Video

Video: Claudio Véliz at the Anglosphere Institute

by

Now you can watch Professor Claudio Véliz’s brilliant talk on “The Optional Descent of the English Speaking World,” which he gave at the inaugural event of Jim Bennett’s Anglosphere Institute. The lecture was hosted by the Hudson Institute in Washington, DC.

Professor Véliz discusses the reasons for the global success of English culture and institutions, including meta-parallels between England and Ancient Athens.

Click here to watch the video.The lecture runs about 49 minutes and is followed by another 35 minutes of Q&A that are also very much worth watching. (There is a gap of approximately ten seconds at around 38:25.)

Unfortunately, the last few minutes of the lecture, in which Professor Véliz discusses the importance of cultural self-confidence to the survival of English civilization in its current struggle with radical Islam, were not recorded. However, a complete audio recording and written transcript of his talk may eventually be made available.

You may need to raise the volume on your speakers to get best audio quality.

“An old refrain, it lingers on: l’amour, toujours, l’amour…”

by

I did not love Roxy Music, but I did love their song “All I Want is You”. I heard it on WBCN in Boston back in the 70s. Rock songs are not usually romantic love songs. When they say “love” they mean “gettin’ it on”. But this one is that rarity, a romantic love song, and — unusually for the arch, idiosyncratic and somewhat abstract Roxy — a genuine rock song.

Via the unspeakably great You Tube, here is a live version of “All I Want is You”. Having listened to this about 20 times, I have decided to share the joy with the ChicagoBoyz community. The always dapper Bryan Ferry is fabulous in some kind of state trooper uniform. But he was no mere fashion plate. The man had the greatest enunciation in popular music. The band is in the pocket. These guys had the goods.

This one really took me back.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10QSJUAkDgo&playnext=1&list=PLD14F4DE950D93E74

Here are two other Roxy Music gems from their golden era, Do the Strand and Virginia Plain.

And as curiosity/bonus for our beloved readers, here is the recently resurrected Mission of Burma, old and gnarly but still full of spit and vinegar, playing Roxy’s Editions of You with the guy from Dinosaur, Jr. on guitar. Roxy is part of the deep structure at this point. Which is a good thing. (Thanks to Carl Ortona for the Burma link.)

(Here’s a cool Bryan Ferry interview from 1972.)

Lyrics below the fold.

Read more