Clown – Theorie von Jango Edwards (German Edition)

Alfredo Genovesi and Andy Keep Read more about it! Who's that old man over there waiting for? How did that couple pay for those expensive clothes? They're probably not married. I bet he's cheating on his wife What is that pretty girl smiling at? While watching the new movie Burlesque on my birthday, I wondered what my distant friend Keith Bindlestiff Nelson might think of this flick. Oddly enough, he wrote on Facebook the same night I got back from seeing this movie, and mentioned that one of his co-workers was in the film: Posted by Michael Evans at 8: Monday, November 22, Funk, Winter, and Fun!

There is so much happening as Autumn turns into Winter! I will regularly direct your attention to that wonderful site! Mamako Yoneyama -- each movement has meaning! Gotta Have That Funk! Thank you San Francisco for funking up Yoshi's right and proper. You dropped a funk bomb so PHAT that you set off the fire alarm.

Extra thanks to the local crew: If you missed all the fun, don't worry, we'll be back in January 27! What a night Who sat in last night Gina? The audience went nutz The rest of Funky The circular stage at the Lotus Temple has been turned into a barn and glints with lights to welcome Victor Hugo, with a leading English theatre group All things are in this laugh of mine, at which you laugh today!

A nobleman, who has offended the King, is put to death and his son is punished with a permanent scar across his face: As he grows to manhood, the scarred boy journeys through our bizarre world, always half-sad and half-smiling. The adventure of the play begins on the coast of Cornwall in a stormy night, where Footsbarn began its own epic journey 35 years ago and the protagonists are traveling clowns. Set against the background of a Shakespearean world, they travel Footsbarn gets its name from the barn We used to perform on the beaches, in villages and on streets In , we started performing in a tent that could accommodate around people.

I was there, setting up that SAME tent! The times were changing, theatre was evolving and so was the company. What began as an English theatre group started turning into an international group with Polish, French and Greek artistes joining it. Since then, we have been touring countries like France, Germany and India, conducting workshops and performing at various places.

The language barrier no more exists and we perform in Greek, French and other languages as well, said Haytor. The group first came to India in The most amazing experience was when five Indians joined us when we did a workshop in Kerala. Though not all of them are with us Indian musicians are great to work with I find them eager to work with them for some good English productions. They are always open for cultural exchange and they love to talk. We are looking forward to building a theatre tent in India with Indian architects.

This will open up the exchange of theatrical activities which will encourage more theatre tours to India , said Haytor. After completing their Indian tour, the group is looking forward to work with Indian actors and musicians for their next production, The Tempest by Shakespeare, concluded Haytor.

On the Iberian Peninsula: This ought to be GOOD: Nov 19 and 20 8: The legends vary, but I first read that his nickname was ironically associated with his first hit Bald Head in Swampy Davey Funk-ifies Amsterdam! Davey Norket showed his unique "swampy" rhythmic piano stylings to an appreciative public during a special New Orleans Gumbo Night in Amsterdam. He traded knowledge back and forth with musicians who had studied the bag of tricks known as "second line," the foundation of New Orleans Soul.

The term comes from marching bands who lead street parades -- the big bass drum not only powers the professional musicians up front, but leads the clapping, singing, beating, rattling, dancing crowd in back as well. The shifting, back-and-forth interplay of rhythms mutated into a sound of its own, and showed up in great dance records the whole world still imitates. Check out Davey's new music on his website.

Performances Katie Duck Alfredo Genovesi and groups Gregg Moore wrote about Buster Keaton's masterpiece The General running in a year old church in Northern California with a live band accompanying the action. Friday, November 5, NOW -- vember! November 7 Sunday I fear that the promise of genuine freedom and individual rights is becoming a distant dream. But if you oppose those elements of Trump's policies that will undermine liberty, you gain neither freedom nor rights if you happily join hands with folks who would slit your throat in a new battle for political power, in a system where political power is the only power worth having.

My friend Irfan Khawaja had a nice retort to my post: I mean, I'm not one to cast the first stone. But the second one has its attractions Jim Farmelant raised a good point with which I agreed, in general, when he said: But it is foolish to take it off the table completely. Forty years ago this week, on August 10, to be exact, the man known to the world as " Son of Sam " was arrested after more than a year of terrorizing the city I've always called home. David Berkowitz , first dubbed the. Having lived through the " Summer of Sam ," a time during which New York City was in fiscal disarray and intense urban decay, I can say that we were all more than a little bit jittery, reading the daily news articles and keeping up with the nightly TV reports.

In fact, on the day that Berkowitz was arrested, the New York Daily News had put on its front page a police sketch of the alleged serial killer that didn't resemble him in the least. The Daily News had played a pertinent role in the story as it unfolded, because Berkowitz was busy writing a series of bizarre letters to columnist Jimmy Breslin that spooked the public.

Up until July 31st, however, Berkowitz had restricted his killing to the boroughs of Queens and the Bronx. But then, on the night of July 31, , he came to the corner of Shore Parkway and Bay 44th Street in the Bath Beach section of Brooklyn , not far from my home, and opened fire on a car parked there as two people, Robert Violante and Stacy Moskowitz. Their first date had ended with Violante losing his sight, and Moskowitz dying a day or so later from the. The Son of Sam had come to Brooklyn; the word on the street was that now, even the Mafia was going to find and "take out" this "nutjob.

I had just finished my senior year at John Dewey High School , preparing for my long stint at New York University , which would begin in September Till this day, I look back at that summer and I honor the memory of the victims of those horrific shootings, while keeping their loved ones in my thoughts. But every tragedy seems to elicit memories that provide a little relief in the form of gallows humor.

I remember that during that summer, every time my sister and cousin Sandy who was staying with us at the time went out, they were very much aware that virtually all of the victims of Son of Sam had dark hair. Both my sister and cousin had brown hair, and Sandy even took to wearing a hat. But on the night after July 31st, in the wake of that shattering news of a senseless Brooklyn murder, we had taken an evening walk, about ten blocks from our apartment, to visit our grandmother, aunts, uncle, and cousins.

We were there quite late; it must have been about 1 am, and we finally decided to walk along the brightly lit Kings Highway back to our apartment. I told my mother and sister not to worry. About half-way through our walk, we passed an all-night gas and auto service station. And in the silence of that hot and humid summer night, one of the cars in the service area suddenly backfired. I must have jumped about two feet in the air and let out a scream that could have awakened the dead. My mother and sister were nearly bent over in laughter; even I got so hysterical with laughter that tears rolled down my cheeks.

Fortunately, ten days later, the police had arrested the creep that had so defined the Summer of We all breathed a sigh of relief. But we still chuckle when we remember our walk home, when a car backfired in the still of a steamy August night. There is a Facebook thread that tears apart one of my all-time favorite movies, but also one of those films that Rand-fans especially have made into a cinematic pinata: I've addressed this issue several times before on Notablog, especially in a post about the film , and in a interview with "The Daily Objectivist" on the version of "A Christmas Carol," starring Alastair Sim, who gives a superb, nuanced performance as Scrooge.

In reply to a question about how faithful the film version of "A Christmas Carol" was to the original Charles Dickens story, I wrote:. In response to Michael Stuart Kelly, who points out that the original article link posted on Facebook qualifies as "fake news", I wrote:.

In the continuing discussion, I made one further point on the issues of aesthetic reponse versus ethical evaluation:. My friend, Mark Fulwiler, raised the issue that Paul Robeson was a Stalinist, even though he was a good singer, and then asked the proverbial Hitler question: Mark liked the points I made, but said, "What if I told you I had a recording of Hitler playing Rachmaninoff on the piano with the Berlin Philharmonic? On Facebook, I prefaced this "Song of the Day" entry with this comment: For despite the ritual nature of these police raids, it was on this night that the patrons fought back on the basis of a crucially important libertarian premise; they rioted and rebelled in defense of their individual rights to live their own lives and to pursue their own happiness in private, safe havens, away from the brutality and harassment they faced on an almost daily basis.

It is in this spirit that I add another song to my Summer Dance series. Julie Newmar " and is also played over the end credits. I dedicate it today to those who participated in the Stonewall Rebellion , which began in the wee hours of June 28, , in response to yet another regular police raid on a gay bar , this one in NYC.

It remains a symbolic event for those who have sought equality before the law and the right to live their lives and to pursue their own happiness, without the interference of government. It began on this date as a quintessentially libertarian reaction against state repression of establishments that catered to a clientele of gays, lesbians and even their straight friends, who in their consensual social interactions just wanted to enjoy themselves at a Christopher Street bar in Greenwich Village , a safe haven away from police and social brutality though it should be noted that such bars were typically "protected" by Mafioso who traded in under-the-table police payoffs.

This track from the s wasn't on the Stonewall Inn's famed jukebox , but it is an appropriate dance burner to mark the day, in keeping with our Summer Dance Party. Check it out on on YouTube. His Work and Legacy " on the site of the Atlas Society. I wanted to extend my thanks to Allen for his challenging series of review essays and for his kind comments with regard to the coeditors on the Branden symposium Robert Campbell and me. Derek Jeter remains pure class in my scorebook; he was the face of baseball for nearly two decades, especially at a time when the sport was being routinely sullied by juicing scandals.

It is not by pure chance that this day of tribute falls on " Mother's Day "; Jeter has always spoken of how deeply his mother, his father, and his family have given him inspiration and love. Today, all of New York and baseball fans everywhere will have a chance to share in that love. I was fortunate enough to see Jeter play quite a few times at the old Yankee Stadium.

His eloquent speech at the closing of that Stadium [YouTube link], a year before he was among those players who went on to open the New Yankee Stadium , with a World Series Championship , his final All-Star Game appearance , his farewell speech to the home crowd , his final home game , his final tribute to the crowd , and his final career at-bat against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park where even the Fenway Faithful applauded him remain among the most poignant moments of his storied career [YouTube links].

His drive and his dedication to win and his passion for the game were a marvel to behold and a joy to watch. He was an absolute gem both at the plate and on the field. More than anything, he was, with that classic " inside-out " swing, a clutch hitter having more than hits per season eight times in his career. He was someone whom the opposition feared when the game was on the line.

It was no misnomer when he earned the nickname " Captain Clutch ," since his postseason play was as sparkling as his regular season statistics he retired with a career. But his postseason stats are even more remarkable, because they were earned against the best teams in baseball. Who can forget that " Mr. November " [MLB link] moment at the Stadium in ? Jeter holds many all-time franchise records for the New York Yankees , including most all-time hits 3, , doubles , games played 2, , stolen bases , times on base 4, , plate appearances 12, and at bats 11, He was the 28th player in Major League Baseball History to pass the 3, hit mark.

Always a teammate with a " flair for the dramatic ," his th hit was a home-run on a day in which he went 5 for 5, driving in the winning run. He is, in fact, the only Yankee player with more than 3, lifetime hits which ranks sixth all-time among Major League Baseball players , and the most all-time hits by a shortstop.

Check out some of Jeter's greatest plays , along with some of his greatest defensive plays including the "flip play" in the playoffs against the Oakland Athletics and the flying-into-the-stands catch against the Boston Red Sox in [YouTube links]. I should digress a moment to provide a little personal context for my own celebration of this great ballplayer. Being a Yankee fan my whole life, I rooted mainly for a losing team; this was not the "GM" of American baseball that I'd heard about from my elders, who lived through the s and s.

In my lifetime, there were two years of World Championships that I celebrated: After that, except for a World Series loss in and a few exciting, but ultimately frustrating, years of " Donnie Baseball " led by Team Captain Don Mattingly , the Yankees saw very little of the postseason. After all, it once supported two National League teams: So from the time of the Miracle Mets of through the World Champion Mets , even the late s Yankees were just a blip on the baseball radar in fact, in their own miracle season, you couldn't even find them on the back pages of New York's daily newspapers because the newspapers were on strike!

For me, therefore, it was no coincidence that with the arrival of Derek Jeter in pinstripes as the full-time shortstop of the Yankees in , the team began a renaissance that ended its eighteen-year drought in the World Series. With his matinee idol looks, remarkably steady demeanor, and incredible talent, he seemed perfectly matched for a city that demanded nothing but the best from its sports heroes, "a larger than life presence in a larger than life town," as sportscaster Michael Kay has put it.

And from through , with teams chockful of talent and Joe Torre's managerial expertise , the Yankees won four out of five World Series contests. It is no understatement to say that so much of this success was tied to Jeter's growing maturity as a ballplayer. Later, in , Derek Jeter slipped a fifth World Series ring onto his gifted fingers, with the opening of the new Yankee Stadium. More than anything, Derek Jeter proved to be a genuine leader, not just as a Captain of the team, but as a gentleman of the sport, a beloved man who inspires young players even today. In my book, 2 will always be 1.

It was an honor to watch this man's career unfold. Like All-Star relief pitcher Mariano Rivera , who holds the all-time record for saves , and who is, no doubt, headed for Cooperstown, I hope to see "Captain Clutch" enter Cooperstown as well when he becomes eligible in For now, I'm just looking forward to hearing the voice of the late Bob Sheppard [YouTube link] introducing Derek Jeter as he steps up to be honored by the team with which he spent his entire baseball career -- a rarity nowadays, for sure.

It was quite emotional for this fan to say " farewell " [YouTube link] to the Captain the Yankees paid tribute to him back in September [YouTube link]. But it will be sheer delight to welcome him back home for this tribute. You're playing a game. I understand that it is your job, it's your profession. You have a lot of responsibilities. But at the same time, you're playing a game, and you have to have fun. And if you don't have fun playing it, I think it's impossible to be good at it.

Every moment on the field was fun for me. Jeter made it fun to be a Yankee fan. But that fun transcended the team for which he played. It was one of the most important gifts he gave to the game of baseball: Long live the Captain! Postscript I [15 May ]: Take a look at the plaque unveiled at Yankee Stadium in honor of Jeter during yesterday's ceremony, and Derek's speech as well. Postscript II [16 May ]: It was reported by the Associated Press that the ceremony to honor Jeter "was the most-viewed program in the New York area in its time period on Sunday night and the most-watched non-game in the history of the YES network.

Check out this really sweet Budweiser tribute to 2 [YouTube link]. I've been reading a number of essays online about the alleged "New Age of Ayn Rand," and the authors typically give us a list of folks in the administration of Donald Trump and in the legislative and judicial branches of government who are supposedly Rand "acolytes. Freedland goes on and on about how Rand's "particularly hardcore brand of free-market fundamentalism" is "having a moment," reflected in views expressed by Speaker Paul Ryan, former Presidential candidate Ron Paul, and his Senator son Rand Paul, and a host of folks in the Trump administration, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Labor Secretary Andy Puzder, and even Donald Trump himself, who once said something nice about Rand's novel, The Fountainhead.

Ha's piece is more nuanced; the writer points out that Rand's atheism, opposition to tariffs, corporate bailouts, and such, run contrary to many of the policies put forth by the Trump administration. And as an immigrant from the Soviet Union, an opponent of communism and the building of walls, I think she'd have a few things to say about some of the proposals floated by that administration on the issue of immigration.

I should point out further that Rand's adamant opposition to laws prohibiting abortion, illicit drugs, "obscenity" and "pornography," and sexual activities among consenting adults, run counter to the fundamentalist strain in contemporary U. She argued that the society was headed toward a "new fascism," which was aided by the efforts of both contemporary liberals and conservatives. It was a form of corporate state that would benefit powerful interests at home and abroad through the various machinations of foreign "aid," the Ex-Im Bank, the IMF, and the Fed.

It is true that she was opposed to the welfare state, but that's only because she rooted the problems it was allegedly created to resolve in the boom-bust cycle generated by a state-banking nexus, exemplified by the Federal Reserve System and its abandonment of the gold standard.

Hat tip to Jeffery Small: Of course, Rand was opposed morally, in principle, to the idea of a welfare state, no matter who the beneficiaries were, be it poor folks, corporations, or the bureaucracy that sustained it. She believed it required the wholesale sacrifice of some groups to the benefit of others, and that it necessarily achieved this through the initiation of force, a violation of individual rights.

But she also argued that the whole class of the institutionalized poor was itself an outgrowth of state intervention. She was also opposed to the warfare state; her opposition to U. These consequences, much like the interventionist dynamic at home, would lead to further complications and demands for further interventionism, thus creating an almost self-perpetuating welfare-warfare state see Chapter 12 of my book, Ayn Rand: The Russian Radical , and various essays indexed here. Today, however, I was going to tell the story about one Rand acolyte who was in a position of immense power and what happened when he was given the opportunity to fundamentally change the institutions he once opposed.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, there was a gentleman named Alan. And he stood firmly against the creation of a central bank, especially the Federal Reserve Bank, which institutionalized inflationary expansion and the inexorable busts; he was an adamant supporter of a gold standard, and talked much about how government facilitated the creation of monopolies with various barriers to entry. Alas, Alan eventually became Chairman of the very Federal Reserve System he once opposed, and was one of the sculptors of the bubble that burst into the Great Recession.

But instead of telling that story, I should just refer readers to a wonderful essay by David Gordon posted to the site of the Ludwig von Mises Institute: This is not the age of Rand. It is the age of the anti-Rand. It is an age where people can cherry-pick and sloganize some of Rand's ideas to justify new and ingenious ways of destroying the fabric of social and economic life. Beware "the New Age of Rand"; it is nothing of the sort. I've been having a chat on Facebook about a comment that one person made about Ayn Rand's sexual psychology. Apparently, the person who made the above conjecture is a libertarian and not trying to deflect from Rand's accomplishments as a thinker, so I was asked for a follow-up.

Well, of course, the discussion has continued. On April 22, , I was challenged for "sitting on the fence" with regard to this issue, and I answered in greater detail:.

The conversation went on and on, so I'll just give a summary of what I said in a wrap up posted on 23 April Rick responded that he was "not socialised in your s New York ghetto slang. I guess I'm a little dated. I was asked to name the assumptions about Rand's sexual psychology that the paragraph's writer makes, so stating the obvious I wrote:. Rick Giles answered that I was "hell bent on looking at the inquiry from an application-level psycho-sexual evaluation of one person, Ayn Rand.

Sounds like 'hell bent' might be another ghetto trigger word. I just meant dedicated! Sounds like you're offering me the last word then? I'll take a crack at that later. As we approach April 25, , I will be celebrating the contributions of one of the greatest jazz singers in music history in commemoration of the centenary of her birth. Her improvisational gifts extended not only to her vocal phrasing but to her achievements in that unique art of jazz singing known as scatting.

Ella was raised on a steady diet of music from the likes of Louis Armstrong , Bing Crosby , and the Boswell Sisters ; in fact, it was largely in her embrace of Connee Boswell 's style that she got her big breakthrough in , when she competed in Amateur Night at the Apollo Theater. An enthusiastic response from the typically critical audience and from the musicians themselves launched what would become one of the most extraordinary careers of any singer in American popular culture.

Through Benny Carter , a saxophonist in the house band at the Apollo that fateful night, Ella was introduced to many of Harlem's premier musicians; she eventually joined the Chick Webb band, with whom, in , she scored a 1 hit, "A-Tisket A-Tasket," which sold one million copies--not bad for an ol' nursery rhyme.

Over time, she recorded with bands led by the musicians who exemplified the changing sounds of the era, from the King of Swing, clarinetist extraordinarie Benny Goodman to Dizzy Gillespie , a trumpeter charging into a new era with the sounds of be bop. Ella's style, emergent in the Swing era, slowly incorporated the idioms of bop, which contributed to her mastery of the art of scat singing , a form of wordless, improvisational vocalizing that allowed the singer to use the voice as if it were another instrument in the band.

This critically acclaimed work brought her international recognition as one of the foremost intepreters of the Great American Songbook.

Troupers on the Web

By the s, Ella had recorded over albums, giving her final concert at Carnegie Hall in , the 26th time she had appeared at that iconic venue. She passed away at the age of 79 on June 15, Ella's global impact makes it a difficult task to do a Centenary Tribute. Indeed, for years, I've been tributing this truly great singer with links to over seventy entries in "My Favorite Songs. Prepare to be entertained: This list doesn't come close to the breadth of Ella's discography. Over the next week, leading up to April 25th, I'll feature just a few more gems from the Songbook of its First Lady.

And now the inevitable question: Well, to paraphrase one of the classic lines from a Jerome Kern song I will highlight this week: That's not a dismissal; it's just a reality. The woman recorded and performed so many songs in so many different arrangements throughout the years, that I would be hard pressed to pick ten specific recordings or performances. So let me just say: Start here and spend the next week with me, and you'll understand why. Don Rickles , the iconic comedian of insults , has passed away; I have busted an already busted gut several times through the years, watching his stand-up routines and sit-down interviews.

I Was a Fool to Care , words and music by James Taylor , is a melancholy song to note on what is an otherwise whimsical day: But this song from Taylor's album , " Gorilla " is a standout selection. Check out the song on YouTube. I had forgotten that it was Walter Block, my esteemed libertarian colleague and a past contributor to The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies , who was compiling short autobiographies for a collection that would feature the stories of how so many individuals came to embrace the promise of liberty. Block's collection of these profoundly personal entries was published in , but I just picked up the hardcover from the site of the Ludwig von Mises Institute.

The book is also available as a pdf or epub file and can be accessed here. The autobiographies are organized alphabetically and I must say that the book itself is astonishing in its breadth. I am so elated to recognize so many of the names of folks who are not only fellow travelers on the freedom road, but dear, dear friends. Some of them, sadly, are no longer with us. I highly recommend this work; I know seven years may seem a little late, but I just wanted to say "Thank You" to Walter, once again, for having provided us with a testament to memory, which might serve as an authentic guide, as Walter puts it, to "the younger generation," illustrating the deeply personal paths and processes by which so many have come to embrace the cause of freedom.

Anything with Frankie Avalon 's name attached to it brings to mind films with beaches, blankets, and bingo. But this swingin' song was among the " source music " used in this critically acclaimed period film set in the Civil Rights era of the early s. Source music can play a crucial role in the cinema, providing an aural authenticity to films with an historical setting.

Notablog: Culture Archives

Check out the teen idol's swingin' song on YouTube. The original re-edited epic now playing regularly on premium cable channels, though originally broadcast on NBC in , with a bit of language-scrubbing, as " A Novel for Television " provides us with the whole Corleone family history arranged chronologically with many scenes not shown in the original theatrical film releases seamlessly integrated. Here, the Family history begins with the tragic youth of Vito Andolini of Corleone, Sicily , fatefully renamed as a child upon his arrival at Ellis Island , as Vito Corleone.

We then move on to the mature Mafia Don of the Corleone syndicate played brilliantly by Marlon Brando with special attention focused on one of his American-born sons, Michael Corleone played by Al Pacino , who gives us a master class on evolutionary character development.

Michael is an idealistic World War II hero who eventually becomes the family's chieftan, wielding his power with shocking precision. Overall, seeing this brilliant epic , a masterpiece of direction , writing and improvisation , acting , cinematography , and the use of symbolism , in this chronological reconfiguration provides us with one of the most fascinating cinematic portraits of the power of values in human life by showing what happens when they are gradually inverted and corrupted. And for cinemaphiles, check out the the uh, shooting locations that were used in the original film, including Clemenza's house , only ten blocks from where I live!

1. December 12, 2018?
2. Notablog: Music Archives!
3. Le Mouvement flamand expliqué aux francophones: Préface de Bart De Wever (Espace Vital) (French Edition);

This particular Rota theme featured originally on the soundtrack to " Godfather II ," for which both Rota and Carmine Coppola shared a much-deserved Oscar in the category of " Best Original Score " is one of my all-time favorites. It expresses the yearning of those who emigrated to this country in search of the American Dream , even as it provides us with a sense of a tragic, underlying American nightmare. This is just one of those love stories that tugs at the heart strings, perhaps because in the end [semi-spoiler alert! It's a romantic story about the power of love and the power of home.

Fuhgedaboudit [YouTube link to a classic exchange in the film " Donnie Brasco "! Just the greatest borough in the greatest city on earth in this regard, " IMHO " is not part of my acronymic vocabulary! But love is universal, so Happy Valentine's Day to all!

The Clown Theory

The track is expressive of its title: Hot as hell, with a tempo to match. When is Chick going to get his place among the honorees at the Kennedy Center? And while we're on the subject of this stupendous musician, check out how, over the years, he has reinterpreted his own composition, a modern jazz standard if ever there was one: While you're at it, check out Stevie Wonder's live-in-concert take on that Corea Classic and Stevie and Chick playing it live, together [YouTube link].

Readers can find that review here , though the review has sparked a dialogue on Anoop's Facebook page. Additional comments were made on this thread; on December 31, , I posted three additional comments, all in response to questions posed by Anoop Verma, whose review of the symposium is the subject of the thread. Anoop wondered about the timeline of the relationships between Ayn Rand, Nathaniel Branden, Barbara Branden, and Leonard Peikoff, and about the relationships among these individuals; he also asked about the book Who is Ayn Rand?

That original version was recorded by Mabel Scott [YouTube link]. Have a safe and Merry Christmas Eve! It is a special symposium featuring the contributions of fifteen authors on the subject of "Nathaniel Branden: His Work and Legacy. Print copies are on the way to subscribers, just in time for the holidays! Since this is a double issue, it can be purchased as a stand-alone hard copy by nonsubscribers at the annual subscription rate see the subscription page at the Johns Hopkins University Press, which handles all PSUP periodical distribution through its fulfillment services.

In addition to our regular print and electronic publication, this special issue is also available through amazon. As the ad copy for the new issue informs us: Nathaniel Branden was a crucial figure in the life of Ayn Rand and her philosophy. A brilliant psychotherapist and "father" of the self-esteem movement, he made important contributions to the theory and practice of Objectivism. So far, however, his life and influence have never been the subject of a book or collection of articles.

The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies JARS long intended to fill this gap by publishing an interdisciplinary collection of studies about the many facets of his work. With his death on December 3, , JARS received too many valuable essays to publish in a single issue. Now, two years after Branden's passing, and for the first time in our sixteen-year history, we offer not only a double issue but one that will be available in print and as a Kindle edition.

Southern, and Joel F. Waderepresent a wide array of perspectives and disciplines, such as political theory, history, philosophy, literature, anthropology, business, film, and both academic and clinical psychology. Past and Future," by Nathaniel Branden, as well as the most comprehensive annotated bibliography yet produced on Branden and the secondary literature regarding his life and work. For a lengthier description of the purpose and contents of this symposium, I'd like to feature in today's Notablog entry, a few extended passages from the "Prologue" full citations and endnotes can be found in the published version, along with much material omitted here , written by the coeditors for this very special issue: Campbell and yours truly Chris Matthew Sciabarra.

Needless to say, there is much more in the Campbell-Sciabarra "Prologue"and even our summary of the essays in this extraordinary symposium provides just a small indication of the treasures readers will discover within its pages. For more information on the symposium, please consult the JARS page for its abstracts and contributor biographies. And don't forget to explore the many new and wonderful features of our fully reconstructed website , courtesy of our webmaster, Michael E.

Southern, himself a contributor to the Nathaniel Branden symposium. And I'd also like to thank our indefatigable PSUP copyeditor, Joseph Dahm, for all his wonderful work on this and all of our issues, and to give a "shout-out" to Jennifer Frost , whose Grammar Check always offers helpful tips even to those of us who have been editing for decades! We believe this issue constitutes a seminal moment not only in the sixteen-year history of our journal, but in the evolving scholarly literature on the impact of "Ayn Rand and her times," one of the very purposes for which JARS was founded way back in I just finished reading a typical "libertarian" takedown of yet another classic Christmas tale, long celebrated in American culture: This critique is by Tom Mullen.

November 01, 2018

Years ago, I read another typical "libertarian" takedown of " A Christmas Carol ," and Tom Mullen appears to be of the same school of thought on this story as well and what occurs to me is that in both cases, the libertarian critics completely miss the point because they are too busy focusing on the dollars-and-cents issues of how businesspeople are portrayed in these tales.

I'll grant the critics one major point: But anyone who shares in the larger, benevolent sense of life that Rand saw in American culture should learn to "bracket out" some of the conventional "pink" premises often slipped into films that give us cardboard-cutout portraits of greedy businessmen who operate in very one-dimensional ways almost always understood in terms of strict dollars and cents. Rand herself, however, often fell victim to being incensed by such portraits that she could not see the value of great films, like " The Best Years of Our Lives ," which put forth such nefarious notions as "the banker with a heart.

Debuting about a year after the official end of the most horrific war in human history, the film provides its audience with a cultural catharsis. It does a terrific job of depicting the palpable struggles of World War II's survivng veterans. The film resonated with the audience, which saw on the silver screen riveting portraits of post-traumatic stress and the struggles of veterans trying to live "normal" lives, despite having lost their limbs in battle. In fact, Harold Russell who actually lost both his hands in the war, received an Oscar for Supporting Actor and an Honorary Oscar for "bringing hope and courage to his fellow veterans.

Then again, I'm the kind of guy who identifies with the subtexts of films that are complex enough to appreciate on a level that might not seem obvious at first blushhence, till this day, my favorite film of all time remains "A Tale of the Christ": Of course, even Rand the atheist could appreciate great literature and great film, no matter how deep its religious context.

As I state in my essay on "Ben-Hur":. Well, then, for me, and for so many other viewers, there is both reason and rhyme in viewing such films as "It's a Wonderful Life" and "A Christmas Carol" as providing precisely that "sense of faith, courage and moral uplift" that nourish the requisite spiritual inspiration sought by most of us on this planet we call home. So let's turn to "It's a Wonderful Life," the newest punching bag among some critics in libertarian circles. Contary to what Tom Mullen has said in his essay, there is no evidence that George Bailey has been anything but honest with his customers.

Even when there is a run on the bank in , when the Stock Market crashes, George tries to explain to each person who put their money in the Bailey Building and Loan Company, that every single one of them signed a contract when they made their initial deposits, with the stipulation that their money would be secure and that if they wanted to withdraw all of their savings at any time, they would receive it within sixty days. From the first moments of the crash, something engineered by the Federal Reserve System during the Roaring Twenties, Ol' Man Potter, the guy whom Mullen extols as the real "hero" of the film, offers folks 50 cents on the dollar if they come to his bank not exactly the "generous offer" Mullen celebrates.

He's the kind of guy who was probably involved in the Fed's formation, which made twentieth-century booms and busts both possibleand inevitable, including the crash depicted in the film. And he's also the kind of guy who took pride in running the Draft Board, assisting his government to draft men into involuntary servitude on the precipice of World War II. Yeah, a real hero, that Mr. There is nothing redeemable about sending another business into a tailspin by stealing its deposits in an act of outright thievery. Now, let's get back to the real meaning of "It's a Wonderful Life," and why it is that so many people regard it as a holiday classic.

The irony is that when it was released, it wasn't as successful in its first run because people found it too "dark"; after all, the plot twist of the final reel reads like a script from an episode of Rod Serling's "Twilight Zone": And Clarence, Bailey's Guardian Angel, is looking to earn his wings, which he can't do unless he saves George.

So Clarence jumps into the water and starts screaming for help. George Bailey, played beautifully by the great James Stewart , forgets his own intended act of self-sabotage, because inside of him is a benevolent sense of life, a sense of life so profound that at the moment of contemplating suicide, he saves the life of another man. When Clarence explains that he can't "earn his wings" without saving George, George is so mystified by all this "angel" talk, and he's beyond disgusted: In a moment of remarkable inspiration, Clarence grants George his wish.

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