by Dr. Jeffrey Lant Let us recall this day and its purpose first by reminding you of one of the most celebrated poems of war, youth too soon ended and of the flower that evokes it all, the blood-red poppy. In Flanders Field by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, M.D. Canadian Army (1872-1918). In Flanders Fields …
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant Today is Sunday, May 29, 2011. I shall celebrate it like millions of people worldwide by going to work, leaving me at the end of the day with only a tiny sliver of the leisure time my grandparents had every Sunday for their long lives. This continuing labor is not necessarily …
Author’s note. This is a story you will never understand until you hear Joshua Bell play. As he is an energetic, prolific artist this will not be difficult. .But what of his vast oeuvre to recommend? Easy. Caprice No. 24 in A minor: Tema con Variazioni (Quasi Presto) by Niccolo Paganini (1782-1840). It was the …
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant Author’s note. To set the mood for this article, be sure to search any search engine for “Ladies in Lavender”, composer Nigel Hess, violinist Joshua Bell, recorded by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, 2004. It is based on a short story by William Locke (1916), filmed in 2004. Before starting this music, …
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant Today, for the 360th time in its exalted history, a history far older than the republic itself, Harvard will, with all the colorful paraphernalia of the Academy, send a goodly percentage of the brightest young people on earth on their way to kismet. Some of these people will become heads of …
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant First, the facts. Just the other day, April 11, 2011, Princeton professor of African-American studies and religion Cornel West managed, in one fast-moving interview with the political blog Truthdig to * make a series of outrageous, unsubstantiated remarks about his now former friend Barrack Obama, president of these United States, * …
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant I was scheduled to write quite a different thing today from this, but when the shutters blew in and snapped against the glass with cannot-be-denied insistence, making me at once startled and alert, I knew another force, call it Nature, call it Aeolus, Greek ruler of the winds; call it anything …
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant Many years ago Nancy Saunders, one of England’s celebrated gardeners, informed me in no uncertain terms of one of the essential conditions for horticultural success: prune, prune, ruthlessly prune. Find the little buds and, ruthlessly, cut them off, focusing on just one bud, the bud you have selected for greatness. A …
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant Author’s note. To get into the right mood for this article, search any search engine and find the well-known gospel tune “I’m on my way (to Canaan land)”. (Written by William M. Golden, 1914) . My favorite is the version by the great Mahalia Jackson. Chances are over the last few …
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant Author’s note. To get the most from this article, go to any search engine and look for the recording of “It’s so nice to have a man around the house”. Eartha Kitt’s is the best; she was the mistress of steamy insinuations and wanton sensuality, implied, but never quite stated. Every …