Monthly Archives: May 2010

Drama on the Foul Line

By Robin Bates | Published: May 22, 2010

In his heyday, his only vulnerability       Sports Saturday The Orlando arena was electric.  The Magic, having lost their first home game against the Boston Celtics, were in a must-win situation.  To lose the first two games of a playoff series at home is almost certain death, but they had fought back from an 11-point fourth-quarter […]

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Celebrating Eliza Doolittle Day

By Robin Bates | Published: May 21, 2010

Hepburn and Harrison in My Fair Lady  Film Friday Did you know that yesterday (May 20) was Eliza Doolittle Day? I didn’t either until I heard it announced on National Public Radio.  But I remembered the song from My Fair Lady once they mentioned it: One evening the king will say: “Oh, Liza, old thing, […]

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Befriending, Not Fighting, Grendel’s Mother

By Robin Bates | Published: May 20, 2010

I am still vibrating from the powerful student essays I received last week. I talked about one yesterday and will share another today. This is one from a student whose mother is dying of brain cancer. Erica Rutkai (she is letting me use her name) decided to move from California to the east coast when […]

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Sadness over Little Women, 12th Night

By Robin Bates | Published: May 19, 2010

Although reading and grading student essays is the most demanding aspect of my job—I graded around 535 formal and informal essays this past semester, as well as reading another 100 essay proposals and early drafts—it can also be the most rewarding.  That’s because I will regularly see students working through major life issues at the […]

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Sumer is ycomen in

By Robin Bates | Published: May 18, 2010

I’ve been grading student essays for so long that I’ve barely noticed the succession of gorgeous days that have been washing over us.  My seniors graduated Saturday, however, and yesterday I turned in the grades for the rest of my students, so I can finally acknowledge that “sumer is ycomen in.”  To remind myself and anyone […]

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Children Commence, Parents Let Go

By Robin Bates | Published: May 17, 2010

Flowers for Justin This past Saturday St. Mary’s College held its graduation and, as always, it was a time of good-byes. Good-byes are the theme of today’s post. One good-bye was to poet Lucille Clifton, a former member of the faculty whose poem “blessing the boats (at St. Mary’s)” has become a regular part of […]

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I Saw Eternity the Other Night

By Robin Bates | Published: May 16, 2010

Spiritual Sunday As a liberal Episcopalian, I have always maintained, almost as an unquestioned tenet of faith, that there are many roads to the top of the mountain and that no one religion has an exclusive highway to God.  Therefore I found myself challenged by an article in The Boston Globe (a tip to Andrew Sullivan’s Daily Dish for alerting […]

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When It’s Hockey vs. Art, Who Wins?

By Robin Bates | Published: May 15, 2010

Sports Saturday Jason Blake, who reports on North American hockey for us from Ljubljana, Slovenia, has contributed this column in the wake of the Montreal Canadiens’ remarkable back-to-back 7-game playoff victories over first the top-seeded Washington Capitals and then the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins—the first time an eighth-place team has ever performed such […]

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Casablanca, a Film for Every Occasion

By Robin Bates | Published: May 14, 2010

Film Friday What is it about Casablanca that makes it applicable to practically any occasion?  A couple of weeks ago I referred to it when comparing Goldman Sachs to a casino.  Then a couple of days later Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen mentioned the scene of rounding up suspects when writing about Arizona’s new immigration […]

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