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 ( 600 )
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The Things People Do on Long Car Trips
This was mostly our oldest daughter Megan's idea (she came up with it sometime around Cheyenne, Wyoming, and we had it finished before we crossed into... Read more
Posted on 02 July 2014 SOCIETY -
Saturday Night Live Music: "Send Me On My Way"
Tomorrow we begin a family trip across the United States, going from Kansas to Colorado to Wyoming to Montana to Idaho to Washington state, then on to Oregon,... Read more
Posted on 29 June 2014 SOCIETY -
"It’s Very Cold Out And Love Does Not Exist Also"
Why haven't I read any of the classic Russian novels? Even though I should? Perhaps because as "Every Russian Novel Ever" demonstrates, they're all so... Read more
Posted on 16 June 2014 SOCIETY -
Saturday Night Live Music: "Midnight Apparitions"
This week I pulled from my shelf of old cassette tapes which I have at the office something that I haven't listened to in quite some time: Kim Simpson's debut... Read more
Posted on 15 June 2014 SOCIETY -
How the Fall of Eric Cantor Continues to Prove James Madison Wrong, Or...
My friend Michael Austin has become a skilled pundit, and his observations on American politics are usually smart, historically informed, and wise. Read more
Posted on 11 June 2014 SOCIETY -
What Works and What Doesn't After 75 Years
1939 has been called Hollywood's greatest year often enough that, a short while ago, I decided to revisit (or, in a couple of cases, visit for the first time)... Read more
Posted on 09 June 2014 SOCIETY -
"I Could Do Better If I Had More Space."
The fantastic tale of how Stephan Pastis, author and artist of the very fine (though not, in my humble opinion, truly great) comic strip Pearls Before Swine,... Read more
Posted on 08 June 2014 SOCIETY -
How Marx Explains the Pomo-Con/Front-Porch Divide, In Four Easy Steps
[Cross-posted to Front Porch Republic] Via Rod Dreher, I see that the occasionally interesting blog Postmodern Conservative has departed its longtime home at th... Read more
Posted on 04 June 2014 SOCIETY -
What Tiananmen Meant to Me, Twenty-Five Years Ago
In the summer of 1989, I was living in Seoul, South Korea--on Yeouido (여의도) island, in fact, just a few miles from the 63 Building. (I strongly doubt any foreig... Read more
Posted on 04 June 2014 SOCIETY -
Burkean? Maybe, In a Sense. But Left Conservative? Not at All
[Cross-posted to Political Context]Ryan Lizza posted a short note today, about the new limitations on the industrial production of carbon emissions which the... Read more
Posted on 03 June 2014 SOCIETY -
Spider-Man, Batman, Rocket Raccoon, and Me
In my 35 years of varying levels of involvement (sometimes intense, sometimes merely cursory) with comic books and the whole geek world it has given rise... Read more
Posted on 26 May 2014 SOCIETY -
Public Schools, Family Schools, Local Schools
[Cross-posted to Front Porch Republic]Yesterday was the final day of the school year at Peterson Elementary School, the public school which three of our four... Read more
Posted on 23 May 2014 SOCIETY -
Six Months of Sabbatical (More Or Less)
Yesterday was town-hall meeting for all Friends University employees; afterwards, our university's interim president invited me to serve on a summer committee... Read more
Posted on 22 May 2014 SOCIETY -
Bringing the Idaho Stop to Wichita Since 2006
Many thanks to David Watkins of Lawyers, Guns Money for bringing this superb article on the physics and practicality of making stops while bicycling along... Read more
Posted on 12 May 2014 SOCIETY -
Half Edward Abbey, Half George Grant, All Natural
[Cross-posted to Front Porch Republic]Farley Mowat has died. Long before I knew anything about alternatives to the late-20th-century American way of life, long... Read more
Posted on 08 May 2014 SOCIETY -
Saturday Night Live Music: "Summertime"
It's getting up into the 90s this weekend in Wichita. I'm done teaching, and thanks to my sabbatical may not be back in the classroom for eight months. Read more
Posted on 04 May 2014 SOCIETY -
Steve Martin's Five Best Movies
For no particular good reason, I found myself thinking about Steve Martin this morning. Now well along in his third (fourth?) career, the bulk of the movies he... Read more
Posted on 02 May 2014 SOCIETY -
(Civic) Myths Over (Religious) Markets: Defending the National Day of Prayer
[Cross-posted to Front Porch Republic] I don't often disagree with my old friend Michael Austin, partly because he's much smarter and much better read than I,... Read more
Posted on 01 May 2014 SOCIETY -
First of May, First of May...
...and, well, complete the rest of the old rhyme yourself. I first heard it from James Taylor during an concert back in 1991--who told us in the audience that i... Read more
Posted on 01 May 2014 SOCIETY -
Jesse Winchester, Southern Regionalist, RIP
Jesse Winchester, a tuneful poet from a small corner of southern America who had to flee America--at a time when it was going through one of its more... Read more
Posted on 12 April 2014 SOCIETY