Yet another music expert and critic says that today’s popular songs suck

I’ve long argued that today’s music sucks, well aware that for saying this I’ll be accused of being a curmudgeon who simply likes his generation’s music and can’t make way for the innovations of the new kids. My response to that accusation is threefold: that there are no groups today that even begin to rival […]

NYT disses Maroon 5’s Super Bowl show as not sufficiently woke

For a while I’ve been saying that liberal media like the New Yorker and the New York Times are turning into HuffPost, with their biases seeping into their reporting, but few people agree with me. I used to look to the Times, for instance, as a beacon of objective reporting, with a Leftist editorial slant […]

Musical flashmobs play Bolero and Waltz of the Flowers

UPDATE: If you click on this video link, you’ll go to a whole playlist of musical flashmobs (h/t: reader Malcolm) _____________________ I found these videos on YouTube and thought they were cool. Both involve classical musicians showing up in public venues to play familiar but lovely songs. In this first one, the Orchestra of Opera North […]

Flowers and fish

First we have some photos from a visit to the University of Hawaii’s Lyon Arboretum, not far from downtown Honolulu. I can’t identify the plants, but some are native and some are not. Readers are invited to weigh in. First, the source of Hawaiian plants. It wasn’t until about 20 years ago that I learned […]

PCC(E)’s favorite holiday songs

Yes, even though I’m an apostate Jew, I still like a few Christmas songs, and I’ve put them below to celebrate the beginning of my personal holiday. All three songs were written fairly recently—since 1962. This is a lovely one by Sarah McLachlan and a children’s chorus; it even includes an antiwar message, included in […]

Misheard song lyrics

Shappi Khorsandi, comedian and previous president of the British Humanists, tweeted some misheard lyrics: I’m in shock. Let’s play the Mondegreen game. I have JUST realised that it’s not ‘Lets hit the B square’ what’s the actual lyric? pic.twitter.com/jMS8DeHNPT — Shappi Khorsandi (@ShappiKhorsandi) December 20, 2018 I suspect that the lyric she was thinking of, […]

Annual Christmas Grinch-ery: “Baby It’s Cold Outside” once again gets the thumbs down from the Outrage Brigade

Yes, it’s that time of year: holly, mistletoe, fruitcakes, eggnog, premature Christmas music—and the carping of Authoritarian Leftists who want to ban the song “Baby it’s cold outside” for its supposed lack of affirmative sexual consent. Here are two older articles from the Washington Post and Vox explaining why the outrage brigade demonizes the song. In […]

Harriet the Singing Donkey

Most donkeys make noises that would rouse the demons of Hell, but this Irish specimen, Harriet the Singing Donkey, has a sonorous and mellifluous voice. As BoingBoing reports: She became an internet sensation when Martin Stanton, who lives not far away and has visited Harriet the donkey regularly for more than a year, posted a […]

Paul Simon hangs it up, gives last concert in Queens

It’s hard to believe that Paul Simon is nearly 77, for I remember him when he was just a sprout—though an immensely talented one.  But he just gave the last concert on his last tour, saying that he wants to spend more time with his family. (He hasn’t ruled out future appearances in what he […]

Old music for Friday

I recently listened to three old songs that I’m posting for grins. The first is “Wagoner’s Lad,” a traditional American folk song whose earliest reference is 1908. It’s one of the rare traditional pieces of music highlighting the plight of women. This version is by the Kingston Trio—the incarnation after 1961, when Dave Guard had […]