Monthly Archives: April 2015

Couldn’t Do It Today

Posted on April 30, 2015 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes:

Posted in Commercial art, Music, Sex | Tagged ads, BDSM, Rolling Stones | 11 Comments

Architecture Du Jour

Posted on April 28, 2015 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes: Bojnice Castle, Slovakia. Click on the image to enlarge.

Posted in Architecture | Tagged castle, Slovakia, traditionalism | 2 Comments

“Ex Machina” (2015)

Posted on April 27, 2015 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes: I’ve been a fan of Alex Garland since I read his novel The Beach years ago. The Danny Boyle adaptation was lame, but I did enjoy the Boyle-Garland collaborations 28 DAYS LATER and SUNSHINE. Oh yeah, the Garland-written-and-partially-directed DREDD … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | Tagged Alex Garland, alicia vikander, domhnall gleeson, ex machina, oscar isaac | 4 Comments

DON CARLO, Metropolitan Opera (Review)

Posted on April 25, 2015 by Eddie Pensier

Eddie Pensier* writes: I’ve always had big problems with Verdi’s Don Carlo. It always struck me less as a cohesive music-theatre piece and more of a collection of scenes and arias, rather like a concert program. It never really juggles … Continue reading →

Posted in Music, Performers, Personal reflections, The Good Life | Tagged barbara frittoli, dmitri hvorostovsky, don carlo, ekaterina gubanova, ferruccio furlanetto, Giuseppe Verdi, james morris, metropolitan opera, nicholas hytner, yannick nezet-seguin, yonghoon lee | 2 Comments

Art Du Jour (Anzac Day 2015 Edition)

Posted on April 25, 2015 by Eddie Pensier

Eddie Pensier writes: Peter Wegner, Dog With Gas Mask, 2013 Related Previous ANZAC-themed ADJ here and here.

Posted in Art | Tagged anzac day, art, peter wegner | 2 Comments

Mad Men Notes: S7, Ep10 — “The Forecast”

Posted on April 24, 2015 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes: 1. Don has sold his penthouse — for $85k, or $492k in 2015 dollars — and is now homeless. “This place reeks of failure,” his real estate agent says. Pardon me, but I’ll take a half mil “failure” … Continue reading →

Posted in Television | Tagged Mad Men, Matthew Weiner | 2 Comments

“The Last Artist in New York City”

Posted on April 23, 2015 by Paleo Retiree

Paleo Retiree writes: Despite all the bitching and carping we here at UR like to indulge in, we aren’t just a bunch of negativity-mongers. (Critics, patooie.) Many of us make our own creative contributions too. Try this, and this, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Publishing and Writing, Performers, Theater | Tagged creativity, Jason Jacobs, Karen Grenke, Nuyorican Poets Cafe | 2 Comments

Architecture Du Jour

Posted on April 22, 2015 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes: Palacio de Cibeles, Madrid. More here. Click on the image to enlarge.

Posted in Architecture | Tagged Madrid, Spain, traditionalism | 1 Comment

Moi on Book Publishing

Posted on April 21, 2015 by Paleo Retiree

Paleo Retiree writes: Steve Sailer was kind enough to highlight a comment I made on his blog about the demographics of the American book publishing world from 1985ish to 2001ish, a stretch when I was professionally covering the field. (I … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Publishing and Writing | Tagged book publishing, books, publishing, Steve Sailer | 1 Comment

“Cultural Literacy for Religion”

Posted on April 21, 2015 by Paleo Retiree

Paleo Retiree writes: I enjoyed Mark Berkson’s hyper-basic (one-half to four lectures per major religion) Great Courses series very much. My beefs with it first, but only because complaining is so much more fun and easy than praising. It wasn’t the anthropological lecture … Continue reading →