John Presnall

On this tenth anniversary of 9/11 it is hard not to say anything, and Peter asked for reflections any of us may have had. So these are mine. After 9/11 events accelerated to such an extent that they became hard to speak of, but I will try to give a properly solemn reminiscence. The horrific events . . . . Continue Reading »

1. Whatever one thinks of Andrew Sullivan, he has a video presentation of what it means to be a blogger over at Big Think, and I must admit that if anyone is a blogger it is Mr. Sullivan. In this video he says that to be a blogger one must post at least twice a day, even if one is writing about . . . . Continue Reading »

Pete has provided a shrewd reading of the polls below. He says, “My read is that Bachmann supporters who are worried about conservative authenticity think of Perry as more authentic than Romney, and Romney voters who are worried about governing competence think that Perry is more competent . . . . Continue Reading »

One’s own self is hard to get around. I have pictures of me standing in school pictures of the whole first or second grade class. It was a photograph of the whole lot of us kids, and when the print was made my eyes would look at that group and greedily find myself first. How did I look? Was I . . . . Continue Reading »

Allan Bloom wrote a beautiful book on love and friendship. In this book he examined issues that emerge between lovers and friends. He also provided a shorthand for those who merely skim great writers, but who have in their actual lives experienced great love and friendship in their lives (but in . . . . Continue Reading »

In the spirit of Carl’s music posts, I figured I may as well do more than defend good American bar bands like NRBQ. So like Carl, I will take a page from the ‘60s too and speak of the ’60s band The Kinks, but I will do it from the early ‘70s instead of the ‘60s. Namely, I . . . . Continue Reading »

When the Twelve Southerners penned their classic collective manifesto I’ll Take My Stand one could wonder in awe at their audacity in making themselves nearly immediately irrelevant. Filled with interesting and true critiques of modern industrial capitalism and centralized bureaucratic . . . . Continue Reading »

So we should talk about important things. One of these important things has to do with the television show Community not receiving any Emmy nominations. Here is a show about a diverse group of students nay friends who make their way through Spanish and anthropology courses in terms of relying on . . . . Continue Reading »

Everything is bigger in Texas, but is a big Texas governor bigger than the other candidates running for the Republican presidential nomination? With the popular perception of a lackluster slate of candidates, a recent poll shows most Republican primary voters lack enthusiasm for any of the current . . . . Continue Reading »

Carl’s music posts have been great. I simply want to add this— So I have always been shallow. Perhaps I have been looking for love in a trifle. It is one of the reasons why I have always liked the band NRBQ. I love a trifle in a band like NRBQ. A friend of mine says that NRBQ sound like . . . . Continue Reading »