized by the time I was 6 years old. The illustrations … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Founding Fathers, On This Day
Tagged Arguably, Benjamin Franklin, Christopher Hitchens, essays, politics, war
6 Comments
On This Day: December 16, 1773: “This Destruction of the Tea is so bold, so daring, so firm, intrepid, and inflexible, and it must have important Consequences, and so lasting, that I can’t but consider it as an Epocha in History.” – John Adams
On November 28, 1773, the Dartmouth sailed into Boston’s port. The ship was full of tea. There had already been trouble in Philadelphia when the ship had tried to unload its cargo. A ship had been blown away from the … Continue reading
Posted in Founding Fathers, On This Day
Tagged Alexander Hamilton, Boston Tea Party, Catherine Drinker-Bowen, John Adams, politics, Samuel Adams, war
6 Comments
On the cliffs of Weehawken with Alexander Hamilton: my old stompin’ grounds
Stopped by to visit an old friend today. I used to live within walking distance of this spot and spent so much time on these cliffs, running, taking long walks, filled with all kinds of moods – jubilant, grieving, restless, … Continue reading
Things that got me through 2020. In no particular order.
Elvis mask, made for me by Jill Blake who was like “I just happened to have this Elvis 68 Comeback Special fabric lying around … do you want a mask?” Do you have to ask? There were so many great … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Books, Directors, Founding Fathers, Movies, Music, Personal, Television, Theatre
Tagged Alexander Hamilton, Dolly Parton, Elvis Presley, Eminem, family, friends, George Orwell, H.D., Hannah Arendt, Hope, Jackass, Jean Arthur, John Garfield, John Sturges, Johnny Flynn, Lucille Ball, Marcel Proust, Martha Coolidge, Nick Tosches, poetry, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Steve McQueen, Supernatural, Twin Peaks, women directors, X-Files
30 Comments
Recommended: Biographies
For starters: My recommended Fiction books My recommended Non-Fiction books BIOGRAPHIES: American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson, by Joseph Ellis I’ve written a lot about Joseph Ellis’ work here. While I love David McCullough’s work so much, Ellis is … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Books, Directors, Founding Fathers, James Joyce, Theatre, writers
Tagged A. Scott Berg, Abigail Adams, Alexander Hamilton, American Sphinx, Benjamin Franklin, Biography, Bruce Springsteen, Charles Lindbergh, Charlotte Bronte, David McCullough, Dean Martin, Edie Sedgwick, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Ellen Terry, Elvis Presley, Emily Bronte, George Washington, Henry Irving, His Excellency, Howard Hawks, Howard Hughes, James Dean, Jerry Lee Lewis, John Adams, John Wayne, Joseph Cornell, Joseph Ellis, Marlon Brando, Mitford sisters, Montgomery Clift, Nick Tosches, Nureyev, Orson Welles, Oscar Wilde, Patricia Bosworth, Patricia Highsmith, Richard Ellmann, Ron Chernow, Sam Cooke, Simon Callow, Tennessee Williams, Thomas Jefferson, Truman Capote, W.B. Yeats, Zelda Fitzgerald
9 Comments
Recommended Books: Non-Fiction
I have been meaning to do a Part 2 to my Recommended Books: Fiction list – put together years ago. I wanted to recommend non-fiction, from history books to biographies to essays to whatever. Here is the Non-Fiction list. I’ve … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Founding Fathers, Theatre
Tagged Abraham Lincoln, Afghanistan, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Alexander Hamilton, Austria, Balkan Ghosts, Balkans, baseball, Belfast, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, Catherine Drinker-Bowen, Central Asia, China, Crowds and Power, Dava Sobel, David McCullough, Edmund Burke, Edvard Radzinsky, Elias Canetti, Elvis Presley, England, Federalist Papers, Founding Brothers, France, Germany, Group Theatre, Gulag Archipelago, Hitler, Hunter S. Thompson, Imperium, Ireland, Iris Chang, Isaac Newton, James Madison, Janet Malcolm, Japan, Joseph Ellis, Michael Schmidt, Miracle at Philadelphia, nonfiction, Olivia Laing, Philip Gourevitch, poetry, Primo Levi, Rasputin, Rebecca West, Red Sox, Robert Conquest, Robert Kaplan, Roman empire, Russia, Rwanda, Ryszard Kapuściński, science, Serbia, Stalin, The Great Terror, The Soccer War, Tom Wolfe, true crime, Ukraine, Vincent Bugliosi, William Shakespeare, WWI, WWII, Yugoslavia
19 Comments
Happy birthday, Abigail Adams
I grew up in a house where stories of the American Revolution were all around us. A living history. I grew up in a town where Washington actually slept. My family hails from Boston. I have cousins in Quincy. We’d … Continue reading
Posted in Founding Fathers, On This Day
Tagged Abigail Adams, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson
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