Freedom is Coming: MorseFest 2015
A review of MorseFest, 2015 (Friday night only)
With apologies–photos taken from an older iPhone. Not great quality.
Last Friday, September 4, as soon as I’d finished teaching my freshmen courses on Western Civilization, my wife, Dedra, and I got into the car and drove 8 hours south to Cross Plains, Tennessee, site of MorseFest 2015. We had originally hoped to attend the entire weekend, but family necessities prevented this. We were only going to be able to attend Friday night.
We made it by 7 (aided by a time change, gaining an hour), and found ourselves at a rather nice, contemporary Protestant church, just south of the Kentucky border. Even walking across the parking lot, my wife and I realized this would not be the normal prog crowd. Indeed, a huge variety of peoples was walking into the church—including lots of elderly women, immaculately dressed. We had seen the…
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A few years back, I go to a nature writing retreat in the North Cascades. I think it’s a writing retreat set in nature, but it’s actually a writing retreat about nature. I grew up going camping with my family, and my hardcore backpacker dad was known to shake us out of our road trip malaise with a well-timed and hearty, “Look at that mountain! Isn’t it beautiful?!”, but I haven’t yet adopted his love and knowledge of nature for myself. So you can imagine my dismay when, with just a prompt and a pen, my fellow writers conjure up stunning essays about the animals and plants around us, calling each by its name and weaving in poignant personal revelations, while I stammer nervously about wood nymphs and cliché dusty shafts of sunlight filtering through the trees. Even though I wear a Patagonia fleece borrowed from my roommate, I can’t…
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Teamrock.com Reviews Birzer(me!)’s NEIL PEART: CULTURAL REPERCUSSIONS
A huge thanks to Johnny Sharp, Jerry Ewing, and all of our friends and allies at teamrock.com. A perceptive review (very perceptive!) of my forthcoming intellectual biography of Neil Peart. Out September 15, 2015, NEIL PEART: CULTURAL REPERCUSSIONS will be available as an ebook and paperback.
While Birzer doesn’t include any first-hand original interviews with his subject or his bandmates, his research is extensive, seeking out insightful quotes and stories from the band’s four-decade existence as he successfully divides their work into distinct eras (Rush 2.0, 2.1, 3.0, etc). No doubt Peart himself would initially scoff at the idea of such an in-depth analysis of his work. But secretly, I think he’ll feel Birzer has done him proud here.
And, best of all, Sharp labels my thesis “over the top.” And, he’s absolutely right. To finish Sharp’s interview, please go here. Link requires free registration to read the full…
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Russell Kirk, “The Inhumane Businessman,” 1957
This is not only one of Kirk’s finest pieces overall, but it’s also arguably his best dealing with the issue of humanism. Enjoy.
Apologies for the poor formatting.
Russell Kirk, “Lost Lake,” 1957.
One of Kirk’s creepiest essays. An examination of the corrupt and haunted soil of Mecosta County. This is not fiction.
Russell Kirk, “Selections for High School Students,” 1983
One of Bradbury’s many masterpieces.
Fascinating piece on what high school students should read to awake the moral imagination.
Stormfields 