Four years ago Charlie Rose interviewed Garrison Keillor, who said something so provocative that for a detectable millisecond Rose was speechless, a rarity. Keillor of course was on promoting A Prairie Home Companion, but early on they discussed the just-ended 2004 election, where the progressive Keillor nailed John Kerry’s defeat and praised George II’s campaign …
Monthly Archives: January 2008
How Thou, Art?
Copyright 2008 Ben S. Pollock DATELINE MIRTHOLOGY — The way to be left alone in Fayetteville’s Wilson Park is to mutter to no one in particular. It’s not a particularly small town, but if you do leave your house you often run into people you know. So look moderately troubled, other park patrons tend to snap …
By George, Part II
Only some of the essayists in What Orwell Didn’t Know: Propaganda and the New Face of American Politics, edited by Andras Szanto for PublicAffairs Books, which I will review soon, think George Orwell (1903–1950) is the man for 2008. After all, their thesis is in the title. Any other George you can think of already has …
By George, Part I
No, not that George, the other one. Not that George, either. It’s not fair to say if George Orwell were alive today, he’d be totally yada yada yada on creation science and intelligent design. But what if Orwell actually wrote about the subject, even though those two terms were not invented yet? 1984, Book 3, …
Unkle Katrina
Copyright 2008 Ben S. Pollock DATELINE MIRTHOLOGY — In the Mall of the Ozarks where the Toasts of the Town shop, where the vivacious news anchors and the handsome sports anchors check out the best duds to wear on the air, the meteorologists also lurk. They grab the nice clothes as well, but you’ll usually …
WAC-ky in Fayetteville
The Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville at age 16 is being called a relic in some (moneyed) quarters. Those quarters know it’s not old by civic center standards, and in the last year or so it got reupholstered. The quarrel is its size. The main auditorium has about 1,200 seats, and we’re a growing metropolis, …
An Endorsement, Iowa
Dear Iowa: I know you a little. I’ve been visiting almost every year since 1991. You house my in-laws. A lot in common with Arkansas: Mainly rural. Your shape. A prominent capital city instead of a tucked-away one like Jeff City or Austin (that’s a little joke). You held on to your 19th-century populist style presidential …
Bah, New Year
Copyright 2008 Ben S. Pollock 1. For all of us who watch our weight, shouldn’t we followers of Agatston and Atkins continue to avoid refined flour and reduce processed food, though that might drive us nuts (which are excusably high fat only if you’re near zero carb). To do any diet right, you can’t eat …
