What a world this is, what a country. That’s today’s controversial opinion, based on local news articles and a national item. Those pieces from last week come to mind the morning after massive health-care legislation passed the U.S. House, where opposition spanned from principled and reasonable to name-calling. Two Northwest Arkansas reporters last week reviewed […]
The wonderful thing about having a well-run auditorium in town is opportunities it provides. If you follow Paul Simon or were listening to pop music in the mid-1980s you know of his album Graceland, which introduced to the West the South African men’s chorus that was in Fayetteville last weekend. Its name can seem a […]
A nice thing just happened. On Jan. 31, I was elected vice president of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. I’ve been a card-carrying columnist since 1991, joining during the run of my column Mirthology, in the old Arkansas Democrat. The post is interim, to cover after a resignation, until the annual membership meeting in […]
Copyright 2010 Ben S. Pollock Seeing the backstage drama Crazy Heart down at the Malco on its opening weekend here in Northwest Arkansas gave me lots to think about, being a good movie. It’d be fine to wait for a home viewing, but leisurely, panoramic views of New Mexico increase the worth of a cineplex […]
I miss smoking. Yes, quit pipes and the occasional cigarette or cigar 22 years ago. Don’t mean miss my own smoking. I do miss how smoking helped the dexterity of nearly everyone — that is, people who smoked, which was nearly everyone. That was not obvious until a few weeks ago. My office moved from […]
“Think, men, think.” — Prof. Harold Hill, The Music Man New Year’s Resolution No. 1 for 2010 is modest: Keep a book list. Then in a year there’ll be a better best books Brick. One could say that if the books I read were memorable then I’d remember ’em. It’s not as if I read […]