December 2004 Archives
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Opinions
2004 Holiday Survival Guide for Slackers
Every year you show up with a stack of giftcards from Rite-Aid. And every year your family roasts your chestnuts for waiting until the last minute to do your shopping. This year will be different.
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How To
A Chosen Christmas
Gentiles avoid guilt all year round—that is, until Christmas, when familial anxiety is at its peak. So don’t drown your sorrows in another mug of eggnog; CLAUDIA BROWN has tips for how she and her Jewish brethren might help those who are freaking out this holiday season.
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Gallery
Can You Believe It’s Christmas in Brooklyn?
Why do otherwise sane people spend thousands to turn their homes into electric Christmas acid tests? Writer Todd Levin and photographer Lisa Whiteman visit Brooklyn’s Dyker Heights, home to one of America’s greatest décor bonanzas.
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Albums of the Year
The Top 10 Albums of 2004
There were thousands of albums released by thousands of artists in 2004, so it must be hard to determine which were the 10 greatest, right? No, not really.
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Opinions
Twenty Gifts That Go Easy on Your Budget
You’re a generous sort, but you don’t have much time (or cash). Ideas for gifts that won’t leave you paying off your credit cards through July.
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Gary Benchley, Rock Star
The Waiting
On the heels of sudden success—a good show, a potential manager—arrives doubt, fear, and the means for everything to fall apart.
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Birnbaum v.
Cynthia Ozick
No one can escape their past, and everyone once had parents who made mistakes. Our New Hampshire correspondent chats with the wonderful Cynthia Ozick about the underpinnings of her new novel, the rewards of touring, and exactly how do publishers think.
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Personalities
Revolution Rock
If rock music used to have a message, then rarely was that message stronger than for South American revolutionaries, for whom it was a significant part of the struggle. Patrick Ambrose traces a history of social uprising, and explains how the music helped fuel it.
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The Non-Expert
Many Miscellaneous Concerns
Experts answer what they know. The Non-Expert answers anything. This week we answer reader concerns, including the business with mattress tags and why, when in Greece, you might not want to signal to your waiter that you’re ready for the check.
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Letters From the Editor
TMN, Your Trusted Santa Helpers
Dear Eludina and Joel, Thank you for sending your Santa notes to our P.O. Box. We have forwarded them on to Mr. and Mrs. Claus and have also republished...
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Opinions
40 Watts Later
Men buy cars, boats, and watches to make up for their shortcomings; some even purchase stoves. Our food writer looks back on the path that led him to 15,000 BTUs, and consults the Queer Eye staff for advice: What kind of boy goes nuts over an Easy-Bake Oven?
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How To
Using Product Placement In Your Serial Killer Script
As product placement in movies becomes accepted by audiences—and even appreciated—isn’t it about time screenwriters retooled their work into something the people at Burger King can really get behind? Rick Paulas has tips for turning your art-house script into big money.
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Listening
Sonoma Aero, Sonoma Aero EP
This stunning debut EP from new-ish New York Band Sonoma Aero features waves of tough, confident guitar-bass-drum combos reminiscent of Swervedriver and Unwound, but they’re obviously onto something altogether...
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Letters From the Editor
Thou Shalt Fete With Us This Spring
The past couple years we’ve had a party in the fall to celebrate TMN’s anniversary. Big hits, bright lights, one and all. But this year, due to our...
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Opinions
The 2004 Good Gift Games Guide
The last time you played a board game you got the Adam’s apple caught in the funny-bone slot and then you couldn’t pass GO or collect $200. These days, however, board games are a lot more enticing and fun.
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Gallery
The Lost Border
Working for 19 years on the fringe of the Iron Curtain, photographer Brian Rose captured the landscapes of central Europe with Bruegel’s sensitivity for how a setting tells a story. A conversation about his work, and a gallery of photos from his odyssey.
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Gary Benchley, Rock Star
Finding a Manager
How can a rock band plan for the unknown? What good are hours of practice and training when it only takes one bad microphone to ruin a show?
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Opinions
A Dallas, Texas, of the Mind
A new computer game lets players compete to reenact the assassination of President Kennedy—from the vantage point of Lee Harvey Oswald.