Speaking Truth to Power, Jamie-Style

Last updated on: January 18, 2015 at 3:33 pm By Joseph Susanka

View image | gettyimages.com This past Saturday, as Sarah was out grocery-shopping with Dominic, and I was doing something equally important, James, the Fifth Son, was watching Netflix. Saturday-morning cartoons are pretty much an inalienable right in our house. If I remember correctly, the majority of the boys were downstairs with “Wolverine and the X-Men” at the time. (Speaking of which, almost nothing is funnier than Cormac, the Sixth Son, saying “Wolverine.” Awesome.) But since James tends to be a bit more... Read more

Scott Tennant, François Couperin, and A Charming Number of My Favorite Things

Last updated on: January 9, 2015 at 11:38 am By Joseph Susanka

I’ve loved guitarist Scott Tennant for years, ever since I first saw The LAGQ’s “Loose Canon.” I love his expressions (facial), his expressiveness (musical), and the way the guitar looks like a toy in his huge (yet gentle) hands. I’ve loved François Couperin’s “Les Barricades Mistérieuses” for ages. (Yes, Sam Rocha, long before I first saw Tree of Life and recognized the piece’s central role in my favorite moment from the film, I loved it.) And I’ve loved the guitar since long before... Read more

A Mystery of Grace

Last updated on: January 21, 2015 at 3:19 pm By Joseph Susanka

From Benedict XVI’s “Dogma und Verkundigung:” The mystery of the annunciation to Mary is not just a mystery of silence.It is above and beyond all that a mystery of grace. We feel compelled to ask ourselves: Why did Christ really want to be born of a virgin? It was certainly possible for him to have been born of a normal marriage. That would not have affected his divine Sonship, which was not dependent on his virgin birth and could equally well... Read more

Catching a GLIMPSE

Last updated on: March 17, 2017 at 3:06 pm By Joseph Susanka

WOW. Touring the Milky Way now is as easy as clicking a button with NASA’s new zoomable, 360-degree mosaic presented Thursday at the TEDActive 2014 Conference in Vancouver, Canada. The star-studded panorama of our galaxy is constructed from more than 2 million infrared snapshots taken over the past 10 years by NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope. “If we actually printed this out, we’d need a billboard as big as the Rose Bowl Stadium to display it,” said Robert Hurt, an imaging... Read more

The Big Bach Puzzler

Last updated on: March 17, 2017 at 3:06 pm By Joseph Susanka

Over at NPR’s “Deceptive Cadence” blog, Tom Huizenga has a fun little quiz called “Wig Out With The Big Bach Puzzler.” His music, as compelling today as it was centuries ago, continues to inspire artists of all stripes. So if you thought you knew a few things about the granddaddy of classical music, try this puzzler to see just how brainy you are when it comes to Bach. Here. I did just fine, for which I blame my uncle. His huge (and awesome) ol’... Read more

SVS: “The Hunt for Red October”

Last updated on: January 9, 2015 at 10:06 am By Joseph Susanka

It’s been a really tough week. My head’s spinning, and we’re all feeling pretty numb. So I’m stepping away from the Tarkovsky for a bit, and heading straight for something “mindless.” Though I don’t necessarily mean that as a criticism. In fact, it’s downright therapeutic, at times. As is so often the case when I search for “mindless” excellence, I turn to Sean Connery, who appears in 3/5ths of my Top Five Action-y Films Ever — a “coincidence” that never... Read more

SSF: “Death Buy Lemonade”

Last updated on: January 14, 2015 at 3:52 pm By Joseph Susanka

I love today’s short for two reasons. (At least.) First, it’s Monday, so the mood on display here is a pretty accurate reflection of how I usually feel this early in the work week. Even down to the “I might be cute, but you’d better not get in my way right now” bit. Except I’m not cute. Just don’t get in my way. (And yes, that includes the denouement, which made me smile. So…yeah. Really don’t get in my way.)... Read more

SVS: “Charade”

Last updated on: January 8, 2015 at 5:11 pm By Joseph Susanka

Today’s suggestion is a specific manifestation of one of Susanka’s Most Sacrosanct Suggestion Axioms. The universal principle I’m invoking? Cary Grant’s films are to be viewed as frequently and with as much enjoyment as humanly possible. The particular manifestation of that principle for today? Charade, currently available on NETFLIX INSTANT, HULU PLUS, and YOUTUBE($). Cary Grant stars as Peter — who may or may not be a flimflam man — who aids a widow (Audrey Hepburn) in her mission to recover... Read more

Remembering the Sound of Hal Douglas

Last updated on: January 29, 2015 at 3:26 pm By Joseph Susanka

Hal Douglas passed away last week. Who, you ask? Hal Douglas. Yes, you know him. Or at least you know what he sounded like. From his NY Times obituary: Mr. Douglas was known for a generation in the voice-over industry as one of the top two or three go-to talents, along with Don LaFontaine, the most prolific, who died in 2008, and Don Morrow, the voice of the “Titanic” trailer. … The flexibility of his voice, and the longevity of his career — he worked... Read more

The Fruit Dove: One of Nature’s Sharpest Dressers

Last updated on: March 17, 2017 at 2:58 pm By Joseph Susanka

Before today, I had no idea Fruit Doves even existed. Now that I know, though, I’m the richer for it. The fruit doves, also known as fruit pigeons, are a genus (Ptilinopus) in the pigeon and dove family (Columbidae). These colourful, frugivorous doves are found in forests and woodlands in Southeast Asia and Oceania. It is a large genus with about 50 species, some threatened or already extinct. These small- to medium-sized doves generally have short, fan-shaped tails, and are remarkable... Read more