Carl Scott

It was very late, and I was very tired, when I received a facebook message from one “Solomon Northup”:“What you’re saying here praising John Ridley [winner of the Oscar this year for best screen adaptation, for Twelve Years A Slave] makes basic sense, but I need to lodge a . . . . Continue Reading »

In song, at least, the ’60s Culture Revolution began rather beautifully, with a call to smile upon your brother. Your brother was assumed to be all of mankind. We might call that the “external program” of the Counter-Culture, circa 1965-1968, posed as an alternative to the way . . . . Continue Reading »

It’s very cool, very punk-rock, folk-rock, and all the other rockin’ signifiers of hip radicalism, to be going to a commune. Or to hang-out at one for a season. But to actually stay for good is not what rock-tuned set wants.How do we know that? Well, tell me about a rock song that celebrates . . . . Continue Reading »

It’s George Washington’s birthday, and the problem a lot of us have is that he comes across too stiffly for us to really appreciate. What we need are the best books and, essays, as well as the best film depictions and art-works, that bring the actually quite passionate man to life. Here . . . . Continue Reading »

Ang Lee’s 2009 film Taking Woodstock records an important milestone in the culture revolution of the 1960s, the rock festival and “Aquarian Exposition” held in August of 1969. It does so from an angle that downplays the concert proper—to our surprise the camera never . . . . Continue Reading »

Here’s a song that knows what it is to feel loneliness midst the Summer of Love:Yeah, I heard a funny thing:somebody said to me,that I could be in love, with almost everyone.I think that people are, the greatest fun…and I will be alone, again tonight, my dear.With “Alone Again . . . . Continue Reading »

Carl’s Rock Songbook is a series focusing on a particular rock song or issue connected to rock music. In the course of my learning the Gen-X alternative rock catechism, perhaps it was when I was reading an issue of Spin magazine sometime in the 80s, I was told that the release of The . . . . Continue Reading »

Hello, First Thoughtsters! One of the things I’ll be carrying over from my blogging for Postmodern Conservative, now that it’s been incorporated into First Thoughts, is “Carl’s Rock Songbook.”What is the Rock Songbook?It is a series of posts, each of which focuses on a . . . . Continue Reading »

Initially, I wasn’t going to recommend this film. I still cannot really do so for the most persons, and that is not in my book a sign that it is great cinematic art. I am happy, for example, to recommend MUD, the film most scandalously left off this year''s list of Oscar-nominees for Best Picture, . . . . Continue Reading »

Here is the original Heather MacDonald piece that prompted Matt Blakenship’s Ricochet musing about whether you should let your child major in English, which I proceeded to riff on below.I highly recommended it. While I’m sure there’s something by Mr. Bhabha worth reading, he set . . . . Continue Reading »