Donald's Blog
May 20, 2012 A Sunday book review
Having read the excellent Wall Street Journal's weekend review section, I can now go slumming online to glance at the New York Times book section, and I have enjoyed not one but two reviews of amateurish right-wing polemic. Janet Maslin's review of The Amateur, by Edward Klein, reveals that it is an autobiography in which Barack Obama appears as well as Mr Klein. Even better, Joe Klein (no relation, as far as I know) reviews Jonah Goldberg's The Tyranny of Clichés: How Liberals Cheat in the War of Ideas. May 20, 2012 Kudos to the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra
When my dear old friend Barbara Costanzo moved back to Wisconsin, I was surprised to learn that the well-known Dutch conductor Edo de Waart is now the music director of the Milwaukee Symphony. She’s been going to the concerts, and evidently de Waart is one of those, like Jascha Horenstein, Sergiu Comissiona and a few others, who is really good at training a band, lifting it up. They recently delivered a very good showing of themselves at Carnegie Hall in New York City. The reason they snagged de Waart for Milwaukee is that his wife is from the area. Here's an interesting feature about him from Milwaukee’s NPR station. May 20, 2012 Matthew Benson, ace photographer
Matthew Benson is an ace photographer and an all-round good guy. When he went on morning TV to talk about organic vegetables, he managed to keep motormouth Regis Philbin from taking over (and Philbin was amused). Matthew has a small farm in New York state, where he photographed chickens for an article in Organic Gardening magazine, and managed to get one of them standing on tip-toe, certainly the chicken photo of the century. He has a beautiful new book out about how to photograph plants, and about digital photography in general, and an exhibit soon at Anthony and Florence Rodale's nifty new gallery in Emmaus, Pennsylvania; if you're in the Lehigh Valley, check it out. Here's a piece from The Morning Call. May 20, 2012 Butch comes to Bethlehem The last time I saw Texas troubadour Butch Hancock live was in the back room of a pub in South London 25 years ago. Now he's coming to Godfrey Daniels in Bethlehem Pennsylvania on Wednesday, and I'm going to be there. Here's an article from the local press, and here's my entry for Butch from my encyclopedia. May 20, 2012 Speaking of photographs... Having mentioned Matthew Benson's work, I hesitate to display my cruddy snapshots, but can't resist. This is my feeble capture of Elizabeth Murray's photo of Monet's lily pond, one of the most breathtaking photos I have ever seen. Her pictures are on display at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx until October. Her website is here. May 20, 2012 Peonies in the Bronx Personalities on display all over the New York Botanical Garden include the most outrageous peonies; this is just one example. May 20, 2012 Monet in the Bronx The New York Botanical Garden has recreated Monet's garden at Giverny; that sounds ridiculous, but they have actually done a very impressive job of filling an enormous conservatory with a tribute to the genius of an artist who loved plants as much as he loved painting. It's a magnificent achievement, on display until October. May 20, 2012 And finally today... Here's Butch Hancock and his West Texas Waltz.
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