If Kevin Kline developed a half-hour series in which he came on stage and cycled through a series of expressions from the sublime to the ridiculous while ambling wordlessly or with intermittent mutterings stage left and stage right in no predictable pattern, I’d have my credit card out of my wallet ready to binge-watch the entire season before I hit my easy chair. Mr. Kline, in my estimation one of the great and most watchable actors of our time, recently joined fellow actor Laura Linney, no slouch in the watchable department herself, in lead roles for the eight-part series, “American…
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We interrupt the previously scheduled post in this space on a splendid new television series to present an astonishing torrent—even by the President Trumpian standards we have gotten “used to” at our peril—of 55 Truth Social posts the president shared from late night Monday into the early morning hours Tuesday. The posts have since been verified and summarized by the fact-checking site Snopes, the first five of which all happened within a minute of each other. Trump did indeed go on a posting spree from around 10:14 p.m. May 11 until 1:12 a.m. May 12, so we’ve rated the claim…
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I’m increasingly using AI to do basic historical research and quick fact-checking, always careful to check the sources it cites in scraping the history of human knowledge acquisition. In doing so, I’ve also researched enough about AI itself to become increasingly aware of the awesome power it has as a force for both good and evil. And depending on which side of that ledger you tend to gravitate toward, you can find abundant support for your position of elation or alarm. Recently, a Facebook friend posted a song by what looked to be a well-seasoned but heretofore unknown soul/blues singer…
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On one hand, it requires a good deal of pluck to try covering a song by Bob Dylan, the veritable reigning Pope of Folk-Rock-Contemporary Singer-Songwriters. On the other, there is the matter of his nasal twang not being everyone’s cup of song-listening tea. …they bring all that sensibility to bear zeroing in on an aspect of ‘It Ain’t Me, Babe’ that Dylan, tangled up in the blues and recriminations of his failing relationship, couldn’t bring himself to find. Couple that with the sheer magnitude of Dylan’s musical catalog, chock-full of provocative commentary and soulful balladry on the great social, political…
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I hear ya, Bro. Not much about the world you see in front of you has seemed quite right from the beginning. Adults have drilled into you at every turn that you have to be honest, patient and kind, take turns, not be greedy, don’t cheat or steal or think you’re better or more deserving than anyone else. Practice the Golden Rule, don’t prey on those weaker, keep your promises, honor your commitments. But it seems everywhere you look, venality and aggression, vulgarity and dishonesty rule the day. Film stars, politicians, coaches, corporate titans, clergy and teachers knee deep in…