Steve Clifford #booksky 💙📚
@jazzncocktails.bsky.social
Retired English prof., love good books, good music, good cocktails. My pup is Marlowe, after Philip, not Christopher. #books #booksky
Reposted by Steve Clifford #booksky 💙📚
If Thanksgiving starts the Christmas season, it's not too early for this
There Is No Mary Problem in ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’
George’s vision of his wife without him is essential to the film, but critics continue to miss its true—and profound—meaning.
lnk.thebulwark.com
November 28, 2025 at 2:01 AM
If Thanksgiving starts the Christmas season, it's not too early for this
Reposted by Steve Clifford #booksky 💙📚
Boston's Mayor Wu playing with Yo-Yo Ma at Symphony Hall
November 23, 2025 at 5:11 AM
Boston's Mayor Wu playing with Yo-Yo Ma at Symphony Hall
“Inspired yet?” 🤦♂️
November 11, 2025 at 10:59 PM
“Inspired yet?” 🤦♂️
Reposted by Steve Clifford #booksky 💙📚
Still Life with Jar, Cup, and Apples, ca. 1877
https://botfrens.com/collections/43/contents/103433
https://botfrens.com/collections/43/contents/103433
November 10, 2025 at 11:48 PM
Still Life with Jar, Cup, and Apples, ca. 1877
https://botfrens.com/collections/43/contents/103433
https://botfrens.com/collections/43/contents/103433
Reposted by Steve Clifford #booksky 💙📚
I have a very bad feeling about this...
October 27, 2025 at 4:51 PM
I have a very bad feeling about this...
Reposted by Steve Clifford #booksky 💙📚
Reposted by Steve Clifford #booksky 💙📚
'When authoritarians seize power, it is crucial to recognize courageous defenders of freedom who rise and resist,' the Norwegian Nobel Committee said as it announced Maria Corina Machado as the winner of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize
October 10, 2025 at 9:31 AM
'When authoritarians seize power, it is crucial to recognize courageous defenders of freedom who rise and resist,' the Norwegian Nobel Committee said as it announced Maria Corina Machado as the winner of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize
Reposted by Steve Clifford #booksky 💙📚
Congratulations to Maria Corina Machado, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize - her incredible optimism has already changed her country. I spoke to her, and wrote about her, at the beginning of this year:
www.theatlantic.com/internationa...
www.theatlantic.com/internationa...
The ‘Anthropological Change’ Happening in Venezuela
Maduro is still in place, but a pro-democracy movement is transforming the beleaguered country.
www.theatlantic.com
October 10, 2025 at 9:59 AM
Congratulations to Maria Corina Machado, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize - her incredible optimism has already changed her country. I spoke to her, and wrote about her, at the beginning of this year:
www.theatlantic.com/internationa...
www.theatlantic.com/internationa...
Reposted by Steve Clifford #booksky 💙📚
I saw George Mitchell give a talk last night about the diplomatic effort to end the Troubles, culminating in the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, and he said something so sobering but obviously true: if social media had existed in the 90s the negotiators would never have been able to get an agreement.
July 31, 2025 at 12:11 PM
I saw George Mitchell give a talk last night about the diplomatic effort to end the Troubles, culminating in the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, and he said something so sobering but obviously true: if social media had existed in the 90s the negotiators would never have been able to get an agreement.
Reposted by Steve Clifford #booksky 💙📚
If you don't already, watch Colbert. He is a man with no more f*cks left to give. And it's glorious.
Check out this song parody from last night's show: Mike Johnson Delays House Epstein Vote Until September
Check out this song parody from last night's show: Mike Johnson Delays House Epstein Vote Until September
July 23, 2025 at 8:46 PM
If you don't already, watch Colbert. He is a man with no more f*cks left to give. And it's glorious.
Check out this song parody from last night's show: Mike Johnson Delays House Epstein Vote Until September
Check out this song parody from last night's show: Mike Johnson Delays House Epstein Vote Until September
Reposted by Steve Clifford #booksky 💙📚
Still life with open drawer, 1879 #artbots #cezanne
https://botfrens.com/collections/43/contents/12152
https://botfrens.com/collections/43/contents/12152
June 4, 2025 at 12:44 AM
Still life with open drawer, 1879 #artbots #cezanne
https://botfrens.com/collections/43/contents/12152
https://botfrens.com/collections/43/contents/12152
As a newly retired English prof, one who was a college English major in the early ‘80s and an English grad student from ‘87-‘92, all I can say is that I wish I wrote this piece by Balazs.
"I had recently had a debate on Substack with a software engineer who claimed that “the undetectable level [of AI writing] will not be reached for some time.” I asked ChatGPT to respond to him directing it to write like me... My AI expert did not recognise that he was engaging with an AI."
AI and the Death of Literary Criticism
The discipline of English literature seems unlikely to survive the coming technological tsunami—and maybe it doesn’t deserve to. And I say this as a professor of English, who believes in the power of ...
quillette.com
May 26, 2025 at 1:57 AM
As a newly retired English prof, one who was a college English major in the early ‘80s and an English grad student from ‘87-‘92, all I can say is that I wish I wrote this piece by Balazs.
Reposted by Steve Clifford #booksky 💙📚
Reposted by Steve Clifford #booksky 💙📚
Wanna see something cool?
At the Grammy's in 1976, Ella Fitzgerald and Mel Torme explained what jazz is.
The result? The crowd losing its mind. 🔥
At the Grammy's in 1976, Ella Fitzgerald and Mel Torme explained what jazz is.
The result? The crowd losing its mind. 🔥
May 4, 2025 at 1:49 AM
Wanna see something cool?
At the Grammy's in 1976, Ella Fitzgerald and Mel Torme explained what jazz is.
The result? The crowd losing its mind. 🔥
At the Grammy's in 1976, Ella Fitzgerald and Mel Torme explained what jazz is.
The result? The crowd losing its mind. 🔥
May 3, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Reposted by Steve Clifford #booksky 💙📚
A cartoon for the @theguardian.com from a few years ago.
April 30, 2025 at 2:31 PM
A cartoon for the @theguardian.com from a few years ago.
“But an executive order is simply a directive to federal employees. It cannot override the Constitution. Trump’s attack on the idea of birthright citizenship as a ‘historical myth’ is a perversion of our history.”
April 27, 2025 at 9:37 AM
“But an executive order is simply a directive to federal employees. It cannot override the Constitution. Trump’s attack on the idea of birthright citizenship as a ‘historical myth’ is a perversion of our history.”
Reposted by Steve Clifford #booksky 💙📚
Hundreds of thousands of Canadians, many of them snowbirds, visit Palm Springs, California, for months every year. But tariffs and other attacks on their country by the Trump administration are driving them away.
Canadian Snowbirds Bought Into the American Dream in Palm Springs. Was It a Mirage?
Each year, hundreds of thousands of Canadians visit the desert city. But tariffs and other attacks on their country by the Trump administration are driving them away.
www.nytimes.com
April 26, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Hundreds of thousands of Canadians, many of them snowbirds, visit Palm Springs, California, for months every year. But tariffs and other attacks on their country by the Trump administration are driving them away.
I hope Bill Maher and Gavin Newsom give this a good read.
Larry David: My Dinner With Adolf www.nytimes.com/2025/04/21/o...
Larry David: My Dinner With Adolf www.nytimes.com/2025/04/21/o...
Opinion | Larry David: My Dinner With Adolf
When a private meeting goes unexpectedly.
www.nytimes.com
April 21, 2025 at 12:52 PM
I hope Bill Maher and Gavin Newsom give this a good read.
Larry David: My Dinner With Adolf www.nytimes.com/2025/04/21/o...
Larry David: My Dinner With Adolf www.nytimes.com/2025/04/21/o...
Reposted by Steve Clifford #booksky 💙📚
So… this was supposed to be about Paul Revere’s ride, but the Senator just unloaded about the Trump administration and its Republican enablers. Far more newsworthy than I expected. (You can probably see me shifting to “crap, this was not the interview I prepped!” but the result was memorable.)
April 17, 2025 at 11:12 PM
So… this was supposed to be about Paul Revere’s ride, but the Senator just unloaded about the Trump administration and its Republican enablers. Far more newsworthy than I expected. (You can probably see me shifting to “crap, this was not the interview I prepped!” but the result was memorable.)
Reposted by Steve Clifford #booksky 💙📚
Paul Cezanne, The Village of Gardanne (Le Village de Gardanne), 1885-1886
April 16, 2025 at 10:03 PM
Paul Cezanne, The Village of Gardanne (Le Village de Gardanne), 1885-1886
Chilling.
“Once you have replaced the principle of equality before the law with the idea that some people have no rights, you have granted your approval to the idea of an authoritarian government. At that point, all you can do is to hope that the dictator and his henchmen overlook you.”
“Once you have replaced the principle of equality before the law with the idea that some people have no rights, you have granted your approval to the idea of an authoritarian government. At that point, all you can do is to hope that the dictator and his henchmen overlook you.”
April 14, 2025 at 10:37 AM
Chilling.
“Once you have replaced the principle of equality before the law with the idea that some people have no rights, you have granted your approval to the idea of an authoritarian government. At that point, all you can do is to hope that the dictator and his henchmen overlook you.”
“Once you have replaced the principle of equality before the law with the idea that some people have no rights, you have granted your approval to the idea of an authoritarian government. At that point, all you can do is to hope that the dictator and his henchmen overlook you.”
I love the Austin Powers movies, so you can imagine my reaction. Scared my pup.
April 12, 2025 at 8:12 PM
I love the Austin Powers movies, so you can imagine my reaction. Scared my pup.
Reposted by Steve Clifford #booksky 💙📚
Wow. This is the energy we need.
We need new leaders in Washington. I’m running for Senate to be one. Let’s go.
April 2, 2025 at 9:09 PM
Wow. This is the energy we need.