A GIRL ON A BEACH: On October 30, I watched Nosferatu at the AFI Silver, with a live score by the Silent Orchestra. There are a lot of things one could notice about that experience (SOMEDAY I will own the SO-scored version of Alla Nazimova’s Salome!!!!) but I will just pick one. This movie is very long, for a silent movie, and it does have bland stretches. But it also offers lots and lots of scary ship upon a scary... Read more

Oh life looked so rosy in the blogwatch,But I’ll be a friend and I’ll tell you what’s in store… Belated Halloweenery edition. Camassia on Synetic Theater’s Dracula adaptation. I strongly second her belief that Synetic should’ve stayed wordless; the best moments of the production were all dance, from the snaky vampire women to the eerie invisible horse. (That horse really should NOT have worked–it should’ve evoked memories of Monty Python members banging coconuts–and yet the amazing lighting work and the... Read more

THE CHILDREN OF THE NIGHT: If you don’t check out the Kindertrauma Jukebox… well, I reckon we don’t like your kind ’round here. The Specials provide my favorite tune by far. Read more

The function of the advance guard in military terms is exactly that of the rear guard, to protect the main body, which translates as the status quo.–Donald Barthelme, quoted in the American Conservative, of which more later Read more

THREE LINKS. First, in honor of the 75th anniversary of the Yale Political Union, the only article you’ll ever need about the ypu. But also: Noli Irritare Leones turned me on to these two interesting posts: a friendship contract; and the “moral murkiness” of charity. The latter link has a terrific story of a fistfight, and reminds me of my post about pregnancy center counseling, leadership, and complicity. Read more

OUT AND ABOUT, LIKE A RORSCHACH BAT*: Here’s where I’ll be in the next few days. If your own itinerary looks similar, why not say hello? Thursday: All-day conference at Heritage on “Religious Practice and the Family: What the Research Says.” This is totally free, they feed you, and I should be able to get an article out of it… and, uh, it’s also a fascinating subject! Then, at night, I shall venture into darkest Rosslyn (it’s actually about four... Read more

“SHELF LIFE.” My new AmCon column–which is only available to subscribers online, so check your local libraries and newsstands!–takes a look at Martin Luther King, Jr. Public Library. I think this is my favorite DC column so far. Read more

THE PURPOSE PRIZE. Hey, that’s my aunt! (Second item.) Read more

“Conservatism is my sexual preference.”–the FC, around 5 a.m. Sunday morning Read more

The last bus I missed to Maudlin Street,so you drove me home in the vansaying, “Women only watch mefor my blogs…” Sean Collins says more or less what I thought about Danica Novgorodoff’s Slow Storm comic… except that he was easier on white-$#@!up Ursa than I was. But yeah, the art is amazing. Maggie Gallagher on Ricky Gervais vs. Oscar Wilde (yeah, you have to fight through some partisanage, but it’s worth it–scroll until you hit the Wildery if you... Read more