November 2019
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Trump has made it clear that he envies and admires the Russian dictator (whom he trusts while scorning American security services, military, and diplomats). So much is common knowledge. But today we learned his admiration for Putin has become more than mancrush. Here's a picture of Putin. Close And here's an…
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In the back of our fourth-grade "reader" at P. S. 217, there was an appendix containing proverbs and other jots of wisdom. Most of these were commonplaces: "look before you leap"; "a stitch in time saves nine"; "empty barrels make the most noise." Many of these gnomic bits mystified me. For example: For all your…
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Let me guess that a modern reader coming upon Shakespeare's euphonious phrase "vaulting variable ramps" would be baffled as to its sense. Just WS being willfully obscure, one might complain. But it's not so; it's just that the language keeps on changing, making things difficult for audiences and readers. The most obvious meaning of "vaulting…
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It's a play on Hanover Square in London, where, apparently, there were many drinking establishments. It's also still another variety of amnesia. This time the victim knows he's lost his memory, but his friends and relatives don't notice. George Harvey Bone, a composer played by the immense (300 lb) and immensely talented Laird Cregar, experiences…