Longtime Friend & Reader JC_in_PA suggested that I give this one a listen. I did, and so should you. The intro (i.e. the part before Khatia Buniatishvili gets going on the piano) is one of the best live interpretations I’ve ever heard.
Some pics of Khatia:
Lovely.
I see with extreme regret that historian Paul Johnson has died. Shit.
There is a very good case that Johnson’s History Of The American People should be required source material for high school U.S. History classes.
And his History Of The Jews and History Of Christianity (along with Jacques Barzun’s From Dawn To Decadence) should be part of World History classes in both high school and university curricula.
Oh, for heaven’s sake: if you read all of Paul Johnson’s history books and absorb just a third of the material, you’ll still be one of the most educated people on the planet.
He will most definitely be missed.
RFI #1: Someone said they had a spare M1 Carbine extractor floating around. Please email me so we can arrange delivery, payment etc. I managed to get hold of a G.I. Armorer’s Manual for the gun, so I can probably install it myself.
RFI #2: I need to get a shotgun for much later in the year, but I’ll have to part with one of my old WWII-era bolties to pay for it. The shotgun will probably be the CZ Bobwhite SxS G2 (20ga) which runs about $700, what with with all the paperwork and shipping involved:
As for the bolties… hell, this will be like parting with a child. If anyone’s at all interested in one, let me know by email and I’ll reply with pics of the guns you can choose from (because I can’t make up my mind). Obviously, Texas Readers will get first kick because of the hassle-free transaction / no shipping cost / plus free ammo. Obviously too, I will entertain offers from anywhere in the lower 48, but without the ammo, which would require separate shipping ergo cost.
Think on it, I beg you.
Not at that price, not even for free would I fly
Thank you for your offer, though.
You have to hand it to the Gun Control Party*: they never seem to realize that the liquid running into their eyes is blood from continuously beating their fool heads against the wall of conservative, Second Amendment-loving Texas.
Courtesy of the Texas State Rifle Association (TSRA), here’s their latest laundry list of wishful thinking:
Every single one of these has been copied and pasted, so to speak, from years gone past; all have gone down in flames or else been “tabled” without making it out of committee.
And lest we forget, the Texas Legislature is only in session for six months every two years. Amongst other things, they have to build, debate and pass a two-year budget — which the U.S. Congress can’t do in a full year — and ours have better things to do than debate this foolishness in the short time available to them.
*Actually, what I’d like to hand to them is their own severed heads on a pike, but we can discuss that some other time.
Your suggestions in Comments.