The Short, Troubled Lives of Two Russian Geniuses
The reason for being of the book, and one of its dramatic thrills, is that these two friends not only did not fall to the wayside but have endured. They also both pointed the way to the future.
By John Griswold
The Salon is a Marvelous Thing
The salon is a different idea, and I like it. In the old days, a salon was a carefully chosen group, often with different views, who gathered to talk about literature, art, politics, and current events. The space it happened in was more intimate and private than, say, a coffeehouse or pub, perhaps even in a host’s bed chambers.
Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special
Nearly a year ago I was an extra (“background”) for the third Guardian movie, shot in Atlanta and due to be released in May 2023. When filming for that portion wrapped, producers asked if we wanted to stay on another week or more to shoot the holiday special.
The Ministry of Small Things
We may not know yet all we have suffered, let alone any of what we will. It is easy to feel small and alone. I am thankful for the constancy of small things.
Seeing a Friend on the Silver Screen
Yesterday was the first time I have seen him on the big screen, and I had to stop myself from telling the box-office person and film festival volunteers that I knew someone acting in the film I was about to see.
Putting on Superman’s Cape
The idea of CPAC made me sore afraid, so of course I wanted to go. I felt like the boy in the daguerreotype who has climbed a tree in order to better view the state funeral cortege.
Another Bit about Freedom: Lottery Version
Courtesy Creative Commons Share Alike 3.0 ee I was in the library when I heard the young man talking on the phone: “I got our one-billion-dollar lottery ticket, so I feel like we have to be prepared. ‘What would you do?’ my wife asked me, but to…
Halloween, Then and Now
In the Halloweens of my day, in a defunct little coal town in the Midwest, we had a hell of a good time.
Jeff Bridges, Photographer
Behind the scenes of ‘True Grit’ with the Coens, by Jeff Bridges, courtesy of the artist I have always been a fan of Jeff Bridges’ acting but was surprised to learn this week he is an accomplished art photographer and sculptor whose work has appeared in Premiere and Aperture…
Found Objects: That Stuff in Storage
Courtesy Self-Storage, Wikimedia Commons In storage lockers we offshore the domestic. We place there the things that will not fit in our homes, until they can be brought in from the cold. It is not direct metaphor, but something more like signal or sign, that the often unheated…
A Daily Visual Diary of the Early Covid Years
Courtesy Fantagraphics Books Steve Brodner’s Living & Dying in America: A Daily Chronicle, 2020-2022, is a fascinating and unusual graphic memoir. In the book’s 476 pages, Brodner has captured the feel of the first two Covid years by drawing one image every evening from that day. These range…
Fun on the Mississippi
Mississippi River, steamboat, dinner cruise, St. Louis, waterfront, excursion