-
MUSIC AND MEMORY
Those of you who have followed Ezra’s Essays know that during my childhood I was forced to attend religious services of the Protestant faith. There were the Southern Baptists, the Nazarenes, the Pentecostals, and, finally, the Free Will Baptists. In the last case, the Free Willers banned musical accompaniment to their hymn singing on the…
-
THE LANGUAGE OF THE ANGLO SAXONS (circa 2010)
As it has turned out with my having been born in the United States, my native tongue is the English language. A good many years back, this language came from Saxon roots. When it went to England, it became the Anglo-Saxon language. Now of course it is simply the English language. My comment here today…
-
A TWOFER
The title to this essay is a phonetic one as spoken by Americans. Its real derivation comes from baseball. If a hitter gets two hits in his four or five at-bats, he will announce that he had a “twofer.” (If he was hitless in his times at bat, he would mournfully say, “I had an…
-
SLEEPING WITH SYLVESTER
Luncheons around this house consist primarily of foie gras and truffles. As I was consuming my sixth helping of truffles, news came over the radio and television that shocked me. It seems that Larry King, the ace broadcaster on the CNN network who does wide-ranging interviews, is now being sued for divorce by either his…
-
UDDERLY REDICULOUS
Ezra’s Essays have been distributed to the movers and shakers around the world for the past 13 years. In all that time, there have only been a few occasions when the proprietor of Ezra’s Essays has been moved to make an award. In the current case, the proprietor of Ezra’s Essays is moved to award…
-
WHO CHANGED THE RULES?
My breakfast was interrupted this morning by a report from Washington that Peter Orszag, the Budget Director for President Obama, had fathered a baby child out of wedlock. He reports that the little child, a girl, is a beautiful creature. It was also confirmed that during the pregnancy of his girlfriend, Mr. Orszag was romancing…
-
TURN BACK TO GOD
Last Saturday, August 28, Glenn Beck, the Fox broadcaster, held his much-heralded event in Washington on the Mall. He says that choosing the 47th anniversary of the “I have a dream” speech by Dr. Martin Luther King was an accident on his part. He claims that he did not know that on August 28, 1963…
-
Grub
I have been writing these essays for the last 16 years. It all started with an injury to my brain which impaired my speech as a result of a stroke in 1997. I started writing these essays and somehow after 764 such essays, I have still continued. As a matter of fact, I seem at…
-
SEND IN THE CLOWNS
Steven Sondheim is a magnificent composer of music. A few years back he wrote a Broadway play called “A Little Night Music.” The most prominent song in the play “A Little Night Music” is called “Send in the Clowns.” I will not bother you with the full lyrics but I must tell you that the…