August 2006 Archives
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A Walk in the Park
Seattle
The Pacific Northwest stands tall when it comes to preservation and natural beauty—so why were New Englanders called in to design the Emerald City’s parks?
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Listening
The Week in Music, guest-edited by Sasha Frere-Jones
A Remnick addition to the New Yorker’s masthead, pop music critic Sasha Frere-Jones must have been the first person to sneak the phrase “inscrutable batphones” into the magazine (as...
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The Indispensable 56
Breaking Bad Habits & Busting Balls
Another set of excerpts from a book whose author cannot be named for reasons apparent to anyone who has seen a Scorsese movie. This week: life lessons for children and meeting the don of the teacher’s lounge.
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Personal Essays
I Would Die 4 U
Hazing makes for hot courtship, and how better to love your woman than by hitting her in the face? Lessons learned from rewatching Purple Rain.
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Profiles
Ahí Vamos: The Rock of Gustavo Cerati
Argentina’s Soda Stereo may have lost its pop about 10 years ago, but since then guitarist Gustavo Cerati has proved his skills as a soloist many times over, leaving an indelible mark on rock en español.
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Letters From Idaho
Night Noise
The West Nile virus attacked Boise this summer, and now planes spray the city with a supposedly harmless pesticide. But when facts are muddy and even the anchormen don’t know what’s safe, is it wise to let your sons play outside?
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Watching
Video Digest: August 25, 2006
I’ve always wondered why there weren’t more modern film versions of Macbeth. Hamlet’s been made three times in the past 15 years. What’s wrong, Kenneth Branagh, afraid...
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A Walk in the Park
Toronto
Toronto’s new mayor has prompted a revival of civic spirit, including a push to celebrate the city’s public spaces. But what if your experiences in its parks are memorable for all the wrong reasons?
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Listening
Mp3 Digest: August 23, 2006
Every Christmas morning, my mother would construct elaborate treasure hunts—one for me and one for my brother. We’d get a riddle whose solution would lead us to another...
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Birnbaum v.
Sebastian Junger
Reporting a civil war in Africa sounds tough, but try investigating a 40-year-old crime in America’s quietest suburb. A chat with journalist Sebastian Junger about his new book on the Boston Strangler.
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Reader Letters
Shades of Gray
Dear TMN, Today’s “Not an Open Letter” by Elizabeth Kiem speaks for so many of us who understand how the world works in shades of gray. I was sad...
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Op-Ed
Not an Open Letter
The self-made jury has handed down its decision: For his previous life in the Waffen SS, Günter Grass—and his work—should receive the maximum penalty.
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Reading
Book Digest: August 21, 2006
No tawdry headlines, scandals, feuds, vicious reviews, or dumb awards—what a pleasant week! I took pause to contemplate the late Susan Sontag’s view that, “To have access to...
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Gallery
Blackstock’s Collections
What’s the world except a collection of things? And aren’t things sometimes nicer done in marker and crayon? An interview with artist Gregory Blackstock and a gallery from his new book.
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Watching
Video Digest: August 18, 2006
Not long ago, a 79-year-old British widower calling himself “geriatric1927” began vlogging on YouTube. Since then, he has made national news, become one of the most watched personalities on YouTube,...
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The Indispensable 56
How I Became a Teacher
Ron Clark may have cornered the market on strategies for classroom control, but it takes a different brand of strong-arming to really get results. The first installment of excerpts from a book whose author cannot be named for obvious reasons.
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Reader Letters
‘We Need You!’
Dear TMN, Kevin Guilfoile’s further exposure of a story about Bruce Springsteen [article was originally published in 2002-eds.] was certainly intriguing; “everyone knows that a man, shouting at Springsteen,...
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Listening
Dread and Fire
Last night a pothole exploded on our street. Or so we think. No one I talked to on the block is positive about what happened. Here’s what we know:...
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Spoofs & Satire
The Obit Laureate
The first installment of our occasional series in which we transform recent Times obituaries—a gong striker, a burger matriarch, a bagpipe virtuoso—into light verse.
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Letters From New Orleans
New Order
Rebuilding New Orleans isn’t just a job for locals—the Gulf is full of post-Katrina immigrants who see a chance amidst the crisis to restart their lives, and possibly remake the face of the Big Easy.
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Personal Essays
My First Time With Toots and the Maytals
When you’re young and in love, it’s not so easy to tell the difference between songs of love and songs of protest. A tale of passion and seriously critical misreadings.
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Reading
Book Digest: August 14, 2006
I didn’t previously have a particular picture of a perfect or at least prototypical New England day—yesterday in Peterborough, N.H., at the MacDowell Colony will ever onward...
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Watching
Video Digest: August 10, 2006
There is a stock sound effect that originated in the ’50s, known as the “Wilhelm scream.” Championed by Star Wars sound engineer Ben Burtt, the cry—perhaps best transcribed as “...
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A Walk in the Park
London
When you’re a twenty-something in love with the urban life, parks can seem invisible. But, as they say, having a kid changes everything.
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Listening
Funeral Rider
Available at the service to all attendees must be a compilation of the below songs, as specified by the deceased. The music should be distributed in whatever format is deemed...
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Op-Ed
News Gone Wild
Pop quiz for the journalism students in the audience: What’s an editor to do when her reporter is assaulted and the attacker, whom the reporter strikes back, turns out to be the story’s subject?
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Spoofs & Satire
Golf Is a Highly Mental Game
A guide to the major techniques, strokes, and hazards you will encounter during an average day on the links.
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Reading
Book Digest: August 7, 2006
A South African journalist—I wish I could recall his name—once poignantly quipped “a patriot is someone who saves his country from its government.” Looking around the world (actually...
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Gallery
The Museum Project
An interview with Korean photographer Atta Kim and a gallery from his most recent show, “The Museum Project,” currently on view at the Yossi Milo Gallery.
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Watching
Video Digest: August 4, 2006
This week I went through the five stages of Mel Gibson: fascination, followed by disgust, horror, pity, and, at some point I suppose, hunger. By Tuesday, I was already sick...
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Spoofs & Satire
Mel Gibson’s Project Redlight
Given his recent legal troubles, Mel Gibson may want to put some of the upcoming projects from Icon Pictures, his film production company, on hold. Some of the movies we’ll have to wait a bit longer to see.
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A Walk in the Park
San Francisco
San Franciscans love green space, and locals never find themselves too far from a good picnic spot.
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Birnbaum v.
Susan Straight
The great American novel doesn’t exist—except in the minds of marketers (and those who believe New Yorkers write the best books). A conversation with Susan Straight about regional writing, as American as apple pie.
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Listening
A Mix for the Heat
I just spent two and a half weeks submerged in the woods and there wasn’t much music besides frogs and a neighbor’s chainsaw. Radio stations were few; the...
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Spoofs & Satire
The Bright Side
In this day and age of unmet expectations and underwhelming results, it’s more important than ever to follow the examples of others and look at things in the right light. Welcome to the Bright Side.