Posts by Category
Other Musings

Dallas Smith's Blog

Nude Statues: ISIS's Worst Nightmare

July, 2017

Anchor Image
Norway has more nude statues than any place I’ve ever visited.  This is, in large part, due to the life work of Norwegian sculptor Gustav Vigeland.  For the last twenty years of his life (he died in 1943), Vigeland worked in an Oslo park, creating 212 sculptures[…]

Celebrating My 50th High School Reunion

August, 2016

Anchor Image

I try not to think too much about the fact that I’ve reached that lofty milestone in age of having attended my fifty-year high school reunion. I graduated from Columbus High School in Columbus, Georgia, in 1966. My graduating class had around four hundred seventy. . .

2016 German/American Reunion in Salt Lake City

June, 2016

Anchor Image

Why have a German reunion in Salt Lake City? In 1969, I traveled to Kiel, Germany, for a “junior year abroad” at the Christian-Albrechts University. I ended up staying out of the US for three and a half years, during which time, besides living in Germany, I spent significant time in Sweden, Afghanistan, and India. I returned home at the end of 1972, after the Vietnam draft had been abolished...

Reflections on Memorial Day

Anchor Image
On the occasion of the Memorial Day holiday, Susan and I watched the large outdoor concert that was held in Washington, DC, on the mall which stretches between the Capitol building and the Lincoln Memorial. There were great singers singing patriotic songs accompanied by the National Symphony Orchestra.

Caritas = Caring Science

and Autumn Images of the South

Anchor Image

It has been said that the American healthcare system is not about health, nor is it a system.  Rather, it has been described as a pyramid scheme run by insurance companies with government collaboration, in which exorbitant premiums are collected from those who can afford to pay.  Profits are maximized by simply paying out less in benefits than what is collected in premiums.  The sicker the American population is, the more profits can be made by the insurance companies.  Care is withheld from the uninsured... 

I Love My Job

Anchor Image
My chosen professions have not required the type of concentration required by those who hold the lives of others in their hands. . .

Music and Music Business: Two Different Things

Anchor Image
I’ve been thinking about my life as a musician and the challenges of being a professional musician (or painter, sculptor, dancer, poet, or artist of any kind) in today’s society. I’ll start with some details of my personal story, through which many of you will be reminded of your own pursuits of your personal passions.

Thoughts on Iran, Boston, and a Police Shooting

Anchor Image

No, I have not traveled to Iran, but my across-the-street neighbor just returned from a one month visit to his hometown of Shiraz, Iran. My neighbor’s Iranian name is Parvez. Parvez has lived in the states for almost thirty years. He’s an artist as well as being a capable handyman, i.e. a “jack of all trades”. . .