Author Archives: Ralph Hanson

Questions Worth Asking (Maybe) – GTA VI, Anthony Bourdain, and Steven Sondheim

How many people will be absent from work on Grand Theft Auto VI release day? (WSJ – gift link) Gamers have been waiting 13 years for the next edition of the monster hit open world phenomenon of Grand Theft Auto … Continue reading

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Remembering Dolly Parton

Editor’s note: I’ve been off-line the last few weeks because of surgery reattaching a ligament on my left arm. Recovery is slow, but sure, but I do now have the use of both hands. The great Dolly Parton passed into … Continue reading

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Nolan’s created a great film, but it’s a revisionist tale – Homer’s ‘The Odyssey’ Part 4

Editor’s Note: For the last couple of weeks I’ve been writing about Homer’s Odyssey in a variety of forms without my reaction to Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster film. Here are my thoughts after seeing it twice – once at an Ultra DLX … Continue reading

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Nolan’s Storytelling Generates Talk – Homer’s The Odyssey Part 3

Editor’s Note: Dear Wife and I saw The Odyssey at the Grand Theater’s Ultra DLX premium format screen (With Atmos sound) in Lincoln, NE over the weekend. I loved it, and DW enjoyed it despite it being way over her limit of … Continue reading

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British Actor Stephen Fry performs Greek Myths with a Storyteller’s Perspective: Homer’s The Odyssey Part 2

NOTE: This is the second of three blog posts taking a look at modern translations/retellings of Homer’s The Odyssey – each in more-or-less a different medium – Emily Wilson’s book with a new translation from Ancient Greek, Stephen Fry’s audiobooks presenting … Continue reading

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Who lives? Who dies? Who tells your story? – Homer’s ‘The Odyssey’ Part 1

My favorite line from Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway musical Hamilton: An American Musical comes near the end of the show when George Washington asks the question: “Who lives, who dies, who tells your story?” That inquiry can be applied to so much … Continue reading

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Is your phone listening to you and serving up ads based on what it hears?

While I was visiting my older sister over the weekend, she maintained, as so many people do, that her phone listens to her and then serves up ads based on what she was just talking about. As is typical with … Continue reading

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Discovering David Hockney’s “Grand Canyon”

Editor’s Note: British artist David Hockney, famous  for his vivid paintings of brief moments in southern California life, died June 11, 2026 at the age of 88. He was best known for his work “A Bigger Splash,” depicting the instant … Continue reading

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Ralph’s Current Media: Disclosure Day, Postmodern Jukebox, Quick Deductions, and Edward Abbey

Lots of fun items in my media diet this summer including movies, music, video games and old books. Here’s what I’ve been paying particular attention to lately: Steven Spielberg’s new contemporary science fiction movie Disclosure Day is an intriguing and exciting … Continue reading

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Everyone’s Gone To the Movies: Christopher Nolan’s early, popular and weird films

I would be hard pressed to name a more interesting activet film director than Christopher Nolan. His upcoming adaptation of Homer’s The Odyssey is the most anticipated movie of the summer, and with Oppenheimer, he managed to turn a historical science … Continue reading

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