Confessions of a Conservative Atheist
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When you consider that the 1948 cult-classic was one of the master director’s lesser known and less heralded works, his achievement in cinema – which I would suggest amounts to nothing less than the invention of modern cinema, from its plot and characters to how it is filmed and edited – is all the more… Continue reading Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope and the invention of the modern movie
At the risk of sounding more than a little provincial, visiting a non-European country can always be a little daunting for a Westerner. As progressives put it, representation matters in some sense, but that’s where the opportunity for real magic happens when you travel. Quito, the capital of Ecuador, wasn’t a city I’d planned on… Continue reading The magic of Quito and the majesty of the Andes
Here is land where birds nest directly on the trail, crowding in the thousands. The sea lions play with you in the crystal waters. Schools of eagle rays drift by like silent specters in the night while sea turtles make their way beneath. Lizards lounge on the beach, daring you to get close. The sun… Continue reading An expedition to the Galapagos Archipelago and all the beer on the boat
It is a tragedy not of a single individual or even the entire Roman Republic, but one of power, who has it, who wants it, how they get it, and how it ebbs and flows at the whims of the crowd, exercising their free and fickle will to support who they choose at any given… Continue reading Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar and the nature of power in the hands of the people
Diversity, if we take that to mean the richness of experience and ways of life, requires people to stick with their own to some extent and exclude others from some things. I was born and bred in majority white towns, a proud member of Generation X who grew up in the 1980s. Throughout my grade… Continue reading Personal lessons in the wonders and limits of diversity
Mr. Seinfeld becomes living proof that everything and anything needs to be constantly reevaluated according to our ever changing standards of moral decency, and anyone who expresses an opinion of any kind even remotely at odds with those standards will find themselves facing either cancellation criticism or forced irrelevance. At the risk of stating the… Continue reading No, Jerry Seinfeld isn’t controversial and the media shouldn’t be pretending otherwise
Lily gave up a treat she loved because dinner was bigger and better, but now she doesn’t get the treat at all – and she doesn’t even realize it. Lest you think I am picking on poor dogs, there are likely many, many people out there that suffer from a similar phenomenon. Most dogs are… Continue reading An aging coonhound’s bizarre behavior and a lesson for all of us
Even having lived through the cultural and musical phenomenon that was Jackson’s golden years, it is difficult to remember how truly unique and special he was, at least when the music isn’t playing. Then, it’s impossible to forget. Michael Jackson is something of a tragic figure in the music and cultural worlds. The undisputed King… Continue reading Michael Jackson’s “Dirty Diana” and the King of Pop’s controversial legacy
The Godfather is what most would consider the better movie by normal standards. A far more beloved and well-remembered film, but which rings more true today when most of us spend our days trapped behind computer screens? Legendary director Francis Ford Coppola somehow managed to direct The Conversation, what has proved to be an almost… Continue reading Francis Ford Coppola’s haunting The Conversation might be more important than The Godfather fifty years later
It is no exaggeration to say that if one of these wanna-be protesters was transported back in time, they would run screaming for the present in less than five minutes, seeking whatever safe space they could find because there were none back then. As anti-Israel if not outright antisemitic protests sweep major college campuses, the… Continue reading Occupied Academia: Today’s wanna-be activists have a lot to learn about the 1960s and should have a lot more respect for their fellow students
Confessions of a Conservative Atheist 