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| Yes, I'm gonna be a star! How 'bout you? Photo courtesy Gary Firstenberg |
Sometimes I go back and finish an idea that I'd previously set aside. Other times, the seed thoughts whither and die on the vine. What follows is a list of these incomplete or undeveloped ideas. I find it interesting that in January I'd planned to write about Peter Jackson's upcoming Get Back project involving The Beatles, and that by year's end everyone was talking about it.
If this list bores you, feel free to turn the page. I won't be offended.
TOPICS I STARTED BUT DID NOT COMPLETE OR PUBLISH
JANUARY
The Incredible Variety and Depth of the Dylan Catalog
Watching the Wheels Go Round: John Lennon Sidesteps the Rat Race
The Beatles: Peter Jackson and Get Back. (Jan 6)
Bohemian Rhapsody
Too Much Regulation
A Brief History of My Car Accidents
Fallout
On January 20: Stay Home
Peter Schweizer Reveals the Depressing Degree of Corruption in Washington
Budget Deficits: When Should We Begin to Be Concerned
The Biggest Problem with Cancel Culture: There’s No Mercy
More Russell (as in Bertrand)
Politics and Dogma
The Duke Lacrosse Case
200 Motels: Zappa Revisited
You’re Aging Well
Still in Awe of Dylan
FEBRUARY
Fresh Ideas in Taxation: Universal Minimum Wage and Flat Tax Thoughts
Fun with Numbers: The Numeral 3
Orwell's Road to Wigan Pier
Facts vs. Interpretations
Financial Thoughts
Housing the Poor
More Thoughts On Cancel Culture
Our Schools Are a Mess, So We Tell Americans How Bad China Is
Notes from C.S. Lewis, A Life: Eccentric Genius, Reluctant Prophet
The Important Role of a Father
Tolstoy's The Forged Coupon
Weather Modification: Is Someone Playing with the Weather?
Daniel Botkin’s Psurrealistic Psalms
EVs and the Future of Transportation
Another Cut from Empire Burlesque—I’ll Remember You
Only Lovers Left Alive Is No Ordinary Vampire Flick
Eugenics and Socialism
Vasily Kandinsky
It’s Getting Scarier and Scarier
The Value of Rituals and Routines
Intelligence Doesn't Necessarily Make One Compassionate or Wise: The Eugenics Movement
Executive Orders: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
The Brouhaha Over When Harry Became Sally
The Three Worst Supreme Court Decisions In U.S. History
The Future of Public Education
MARCH
Are You Feeling Lucky?
Tech Tuesday: The Genomic Revolution
The Marvin Hagler Many Never Knew
Michael Lewis' The Fifth Risk Sheds Light on Part of What Went Wrong These Past Four Years in Washington
Cry Me A River
I Am Not Your Negro--The James Baldwin Documentary
Reedley Relocation Camps of World War II
Sam Cooke & Dylan
A Few Personal Thoughts on the American Revolution, Viet Nam and History: Comparisons, Contrasts
Some Thoughts Regarding Appropriate Timing
APRIL
Financial Euphoria and the Madness of Crowds
There Are No Guarantees
Recalls Continue to Be a Bane to the Auto Industry
An Example of Spin or Just an Oops?
How to Make a Living as a Writer
A to Z Challenge: Blonde On Blonde
A to Z Challenge: Abortion
A to Z Challenge: Boko Haram
Low Income Housing: Is It Time to Stop Jawboning?
The Fall of Rome
Billy Collins, Roze & Blud
Interesting Lines from Recent Movies
My Own Version of You: Dylan's Frankenstein Story
Ah Look at All the Lonely People
Mixed Messages
Starting with This: A Quote from The Rules of the Game
MAY
Specificity and Ambiguity: A Trademark Dylan Technique
A Deeper Dive: I Pity the Poor Immigrant
Frost Museum To Show Most Comprehensive Display of Dylan's Art
Ernest J. Breton and the Secret to Creative Innovation and Invention
Standing Up for Nuclear
My Take on Yesterday (The Movie)
12 Monkeys: Hollywood Entertainment or Prescience?
A Half Hour Happy Hour with the Folks from Heaven’s Door
Interesting and Unusual People I’ve Known Across the Years
The 1619 Project Creates New Narrative that Is Crafted and Crafty
JUNE
The War Poems of C.S.Lewis and Bob Dylan’s Staunch Anti-War Stand
The Jobs Situation: Another Illustration of the Law of Unintended Consequences
WSJ Review of “Damage” Is Right On Target, So Direct
Favorite Borges Short Stories
The Influence of Johnny Cash, the Connector
Ripples in a Pond: Finding Our Own Identity and Making Our Own Mark
Cronkite
Community Reacts Negatively to More Jobs Coming
A Little Bit Scary? Report Your Friends and Family Members Who Might…
A Few Insights About Quarreling
The Interconnectedness of the Global Economy
Reputation Can Be an Asset or Liability: The E.F. Hutton Scandal
Tales of Brave Ulysses
It’s My Life, Do I Know What I Want?
“My Country Right Or Wrong” Is Wrong
Bob Dylan’s “The Wicked Messenger”
Favorite Films of All Time
JULY
Things We Don’t Like to Talk About: Suicides and Nervous Breakdowns
Massive College Debt: When Illusion Meets Reality
Wally Funk and the Blue Origin
Why Are We Still Wearing Masks?
Ohio University Commencement Exercise Music, 1974
Orwell’s Homage to Catalonia: A Review
Injustice and Violence: First Hand and Second Hand
Orwell, Churchill and Totalitarianism
What Will the Year 2040 Look Like in America?
The Future: Frightful or Delightful? The Power of the State Continues to Expand
Churchill and Orwell: Insights and Takeaways
AUGUST
10 Great Dylan Songs? By What Criteria?
Why Punctuality Matters
The Board Game Market
Everything Is Broken
It’s a White, White, White, White World
The Future of Education
A Strategy for Standing Out from the Herd
Kentaro Kobayasha, The Rolling Stones and the PC Police
Penny Lane, the Oxbow Incident and the Problem of Mobs
The EV Dilemma
Springtime in New York: Just In Time for Fall
SEPTEMBER
A Pair of Orson Welles Anecdotes
Is the Cancel Culture Craze America’s Latest Fad? How Long Will It Continue
A Glimpse of Bob Dylan’s Malibu by Martin Newman
Harvard Prof Richard Thomas Says, “Start Your Dylan Tour In Duluth”
Are Homeless Camps the New Normal?
Rex Lex: What It Means and Why It Is Important
The EV Reality Check
Re-Thinking Universal Basic Income
Colonel Parker
A Shoplifting Epidemic
OCTOBER
Who Knows Where the Time Goes
An Hour of Poetry for People Who Say Are Not Into Poetry
Virtue Signaling
Clickbait Headlines
Planning to Go Carbon Free? Say Goodbye to Bubble Gum
My Favorite Things: Movies (Updated)
NOVEMBER
The Roberto Clemente Museum in Pittsburgh: Worthy Tribute to a Great Ballplayer and a Great Human Being
The Rough and Rowdy Road Tour Is Underway: Dylan Still Has That Old Black Magic
Bad Grammar (Examples)
Greenwashing: What It Is and How It Happens
Minyades: Richard Höglund’s Breakthrough Paintings Excavate the Darkness
Tech Tuesday: A.I. Is Already Taking White Collar Writing Jobs. Who's Next?
AI Writes a Review of a Book About AI
Jack Dorsey Steps Down from Twitter Leadership
The Sheer Madness of the Battle of the Somme
DECEMBER
The Great Escape: Estonia 1944
Of Boosters, Vaxx Mandates and Government Hypocrisy
Bob Dylan 'Retrospectrum' artwork show opens Nov. 30 in Miami
Niall Ferguson on the Gods of History
L A Confidential Brings to Mind Stories from Nevada Bob's Memoir
Immersive Art Outside of Museums -- Why Are the Critics Cringing?
Redistricting: The Times’ Spin Seems Misleading To Me
Northland Influences on Bob Dylan
* * *
Looking at the photo of the starfish at the top of the page has me wondering why, why, why are there so many stars in the sky? And what is the point of all this beauty under the sea? What an amazing universe.
