Confessions of a Conservative Atheist
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While the Phish guitarist, singer, and songwriter is far from a household name, he certainly should be. Over the course of three shows in barely six months with three completely different configurations, he belted out fifty eight songs or more than six full albums of material. I’ve been fortunate enough to see Trey Anastasio three… Continue reading Trey Anastasio is the greatest musician of his generation and it’s not even close
Benjamin Franklin famously or infamously said that the country was a Republic, if you can keep it. To liken great things to small, this is a blog if I can keep it up, but isn’t that true of everything in life? When I started this blog in November 2020, it wasn’t clear to me how… Continue reading Celebrating 1,000 posts with a few near incoherent thoughts on the past, present, and future
Chickens? Pigs? Cows? They get slaughtered all year for any old meal, but not me. I’m special and I serve a higher purpose, so forget the various controversies surrounding the holiday over the centuries and belly up to the table. I am a Thanksgiving turkey. You might find me roasted, smoked, or fried at the… Continue reading I am a Thanksgiving turkey and I live to die for your holiday meal
Somehow, a silent film managed to include a false framing device that serves to mislead the viewer and set up a twist ending straight out of a modern movie, a love triangle, a flashback within a flashback, multiple murders, a murder investigation with a falsely accused suspect, an abduction, and more. Over a century after… Continue reading The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and the audacity of the earliest filmmakers
I’m not sure which is the bigger achievement. David Lynch’s daring to tell an unfiltered story of the sexual abuse and suffering of a teenager in 1992, or to use it as a gateway to the modern media world, where world-building and origin stories rule. These days, cinematic universes are all the rage, but back… Continue reading Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me and the unsettling birth of the cinematic universe
Living in the Emirates is easy, if you follow the rules, you can enjoy all the benefits a thriving country has to offer. These rules are relatively simple, but justice is swift and the consequences are severe. Can an American cut it? As an American, I have always been proud of my country’s historic role… Continue reading My recent trip to Dubai and a few thoughts on fundamental rights
If only we could sleep as easily as we can die. I could end my life in an instant, but for reasons that defy explanation, simply putting the mind to rest for a few hours can prove impossible. If only we could sleep as easily as we can die. I could, if I chose, end… Continue reading Sleep, death, and the limits of Mark Twain and William Shakespeare
Released in 1941, Citizen Kane is widely regarded as the greatest film ever made despite my falling asleep twice during it in film school, ranked so by the British Film Institute’s poll of critics while also topping the American Film Institute’s 100 Years…100 Movie’s list, but what does that really mean? I’ll confess: I fell… Continue reading Citizen Kane and the greatest movie ever made
For a man who prided himself on principle, communicating our Founding ethos those better than anyone else, Jefferson had a habit of discarding them when convenient. Was he a liar, a hypocrite, a fraud, or simply a political genius? Thomas Jefferson has long been acknowledged as one of the most eloquent communicators of our Founding… Continue reading Thomas Jefferson and why power trumps principle in politics
To paraphrase Clint Eastwood, most Americans aren’t all broken up about that man’s rights because we live in a world where speech has consequences and sometimes you simply need to apologize. Democrats and progressives have found a new avatar to express their outrage that President Donald Trump is leading America into a fascist regime, albeit… Continue reading Free speech is not free of consequences and why no one will cry for Jimmy Kimmel
Confessions of a Conservative Atheist 