Author Archives: hnbjr

Big and Bad

Posted on July 20, 2024 by hnbjr

Recent events — or the media imagery thereof — put in my mind an old Thomas Pynchon article, “Is It O.K. To Be A Luddite?” from nearly forty years ago. There’s a photo that could go with this, but it’s … Continue reading →

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Christmas Around the World

Posted on December 19, 2023 by hnbjr

Every year during my childhood, our post box was graced with an 80 page volume of one of the World Book’s Christmas Around the World series, a gift, I think, from my globetrotting grandparents. Although somewhat dated and with some … Continue reading →

Posted in america, art, The World of Yesterday | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

On Neutrality and Great Powers

Posted on March 31, 2023 by hnbjr

From Henry Adams’ Education of Henry Adams: Minister Adams felt the same compulsion. He bluntly told Russell that while he was “willing to acquit” Gladstone of “any deliberate intention to bring on the worst effects,” he was bound to say … Continue reading →

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Rebutting Radical Chic…nella Cucina Italiana

Posted on March 24, 2023 by hnbjr

In a fit of radical chic, the Financial Times published Marianna Giusti’s interview with Marxist academic Alberto Grandi, in which the latter “debunks” (a popular activity these days) Italian food traditions, most of which are admittedly as new as Italy’s … Continue reading →

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Long Live the Experimental Pollen

Posted on July 10, 2019 by hnbjr

Back in 1996, fans of lo-fi music, Crain, and Louisville’s particular brand of homegrown rock might’ve been following Experimental Pollen, a short-lived Jon Cook project.  As it looked like Crain was about to split up, that small community might’ve paid … Continue reading →

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M&M Enterprise Cooking, Vol. XIX

Posted on November 21, 2018 by hnbjr

Here’s a pre-Thanksgiving Day meal complete with primo, secondo and contorno. I was most excited about the contorno and had been squirreling away supplies from the dining facility for some time for it. The primo, a dish more suited to … Continue reading →

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M&M Enterprise Cooking, Vol. XVIII

Posted on November 16, 2018 by hnbjr

Ragú Redux Ragù. Pride of Emilia-Romagna, the rich, wine-and-broth simmered stuff which is indescribably comforting on a cold, foggy day in the Valpadana. And of course, a testament to its inherent goodness is its bastardization worldwide as “meat sauce” or, … Continue reading →

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M&M Enterprise Cooking, Vol. XVII

Posted on November 16, 2018 by hnbjr

Pasta con tapenade e sgombro It was “Italian night” at the dining facility the other night so I picked up a vat of black olive tapenade, thinking I’d do something with it later, despite the fact that tapenade is a … Continue reading →

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“San Martino, ogni mosto diventa vino”

Posted on November 11, 2018 by hnbjr

Republishing this for the 103rd anniversary of Armistice Day — It’s not only the 100th anniversary of Armistice, now Veterans, Day, it’s also San Martino, an autumnal feast day in Italy that celebrates not only the fourth-century patron saint of … Continue reading →

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M&M Enterprise Cooking, Vol. XVI

Posted on November 11, 2018 by hnbjr

Two dishes today. One is a variation on the previously-posted risotto-in-a-bag dish. It was “Mexican night” at the cafeteria Wednesday and I was generously given by the server a large quantity of cooked shrimp, presumably for use in shrimp tacos. … Continue reading →

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