Russellarbenfox

LATEST ARTICLES ( 600 )

• Saturday Night Live Music: "Steppin' Out"

  A melodious, almost mournful, jazz reworking of the New Wave classic. This version has been around forever, thanks to the Joe Jackson's brilliant Live... Read more

  Posted on 30 March 2014 SOCIETY

• Rod Dreher Speaking in Wichita, KS

  

  [Cross-posted to Front Porch Republic] Of the very, very few people who regularly read this blog (when I actually bother to post something, which isn't often... Read more

  Posted on 20 March 2014 SOCIETY

• Saturday Night Live Music: "If Not for You" and "Absolutely Sweet Marie"

  I found myself spending some time this week listening to one of my very favorite concerts of all time, the huge Bob Dylan 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration... Read more

  Posted on 16 March 2014 SOCIETY

• Saturday Night Live Music: "The Ballad of Lucy Jordan"

  I've been finishing up preparations for a class on gender and equality that I'll be teaching for the next eight weeks or so, beginning on Monday, and I found... Read more

  Posted on 09 March 2014 SOCIETY

• A Genuinely Original Libertarian Argument?

  

  [Cross-posted to Front Porch Republic]Yesterday evening, I participated in a symposium sponsored in part by Northfield School of the Liberal Arts, a private... Read more

  Posted on 05 March 2014 SOCIETY

• Defending the Oscars (Sometimes)

  

  It's easy to dump on the Academy Awards; doing so in practically a tradition, one that I've joined in with plenty of times. If you want this year's version, jus... Read more

  Posted on 03 March 2014 SOCIETY

• Saturday Night Live Music: "Into Temptation"

  Two fine Australian musicians--Neil Finn of Crowded House fame being the much better known, but Paul Kelly has quite a discography as well--singing a fine,... Read more

  Posted on 02 March 2014 SOCIETY

• Still Great, Half a Century On

  So, will you be huddled like sheep around the television set (or the laptop, though I'm not it'll be live-streamed) watching CBS this Sunday night, watching... Read more

  Posted on 07 February 2014 SOCIETY

• The Ron and Hermione Problem

  

  [Fan art by keerakeera]Okay, I didn't plan on writing anything about this, and there's no point in explaining anything to anyone who doesn't already know... Read more

  Posted on 04 February 2014 BOOKS, CULTURE, SOCIETY

• Wrong Case, Wrong Reasoning, Right Principle

  

  Late last week, the state of Kansas officially joined Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. by filing an amicus brief in support of the Hobby Lobby's effort to... Read more

  Posted on 03 February 2014 SOCIETY

• Five Essential Philip Seymour Hoffman Film Performances

  

  By now, everybody who is on the internet today knows: Philip Seymour Hoffman, the brilliant stage and screen actor, the first (and here I'm stealing a tribute... Read more

  Posted on 02 February 2014 CELEB, CURRENT, ENTERTAINMENT, MEDIA, MOVIES, SOCIETY

• 40 Years of Geeky Fun

  

  As best as the best geek research available is able to determine, Dungeons Dragons--the game, the lifestyle, the way of appropriating and accommodating onesel... Read more

  Posted on 26 January 2014 SOCIETY

• Saturday Night Live Music: "God Part II"

  In my opinion, one of U2's best songs, a short neglected masterpiece from their most misunderstood album from their most ignored tour. Read more

  Posted on 26 January 2014 SOCIETY

• "Be Quiet but Friendly; Proud, but Not Arrogant; Joyous, but Not Boistrous"

  

  Via Slate magazine comes this revealing document, signed by Martin Luther King, Jr., exhibiting a brave and, in the very best tradition of America's civil... Read more

  Posted on 18 January 2014 SOCIETY

• Let Us Praise the 1970s

  

  Withywindle started it, and now David is playing along, so I can too. After all, haven't I documented at great length how pop music came alive for me in the... Read more

  Posted on 17 January 2014 SOCIETY

• Saturday Night Live Music: "I Wanna Destroy You" and "Gene Hackman"

  Missed last week, so I'm back this Saturday with a double-does of SNLM, just to make up for it. These are a couple of tunes by the talented and prolific... Read more

  Posted on 12 January 2014 SOCIETY

• The Five Best Books I Read in 2013

  

  Also getting this post in under the deadline. Fortunately I've blogged about these books,so I don't have to say too much here. Follow the links! Once again in... Read more

  Posted on 01 January 2014 SOCIETY

• The Five Best Movies I Saw in 2013

  

  Getting this post in under the deadline. And, in case it isn't obvious, read the post title carefully: these are the best films which I saw this past year--and... Read more

  Posted on 31 December 2013 SOCIETY

• Three Takes On Anarchism

  

  [Cross-posted to Political Context]I've developed some relatively new intellectual interests over the past year. The most important--at least in terms of its... Read more

  Posted on 31 December 2013 SOCIETY

• Saturday Night Live Music: "My Death (La Mort)"

  The best new music I heard in 2013 came from David Bowie's tremendous surprise album, The Next Day. Unfortunately--though, perhaps also appropriately--there... Read more

  Posted on 29 December 2013 SOCIETY