Author Archives: Timothy Burke

At Last

Posted on September 2, 2008 by Timothy Burke

Ok, so “Hare We Go” is not on DVD. But. Finally. Disney is releasing a DVD edition of The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh. Easily my favorite thing ever on the Wonderful World of Disney when I was a kid. Speaking … Continue reading →

Posted in Popular Culture | Comments Off on At Last

It’s a-Flat Like Your Head

Posted on September 2, 2008 by Timothy Burke

When I first taught my course The Production of History at Swarthmore, I wanted to show the Bugs Bunny cartoon “Hare We Go”, in which Bugs Bunny helps and then antagonizes Christopher Columbus on his first voyage. I was thinking … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Popular Culture, Production of History, Swarthmore | 11 Comments

Impulse Control

Posted on September 2, 2008 by Timothy Burke

What does matter about Palin? What it tells you about McCain. Here I’m echoing an emerging consensus, but I think it’s basically right on. First, there are reports appearing now that McCain himself, as well as Lindsay Graham, had been … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | 2 Comments

A Small Thought on Palin

Posted on September 1, 2008 by Timothy Burke

Leaving aside any of her merits and demerits as a candidate for the office of Vice-President, I’d say that opponents of the McCain ticket would be wise to steer a million miles clear of her daughter’s pregnancy, as Obama already … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | 7 Comments

St.Paul or Beijing?

Posted on September 1, 2008 by Timothy Burke

One thing that has become a tiresome part of major American conventions and gatherings that have some expected controversial dimension is the extent to which many municipal, county or state governments subcontract out some portion of their police force to … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | 2 Comments

Dog Days

Posted on August 30, 2008 by Timothy Burke

House training a dog is a time-consuming hassle, but…

Posted in Domestic Life | 5 Comments

Drink Drank Drunk

Posted on August 29, 2008 by Timothy Burke

Earlier this week, I happened to catch a segment of Marty Moss-Coane’s Radio Times focusing on the drinking age and the issue of student drinking at universities. The guests were John McCardell, the former Middlebury president who is calling for … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia | 5 Comments

Hey It’s Franklin

Posted on August 28, 2008 by Timothy Burke

I mentioned in my last post that studied moderation isn’t much comfort to me lately. That’s partly because, however it might otherwise appear from this blog, I’m not trying to calculate the distance between the two most extreme positions I … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Books, Politics | 9 Comments

On the Rebound

Posted on August 21, 2008 by Timothy Burke

I’ve been quickly re-skimming Doris Lessing’s African Laughter, her musings on a number of trips to Zimbabwe after 1980. In 1988, reflecting on a friend’s growing disillusionment with official corruption, Lessing writes, “To be in love with a country or … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogging, Miscellany, Politics | 9 Comments

McCain Staffer Loses Saving Roll, Fumbles Attack

Posted on August 19, 2008 by Timothy Burke

Sorry, I’ve been travelling and trying to puppy-train our second dog as well. I’ll slowly work back up to regular posting this week. Via BoingBoing, I did notice this rather odd entry at the McCain campaign blog which takes a … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Popular Culture | 8 Comments