Arts
Van Gogh’s Cypresses
I approach a themed show at the Met with some skepticism: are the curators making, let alone creating, a point in order to justify amassing loans for a blockbuster show? From a museological viewpoint, it is no longer enough, or professionally justifiable, to say, “Here are a lot of van Goghs for your viewing pleasure” (although the Rijksmuseum’s current Vermeer show contradicts this thesis). They must find something “new” to warrant putting on an exhibition and, particularly, to make pressing loan requests. (“We can’t tell the story without your wonderful example, blah, blah, blah.”)
Music
Jackson Browne 2022
Jackson Browne made me just as happy last night as he did four years ago when he sang at the Bowl. More than half his set list was different, which speaks to the size and quality of his repertoire. I started thinking that he must be the best songwriter of our generation, after Dylan and Springsteen; but his songs are so much more relatable. The early ones are about love and longing, the more recent tend toward political issues; but the words are always clear and thoughtful. Then there is the sound.
Movies
Oscar Nominations
With so many presumptive winners already in place, thanks to industry scuttlebutt and numerous awards from critics and industry groups, it is the nomination announcements that offer modest surprises and merit discussion. And with one movie, Oppenheimer, so clearly superior to the rest of the field, the Oscar ceremony itself will tend to boring; so best take my whacks at the field now.
Best Picture: As mentioned, Oppenheimer is a thoroughly deserving winner, and it should take home awards for its director Christopher Nolan, original score, supporting actor and a number of the technical awards I’m not competent to judge
Sports
Stupid Rule 2
While baseball has a stupid rule or two–one less next year, as I’ll discuss later–football has a doozy that has more actual impact on the game: the fumble-out-of-the-end-zone-for-a-touchback rule. When this rule was invoked against the Vikings in mid-season it may have cost them a win and led to general speculation that the rule would be changed in the offseason. Now that it almost cost the Kansas City Chiefs their spot in the AFC championship game, on national television, the chances of a change must have gone up exponentially. The “rule” is this: when an offense fumbles and the ball goes out of the end zone without being recovered, a