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Gabriella's
Though we eat out a great deal, I don't conduct a survey of favorite restaurants, either online or elsewhere, though we often exchange recommendations with people we meet. So it's a special occasion...
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Return of the Grammar Nazi
Lately, as usual, I've been noticing odd pronunciations of words in the media, and by people I see in my daily life.When I was young, or a young adult, I don't recall now having had this sensation, of...
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The New Wave of Illegals Choking our Immigration System
News reports over the last two weeks have corroborated the rumors of the massive recent influx of illegals streaming across the southern borders into the U.S. For the first time, these have included...
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The Dilemma - An Intellectual Cocktail
In discourse, the weight of evidence may fall on one side or the other. Of course, it's up to the contestants to "interpret" what raw evidence may signify. Sometimes, in science, or philosophy, or...
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Vive La France - The Lady Doth Complain
It may seem a strange pretext upon which to launch into a discussion of the issue of freedom of speech, to cite the sentiments of one of the 20th Century's most notorious cinematic "sex...
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Bearing Fruit
Peaches on a White TableclothColor has touched this fruit only in certain places, but with the greatest care.The shadows of the muslin are of a cool blue, like that of crockery in a humble cottage just...
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Minimalism XVII: Huth's Out of Character
I've been meaning to discuss Geof Huth's work for some time, and I finally got around to it when I came upon the cache of things Geof sent me a couple of years back, which included a copy of Out of...
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Happy Hour in the Cocktail Lounge
It's been a little while since the mixmaster presided, but the delay has been worth the wait.Recently I encountered a bartender at a local posh Italian restaurant, who thought he knew everything. He...
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From the Gallery of Heroes - Da Vinci's Mona Lisa X Two
Recently (July 9th, 2014) the PBS Series "Secrets of the Dead" ran a documentary feature about the controversy over the proposed authenticity of a so-called "second"Mona Lisa painting, a work which...
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The Beehive of Language
There was published in England in 1580 a book called John Baret's Alvearie. It was a kind of cross-referencing dictionary, organized alphabetically, to assist users to match allied words in different...
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Sabine
People who share my birthday:Arnold SchwarzeneggerPaul AnkaPeter BogdanovichWilliam GassHenry FordEmily BronteCasey StengelMary ShelleyI wish there were more writers and artists who shared my birthday....
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The Favorite Movies Post
The ranking of movies is like the ranking of any media form. We live in a competitive society, in which the drive to succeed, to exceed, plays a crucial role in the democratic playground of the pursuit...
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Vive Les Girls
Sabina ("Sabine") at 2+ monthsAs reported in a previous post, we recently acquired two new Siamese kittens, sisters born of a litter of a breeder in Hayward, California. Sabina and Capuccine. As...
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Why I Don't Approve this Message
Mexican Family sneaking across the U.S. borderI've often said that Americans are stupid. It may be that this stupidity is the result of complacence, or ignorance, or credulity, or misplaced empathy....
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We're the News Hour, and We Don't Approve This Message
Yesterday, Wednesday afternoon, September 4th 2014, the PBS News Hour show ran a segment in what it calls a "series of one-on-one interviews about how to handle the border crisis." As News Hour co-host...
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FLEMISH by Caroline Knox. [Seattle & New York: Wave Books, 2013]
A book review can be in any form.It could be an account of meeting the author.It could be an interview.It could be a biographical account of the author's life.It could be a discussion of contemporary...
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The Backlog of Stored Up Concoctions
When we visited Venice, we took the Vaporetto out to Murano, where they make the fine glass, hand-blown and delicate. Not unlike what you see in this photo. The boat takes you right up to the dock...
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Inevitable Beethoven
I'm not religious, either by inclination or upbringing, but occasionally one can be drawn into a logical cul-de-sac by a purely rational pathway.I can recall when I first heard Beethoven's 6th...
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Quid, Me Anxius Sum?
Ever since America started exporting jobs, we've been hearing how we're going to become a "service-oriented" economy, selling each other things instead of manufacturing things. The things we'll sell...
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