BOOKS/ART/CULTURE
MY WIFE AT BURNING MAN
My 75-year-old wife Carolyn returned from her fourth Burning Man. Shocked? Here’s the full picture. Carolyn—Playa name DramaQueen—loves the festival, which draws 60,000–70,000 people to the desert three hours north of Reno. She first went in 2018. She’d known about Burning Man since its early days at San Francisco’s Baker Beach. “Also, I’d been a…
Read MoreTWO FAREWELLS
Last Sunday, Carolyn and I bid two farewells. In only one case had someone died. That someone was Tina Turner, who died last May. We attended Tina: The Tina Turner Musical at the Golden Gate Theater. It provided an opportunity to say goodbye to a woman whose music, and pluck, topped the charts. Tina first opened in London’s…
Read MoreIOWA ’23, SOUTHIE ’74
Donald Trump was just indicted on four counts regarding attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Yet he remains the heavy favorite for the Republican 2024 presidential nomination. A pollster and a novelist offer insights. On Tuesday, GOP pollster Frank Luntz told Dana Bash on CNN’s “Inside Politics” that conservative, faith-based Iowa voters “like Donald…
Read MoreMORE MANDALORIAN–JEWISH PARALLELS
Months ago, Disney+ hyped season 3 of the Star Wars-related “The Mandalorian.” A thousand people from 20 countries read my 2021 post, “The Mandalorian and the Jews.” Season 3’s Jewish connections were even stronger. “The Way” of the Mandalorians suggests Jewish law, Halacha—the way of going. Maimonides writes about the “way of the Lord” in his Mishneh Torah. The…
Read MoreMY APOLOGIES, TONY AWARDS
Last Sunday, Carolyn and I tuned in—late—to Broadway’s Tony Awards TV show. When the nominees for Best Play were announced, I was certain one show had no chance. Of the five nominees, Leopoldstadt, by Tom Stoppard, presented a multi-generational Jewish family’s experiences in Vienna from 1899 to 1955. These included discussing escape plans following Nazi Germany’s…
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