Monthly Archives: December 2010

Dancing in Jane Austen’s Day

By Robin Bates | Published: December 4, 2010

Sports Saturday I realize that social dancing isn’t normally regarded as a competitive sport, but I have a dance story I want to share so I’ll bend the rules of “Sports Saturday.” This one involves an afternoon of dancing where my Jane Austen seminar learned a number of the steps that her heroines engage in. […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Comments closed

Burlesque and the American Dream

By Robin Bates | Published: December 3, 2010

Film Friday In memory of a friend who died this past March, this past weekend Julia and I went to see Burlesque, the new Christina Aguilera/Cher film. The friend was Maurine Holbert Hogaboom, who in 1934 made her way from a tiny east Texas town to New York by way of burlesque. The Great Depression […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Comments closed

The Divine Comedy, Doggerel Version

By Robin Bates | Published: December 2, 2010

For a change of pace as we enter the Christmas season, I share here a light, witty, and very smart poem by my father on Dante’s Divine Comedy. The poem grew out of research that he was doing on Guillaume Apollinaire, the French poet who has been his scholarly subject. Don’t worry if you don’t […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Comments closed

Mark Twain Made Humor Matter

By Robin Bates | Published: December 1, 2010

It is Mark Twain’s unrivaled ability to combine both laughter and enlightenment that makes him continually relevant.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Comments closed