Word: lusterless
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...accept free-lance, unconventional struggles in our politicians' biographies. We are grateful to have any real story at all, so lusterless and lawyerly and venal has the breed become. Jesse Ventura's battles as a wrestler may have been an arduous sham, but at least they had some screwball color, and the goofy, sweaty theatrics of struggle. But of course sham subverts struggle, and gives the audience nothing more nourishing than irony and cheap entertainment...
...Spencer Abraham, a first-termer and Michigan's first G.O.P. Senator in more than 20 years, as their easiest target. The contest turned out to be a squeaker, but two-term Congresswoman Debbie Stabenow finally delivered. Though outspent by nearly 2 to 1, the bubbly Stabenow outshone her often lusterless opponent on the campaign trail and in the debates. Stabenow, 50, who had previously served in the state legislature for 16 years, starting at age 28, campaigned most vigorously on prescription-drug benefits for the elderly. For months, the Abraham campaign flooded Michigan voters with ads calling Stabenow a prescription...
...middle of his first headlining tour and with Into the Sun behind him, Lennon is acquiring a real taste for what it is like to be a "life-minded" musician. The album is a beginner's triumph whereas the live performance ends up being a muddled, lusterless array. While a concert portrays the band in constant, labored transition without a coherent identity, Into the Sun represents an entertaining range of rock styles from contained experimentation to guitar pop. Although there are shades of the recognizable John voice in Sean, he never fully appropriates his father's style...
...Orchestra (1939-52), the maestro remains unsurpassed for precision and clarity -- even at breakneck tempos. His structural grasp of entire works is astonishing: parts build with inevitable force to form coherent, if sometimes debatable, interpretations. The digital remastering is admirable, though limited dynamic range and parched sound can yield lusterless strings and tinny horns. The informed listener will find this offering indispensable, but those beginning a music library should try the safer Herbert von Karajan or Roger Norrington sets...
...book are a far cry from the pyrotechnical flash of his earlier works like The Bushwacked Piano or Ninety-Two in the Shade. Not all McGuane fans have stayed for the ride. "There are readers who abandoned me over the feeling that my writing has become relatively lusterless," he observes. "But your literary style is kind of like your face -- you can't do much to change it. I just hope that you can look at a shelf of my books and say, 'This is a 40-year struggle to understand the human race...