The Fredösphere

So much bloggable material, so few electrons.  I knew it was going to be a good day when I heard a nice rondo broadcast on local classical radio; it was one composed by Johann Joseph Fux.

The New Criterion informs us, in an article about founding father the Rev. Dr. John Witherspoon, that actress Reese Witherspoon is his direct descendant.  Which brings us back to the movie Walk the Line, which I discussed yesterday too critically.  The truth is that I can't get that story out of my head, which is always a sign of greatness.  You really should see the film.

My friend John noticed this story of two teens whose Hitler quotes prompted the recall of the school yearbook, and groveling apologies from the Principal.  Thus, the march to purge high school life of all offense continues.  Sigh.  I was fortunate to attend public school in a more, dare I say, liberal environment.  As a freshman, I appeared in the school's variety show in a skit as a southern judge dressed in a KKK outfit.  We all spoke with thick southern accents, thus the bigotry was undeniable, if aimed in an unexpected direction.  Nevertheless, I recall maybe one or two comments expressing mild surprise we got it past the censors.  Our small, Midwestern town almost never saw minorities in those days.  I recall only one black student appearing briefly in our school system in my entire time there, and we promptly elected her student body president, thereby exercising the ghosts of segregation once and forever, or so we believed.

Connoisseurs of modern-day school politics are directed to find further reading in the WSJ "Zero-Tolerance Watch."  Or read the story of "Joseph K."

Meanwhile, Sony Pictures wants to hire Tim LaHaye to produce a sequel to The Passion.  "Oh, this will be bad," indeed.  And don't miss Steve Martin's Script Notes on "The Passion."

I've got more, but that's enough for today.