By Dr. Jeffrey Lant There is no question that Representative Michele Bachmann emerged as the big winner in the August 13, 2011 straw poll in Ames, Iowa. Her candidacy which was once rated nearly a joke now has a certain credibility. By that I mean, she is now being discussed as more than a candidate; …
By Dr. Jeffrey Lant Author’s program note: There could only be one song to accompany this article, the theme from the 1970 film “Love Story,” written by Harvard classicist Erich Segal. You see, this article is about a love story, too, a love for a special place… and for a lifetime of memories launched from …
By Dr. Jeffrey Lant Author’s program note. I found lots of songs for the musical accompaniment to this article, but one in particular really stood out, Cole Porter’s smooth tune “I’ve Got You Under My Skin.” It was introduced in 1936 in the Eleanor Powell MGM musical “Born to Dance” in which it was performed …
By Dr. Jeffrey Lant Author’s program note. For this article, there is only one song that will do: the Marines’ Hymn of the United States Marine Corps with its revered and unmistakable opening line, “From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli”. Given that it’s one of the signature songs of the nation …
By Dr. Jeffrey Lant Author’s program note. I’m sure you know the song “Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream… Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily life is but a dream.” It’s an English language nursery rhyme, sung as a round. At the commencement of each line another person joins the chorus until all participants …
By Dr. Jeffrey Lant Author’s program note. Do you remember the theme music for the 1958 Alfred Hitchcock classic “Vertigo”? That music was composed by master mood manipulator Bernard Herrmann, one of the best. I selected this music, of course, because it accentuates the words of the article; also because I suffer from vertigo, and …
By Dr. Jeffrey Lant Author’s program note. The world is graying as the Baby Boomers, now millions of us in our sixties, get older and older still day by inexorable day. Farseeing Stephen Sondheim, who I once met when I was at Harvard many years ago, wrote the musical for us back in 1971. It’s …
Any time you might be thinking of going out with a companion while you are actually out of town on a holiday getaway or business, it is certainly advisable to bring your search for a “date” to the Internet. In order to be able to do this, you will want to know precisely how to …
Any time you might be thinking of going out with a companion while you are actually out of town on a holiday getaway or business, it is certainly advisable to bring your search for a “date” to the Internet. In order to be able to do this, you will want to know precisely how to …
By Dr. Jeffrey Lant Author’s program note. I didn’t have to look for the perfect tune to accompany this article. I’ve known it for decades. “I’m still here,” from Stephen Sondheim’s incredible musical “Follies” (1971). It’s a song about grit, determination, doing what you have to do with the person you must do it with… …