On June 24, 2026 at 3:00 pm, Kathy Terpstra Boyer wrote:
How is Mark?
On June 24, 2026 at 3:00 pm, chickensoup wrote:
How is Mark. Thinking of him with prayers and good wishes.
On June 24, 2026 at 3:23 pm, Willie Mussler wrote:
Tal,
Thank you for taking the helm of The Good Ship Steynonline,
A couple of months ago Mark fielded a question on autotuning singers and mentioned the Wings of Pegasus youtube site. What a shock it is to see/hear that this technology has become the "industry standard" for new music. But most disturbing to me is the practice of using pitch correction on older "remastered" albums and vintage concerts.
As a musician, how would you balance artistic expression vs. authenticity or historicity?
On June 24, 2026 at 3:34 pm, K G Manis wrote:
First, our gratitude to Laura for safeguarding the last bastion of free speech.
Then, my personal thanks to yourself, Tal, for dismissing the corrupters and subverters of the Odyssey theme. Instead, you have brilliantly thrown the spotlight on Homer's true message of Homecoming and Identity. Throughout his travels, Odysseus overcomes the wrath of the gods and unpredictability of nature and proves the power of Wit over Might.
Q1. As such, do you think that Homer's epic is a modern reflection of Jewish diaspora's wandering in a hostile world, showing resilience, preservation of identity, enduring hope for eventual return and always surviving?
Q2. Could you also consider joining to a HAPPY 100TH BIRTHDAY, MEL! to celebrate Mel Brooks' centennial this Sunday, 28th. Far be it from me to tell you Mel's powerful Will to Live and his passionate Lust for Life.
On June 24, 2026 at 3:42 pm, George Pazin wrote:
Hi Tal -
Have you had any interaction with the band Big Wreck, or it's lead singer Ian Thornley? My wife and I have been big fans of theirs for about 30 years.
-----
Best of luck in Canada, hope you see your fellow Canadians return to some sort of political sanity. I realize I don't know that much about Canadian politics, but it just feels like your country is headed down a really bad path.
On June 24, 2026 at 3:45 pm, Bideford Jake wrote:
Dear Mr Bachman,
I always felt short-changed if a song on a record had no middle-eight. A proper middle-eight with change of chord and melody can be the cherry on the cake for me as long as it flows organically and is not just some random break. Sting's Fields of Gold includes the gossamer-light "I never make promises lightly..." which helps make the record. As a songwriter yourself, do you prioritise some kind of break or bridge when writing or is it a case of if it happens, it happens. Any middle-eights that particularly impressed you? For the record, Andy Partridge on XTC's Harvest Festival wrote the greatest of them all.
To paraphrase Kirk & Burt in Gunfight at the OK Corral, "I like you, Tal Bachman. I like your cut."
On June 24, 2026 at 3:48 pm, Ben wrote:
Where's Mark? Starting to get really worried now. Praying he's OK.
On June 24, 2026 at 3:55 pm, Nicola Timmerman wrote:
As I asked last week I wondered if you had ever studied Latin or Greek. Any other languages besides Spanish and French?
Looking forward to hearing you on the cruise.
On June 24, 2026 at 3:59 pm, Tinkerbell\'s Hitman wrote:
Dear Mr. Bachman,
I am curious to know what you think about a black pill commentary in circulation, that being to comment that Rock music is dead or dying. The art form doesn't seem to be generating as many new prominent acts as before. Is it going to go the way of Doo Woop?
On June 24, 2026 at 4:05 pm, Michael Seth wrote:
I'll certainly join you in wishing Mel Brooks a happy c-note, KG. Imho, Mel's the funniest man of the past hundred years and a serious mensch. I put Blazing Saddles and The Producers in my top five comedies, with Young Frankenstein close behind. A truly amazing man.
On June 24, 2026 at 4:12 pm, Toby Pilling wrote:
We Brits may be rid of 'Two-tier Kier', but how do Canadians feel about their own country's two-tier citizenship, that rewards the native Indian population with greater rights?
On June 24, 2026 at 4:12 pm, Jeffrey Boucher wrote:
Hi Tal, considering your recent Odyssey into The
the latest Odyssey film, care to discuss some of your favorite books and or films?
Thanks much!
On June 24, 2026 at 4:12 pm, OLGA from Arizona wrote:
The guitar lessons were great last week ~
more of that would definitely be welcome :-)
I've heard some very sober analysis of the
Iran MOU, & the adult consensus seems to
be that it's not as bad as it sounds. Plus, I
heard the Jews have been successfully
hitting both Lebanon & Iran since.
Culture-wise, I was wondering if you'd
expand your Odyssey analysis to the
greater Nolan oeuvre. Where do you
think he succeeds, & which are a
confused mess?
Thanks ever so. It's lovely to hear you.
On June 24, 2026 at 4:12 pm, Deborah McKenzie wrote:
Hi Tal,
Thank you for filling in for Mark, I hope he is continuing to recover well!
What is your opinion of Canada's Prime Authoritarian Mark Carney bailing out condo developers in BC with the hard earned shekels of Canadian taxpayers?
Surely the Invisible Hand of the market should be allowed to work its magic. People do not want to buy the condos at their current high prices. Why not let the condo developers lower their prices until people accept them?
Yes the condo developers will lose money, but those are the breaks.
Why should Canadians bail out billionaires?
Thanks,
Deborah
On June 24, 2026 at 4:12 pm, Steven Iles wrote:
Hi Tal, if you haven't heard it before, you might really enjoy a podcast called "Young Heretics" by Spencer Klavan, he gets really deep into translation issues with the classics, comparing/contrasting different translations, etc, it's very interesting stuff! Appreciate you sitting in for Mark and Laura, and all you do for the Steyn Club!
On June 24, 2026 at 4:12 pm, Queen of the Jungle wrote:
The question that's on everyone 's minds, even at other sites. All we can do is pray that wherever he is, Mark is on the way to recovery. It's been ages since we got a direct message from him unless I missed it. All they say is that it was a "medical emergency " which can be anything.
