Nothing about the election – something more important. Rest in peace to the brilliant Quincy! Here he is with Sinatra. The gods were with them.
My Latest…
…at my Substack. About songs and Hallowe’en and elections and other stuff.
Ink Stained Wretches – Wow!
Super thrilled – my Wall Street Journal column about the horrors of “impact” and “impactful” got a mention on one of my favourite podcasts, the Ink Stained Wretches! I am pleased, to say the least. I had written to Chris Stirewalt and Eliana Johnson – the show’s clever hosts – because Stirewalt had stated a couple of weeks ago that the word “impactful” should, more often than not, be replaced with “effective.” So true! Anyway, they read my email and linked to my column. By the way, if you are interested in media, in the news about the news, you can’t go wrong with the Wretches. (We need a Canuck version, stat.) Other podcasts I enjoy: Commentary, Call Me Back, Andrew Sullivan’s Dishcast, The Tudor Chest and Conversations with Tyler (Cowen). That was not a complete list, but I only have so much space here. I must be getting old because I find podcasts a much better accompaniment to a walk than music, though I love music. With music, I often start walking to the beat and can get dangerously distracted. Not good when you should be paying attention to traffic lights.
Grim Anniversary
Today marks one year since the Hamas attacks on Israel. I wrote about it here. (I also wrote about St. Francis of Assisi here.)
BHL’s “Israel Alone”
I wrote about BHL’s new book on my Substack a while back – I read it in French and I wanted to let those who are interested know it is now available in English. Strongly recommend, if you care about the survival of the Jewish people, of Israel – as I do – and if you are disgusted – as I am – with the hatred of Jews and Israel and the absolute morally bankrupt madness that we have seen since October 7th.
A Quote Worth Thought
Your life is your life. Don’t let it be clubbed into dank submission. Be on the watch. There are ways out. There is light somewhere. It may not be much light but it beats the darkness. Be on the watch. The gods will offer you chances. Know them. Take them. You can’t beat death but you can beat death in life, sometimes. And the more often you learn to do it, the more light there will be. Your life is your life. Know it while you have it. You are marvelous. The gods wait to delight in you. – Charles Bukowski
New on my Substack
Why does this even surprise me? When women’s rights advocates welcome Hamas supporters into their fold.
Handful O’Links
Duelling ideas about what a hostage deal would bring: one here in which Bret Stephens argues it could be, in the long run, an incredibly bad idea, causing more deaths in future; over at Foreign Affairs, Graham Allison and Amos Yadlin make a different case. All three of these thinkers are pro-Israel, so it is a good idea to read both. That said, the latter piece was written prior to the execution of the six hostages. I wonder whether that crime changed the authors’ views.
In France, Emmanuel Macron finally picked a new prime minister – a moderate conservative voice, Michel Barnier. I absolutely love that he did this – it is a poke in the eye to the fans of Hamas who were elected during the French parliamentary elections in July. (Of course, massive protests ensued.) I wrote about the election results previously, on my Substack.
James Earl Jones
Wonderful, underrated – or maybe “under known” – actor. I don’t mean people don’t know his work, but they know Star Wars and CNN, above all. One movie I strongly recommend is Claudine, just a great, gritty, ’70s romance, as only the ’70s seemed to produce. (See my Substack for more about that era in movies.) He had a great sense of humour about himself, too – his appearances on Will and Grace and also The Big Bang Theory were delightful.
Gena Rowlands and Alain Delon
A couple of greats have left us – I wrote about Gena on my other site. As for Delon, well, he was dashing, talented and, I had thought, an animal lover. But apparently, that love was a bit, er, creepy. He wanted his dog put down when he died, so that they could be buried together. Mercifully, his family said, “non.”