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Random Rhymes (with slight Persian overtones)–by guest blogger Roger Sedarat
A quick entry today, yet one keeping with the Persian connection and the aforementioned quote by one of the old masters summarizing the classical verse of Iran: “The poetry is in the rhyme.” So…
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Nick Ashford, dead at 70, a songwriter as ‘solid as a rock’
Following the death of Jerry Leiber (see David Lehman’s fine tribute below) comes the news that another half of another fine songwriting team – Nick Ashford of Ashford and Simpson – has died, at…
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Tattoos and the (interdisciplinary) Art of Persian Poetry by Roger Sedarat
Tattoos, unlike smoking, remain pretty cool. They’re also here to stay (and in keeping with the loose Persian connections, please allow the pun). I thought of introducing a brief collage of poetry tattooed on…
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In Memoriam Jerry Leiber, lyricist
Mike Stoller wrote the music and Jerry Leiber, who died today, wrote the words for songs Elvis Presley, the Coasters, and the Drifters made famous when popular music went from the Big Band…
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Sinatra and Brando on the set of “Guys and Dolls”
When you watch the film version of Guys and Dolls, you sometimes get the feeling that Nathan Detroit and Adelaide (Frank Sinatra and Vivian Blaine) are in one movie, a hoot, while Sky Masterson and…
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“Revolutionary Road”: A masterpiece you must read [by DL]
If you're hooked on Mad Men, as I am, you owe it to yourself to read Richard Yates's great novel of exisential suburban angst, Revolutionary Road (published in 1961). The book is a fucking…
