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For media junkies like myself, the blessed week between Christmas and New Year’s should be rehab. It isn’t, of course. We can’t quit the needle. We spend the week watching myriad round-ups of the year that has just left us from around the media globe, as well as the other side of the two-faced god Januarius’ gaze: the media’s prognostications as to the year ahead. (more…)
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The lads were nursing their hangovers on Nick Jeelvy‘s special hangover edition of The Writers’ Bloc with good friends Pox Populi, Hwitgeard, American Krogan (Substack, Telegram), and Greg Johnson. (more…)
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The latest broadcast of Counter-Currents Radio was a cozy New Year’s Eve livestream Ask Me Anything hosted by Greg Johnson, and with special guests Tim Murdock (Horus the Avenger), Jim Goad, Sam Dickson, Cyan Quinn, Nick Jeelvy, and Stephen Paul Foster, and it is now available for download and online listening. (more…)
Left: Antoine-Jean Gros, Premier Consul Bonaparte, ca. 1802; Right: Cover for E. T. A. Hoffmann and Alexandre Dumas’ The Nutcracker & the Mouse King
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Part 1 of 2 (Part 2 here)
Like many of us this past season, I have had to endure far too many repetitions of the same 11 ”holiday” songs that fail to capture the essence of the season: the contemplative, dirge-y, or haunted side of winter, paired with the tasteful emotional warmth and childlike joy of Christmas. (more…)
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As my mama always used to tell me, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, Jimmy, maybe that’s because there’s nothing nice to say.”
I’ve been sitting at the keyboard for hours trying to think of something nice to say about 2021, and the only good thing I can say is that it’s almost over. (more…)
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On Christmas of 1996 I was at a crossroads. I had spent seven years in Boston — a life’s goal, and they were seven of the happiest years of my life — but in 1991 I moved to Columbia, Missouri, to live with Mother. I had worked and saved money, ostensibly planning to go to library school at the university, then return to Boston, ready to get hired. But things didn’t turn out that way. (more…)
Johann Wilhelm Preyer, Still Life with Champagne, 1885.
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Well, 2020 is one heck of a year. It’s certainly been the most unusual one I’ve lived through. I’ve thrived this year. It boils down to better use of time. I am fortunate that my day job has gone to teleworking status. As a result, the morning commute is from the bedroom to my makeshift household office. I don’t need to spend a penny on gas or a second on the road. Additionally, now that I’m home, instead of the endless office drama and trivia, I focus more on work. (more…)
Ivan Bilbin, Igor’s Campaign, 1941.
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It is often said that a new year can be the start of a new life. Along with my own year-end traditions, I have always spent New Year’s Eve reflecting on the past while looking forward to each new year. Due to the events of 2020, it is difficult for many of us to have a positive outlook for the future. After reading The Tale of Igor’s Campaign this week, I was reminded that our ancestors have also faced difficult times and uncertain futures. (more…)