Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners” (2025) and Jordan Peele’s “Get Out” (2017)

As the white Irish folksinger Remmick (Jack O'Connell) attacks the young black bluesman Sammie Moore (Miles Caton) near the end of Ryan Coogler's new movie "Sinners", he shouts, "I want your stories and I want your songs!" Again, this echoes the history of African-American culture: In Jordan Peele's 2017 movie "Get Out", Jim Hudson (Stephen Root), a blind white gallerist, tells young black photographer Chris Washington (Daniel Kaluuya) something similar to justify his brain taking over Chris's body: "I want your eye." In both cases, the white man's desire to claim the black man's creativity and culture for himself is depicted as a violent, physical attack on the black man's body. (Andrew Shields, #111Words, 31 May 2025)

Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners” (2025) and James Baldwin’s “Go Tell It On The Mountain” (1953)

The main story of Ryan Coogler's "Sinners" begins on the morning of Saturday, 15 October 1932, with aspiring blues guitarist Sammie Moore (Miles Caton) picking up his guitar at the church of his preacher father Jedidah (Saul Williams), and ends the next morning when Sammie returns to the church, his face scarred and his guitar broken. Jedidah urges him to be saved, but Sammie leaves town. The movie's form echoes James Baldwin's 1953 novel "Go Tell It On The Mountain", which takes place on main character John Grimes' birthday, a Saturday in 1935—except on the following morning, John is "saved" in the Pentecostal church where his father is a preacher. (Andrew Shields, #111Words, 30 May 2025)

Captivated by a choir rehearsing John Dowland’s 1597 song “Come Again"

Last weekend, with lots of grading to do, I went to the English Department in Basel to work in a lovely sunny room there. As I opened my laptop, I heard the English Seminar Choir downstairs practicing a favorite song of mine: "Come Again", by John Dowland (1563-1626). I sat still and listened to the song's captivating melody, and when they finished, I went down and thanked them for their beautiful performance. The song was published in 1597 in Dowland's "First Booke of Songes or Ayres". I first heard it on a 1999 ECM album, "In Darkness Let Me Dwell", featuring tenor John Potter, saxophonist John Surman, and bassist Barry Guy. (Andrew Shields, #111Words, 29 May 2025) 

"'Delenda est’ America”: Emily Dickinson to Susan Gilbert, 11 June 1852

In June 1852, Edward Dickinson, the poet Emily Dickinson's father, attended the Whig National Convention in Baltimore, Maryland, that nominated General Winfield Scott for President in the election that November. While there, Dickinson delivered a letter of 11 June from Emily to her friend Susan Gilbert (who would later marry Emily's brother Austin four years later), in which Emily complained about the distance between her home in Amherst and Baltimore, where Susan was a teacher: "I dont like this country at all, and I shan't stay here any longer! 'Delenda est' America Massachusetts and all!" Little did Edward know that his daughter cultivated such revolutionary sentiments as "America must be destroyed!" (Andrew Shields, #111Words, 28 May 2025)

Deciding what Miles Davis albums to listen to on his 99th birthday

For the 99th birthday today of Miles Davis (1926-1991), I checked my collection of his music to see what to listen to. There's "Birth of the Cool" (1949-1950). There are the albums of his 1950s quintet with John Coltrane, Red Garland, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones, as well as the albums of his 1960s quintet with Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, and Tony Williams. There are the collaborations with Gil Evans, such as "Sketches of Spain". But none of those fit my mood this morning, so I put on the drifting, almost ambient "In a Silent Way" (1969) and then the still drifting but more biting "Bitches Brew" (1970). (Andrew Shields, #111Words, 26 May 2025)

Rafael Nadal, his three languages, and the lack of interpreters at tennis tournaments

At today's first day of tennis at the French Open, Rafael Nadal of Spain was honored for his historic achievements at the tournament and in his tennis career. He began his prepared statement with in French, which he read carefully and slowly. Then he switched to English, which he read somewhat faster but still with moments of uncertainty. Finally, he switched to Spanish, and his statement was not only more fluid but also richer and more moving (even from the perspective of my intermediate Spanish). I always wonder why tennis players so rarely speak in their native languages. Surely the tours and the tournaments could afford interpreters to translate their statements. (Andrew Shields, #111Words, 25 May 2025)

Overhearing a family from the United States visiting Basel for a day of sightseeing

On the tram, a family from the United States was heading into downtown Basel for a day of sightseeing. Especially as their two boys looked to be about eight and ten years old, I told them that they might want to avoid Barfüsserplatz this evening, as the celebration of the FC Basel men's team winning the Swiss football league will be taking place. A Swiss woman sitting in front of me pointed out that I should warn them about possible detours with the tram lines because of the celebration. After I'd done so, I also recommended that they take the ferry across the Rhine, which offers one of Basel's loveliest moments. (Andrew Shields, #111Words, 24 May 2025)

Teenage sexuality in three Bruce Springsteen songs

Three title songs of Bruce Springsteen albums depict teenage sexuality. In "Born to Run" (1975), the speaker tries to persuade Wendy to have sex: "Wendy, let me in, I wanna be your friend." The song's sexual persuasion centers on the image of "hemi-powered" cars: "[...] strap your hands across my engines". Amidst the verbal, adolescent energy of the earlier "Blinded by the Light" (1973), a first risk of teenage sexuality arises when a boy complains he "caught the clap." Then "The River" (1980) addresses the ultimate risk of teenage sexual energy: "Well I got Mary pregnant, and that was all she wrote." With pregnancy, that energy is lost to adult responsibilities. (Andrew Shields, #111Words, 22 May 2025) 

Luis Suárez’s intentional hands in the 2010 Men’s World Cup and Cory Doctorow on fraud in 2025

On 2 July 2010, late in extra time in a Men's World Cup quarterfinal, with the score 1-1, Uruguay's Luis Suárez blocked a shot by Ghana's Dominic Adiyiah with his hand. Suárez got a red card, Ghana got a penalty kick—but Ghana's Asamoah Gyan missed the penalty, and Uruguay won the subsequent penalty shootout. With his intentional hands, Suárez manipulated football rules to his advantage. As Cory Doctorow put it recently, "the optimal level of fraud is never zero, because a system that has been simplified to the point where no fraud can take place within it is a system that is so trivial and brittle as to be useless." (Andrew Shields, #111Words, 20 May 2025)

Don Q makes clear that he’s the Chief, not the singer of “Born in Plunderland"

Whether at White Sea Lake or at Hush Money House, at Foney Island or at Q Castle, Don Q is the Chief. Even at his casino in Ocean Town, he had been the Chief. But to many people in Plunderland, the Chief is a singer who grew up near Ocean Town and is famous for his song "Born in Plunderland". When he was criticized by that Chief the other day, Don Q turned to the window painted on the wall and said, "That so-called Chief is Overrated, not a talented guy, a JERK, a 'prune'. Vanza, when that Chief comes back to Plunderland, we’ll all see how it goes for him!" (Andrew Shields, #111Words, 19 May 2025)

The Niko Seibold Elfton Ensemble wins the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest in Basel

In a surprise twist, the computers of the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest in Basel last night were hacked, and first and second place went to a multinational band that was not even on the program: the Niko Seibold Elfton Ensemble, which was performing at the Bird's Eye Jazz Club in Basel, rather than the St. Jakob Halle. In second place was "Gonda", a Rhaeto-Romance poem Seibold arranged for his multinational seventeen-piece jazz band (including string quartet and harp) with Song Yi Jeon on vocals. In first was Seibold's "Pünktchen", the first instrumental to win the ESC, with brilliant solos by Simon Spiess on soprano saxophone and Fabio Gouvea on electric guitar. (Andrew Shields, #111Words, 18 May2025)

Allusions to two folk songs in Bruce Springsteen’s “The River” (1980)

The title song of Bruce Springsteen's 1980 album "The River" contains several phrases that allude to earlier songs. The opening line, "I come from down in the valley", takes up the title of a folk song also known as "Birmingham Jail", which I know from a version by Jerry Garcia and David Grisman on their album "Shady Grove" (released in 1996 after Garcia's death in 1995). Springsteen's chorus phrase, "we'd go down to the river", takes up the title of another folk song, "Down to [or 'in'] the River to Pray", which was performed by Alison Krauss on the soundtrack of the Coen Brothers' 2000 film "O Brother, Where Art Thou?". (Andrew Shields, #111Words, 17 May 2025)

Making memes out of quotation from Adrienne Rich poems and Toni Morrison novels: An assignment in my courses

For the final sessions of my two seminars this term (one on Adrienne Rich; one on Toni Morrison's Early Novels), I have asked the students to find one quotation from the works we have read that they feel stands for something about the work, the author, or the world. I did this in my Contemporary Poetry seminar in Spring Semester 2022, with each student writing their quotations from poems onto poster-sized paper and hanging them on the wall of the seminar room. This time around I'm asking them to design memes with their quotations—but unlike most memes, I want them to say what poem or novel the quotation comes from. (Andrew Shields, #111Words, 15 May 2025)

Here’s my Adrienne Rich meme:

A course discussing Sarfraz Manzoor’s memoir “Greetings from Bury Park”, Gurinder Chadha’s film “Blinded by the Light”, and three Bruce Springsteen songs

In a course at the Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz, we first discussed Sarfraz Manzoor's 2007 memoir "Greetings from Bury Park: Race, Religion and Rock 'n' Roll" and then turned to Gurinder Chadha's 2019 film "Blinded by the Light", whose script was inspired by Manzoor's life and written by Manzoor, Chadha, and Paul Mayeda Berges. (Chadha and Berges co-wrote Chadha's 2002 film "Bend It Like Beckham".) In both "Greetings from Bury Park" and "Blinded by the Light", Manzoor presents his love of Bruce Springsteen, so for our final session, we will discuss Springsteen songs featured in the movie that the students voted on: "Born To Run", "The Promised Land", and "Blinded By The Light". (Andrew Shields, #111Words, 14 May 2025)

“I know you are reading this poem”: The repeated phrase in Adrienne Rich’s poem “Dedications"

In Adrienne Rich's poem "Dedications", the final section of the title sequence of her 1991 book "An Atlas of the Difficult World", each of the twelve sentences begins with the phrase "I know you are reading this poem" and then a scene in which the context of someone's encounter with the poem is described. In the course of our discussion of the poem in class today, one student observed that the phrase is "a philosophical truism": when you read it, it describes what you are doing. Another noted that "this" points to that moment of reading, and a third added that the present continuous verb "are reading" does so as well. Andrew Shields, #111Words, 13 May 2025)

Goethe’s character Serlo (from “Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship”) on hearing a song, reading a poem, seeing a painting, and saying reasonable things — every day

A friend posted a meme with a quotation from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: "Every day we should hear at least one little song, read one good poem, see one exquisite picture, and, if possible, speak a few sensible words." As always with memes, there was no further source, but I did manage find it rather quickly. It comes from Goethe's novel "Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship" (1795-1796). Specifically, it's said by Serlo, a theater director who is Wilhelm Meister's mentor. Here is the original German: "Man sollte alle Tage wenigstens ein kleines Lied hören, ein gutes Gedicht lesen, ein treffliches Gemälde sehen und, wenn es möglich zu machen wäre, einige vernünftige Worte sprechen." (Andrew Shields, #111Words, 12 May2025)

 

Musicians I’ve seen most: members of The Grateful Dead and Hildegard Lernt Fliegen—and my friend Stefan Strittmatter

The list of musicians I've seen most begins with Jerry Garcia (over 100 times) and the other members of The Grateful Dead (over 80 times). Then comes Andreas Schärer (34 times, with the 35th this evening) and the other members of Hildegard Lernt Fliegen (all at least 14 times, with the 15th this evening). Other jazz musicians I've seen more than ten times include Larry Grenadier, and I'll be seeing him again tomorrow night. But last night at the Nicole Bernegger concertat Barfüsserplatz in Basel, I realized I have also seen my friend and former English student, Basel guitarist Stefan Strittmatter, about twenty times, in at least seven different bands. (Andrew Shields, #111Words, 11 May 2025)

My Kelty backpack, which is over 40 years old now

In the fall of 1984, my father took me to REI in Berkeley to buy a Kelty backpack for my forthcoming trip to Germany. He said, "We're going to get you a really good backpack that will last for decades." And it has. It's one of my oldest possessions. I don't remember how I picked it out—I assume I just followed my Dad's suggestions. I travelled with it in Germany in 1984-1985, to Toronto to visit my father there for Christmas in 1985, all over the United States in the summer of 1988, to Paris in summer 1989, and on many trips in Europe after I moved here in 1991. (Andrew Shields, #111Words, 10 May 2025) 

Late nights in Paris in summer 1989

When I lived in Paris with my friend Erik Hagestad in summer 1989, we often stayed out quite late, and the moment of decision would come: do we take the last metro, or do we wait for the first metro a few hours later? If we waited for the first, then it would have a few others like us, who had been out all night, and a few people on their way to early jobs—but everyone was bleary-eyed. Sometimes, we would just start walking home, and if we ended up on the route of a night bus, and one showed up, we'd get on and ride it for a while. (Andrew Shields, #111Words, 9 May 2025) 

For Keith Jarrett on his 80th birthday, 8 May 2025

Today, 8 May 2025, is jazz pianist Keith Jarrett’s 80th birthday. Although he has sadly been unable to play piano since two strokes in 2018 left his left arm paralyzed, we still have the legacy of his many recordings, including a new release announced today by ECM Records of a 2016 solo performance in Vienna. I saw him once in Princeton, New Jersey, on 13 April 1990, with Gary Peacock (bass) and Jack DeJohnette (drums) in a trio concert I remember for several long, grooving codas. That was also the only time I ever saw Peacock (1935-2020), but I have been lucky to see DeJohnette (b. 1942) ten times since 1984. (Andrew Shields, #111Words, 8 May 2025) 

Toni Morrison’s “Tar Baby” (1981) and W. E. B. DuBois’s “The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study” (1899)

In Toni Morrison's "Tar Baby" (1981), butler Sidney Childs describes himself and his origins with a reference to a book: "I am a Phil-a-delphia Negro mentioned in the book of the very same name." Written around 80 years before the period in the 1970s when the novel is set, that book is "The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study", by W. E. B. DuBois (1899), a study of the lives of African Americans in Philadelphia. In "The Souls of Black Folk" (1903), DuBois introduced the concept of "double consciousness". But in "Tar Baby", Sidney continues with an understanding of his genealogy that resists such doubleness: "My people owned drugstores and taught school." (Andrew Shields, #111Words, 7 May 2025)

Don Q drives his golf cart on a “beautiful Plunderland morning"

Don Q looked at the window painted on the wall: "Vanza, it's a beautiful day. Get my golf cart ready. We're going for a ride." Vanza grabbed his raincoat, went outside, and sent for the golf cart. When it pulled up, Don Q squeezed into the driver's seat: "We're going to Foney Island on this beautiful Plunderland morning." Zipping up his raincoat, Vanza got in. "Where are my golf clubs?" shouted Don Q. Malice threw them down the front steps. Don Q turned red in the face, gunned the engine, turned up his favorite disco song, and sped off with a shout: "I love the smell of corruption in the morning!" (Andrew Shields, #111Words, 6 May 2025) 

Snoopy teaches puppies how to swim

Many years ago, Snoopy taught a beginning swimming lesson for puppies. The course went on for two weeks, with the weekends off. On the second Thursday, he told the puppies about the test the next day for their first swimming badge, the sea horse, and the things they would have to be able to do to pass the test. The next morning, all the puppies were nervously wagging their tails while they waited for Snoopy to start the test. But Snoopy just began handing out the badges to each of them, praising them for how they had all already done the things they would have needed to do in the test.(Andrew Shields, #111Words, 5 May 2025, hat tip to Philippe Wampfler)

Katie Johnson, Alec Guinness, and “May the Wilberforce be with you"

Katie Johnson (18 November 1878 – 4 May 1957) played Mrs. Wilberforce in Alexander Mackendrick's 1955 film "The Ladykillers", alongside Alec Guinness, Herbert Lom, and Peter Sellers as members of the criminal gang that rented herrooms in order to rob a security van at the adjacent railway station. The first words of Professor Marcus (Guinness) are spoken through the door after he rings the bell: "Mrs. Wilberforce?" As that echoes Guinness's famous line from George Lucas's "Star Wars" (1977), I created a meme years ago for "Star Wars" Day: a picture of Johnson captioned, "May the Wilberforce be with you". Only recently did I learn that Johnson died on 4 May. (Andrew Shields, #111Words, 4 May2025)

Gandini Juggling at Théâtre La Coupole in Saint-Louis, France, 3 May 2025

A row of three tables, with two chairs behind each one, stands in front of a curtain. A woman sits down at the middle table and pulls out a small white ball. The ball becomes two balls, then one again, then a red ball. Her hands become several hands, then two again. The scene continues with one person at each chair and red, green, and white balls. Thus began "Heka, Tout n'est qu'un faux-semblant", by Gandini Juggling at Théâtre La Coupole in Saint-Louis, France, this evening. It ended with the same tables behind a gauzy black curtain, with the woman doing her tricks again, but now revealing how they were done. (Andrew Shields, #111Words, 3 May 2025)

On due process in May 2011 and May 2025

Fourteen years ago today, on 2 May 2011, I wrote on Facebook: “Governments should put suspected criminals on trial, not kill them.” This generated discussion, as many people understood my reference to the United States military mission that had succeeded in killing Osama bin Laden the day before. I stand by my statement from 2011, though at the moment I could rephrase it: “Governments should put suspected criminals on trial, not deport them.” Due process is essential to determine whether or not someone is a criminal in the first place, and to the rule of law in general, whether the President of the United States is Barack Obama or Donald Trump. (Andrew Shields, #111Words, 2 May 2025) 

The thesis that Jay Gatsby in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” (1925) is a black man passing as white

In the last five years, I have had two students take exams with me on the subject of novels from the United States in the 1920s, with both lists including F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" (1925) and Nella Larsen's "Passing" (1929). I had a number of vague hunches about the two novels that have led me to consider teaching them together in a course, but today, those hunches took concrete form with Wesley Lowery's recent article "Gatsby’s Secret", which presents the history of Carlyle V. Thompson's thesis, which he first published in 2000, that Fitzgerald's title character, like Clare Kendry in Larsen's novel, is a black person passing as white. (Andrew Shields, #111Words, 1 May 2025)