In which a group of graying eternal amateurs discuss their passions, interests and obsessions, among them: movies, art, politics, evolutionary biology, taxes, writing, computers, these kids these days, and lousy educations.

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Demographer, recovering sociologist, and arts buff

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  1. Two or Three Things I Learned About Impressionism, Part VI
  2. Another Web Crawl
  3. The Proper Use of a Cineplex
  4. Doing What You Love for a Living Redux
  5. Free Reads -- Theodore Dalrymple
  6. Another Web Crawl
  7. Tell, Don't Show
  8. Oil Painting and Sex
  9. Humbled Again
  10. Nature v. Nurture


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Friday, February 28, 2003


Two or Three Things I Learned About Impressionism, Part VI
Michael: This is the next installment in my attempt to reconstruct what Impressionism meant to its creators and its contemporaries.... posted by Friedrich at February 28, 2003 | perma-link | (3) comments




Another Web Crawl
Friedrich -- * If you didn't happen to catch the mention of this in the NYTimes (and, boy, don't I... posted by Michael at February 28, 2003 | perma-link | (0) comments





Thursday, February 27, 2003


The Proper Use of a Cineplex
Michael: I think I’ve finally figured out the proper way to use a multiplex: for movie surfing. (Okay, so I’m... posted by Friedrich at February 27, 2003 | perma-link | (6) comments





Wednesday, February 26, 2003


Doing What You Love for a Living Redux
Friedrich -- As you know, one of the issues I return to over and over again (apologies for the monotony... posted by Michael at February 26, 2003 | perma-link | (1) comments




Free Reads -- Theodore Dalrymple
Friedrich Another brilliantly grumpy piece by the British prison-doctor/essayist Theodore Dalrymple, here. His theme this time is youth crime and... posted by Michael at February 26, 2003 | perma-link | (7) comments




Another Web Crawl
Friedrich -- *Aaron Haspel (here) threatens that his latest "How to Read a Poem" posting will be the last in... posted by Michael at February 26, 2003 | perma-link | (0) comments




Tell, Don't Show
Friedrich -- I recently finished Paul Johson's magnificent History of the English People (out of print, but Amazon will do... posted by Michael at February 26, 2003 | perma-link | (7) comments




Oil Painting and Sex
Michael: I hear you're doing some oil painting. A bit daunting, isn't it, with paints and medium and turpentine and... posted by Friedrich at February 26, 2003 | perma-link | (5) comments





Tuesday, February 25, 2003


Humbled Again
Friedrich -- The Wife and I were out at dinner the other night with a woman friend. We talked of... posted by Michael at February 25, 2003 | perma-link | (4) comments




Nature v. Nurture
Michael: A few years ago I bought a book entitled “Beyond Left and Right.” I thought at the time that... posted by Friedrich at February 25, 2003 | perma-link | (6) comments




Free Reads -- Political Test
Friedrich -- Another online "what are your politics" test, here, but more thoughtful and nuanced than most such, or so... posted by Michael at February 25, 2003 | perma-link | (36) comments





Monday, February 24, 2003


New Magazines
Friedrich -- Do you follow the style magazines? I don't mean the fashion magazines, I mean the style magazines. I... posted by Michael at February 24, 2003 | perma-link | (7) comments




A Feathered T. Rex--Image Evolution
Michael: According to a story in Scientific American, the evolution of feathers seems to have occurred not in "birds" or... posted by Friedrich at February 24, 2003 | perma-link | (2) comments




Affirmative Action: An Education for Us All
Michael: Bob Herbert in the New York Times of February 24 spells out the logic behind affirmative action in an... posted by Friedrich at February 24, 2003 | perma-link | (8) comments




Free Reads -- Corby Kummer on Slow Food
Friedrich -- As long as I'm crashing around The Atlantic's site... Here's a good long q&a with The Atlantic's tiptop... posted by Michael at February 24, 2003 | perma-link | (7) comments




Free Reads -- Jonathan Rauch
Friedrich -- In this month's Atlantic, Jonathan Rauch writes humorously about introverts (he admits that he's one) and extroverts. Sample... posted by Michael at February 24, 2003 | perma-link | (9) comments





Sunday, February 23, 2003


Showbiz People -- Mariel Hemingway
Friedrich -- The Wife is enjoying tut-tutting her way through Mariel Hemingway's recent memoir (buyable here). Boring and bad is... posted by Michael at February 23, 2003 | perma-link | (0) comments





Saturday, February 22, 2003


A Confession
Friedrich -- I own hundreds of books I will almost certainly never get around to reading. Before I die, I... posted by Michael at February 22, 2003 | perma-link | (11) comments




Another Web Crawl
Friedrich -- I don't know if you kill quite as much time in front of the computer as I do.... posted by Michael at February 22, 2003 | perma-link | (0) comments





Friday, February 21, 2003


Two or Three Things I Learned About Impressionism, Part V
Michael: Here’s yet another installment in my (ongoing) attempt to reconstruct what Impressionism meant to its creators and its contemporaries.... posted by Friedrich at February 21, 2003 | perma-link | (2) comments





Thursday, February 20, 2003


Bulletins from the Sickbed
Friedrich -- I'm home with the flu, and am feeling even more scatterbrained and stupid than usual. Hey, why fight... posted by Michael at February 20, 2003 | perma-link | (3) comments





Wednesday, February 19, 2003


Web Crawl
Friedrich -- A few of the goodies I've stumbled across in recent days... Daniel Libeskind's proposal for the WTC site... posted by Michael at February 19, 2003 | perma-link | (4) comments




Free Reads -- Wendy Kohn on Christopher Alexander
Friedrich -- The subject matter of Christopher Alexander's 1977 A Pattern Language (here) and its followup The Timeless Way of... posted by Michael at February 19, 2003 | perma-link | (12) comments




Politics and Relationships
Michael: I have decided to steal your excellent idea and write about the topic of politics and relationships (hey, you... posted by Friedrich at February 19, 2003 | perma-link | (3) comments





Tuesday, February 18, 2003


Free Reads -- Chris Bertram
Friedrich -- Do you have a strong opinion about whether or not the US should take Saddam out? I don't... posted by Michael at February 18, 2003 | perma-link | (9) comments




Policy Break--Told You So
Michael: An editorial in the New York Times of February 18 opines that The most hawkish figures in the Bush... posted by Friedrich at February 18, 2003 | perma-link | (1) comments





Monday, February 17, 2003


Safe Bets -- Hard Core?
Friedrich -- I don't know why it's taken me this long to develop this hunch, but in any case I've... posted by Michael at February 17, 2003 | perma-link | (7) comments




Fear and Memory
Michael: I thought you might be interested in an article in the March edition of Discover magazine, entitled “Can the... posted by Friedrich at February 17, 2003 | perma-link | (2) comments




Movie Update
Friedrich -- For no good reason at all, I found myself rushing around town checking in on arty French movies,... posted by Michael at February 17, 2003 | perma-link | (7) comments





Sunday, February 16, 2003


Free Views -- Virtual Fireworks
Friedrich -- An instant mood elevator: Virtual fireworks! I find the colored haze and smoke they leave behind especially beautiful,... posted by Michael at February 16, 2003 | perma-link | (2) comments




Free Reads -- Gay Oscar
Friedrich -- Thinking about the topic of gays and movies, I recall that Andrew Sullivan has posted a note from... posted by Michael at February 16, 2003 | perma-link | (0) comments





Thursday, February 13, 2003


Free Reads -- Bruce LaBruce
Friedrich -- Do you have much of a taste for campy gay carrying-on? As a spectator, I mean. I do,... posted by Michael at February 13, 2003 | perma-link | (1) comments




Dept. of Overgeneralizations -- More Women and Food
Friedrich -- Many postings ago (here), in the midst of wondering out loud about women and their relationship to baked... posted by Michael at February 13, 2003 | perma-link | (20) comments





Wednesday, February 12, 2003


Free Reads -- Lynn Sislo and more
Friedrich -- Good stuff from all over. Too much! But in the most wonderful kind of way. Lynn Sislo has... posted by Michael at February 12, 2003 | perma-link | (4) comments




Two or Three Things I Learned About Impressionism, Part IV
Michael: Sorry for the delay, but here’s the next installment in my (ongoing) attempt to reconstruct what Impressionism meant to... posted by Friedrich at February 12, 2003 | perma-link | (2) comments





Tuesday, February 11, 2003


Free Reads--Wiggle Room
Michael: The indispensable Polly Frost at her website “Velvet Crypt” put me on to a website you should check out,... posted by Friedrich at February 11, 2003 | perma-link | (3) comments





Monday, February 10, 2003


Free Views -- Business Card Art
Friedrich -- A charmer: Hugh Macleod's website, here, where he shows off his one-of-a-kind artform -- art on the back... posted by Michael at February 10, 2003 | perma-link | (1) comments




Pix of the Day -- Donald Evans
Friedrich -- Have you ever run across the art of Donald Evans? Of artists from the last 30 or 40... posted by Michael at February 10, 2003 | perma-link | (6) comments




Ansel Adams at 100
Michael: The other day I made the hour-long drive from my suburban fastness to see a good-sized retrospective of the... posted by Friedrich at February 10, 2003 | perma-link | (5) comments





Sunday, February 9, 2003


Guest Posting -- Andrew Takeuchi Redux
Michael: A few hours ago I left a comment on your "Guest Posting -- Andrew Takeuchi." Having just gone back... posted by Friedrich at February 9, 2003 | perma-link | (0) comments





Friday, February 7, 2003


Guest Posting -- Andrew Takeuchi
Friedrich -- Andrew Takeuchi, who wrote an article I cited some time ago about cinematography, digital technology, and movies, spotted... posted by Michael at February 7, 2003 | perma-link | (4) comments





Thursday, February 6, 2003


Free Reads -- Amy Sohn on Hasbians
Friedrich -- I knew lesbians were chic five minutes ago, and I'd heard of LUGs (lesbians until graduation), and I've... posted by Michael at February 6, 2003 | perma-link | (11) comments




Free Reads -- Felix on Muschamp
Friedrich -- The alert Felix Salmon has caught the NYTimes' ludicrous (scandalous? soi-disant? evil?) architecture critic Herbert Muschamp stepping on... posted by Michael at February 6, 2003 | perma-link | (6) comments




Doing It For a Living
Friedrich -- Your recent postings about Impressionism have reminded me of a question I've always wanted to raise about art.... posted by Michael at February 6, 2003 | perma-link | (6) comments




Free Reads -- Mark Goldblatt on the MLA
Friedrich -- The annual meeting of the Modern Language Association is always good for an easy laugh or two, what... posted by Michael at February 6, 2003 | perma-link | (2) comments




Two or Three Things I Learned About Impressionism, Part III
Michael: As you've probably caught on by now, this is the next installment in my attempt to reconstruct what Impressionism... posted by Friedrich at February 6, 2003 | perma-link | (0) comments




Free Reads -- Amy Harmon on computer chess
Friedrich -- It's become one of our themes, I guess: the wonderfulness of digital technology, but the new quandaries and... posted by Michael at February 6, 2003 | perma-link | (1) comments




Art Class
Friedrich -- Have you taken any art-making classes recently? I was away from them for a couple years and missed... posted by Michael at February 6, 2003 | perma-link | (7) comments





Wednesday, February 5, 2003


Two or Three Things I Learned About Impressionism Part II
Michael: As I promised in my previous posting, this is the second part of my series attempting to reconstruct what... posted by Friedrich at February 5, 2003 | perma-link | (2) comments





Tuesday, February 4, 2003


Two or Three Things I Learned About Impressionism, Part I
Michael: In a previous posting I suggested that visual art is a way of talking about sources of power (or... posted by Friedrich at February 4, 2003 | perma-link | (1) comments




Blog Reading
Friedrich -- Has spending time in the blogosphere affected your reading habits? It has mine, even where something as basic... posted by Michael at February 4, 2003 | perma-link | (1) comments




Middle Age Memory
Friedrich -- I was leafing around an intro-to-economics book last night, and was wondering idly why I so much enjoy... posted by Michael at February 4, 2003 | perma-link | (5) comments





Monday, February 3, 2003


TV Alert
Friedrich -- I made the mistake of turning on another PBS documentary -- will I never learn? -- and, predictably,... posted by Michael at February 3, 2003 | perma-link | (3) comments




Chicago--Not My Kind of Movie
Michael: My wife and daughter dragged me to see “Chicago” over the weekend. Having seen the play in London several... posted by Friedrich at February 3, 2003 | perma-link | (5) comments




Free Views -- Overheads
Friedrich -- Sometimes when I "discover" something on the Web, I feel like I must in fact be the last... posted by Michael at February 3, 2003 | perma-link | (4) comments





Sunday, February 2, 2003


DVD Review -- Human Nature
Friedrich -- Just caught up with another Charlie Kaufman-written film -- not "Adaptation" but Human Nature, which recently came out... posted by Michael at February 2, 2003 | perma-link | (3) comments




Free Reads -- Pictures of Sex
Friedrich -- I'm not sure I'd have guessed the figure was quite this high... Ryann Connell reports in the Mainichi... posted by Michael at February 2, 2003 | perma-link | (5) comments





Saturday, February 1, 2003


Blog Surfing
Friedrich -- Is there no end to the good blogs? It's amazing how many people are both sensible people and... posted by Michael at February 1, 2003 | perma-link | (4) comments