Lapham's Quarterly

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception

Today is the joint birthday of our dear leader Lewis H. Lapham and Elvis Presley (both b. 1935).

One of Elvis Presley’s favorite movies was "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," which he is said to have watched around forty-five times in his private movie theater at Graceland.

http://www.laphamsquarterly.org/miscellany/wit-whine-whimsy.php

Wit, Whine, & Whimsy

laphamsquarterly.org

Gioachino Rossini was known to possess strong opinions about other composers. “Wagner has some fine moments,” he estimated, “but some bad quarters of an hour.” After hearing Hector Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique, he remarked, “What a good thing it isn’t music.”