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- 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
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- “Some syllables are swords.” — Metaphysical poet Henry Vaughan
- “To me, music is no joke and it’s not for sale.” — Ian MacKaye
- “All I need to make a comedy is a park, a policeman and a pretty girl.” — Charlie Chaplin
- “As a cinematographer, I was always attracted to stories that have the potential to be told with as few words as possible.” — Reed Morano
- “Even though I’m writing about very dark material, it still feels like an escape hatch.” — Olivia Laing
- “It’s just one of the mysteries of filmmaking that sometimes you do something that you don’t even think it’s important, then it turns out to be.” — Lili Horvát
- “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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- Bryce on The Books: “Nine Stories”- ‘The Laughing Man’ (J.D. Salinger)
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Tag Archives: Central Asia
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
The Boat Cemetery in Central Asia
Ryszard Kapucinski in his book Imperium writes: Central Asia is deserts and more deserts, fields of brown weathered stones, the heat from the sun above, sandstorms. But the world of the Syr Darya and the Amu Darya is different. Arable … Continue reading
Posted in Miscellania
Tagged Central Asia, Imperium, Ryszard Kapuściński, Stalin, Uzbekistan
35 Comments
Tribeca Film Festival: Between Heaven and Earth
Wrapping things up now … Another review: Between Heaven and Earth
The Books: “The Lost Heart of Asia” (Colin Thubron)
Next on my history.travel bookshelf. Next book on the shelf is the second in the “Russian trilogy” – and it’s called The Lost Heart of Asia, by Colin Thubron. I love this book. Please read it. Thank you. It’s my … Continue reading
Posted in Books
Tagged Central Asia, Colin Thubron, nonfiction, Russia, Stalin, travel, Uzbekistan, war
1 Comment
The Books: “The Ends of the Earth : From Togo to Turkmenistan, from Iran to Cambodia, a Journey to the Frontiers of Anarchy ” (Robert Kaplan)
My history bookshelf. Onward. Next book on this shelf is called The Ends of the Earth: From Togo to Turkmenistan, from Iran to Cambodia, a Journey to the Frontiers of Anarchy by Robert Kaplan. This might be my favorite of … Continue reading
Lip Synching is Now Illegal in Turkmenistan
… Mr. Niayzov, sometimes I like to dance around my room and lip synch to Kelly Clarkson. Is that … illegal now? Say it ain’t so!! I know it’s not really funny, because … the people who live in Turkmenistan … Continue reading
I know I have succeeded in my mission here …
… when an inordinate number of people get to my site by Googling “Kara Kum Desert”.
Ulugh Beg Tutorial
I’m no expert, but Ulugh Beg came up here yesterday. Please dont’ ask how. Ulugh Beg was an astronomer and mathematician, grandson of warrior Tamerlane. Ulugh Beg lived in what is now Uzbekistan in the 15th century. Here’s what I … Continue reading
Boston in Central Asia
There are 5 Red Sox fans living in Tashkent, Uzbekistan…
Elegy for the Aral Sea
This is news? Anyone who knows anything about environmental disasters knows about the drying up of Aral Sea and has known for a long time. Quote from the article: “You may say that the Aral Sea has already disappeared,” said … Continue reading