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Maher and the “truthers”
Lively turn of events last night on Bill Maher’s show, as a handful of so-called 9/11 Truth activists attempted to disrupt the live broadcast and impose their agenda. It’s been a while since I’ve bothered to comment on the 9/11 conspiracy phenomenon, but I must applaud Maher for hammering away at this sinister bullying cult. I’d also like to recommend
Time machine
Here is the intersection right around the corner from my house in Philly, as it appeared in 1935. (Click photo to enlarge.) Lots more to be found at this great site, Phillyhistory.org. Reminds me of this one, which my father-in-law sent around a while back — a virtual archive of old penny postcards from just about anywhere in the U.S.
The week on disc (5)
In case you missed the last one… Dániel Szabó Trio, Frictions (Warner Music Hungary): This was handed to me on my last New York visit, had never heard of the pianist before. It’s a probing all-original date, with bassist Mátyás Szandai and drummer András Mohay. Nikoletta Szöke’s one guest vocal doesn’t knock me over. Kurt Rosenwinkel’s three guest guitar slots,
Break the Burmese blackout
AVAAZ.org (“Voice”) is taking donations for civil society groups in Burma. The regime has completely choked off the flow of information. George Packer has a profound post from the other day about the international response: Besides coercive diplomacy—which means hard talk and possibly sanctions—the survival and success of democratic movements under stubborn dictatorships require long-term external support, in some cases
Unintentional laugh of the day
It comes courtesy that champion of global justice, the Chinese Communist Party, which is very upset over the Dalai Lama receiving the Congressional Gold Medal from the U.S.: “Such a person who basely splits his motherland and doesn’t even love his motherland has been welcomed by some countries and has even been receiving this or that award,” Tibet’s Communist Party
On Kidd Jordan
My review of saxophonist Kidd Jordan’s trio in Philly, in today’s Inquirer. My friend Shaun Brady has a backgrounder on Jordan in the Philadelphia Daily News.
On Dan Morgenstern
Downbeat magazine gave this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award to jazz historian (and former DB editor) Dan Morgenstern. It’s not online, but I have a profile on Dan in the November Downbeat, now on newsstands.
A rebuttal on Pinter
I have a letter in today’s NY Times Arts & Leisure section, objecting to Sarah Lyall’s Oct. 7 puff piece on Harold Pinter. Pinter’s political views are as crude as they come — leave it to an arts journalist not to examine them in any depth. The playwright didn’t simply protest NATO intervention in the Balkans; he joined the International