Archive | Arts

There is no sweetness in “House of Cards.” Only smiling serpents slithering in the foul fog of power politics.

I recently heard a panel discussion by some accomplished professional artists about a variety of topics, ranging from the motivation to paint to the creative process to commercial success. It made me think of parallels between art and business and the role of philosophy and morality in both. What struck me was the almost disdainful [...]

Ought the state to support the arts? There is certainly much to be said on both sides of this question. It may be said, in favor of the system of voting supplies for this purpose, that the arts enlarge, elevate, and harmonize the soul of a nation; that they divert it from too great an [...]

You are standing in a gallery with another critic before two paintings hung side by side, one by William-Adolphe Bouguereau and one by Pablo Picasso. Let us say they are Bouguereau’s Idylle (1851), and Picasso’s La Vie (1903). You both agree that the Bouguereau is a fine painting, depicting two lovers in a classical setting, [...]

I first noticed Cox & Forkum when I spotted a cartoon called “The Blogger’s Cycle.” I thought, “Wow. These guys nailed me! I could have written this myself, if only I were that clever and talented.” I immediately read the rest of the Cox & Forkum weblog, where I was astounded by the sharp, professional [...]

Just how McWilliams felt we had no means of knowing; but we knew our hearts would not beat freely until his infernal Special should slide safely over the last of the 266 miles which still lay between the distressed man and his unfortunate child. From McCloud to Ogalalla there is a good bit of twisting [...]

On the West End we had all night to prepare, and at five o’clock next morning every man in the operating department was on edge. At precisely 3.58 A.M. the McWilliams Special stuck its nose into our division, and Foley-pulled off No. 1 with the 466 — was heading her dizzy for McCloud. Already the [...]

It belongs to the Stories That Never Were Told, this of the McWilliams Special. But it happened years ago, and for that matter McWilliams is dead. It wasn’t grief that killed him, either; though at one time his grief came uncommonly near killing us. It is an odd sort of a yarn, too; because one [...]