Artists & the Arts

Grimm tales for these grim times

Grimm tales for these grim times

Once upon a time there lived a woodcutter who could no longer afford to feed his children. “Off you go,” he said, shoving them out the door. “Fine. Whatever,” said Hansel. “We were going to run away anyway if we didn’t get a Wii for Christmas.” He and his sister set...

Great writers, bad mistakes

Great writers, bad mistakes

Great works of literature can be discouraging for the novice writer. You labor for months to create something as enduring as Persuasion or Middlemarch, all the while suspecting that you’re not going to make it with your own book, Bread-Pudding Days. But even the...

Siegfried writes a blog post

Siegfried writes a blog post

The New York Met's current production of Wagner's Siegfried has got me thinking: how would a blog post by the man himself turn out? Maybe something like this? My crappy childhood Hello everyone. My name is Siegfried. No last name. Just Siegfried. I was raised in a...

No more merciless beheadings!

No more merciless beheadings!

I'm just back from Opera at the Park, San Francisco’s annual “watch opera in a baseball park while eating popcorn” event. This year’s opera was Turandot (final "t" sounded) by Giacomo Puccini. I know it’s easy to mock the plots of operas, which is good because it’s...

We will re-rock you

We will re-rock you

It’s official: austerity is the new black. Yes, austerity is what you’ll be wearing for spring, unless you’re in the 1%, and Google Analytics tells me that only one of my readers falls into that category. Hey there, super-rich person! Looking for a good cause? Would...