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I offered this review in 1997 on my personal website, then hosted at a university. Since that site is no longer available, I’m republishing the review here. What: Houdini Book: James Racheff Music: William Scott Duffield Lyrics: …

There’s no confusion! We aim to implement fusion! It’s a tougher catch than lightning in a bottle. But we can do it! We made the Blackbird and flew it, And we circumnavigated at full throttle. Yes, some are skeptical That our …

So, if you’re a grammar Nazi, then feats of form and usage that strike you as “wrong” (or inferior, or jarring) fairly leap off the page or screen at you in just the same way that my use of “so” at the start of this sentence irks all …

This poem is the second part of a diptych. To read the first part, already posted, follow this link. A Passover/Easter Exhortation When winter, winter days, and dramatic rains, Arrange with memories in ink and fiction, Ascribing each …

A Christmas Prayer Decrying constancy’s loss in change, When winter reigns, bestow a benediction. Each heavenly tear its mate in ink arrange And color the frigid winter with other diction, Denying even the season’s wonted selection Of …

While off to meander The vale of Neander I once took a gander at some lovely gal. She was low in the hip And smart as a whip, But that brow ridge! It made me her pal. I said, “Though I’m cro-magnon, I’ll be yer companion, If you’ll …

It may seem a mite unwholesome To lust after a corpus callosum, That hard body inviting fixation On mammillary fornixation, But I’m told there’s temporally more sex In proportion to a convoluted cortex, And that with decreased neural …

In a closed facebook group on analytic philosophy, someone asked a question along these lines: “How do you primarily criticize other people’s reasoning?” Here’s the reply I gave. What are some other ways you approach the task of …

Today, embrace the sun and moon, Pose questions to the rocks and clouds, Consider ripples in the sea, And delve into the dust of doubt. Engaging them, take time to see That each announces not itself Alone, but one, strong, fair, and …

Here’s a bit o’ light verse, given that words are many but hours few. Folly’s Foliage A dandelion puff aloft went wayward without sinking, Uprooted, blown into the sky by simple wishful thinking. So bold, its dreams of meaning made of …

Verlyn Klinkenborg has written an op ed called The Decline and Fall of the English Major in which he starts with his students’ inability to write and winds up discerning a “literal-mindedness in the recent shift away from the …

I believe I first heard the advent hymn a solis ortus cardine in the 80s, when I was living just up the road from the Benedictine Abbey of S. Martin in Ligugé, France. The monks there were known for their chants, so I picked up their …

Here’s my favorite name for a dead-end street in France. I respect its current and former intellectual humility, and I celebrate its medievalizing wit. l’Impasse de la Trinité (formerly l’Impasse de la Résurrection)

This article first appeared in The Mandala Magazine, Volume 2, Issue 1 (July/August 2011), pp. 26-27. Magnificent Obsession It seems as if I’ve always known his name. No, not Houdini’s—Sid Radner’s. That Tony Curtis movie is what first …

“Sing to me, David, of clown shoes and a man….” Re l’affaire Todd Akin? OK. If you insist…. The elephant nominates a clown To foil the opposition and to win, To try to shut that whole thing down! And that’s the part that makes me …

With the Facebook Timeline just around the corner, and with Steve Jobs shuffling off this mortal coil, I’d like to consider what makes some technologies so different, so appealing. Last night I asked my art history students what was …

The Brothers Houdini (before Dash, before Bess, before Harry Handcuff Houdini) caught in action, and brought to light by Dean Carnegie, Magic Detective. This appears to be a photo of Houdini when he was perhaps in his late teens. He …

The Gaignières-Fonthill Vase[link unavailable] is “the oldest well-documented Chinese porcelain object to enter Europe”. Zsombor Jékely offers an overview and, of course, explores the Hungarian connections!

Looking to get your Bahktinian Blogfest on? At Alberti’s Window, Monica Bowen is hosting this month’s Art History Carnival! It’s good to see the interweaving of tendrils in the art historical blogosphere. Check out the fascinating …

Writing persuasive papers in college is a tricky business. At some point during the time I spent as an instructor in writing-intensive courses, I decided to consolidate the advice and tips that I found myself offering to students in …

This review of Inception contains light spoilers. We’ve just returned from seeing Inception at the local IMAX. Christopher Nolan has created a masterpiece of communication. A sci-fi action drama about lucid dreaming, Inception is an …

Ilya Somin gets to the heart of the matter: The sole evidence the prison officials have submitted on this point [the connection between D&D and gangs] is the affidavit of Captain Muraski, the gang specialist. Muraski testified that …

From Vincent van Gogh we have over 900 paintings as well as over 1000 drawings. He made nearly all of them during the final five years of his life. 365 times 5 would be just over 1800 days for those 900 paintings. Let’s call it a …

Phil Leider wasn’t the best teacher I ever had. He wasn’t the most intelligent, nor the most articulate, nor the most insightful, nor the most attentive. However, he was one of the most consequential to me. He was the first in my life …