An offering of more Notre Dame-related gems from cyberspace. Some music, a dollop of political commentary, a bit of adventure and inspiration, and a pinch of rah-rah with salsa.
Believe it or not, Claudio Monteverdi’s “Vespers of the Blessed Virgin 1610,” performed by the Miami-based professional choir Seraphic Fire, recently edged out Lady GaGa’s most recent album, The Fame Monster, on iTunes’ All Genres Bestseller list. The choir’s artistic director and conductor is Notre Dame alum Patrick Dupre Quigley ’00. Listen to and/or purchase the performance that bumped off Lady GaGa at the iTunes store.
The choir’s out-of-nowhere success prompted NPR’s All Things Considered to broadcast a story on the group recently. Hear the NPR story.
Apparently, Notre Dame people really like to discuss politics and public affairs. Several faculty members and alumni write regularly on the topics:
In a recent New York Review of Books blog, Notre Dame’s O’Shaughnessy Dean of Arts and Letters John T. McGreevy ’86 and R. Scott Appleby ’78, the John M. Regan, Jr. Director of Notre Dame’s Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, express their concerns over the revival of nativism in the controversy surrounding the “Ground Zero” Islamic center. Read their commentary.
Notre Dame alumnus and noted political and international affairs commentator William Pfaff ’49 is a regular contributor to the TruthDig.com blog, which received the 2010 Webby Award as the best political blog on the Internet. Recently, the Paris-based writer posted columns on the crisis in Catholicism and on the war in Afghanistan.
Pfaff’s personal web page features his latest book, The Irony of Manifest Destiny: The Tragedy of American Foreign Policy.
Robert Schmuhl ’70, Notre Dame’s Annenberg-Joyce Professor of American Studies and Journalism, also is a frequent commentator on political and governmental affairs. He contributes regularly to the Politics Daily website. Read his analysis of the 2010 election year.
The Philadelphia Inquirer published Professor Schmuhl’s book review of the book Backlash, about opposition to President Obama since his election.
Melinda Henneberger ’80, who was a Washington correspondent for The New York Times and later that paper’s Rome bureau chief, is the editor-in-chief of Politics Daily.com. She writes about Glenn Beck’s views on President Obama’s religion.
Last September, Doug Gunzelmann ’03 set out on the adventure of his life to focus attention on the destruction of the Amazon rainforest. Inspired by a National Geographic article, Gunzelmann embarked on a 3,200 mile solo bike trip from his home in Boston to the Amazon in Brazil. Along the way he encountered swarming ants, scorching heat, violent political riots, and he escaped from a cougar.
Read his blog or read it on the Huffington Post or read an interview of Gunzelmann on the Planet Green website.
Ever wonder what it would be like to be a lay missionary? Blair Fulnecky ’10 blogs about his experiences in Chile serving as a Holy Cross lay missionary.
To the list of ND fan websites you can add a blog recently begun by Jim Small, a Notre Dame parent whose son, James, graduated in 2008. Last January, Jim launched ndgoirish. The blog’s motto is “A lifelong fan bloggomg all things Notre Dame.”
Finally, Notre Dame history professor Felipe Fernandez-Armesto sings the praises (en Espaňol) of Notre Dame football in an essay about soccer and American football at the Spanish language website el commentario.tv.