Unca Darrell

JULY 10 / So why are we deliberately corrupting the code?

I DON'T recommend the full article, but these lines are provocative:

Almost everything we know, everything we are, is absorbed from the culture around us. In [a] very strong sense, our minds are not our physical brains, but the cultural software running on them.

JULY 1 / The glory of a good concession speech

IN THE YELLOWING pages of history, political succession usually required a death, natural or induced by poison or sword. Kings died or were killed, then were succeeded by the political heir next in line or by the usurper. In literature, think of Hamlet, MacBeth, Richard III.

JUNE 29 / Sounds right to me

CRITIC BENJAMIN IVRY has blistered the 13th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.

JUNE 6 / D-Day plus 65 years

MY FATHER was a sergeant in the service company, so he did not go to Omaha Beach with the rest of the 62nd Armored Field Artillery Battalion on D-Day, sixty-five years ago this day. Several accounts have been written about the unit's bravery. My favorite, however . . .

JUNE 4 / The Gipper, unveiled

CLICK HERE t0 see yesterday's dedication of the statue of Ronald Wilson Reagan in the U.S. Capitol.

MAY 29 / "American Idol" for the classical set, without the Americans

TO LISTEN live to the semifinals of the Van Cliburn international piano competition, go here. KTCU is running the competition live at 1:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. through Sunday.

MAY 25 / The Chronicle just can't do it

THE CHRONICLE tried. It really did. But our local editorial board is simply incapable of celebrating Memorial Day for what it is -- a time of remembrance, of honor and respect -- for those who died in our nation's military service. Instead . . .

MAY 20 / Next time, read the transcript

Editorial, "Plea for dialogue," Houston Chronicle, May 20, 2009:

[President Obama] recounted a letter he had received after winning the Democratic presidential nomination from a doctor who described himself as a pro-life Christian.

MAY 20 / But does it ever screen "The Commitments?"

HOUSTON has a great Irish studies center, one of the best in the nation. Go here for details.

MAY 14 / Go see "Rock 'n' Roll"

TOM STOPPARD's "Rock 'n' Roll," like most Stoppard plays, is worth your time. It's running at the Alley through May 24.