Russellarbenfox

LATEST ARTICLES ( 630 )

• 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

• Contentious Christmas Arguments in Utah, and Elsewhere

  

  Mathew Parke expresses his hopes for his people (and mine) in Utah, in the wake of last week's same-sex marriage ruling:[T]he thing that strikes me as hopeful... Read more

  Posted on 26 December 2013 SOCIETY

• The Surprising Nativity: A Chrismas Homily

  

  [Cross-posted to By Common Consent] The passage from the New Testament which always hear this time of year includes these important, well-known lines:And there... Read more

  Posted on 22 December 2013 SOCIETY

• Saturday Night Live Music: "In the Bleak Midwinter"

  A spare and haunting rendition of this carol, by the wonderful Scottish folk singer Bert Jansch. This old recording isn't the best, but it's all we have, so be... Read more

  Posted on 22 December 2013 SOCIETY

• Some Random Thoughts on the Utah Same-Sex Marriage Ruling

  

  So Robert Shelby, a federal district court judge in Utah, handed down Kitchen v. Herbert yesterday afternoon, declaring Utah's refusal to permit or recognize... Read more

  Posted on 21 December 2013 SOCIETY

• Why Decriminalizing Polygamy Will Hurt the Affordable Care Act (or Possibly...

  

  I'm not lawyer, so feel free to dismiss the following speculations as completely groundless. But they seems at least plausible to me, nonetheless.First, the... Read more

  Posted on 15 December 2013 SOCIETY

• A Semester of Teaching Sustainability

  

  [Cross-Posted to Front Porch Republic]The semester has come to an end here at Friends University, and students are leaving campus for their holiday break. Read more

  Posted on 14 December 2013 SOCIETY

• Why I Like Popes (Some of Them, Sometimes)

  

  [Cross-posted to By Common Consent]Jorge Mario Bergoglio was made a cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 2001. I didn't take any notice--but then, I'm neither... Read more

  Posted on 12 December 2013 SOCIETY

• The Last Recorded Performance of the Greatest Acoustic Guitarist of Our Era

  And no, I don't know what "our era" is supposed to mean, but I wanted to shoot for something grandiose. Anyway, what a wonderful find on YouTube this is: Michae... Read more

  Posted on 05 December 2013 SOCIETY

• Mice of a Certain Age

  

  A rather vulgar (though not dirty) cartoon, and a very male one as well. For all that (or perhaps even because of it), a funny, poignant, hopeful piece of art.... Read more

  Posted on 03 December 2013 SOCIETY

• Being Thankful for National Communities and Civil Religion, Sometimes

  

  [Cross-Posted to Front Porch Republic]Amongst those Americans who believe that the civic virtues which make both popular government and a fulfilling independenc... Read more

  Posted on 28 November 2013 SOCIETY