Comments for Martin Westlake

Comment on Verdi’s Macbeth at La Monnaie by Luisa

Luisa — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 12:38:20 +0000

j’avais oublié de lire votre blog à ce sujet. J’ai beaucoup aimé McBeth mais, et comme vous l’avez dit, “This was a challenging production but an immensely entertaining one.” Cette nouvelle mise en scène m’a un peu rappelé les spectacles de Maurice Béjart, où il y avait toujours beaucoup de danseurs, beaucoup d’animation, mais qu’on n’avait pas le temps ni de regarder en détail ni de voir s’ils dansaient bien. Ici c’était un peu la même chose : ce n’est pas possible de chanter convenablement en bougeant comme cela (notamment par ex. en se rasant devant le miroir !).

Comment on Belgium’s 14th July mini-tornado – or was it a hurricane? by That Belgian mini-hurricane re-visited - Martin Westlake

That Belgian mini-hurricane re-visited - Martin Westlake — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 07:49:02 +0000

[...] evening we drove down to the Ardennes, picking up a nephew in Ciney on our way down. Recalling my 16 July post about the 14 July storm that hit Belgium, Ciney was one of the worst-hit towns. As we drove off the motorway we saw electricity pylons lying [...]

Comment on Of Slovenians and bees… by Martin

Martin — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 07:21:33 +0000

I’d be interested in seeing the ppt presentation when it’s done, Mary Lou. Take care, Martin

Comment on Of Slovenians and bees… by Mary Lou

Mary Lou — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 19:07:54 +0000

Nice story. I came upon your site when searching for the story of Pegam and Lamberger. I am adding onto my ppt on the Beehive panels of Slovenia.
It will be shown at our national for the Slovenian Women’s Union of America ……… June 2011 in Milwaukee.

Mary Lou

Comment on What ‘government’ meant – to some Americans (Part II) by Jonathan Raban

Jonathan Raban — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 18:36:32 +0000

Thanks for that link. I do remember wading about halfway through The Octopus, when I was a graduate student, a century or so ago. (Which was long before I first visited the US.) Reading the synopsis of the book on Wikipedia this morning, I’m ashamed to say that I’d clean forgotten Norris’s theme of railroads v. farmers: The Octopus had better go on my future reading list…

Comment on What ‘government’ meant – to some Americans (Part II) by Martin

Martin — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 08:43:31 +0000

Maybe I was just in a receptive mood, having visited Ellis Island (I was doing ‘research’ for a saga-ish novel I am trying to write), and it’s true that there are several pieces to the article, but I found its basic thesis convincing. I shall order Bad Land forthwith! Martin PS Have you read Frank Norris’s Octopus? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Octopus:_A_California_Story)

Comment on What ‘government’ meant – to some Americans (Part II) by Jonathan Raban

Jonathan Raban — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 21:19:22 +0000

Actually “The Unlamented West” was a cut-and-paste job, done by a NYer editor, of serial excerpts from my then-forthcoming book, Bad Land, which is currently available in paperback. The book, I fondly think, is a lot better than the dog’s breakfast of bits and pieces that made up the NYer article–though I’m glad to see it caught your interest.

Comment on A European Cycling Lexicon by Martin

Martin — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 09:43:52 +0000

Here are the new links

direct link to the document:
http://www.eesc.europa.eu/resources/docs/bikelexicon_web72.pdf

Link to its general presentation
http://www.eesc.europa.eu/?i=portal.en.publications&itemCode=120

Comment on Mayflower and the Pilgrims by Hugo Kijne

Hugo Kijne — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 19:39:23 +0000

One of the 100 or so standard questions that one can be asked during the interview that is part of the process to become a US citizen is: why did the Pilgrims come to America? The official answer is: ‘because they wanted freedom of religion.’ The correct answer is: ‘because they wanted freedom of religion only for themselves.’ In the Netherlands there was way too much freedom of religion for the Pilgrims, that’s why they left. Of course I got asked that question during my interview. I first gave the official answer and then added: “although there is some debate as to how much freedom of religion they wanted.” Big mistake. Officer Gonzalez of the US ImmigrationService was not amused, and I almost failed the test. Philbrick by the way also wrote a recently published book about George Armstrong Custer, Sitting Bull, and the battle of the Little Bighorn. Highly recommended.

Comment on The Ways of White Folks… by Martin

Martin — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 14:00:10 +0000

The Wikipedia entry for Langston Hughes lists this in the bibliography:The Collected Works of Langston Hughes. Missouri: University of Missouri Press, 2001.