Confessions of a Conservative Atheist
The world’s only one man media empire
While many of us are wondering when Superman became an immigrant, given that he’s a fictional alien from another planet with almost godlike powers and is not usually associated with either border policy or migrant workers, Hollywood once again reveals that they have nothing but contempt for half the country or more. Once upon a… Continue reading Superman and how much Hollywood truly hates us
While Western Stars was released to significant critical acclaim in 2019, it marked a stylistic departure for the Boss and certainly isn’t a rock album by any means. If you are looking for screaming guitars, the usual glockenspiel, and pounding drums, you will not find them here. You will, however, find a compilation of sorts… Continue reading Springsteen’s Western Stars and the most underrated album ever made
When people ask what’s different about India, the sheer number of people is astounding. Boasting a population of over 1.4 billion and still undergoing massive economic development, hotels, restaurants, and service businesses tend to feature at least twice if not three times the number of employees as in the United States and automation is barely… Continue reading Living like a local: Reminisces and observations about my recent trip to India, part two
What’s the point of prefacing what’s supposed to a celebration of rock and roll, perhaps Mr. Springsteen’s final run considering he will turn 76 later this year, with a political diatribe of largely recycled talking points? Last week, legendary singer, songwriter, and all-around-rocker, Bruce Springsteen chose to open his European “Land of Hope and Dreams”… Continue reading Bruce Springsteen and the now purely performative Resistance
A negotiation over the price of sea shells reveals that value is in the eye of the beholder and as a colleague brilliantly put it when comparing the US to India in general: It doesn’t convert and we can be both different and the same. “Be honest. How bad does it smell there?” The question… Continue reading It does not convert: A few reminisces and observations on my recent trip to India, part one
Long before Donald Trump arrived on the scene, Pulitzer Prize winning playwright and screenwriter David Mamet declared that he was no longer a braindead liberal. Then as now, progressives responded by claiming he sucked all along. As a conservative, I have long resigned myself to the reality that the great majority of my artistic and… Continue reading J.K. Rowling isn’t the first artist to be targeted for a lack of ideological purity
In January, our family welcomed a new arrival, a whippet named Carlitos rescued from China, but less than three months later, our beloved greyhound Rosie suffered the tragic loss of her leg, leading me to conclude that many times dogs fare better than humans. Neither my wife or I are morning people, but our new… Continue reading Life lessons from a Chinese whippet and a three-legged greyhound
For nineteen of thirty songs, Mr. Anastasio was alone on stage, a man with several guitars, a songbook that would be the envy of many other artists, a spotlight, a screen behind him that projected supporting imagery at times, and a voice that has only gotten better with age, becoming richer and more soulful. I… Continue reading Trey Anastasio is a one man jam band
There’s a lesson here for modern filmmakers, who seem positively obsessed with developing backstories, explanatory and obligatory rules, and more in the service of some kind of world building, as though every film must exist in some kind of broader universe with a meaningful beginning, middle, and end. The Wraith, starring Charlie Sheen and Sherilynn… Continue reading Charlie Sheen’s The Wraith and the simple genius of 1980s filmmaking
For better or worse, one of the most significant cultural shifts since the counterculture revolution has been our collective tolerance of risk, and we should not tolerate any activity that violates the current societal norms around safety and public behavior. At the risk of stating the obvious typing away at a keyboard in front of… Continue reading The fine line between protests and terrorism in the era of safety and security
Confessions of a Conservative Atheist 