Consider these lines from the early 1960s pop classic, “A Hundred Pounds of Clay”: He took a hundred pounds of clay And then He said “Hey, listen I’m gonna fix this-a world today Because I know what’s missin’ Then He rolled his big sleeves up And a brand-new world began He created a woman and-a Lots of lovin’ for a man Whoa-oh-oh, yes he did And now these, five years later, from another hit, “Compared to What”: Slaughterhouse is killin’ hogs Twisted children killin’ frogs Poor dumb rednecks rollin’ logs Tired old lady kissin’ dogs Hate the human, love that stinkin’ mutt (I…
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Hardly any of us want to leave this earth before reaching a ripe old age with plentiful living and loving in our memory storehouse and some inclination toward finally letting these noble but frayed vessels of ours go. Premature death always cuts us to the quick, exposing not only our own vulnerability, but also our sense of sadness and outrage when it takes someone we love and will miss. The recent BBC Films release, “Supernova,” out a few weeks in theaters and as of yesterday on Amazon Prime, explores this theme in particularly poignant fashion, riding the superb acting coattails of Stanley…
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The images, seared into the brain since the now hallowed day of January 6, retain an appalling power. To encounter them again is to be cast into a stomach-churning grief at the darkness we have endured, all the fears of the past four years fully realized. In the end, we did not escape the bullet millions of us had seen aimed at the heart of our country. We were not “deranged” after all—merely clear-eyed about who the 45th president has always been, and the dire threat he has represented all along to our democracy. Today, he remains unrepentant and defiant…
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The Covid-19 pandemic has wreaked all manner of havoc and misery across the world, and in the way of all such human crises, it has also revealed deep reservoirs of our species’ adaptability, resourcefulness, and endurance. Part of that adaptation is purely practical: adjusting our behavior and lifestyle to minimize the risk of infection to ourselves and others, and making sure we will have enough food and shelter to survive the economic shock the pandemic has caused. But another, arguably just as important part, has to do with meeting the internal challenges the pandemic poses, in the realm of what…