Russellarbenfox
MY BLOGS
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In Medias Res
http://inmedias.blogspot.com/
Essays, notes, and fragments--personal, political, and philosophical--from the midst of things
LATEST ARTICLES ( 589 )
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Songs from '78: "Runnin' with the Devil"
No tricks here, folks: Van Halen's second single, "Runnin' with the Devil," released 40 years ago today off of their debut album, Van Halen, was the first... Read more
Posted on 06 May 2018 SOCIETY -
Songs from '78: "Cocaine"
More cheating. Eric Clapton's version of "Cocaine," a deliriously ambiguous rock song by J.J. Cale--a song that Clapton has insisted is "cleverly... Read more
Posted on 30 April 2018 SOCIETY -
Songs from '78: "I Want You To Want Me" and "Surrender"
I'm cheating here (not for the first time, nor for the last). As much as possible, I'm focusing on just one single, memorable pop and rock track each from... Read more
Posted on 28 April 2018 SOCIETY -
Songs from '78: "King Tut"
Yes, my focus here is on all the great pop and rock that laid foundation for my radio addiction, 40 years ago. But why not include a joke song like Steve... Read more
Posted on 22 April 2018 SOCIETY -
What Wendell Berry's Brush Teaches Us About Capitalism, Community, and...
[Cross-posted to Front Porch Republic]The Art of Loading Brush: New Agrarian Writings, the latest collection of writings by Wendell Berry, isn't a perfect... Read more
Posted on 09 April 2018 SOCIETY -
Songs from '78: "Roxanne"
"Roxanne," The Police's "signature tune according to their bassist, Andy Summers--and he's right; the only song of theirs which might challenge that judgment is... Read more
Posted on 07 April 2018 SOCIETY -
Songs from '78: "With a Little Luck"
Did I know who The Beatles were in 1978? I'm not sure. I have a vague recollection of having seen Yellow Submarine on television at some point as a child (I... Read more
Posted on 20 March 2018 SOCIETY -
Learning from The Left Behind
[Cross-posted to Front Porch Republic]Robert Wuthnow's new book, The Left Behind: Decline and Rage in Rural America, is the best book I've read on the... Read more
Posted on 16 March 2018 SOCIETY -
Songs from '78: "Because the Night"
Forty years and one week ago, the Patti Smith Group's groundbreaking rock-punk-folk album Easter began its march into the pop charts, led by its best song... Read more
Posted on 08 March 2018 SOCIETY -
On Supporting Bike Paths Which I Hardly Ever Use (a Reprise)
[In May of 2016, when the Woodchuck Bicycle Boulevard was officially opened here in Wichita--that's where the photo was from--I wrote a reflection about my... Read more
Posted on 04 March 2018 SOCIETY -
Just a Quick Note About "Local Solutions" and Guns
Of course there's a "national conversation" taking place over guns; is there ever not in America, no matter what the most recent mass shooting atrocity, no... Read more
Posted on 27 February 2018 SOCIETY -
Prairie Fires and Prairie Romances
[Cross-posted to Front Porch Republic]Caroline Fraser's wonderful Prairie Fires is many things. Primarily it's a biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of th... Read more
Posted on 25 February 2018 SOCIETY -
Songs from '78: "Follow You Follow Me"
For the second time--and not for the last--my memories of the pop music world of 1978 are shaped in part by the detritus of progressive rock, as it was... Read more
Posted on 25 February 2018 SOCIETY -
The Joyful, and Mournful, Journey of Lent
[Cross-posted to By Common Consent]This year my employer, Friends University, a non-denomination Christian liberal arts college in Wichita, KS, decided to... Read more
Posted on 14 February 2018 SOCIETY -
Mid-Sized Meditations #14: Urban Questions (and Reponses) for Krugman
[Cross-posted to Front Porch Republic]Over a month ago, Paul Krugman used his space at The New York Times to ask "what, in the modern economy, are small cities... Read more
Posted on 12 February 2018 SOCIETY -
Songs from '78: "Night Fever"
"Night Fever," released today in 1978, was the sixth and final single released--four of which had been written by the Bee Gees--from Saturday Night Fever, the... Read more
Posted on 07 February 2018 SOCIETY -
Thoughts on Friendship
[Cross-posted to By Common Consent]Friendship is one of the grand fundamental principles of 'Mormonism'; [it is designed] to revolutionize and civilize the... Read more
Posted on 05 February 2018 SOCIETY -
Songs from '78: "Baker Street"
Forty years ago today, the first single from Gerry Rafferty brilliant--and criminally forgotten among even many serious pop listeners--album City to City began... Read more
Posted on 03 February 2018 SOCIETY -
Can Wichita Elect a Governor?
[The Wichita Eagle ran a shortened version of this argument this morning; he's my fuller piece. And yes, I've already handicapped the governor's race as I see i... Read more
Posted on 26 January 2018 SOCIETY -
Songs from '78: "Dust in the Wind"
This week, 40 years ago, "Dust in the Wind," the second single released from Kansas's fifth studio album, Point of Know Return, starting climbing up the charts. Read more
Posted on 22 January 2018 SOCIETY