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The year was 1908. The shock waves of the 1905 Revolution still reverberated throughout the Russian Empire when two letters from an Indian revolutionary Taraknath Das reached Leo Tolstoy at home in Iasnaia Poliana. Das wrote to the ailing Tolstoy, then a world-renowned author, pacifist and anarchist, asking for his...

The advance publicity described Manu Chao’s show at Brixton Academy last night as an acoustic set, but if that suggests some kind of gentle fireside recital, forget it. The energy was peaking from the moment the 63-year-old Franco-Spanish singer-guitarist appeared — with Lucky Salvadori from Argentina playing what I think was a Colombian tiple and Miguel Rumbao from Havana playing bongos and activating a little black box that triggered the …

Earlier this year, I was captivated by this brightly coloured wall outside Düsseldorf Kunstsammlung K20. The artist? Sarah Morris. How beautifully circuitous.

The sports drama follows the Chuska Warriors, a Native American high school basketball team from Chuska, New Mexico, that must band together after losing their star player if they want to keep their quest for a state championship alive.

Session 256 was played on 6/2/24Nick, Fighter 7 (Me)Borumar, ½ Orc Thief (Josh)Blotto, Goblin Fighter (Lanse)Morgana, wizard (Rob)Koltic, Cleric 7 (NPC)Aroon, Fighter 5 (NPC)Jameth, Fighter 5 (NPC)Lor’Koth, Dwarf 5 (NPC)After the ringing in their ears stopped from the exploding blast spores, the party continued deeper into the sea caves, finding another dry branch. Borumar scouted ahead, and found a small cave full of mushrooms… including shreikers. Rather than mess with …

I’m excited to offer the next giveaway, 1 Standard license ($89 value) for Screen Studio. I’ve long used ScreenFlow to create screencasts, and then discovered Screen Studio (thanks Mike Schmitz). If you just need to create a beautiful screencast with adjustable background, window zooming, and cursor enhancing/smoothing, Screen Studio does it all automatically. You just hit record and it does the rest. Brilliant. From the developer: Screen Studio is an …

Vampire Weekend (2008) Probably the best of the five, the debut stands out as what I’m going to call a “performed band album.” The arrangements, the instrumentation, the shifts and turns and gaps and idiosyncracies, they all display the collaborative intelligence and locked-room logic of a foursome discovering and inventing their way through a playlist of evolving first-evers. The rhythm section, drummer Chris Tomson and bassist Chris Baio, is as …

Editor’s Note: Matthew Chicoine interviewed Matthew Estrade via phone call on September 20th, 2024. Some of the questions have been rearranged and edited to provide the best reader experience without losing any integrity of the answers given. What inspired you to start Catholic Aging, and how does your faith inform your approach to dementia care? Before I started Catholic Aging, it was really my family that got me into gerontology. …

After four installments with thrillerish elements, the Miss Silver series really came into its own as a true detective series in 1943 with The Chinese Shawl. Just as the author would give English mystery fans some paradigmatic village mysteries in the 1940s and 1950s, in 1943 with The Chinese Shawl she gave her readers a classic country house party mystery, just as the mystery subgenre's heyday was passing during the …

The inappropriately named ECWtravelogue returns across the border into Wales, this time dipping its toe into Monmouthshire.The entrance way to Chepstow CastleChepstow was an important trade route on the River Wye, and into the Welsh Marches. Understandably the stronghold of Chepstow Castle dominates the river, towering over the river, situated on top of the cliffs.Chepstow looming over the WyeDuring the First Civil War the castle was surrendered to Waller's Parliamentarian …

Where does all this content belong? Most of the content on this site is an aggregate view of my work in other venues. How do I want to manage that process going forward? It’s 2024, and I’m including this post in a series called redesign 2022. That’s when I ripped out all the styles on my site, and declared my intent to renovate with a light touch. How much can …

It always surprises me when singers sing so loudly that they can’t hear the rest of the choir. photo by Constantin Tacke It’s hearing the other harmony parts that keeps you on the straight and narrow, and it’s where the singing pleasure lies. I had this guy in a workshop once (and, yes, it’s often the men!) who had been to many of my events over the years. He came …

Donnie De & The Star Fires / Donnie Dee & The Starfires / Don DeFilippo from Poughkeepsie, Upstate New York. Elusive picture sleeve added today to 45catI'm Sticking With You

A scene from Abel Gance's epic drama 'La Roue' (1923).The time has come, or is at least close upon us.On Saturday, Sept. 28, starting at noon I'll attempt to create music for Able Gance's neglected masterwork 'La Roue' (1923)—all seven hours of it, all in one marathon screening.The venue is the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge, Mass. Tickets are $25 per person for this immersive cinematic experience, which will run from …

The gondolas of London. Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881), Describing the horse-drawn hansom cab