Ernest Henri Griset’s cover illustration for Michel Rodange’s Reynard the Fox, 1869.

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When I took the garbage out earlier this week, I saw a fox crossing the street. We stared at each other for a prolonged moment before it ran off. During that encounter, I felt a strange connection with this wild animal. As much as I related to wolves in the past, I think that modern dissidents share some characteristics with foxes. Just as every fox looks after its own tail, each person in our community can outfox our enemies and adapt to our changing environments. (more…)

Winslow Homer, The Woodcutter, 1891.

6,121 words

I read Neil Gaiman’s American Gods sometime in college. I found it more Flannery O’Connor than Marvel Studios, but it’s hardly surprising that the latter interpretation seems to have driven the new television series’ production team (but I haven’t watched). (more…)

Hollósy Simon, Zrínyi’s Charge on the Turks from the Fortress of Szigetvár, 1896.

1,304 words

Nikola Šubić Zrinski is an opera written in 1876 by Croatian composer Ivan Zajc that retells the Siege of Szigetvár. It is Zajc’s most accomplished work and is considered the national opera of Croatia. An excellent recording of the opera was released in late July featuring the Rijeka Symphony Orchestra (more…)

Lāčplēsis

1,918 words

On my way to a heavy metal concert last year, I had a layover at the Riga Airport. While having a beer and a shot of Black Balsam at the airport bar, I was talking online to a Latvian woman that also liked heavy metal. I told her that I had always wanted to visit Riga (more…)