By coincidence, I began composing this blog in late 2016—just as the poor ol’ USA was descending into a deep abyss, “waters deep, fires raging”. So it’s a great relief to be able to write free of that dark shadow, as sanity makes a welcome come-back gig after a four-year vacation, and grown-up-sounding comments re-emerge from the White House. Anyway, here I break the champagne over the bows of a new USA tag in the sidebar (these tags are useful, BTW, however rough and ready! Do consult them!).
It seems suitable to start with the series that I wrote on
and among numerous posts under the jazz tag (to which I’ve only awarded the USA tag sparingly), see e.g.
Bearing in mind the scars of genocide and slavery, conflict has never been absent; but many such posts pay homage to boundless creativity and energy. Some more examples:
On film,
- Marx brothers (tag)
- Five easy pieces
- David Lynch (Wild at heart, Twin Peaks)
- Moon river
- What’s up Doc?
On music, musicology, and fieldwork:
- Bruno Nettl
- Bruce Jackson
- Madonna and McClary
- Accordion crimes
- Country
- Detroit 67, and
- Amazing Grace
- You don’t own me
- Smile (Charlie Chaplin, Nat King Cole, Judy Garland)
- The iconic Pearl and Dean tune
- Family guy
- Soap
- Parks and recreation
- Mozart in the jungle
- Imagining the New World
- Charles Ives
- John Cage
- Meredith Monk
Note also
- Some early American humorists
- On Steinbeck and Salinger
- Gary Snyder
- Lenny Bruce
- Daoist non-action (Han Feizi, Liezi, Martin Gabel, Walt Disney—but not quite Miles Davis).
Other posts take the story on, such as
- Coco and Naomi
- Katelyn Ohashi
- AOC
- David Sedaris (tag)
- Steven Wright (here and here)
- Patricia Lockwood.
Considering daily language, some usages are charming:
- Signoffs and other cross-pond drôlerie
- To go: a parallel text
- You say potato
- Enough already
- Momentarily
So while one always wants to rejoice in all this, somehow such posts were always blemished by the Putrid Tang emanating from the White House; but now, with the renaissance following these traumatic four years, it finally seems suitable to celebrate again—even if the battle for social justice continues.
