MJ – The Musical
Since relocating to Austin, I’ve visited my hometown, NYC, for the past thirteen years to see any Broadway musical featuring a pop, rock, or jazz musician or group. For over…
Hobbes on Sovereignty
It was 373 years ago that Thomas Hobbes wrote Leviathan, a book that many regard as THE masterwork of political philosophy. It was in large part a response to the…
Living Personification of the Marvellous
Virgil hailed him as the greatest part of his fame. He was the “living personification of the marvellous,” and a “central enhancing embellishment” of the first Roman Emperor, Augustus. And…
Suddenly Last Summer at the Filigree
Season 6 at the Filigree Theatre opened with the powerful Tennessee Williams play Suddenly Last Summer. Perhaps it cannot be helped that with such a brilliant script as only the…
Bokyung Byun Debuts at ACG
Bokyung Byun, born in Seoul, Korea, was a child prodigy who began playing guitar at six and quickly gained recognition in Korea. At twelve, she moved to study under various…
The Climate of History
Note that the title of this book is not ‘the history of climate,’ but rather ‘the climate of history.’ It summarises the views of a host of thinkers, who wax…
There is no such thing as Blank Page
This book focuses on 18 lives, but it should have been 19. Author Adam Smyth (professor of English literature at Balliol College, Univ. of Oxford) omitted one of the most…
Aburi Oshi Sushi Opens in Austin
Having lived in Japan for five years and twice as many years going back and forth on assignments, I developed a tsu’s (gourmands) palette for all Japanese cuisine. Besides writing…
Jekyll & Hyde: The Musical
This is not the musical Hair, but one could be forgiven seeing the importance of hair in this 1990 musical based on the 1886 story of Robert Louis Stevenson: Strange…
Cloudy with a Chance of Ale – Beerthoven Concert Series
From pretzels to beer or wine outside the Neil Cochran House, guests were invited to munch, sip, and bring their food inside the intimate, brightly lit room where the trio…