On New Years Day I typically share W. H. Audenโs poem New Year Letter, a truly imaginative and insightful piece I commend to you once again. This year however, I want to share something different, a sort of what I got for Christmas this year kind of report. I have almost finished "Joyride: A Memoir"... Continue Reading →
Andrew Coyne writes in The Globe and Mail I wish I could say I told you so. A point I have tried to make over the last year or so is that Donald Trump can only get worse: that however corrupt or incompetent or dictatorial or treasonous or insane he may appear at any given... Continue Reading →
Please help spread the word Robert Reich on Substack - Dec 02, 2025 Friends, The most dangerous corporation in America is one you may not have heard of. Itโs called Palantir Technologies, a Silicon Valley tech company that may put your most basic freedoms at risk. Palantir gets its name from a device used in... Continue Reading →
From This Day in Historyโs Post Gary Burghoff stood on the M*A*S*H (henceforth MAS*H) set in October 1979, holding a teddy bear that had become as famous as he was, and told the producers he was done. Not for more money. Not for better storylines. He was leaving because playing Radar O'Reillyโthe role that made... Continue Reading →
Pianist-composer Fazฤฑl Say premieres his 'Mother Earth' Piano Concerto with the Philharmonic Orchestra this weekend Days before itโs London premiere, Turkish pianist-composer Fazฤฑl Say talks about his powerful Piano Concerto 'Mother Earth' - a work inspired by the climate crisis and the urgent need to protect our planet. The work premieres Sunday 30 November with... Continue Reading →
Feel free to complete the phrase above with the response: โHere followeth the anthem.โ Since the Anglican Book of Common Prayer of 1549 the rubric welcomes and encourages musical creativity and ability in the public services of Morning and Evening Prayer. Visitors to Anglican cathedrals and larger parish churches throughout the Anglican Communion may find... Continue Reading →
Philip Oltermann writing in The Guardian, Mon 17 Nov 2025 -- Click the original article to hear a partial performance and to see other images. Two long-lost organ pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach have been performed in Germany, roughly 320 years after the composer wrote them as a teenage music teacher. Entitled Chaconne in D... Continue Reading →
More wisdom from Robert Reich on Substack Friends, Ten months of this shit. Enough to make one scream, run stark naked in the streets, mount a revolution. But we have to play the long game. In that long game, America learns from this catastrophe โ and turns those lessons into laws, rules, and norms that... Continue Reading →
UPDATE - At the time of publication talks still continue, now in overtime. See how this particular World Series ends. Letter from COP30 in Belรฉm, Brazil - University of British Columbia sociologist, David Tindall reports from COP30 โ Published in The Tyee, Friday, November 21, 2025 David Tindall, a sociology professor at UBC, is chair... Continue Reading →
On my daily troll through online news, sports, and entertainment items I often check out Fstoppers.com, an excellent source for photographers of all abilities and interests. A recent blog talked about street photography and how photographers must practice care, discretion, and resilience to get good shots. For some persons appearing in public, the taking of... Continue Reading →
Take Note - Reflections on life, music, politics, retirement and more by Ken Gray 