Author Archives: louisprofphillips

WHEN JIM HENSON (1936-1990) GOT HIS FIRST TELEVISION SET“I was probably about thirteen or fourteen. I badgered my parents until we got one – I mean, it was a real campaign. We bought as big as my cupped hands. I thought it wasIncredible. I still do. It is amazing to see a live picture thatContinue reading “BITS & PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE: TELEVISION”

WALT WHITMAN READING “AMERICA”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZvdKjKL7hQW.H. AUDEN ON GIVING POETRY READINGS & LECTURES ON COLLEGE CAMPUSESSpirit is willing to repeatWithout a qualm the same old talk,But Flesh is homesick for our snugApartment in New York.from “On the Circuit”**”As someone said, when T.S.Eliot was young his poems were middle-aged, when he was middle-aged his poems were old, andContinue reading “BITS & PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE: POETS & POETRY”

FAMILY PLANNING__PLEASE USE REAR ENTRANCE sign at Barnstable (England) HEALTH CARE CENTRE**”I’m Catholic. My mother and I were unpacking andshe found my diaphragm. I had to tell her it was abathing cap for my cat.” Liz Winstead**Stridulate (STRIH-jə-lait) Part of Speech VerbOf an insect, especially a male cricket or grasshopper) Make a shrill sound by rubbingContinue reading “BITS & PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE: SEX”

“Peanuts” Was the First Major Comic Strip to Feature a Minority CharacterSchulz was intentional about a lot of things when it came to how he framed his famous comic strip, but most especially when it came to race. The majority of the Peanuts gang had always been white, mostly because the cartoonist felt unsure asContinue reading “BITS & PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE: COMIC STRIPS & COMIC BOOKS”

for Mac”If you asked me what I came into the world to do,I will tell you. I came to live out loud,”Epigraph to Learning to Live Out Loud, by Piper Laurie (New York: Crown Archetype, 2011)**FROM A MORE WORLDLY PHILOSOPHER”Well, let me quote once more from a worldly philosopher who had the knack of summarisingContinue reading “BITS & PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE: PHILOSOPHY”

the New Century Dictionary (1944) PATTING RABBIT HASH”In vaudeville, a brisk recitative accompanied by much patter and slapping of the hands on knees, hips, forearms, etc. in triple time.”Douglas Gilbert. American Vaudeville: Its Life and Time (New York: Dover Books, 1946)**MORPHIC RESONANCE”A few years ago, morphic resonance was all the rage, This was the theoryContinue reading “BITS & PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE: WORDS,WORDS, WORDS”

TV LISTING FOR SUEZ IN THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE (1986)Suez••• (1938) – Tyrone Power, Loretta Young. Story based on the monumental effort to build the Panama Canal.end of column item in The New Yorker (November 3, 1986)**WATCHING PATRICIA NEAL GRIN”Watching Patricia Neal grin is like tasting ice cream forthe veryv first time.”Rex Reed in ConversationsContinue reading “BITS & PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE: FILM #26”

THE IDES OF MARCH” March 15 is too important a day to ignore. As the man who taught me to use a chainsaw said, it is immortalized by Shakespeare’s famous warning: “Cedar! Beware the adze of March.”HEATHER COX RICHARDSONMAR 16,2024****WALTER MATTHAU AT AGE 7 ” He became a voracious reader, and when he was youngContinue reading “BITS & PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE: SHAKESPEARE”