Taylor Swift’s ‘Love Story.’ Where do I begin?

I have a true confession to make. I am ashamed to admit that I have not heard a single song by Taylor Swift. At least, not till I decided to write this column. I blush to disclose that the lady’s name passes by me as the idle wind. Her records have broken all manner of …

Yorkers and a Deep Third Man at Wimbledon

Tennis: the most perfect combination of athleticism, artistry, power, style, and wit. A beautiful game, but one so remorselessly travestied by the passage of time. Martin Amis, celebrated novelist and essayist. ‘Anyone for tennis?’ Why those three words became a cliché for books published and stage plays enacted during the turn of the twentieth century …

When Godfathers and Grandfathers become Fathers

When it comes to Hollywood stars, Al Pacino and Robert De Niro would rank among the all-time greats that ever bestrode the silver screen. Not that one can actually stride on a screen, silver or otherwise, but I think you get my drift. That was merely to take care of some literal-minded types who might …

A fly on the wall takes the Minutes

It is given to only a select few to sit in on meetings involving the most powerful personages of the land, those that guide our destinies and chalk out our futures. We, the hoi polloi, come to learn of these earth-shattering proceedings much later in a carefully orchestrated form. However, the common-or-garden house fly suffers …