Author Archives: Blowhard, Esq.

About Blowhard, Esq.

Amateur, dilettante, wannabe.

Juxtaposin’: Here Comes

Posted on October 3, 2017 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes:

Posted in Music | Tagged The Pixies, Tom Petty | 3 Comments

“Wonder Woman” (2017)

Posted on September 26, 2017 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes: Wonder Woman has always been a second-tier character for reasons largely having to do with her incoherent, if interesting, origins. Created by psychologist William Marston specifically to be the opposite of too-violent heroes like Batman and Superman, to … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | Tagged Gal Gadot, Patty Jenkins, superhero comics, Wonder Woman | 7 Comments

Book Notes: “The Whig Interpretation of History”

Posted on September 20, 2017 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes: This short essay — which can be easily read in a weekend or even a single sitting — is a useful rejoinder to the idea that there exists a “right side of history.” Butterfield, a Cambridge don, takes … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Publishing and Writing, History | Tagged Herbert Butterfield, the right side of history, the wrong side of history, Whig history, Whigs | 4 Comments

Quote Du Jour: The Most Useless and Unproductive of All Forms of Reflection

Posted on September 16, 2017 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes: It is the natural result of the whig historian’s habits of mind and his attitude to history — though it is not a necessary consequence of his actual method — that he should be interested in the promulgation … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Publishing and Writing, History | Tagged Herbert Butterfield, history, progressives, Whigs | 1 Comment

Quote Du Jour: Usage Which is Reasonable Generates Usage Which is Unreasonable

Posted on September 10, 2017 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes: The usages which a particular community is found to have adopted in its infancy and in its primitive seats are generally those which are on the whole best suited to promote its physical and moral well-being; and, if … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Publishing and Writing, Law | Tagged Henry Sumner Maine, law | 1 Comment

Book Notes: “A Disease in the Public Mind”

Posted on August 29, 2017 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes: All of the brouhaha over Confederate statues has rekindled my interest in the Civil War, so I decided to work my way through some of the books that have been cluttering my shelves. The first one is this … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Publishing and Writing, History, Politics and Economics | Tagged Civil War, Confederate statues, fake news, John Brown | 16 Comments

Book Notes: “Vanishing New York”

Posted on August 23, 2017 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes: Jeremiah Moss, sole proprietor of the Vanishing New York blog since 2007, tells the history of New York City over the last 20+ years in terms of, what he calls, “hyper-gentrification.” Hyper-gentrification is “gentrification on speed, shot up … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Publishing and Writing, History | Tagged gentrification, Jeremiah Moss, New York | 4 Comments

Juxtaposin’: Liberty Leading the People

Posted on August 23, 2017 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes: HT to Fenster for coming up with this idea.

Posted in History, Politics and Economics | Tagged Confederate statues, French Revolution | 2 Comments

Movie Still Du Jour

Posted on August 20, 2017 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes: A gathering of Communists in HAIL, CAESAR! (2016).

Posted in Movies | Tagged Coen Brothers | Leave a comment

Question Du Jour: Orwell on Fascism

Posted on August 19, 2017 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes: In 1946, Orwell wrote: The word Fascism has now no meaning except in so far as it signifies ‘something not desirable’. In the ensuing seventy years, do you think the meaning of “fascism” has become clearer or muddier?