Many years ago, I had a discussion, bordering on an argument, with a friend on the pros and cons of gazpacho, that cold soup that consists of raw vegetables in a tomato base.  In truth, I’ve never been a fan of any cold soups.  My friend and I went back and forth on what each […]

The first thing that seems to suggest that a metaphor is intended in Carter W. Lewis’s “Echo Location” is the pending marriage between the white university professor, Benjamin Rindell, and his black fiancée, Emmy.  In the play’s opening scene, the two are sitting on the lawn in Rindell’s backyard.  Rindell is distressed because he accidentally […]

“Once you give up your integrity, the rest is a piece of cake.” -J.R. Ewing, “Dallas” oil baron With the first votes about to be cast in this year’s presidential campaign (Iowa caucuses next week; New Hampshire votes the week following), it’s time to contemplate whom the respective political parties are going to end up […]

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra returned to the Mondavi Center (on the campus of U.C. Davis) last week for at least the third time (by our count) in the last four or five years.  And again on this visit, the musicians were led by Pinchas Zukerman, who conducted the entire performance and doubled as soloist on […]