September 2008 Archives
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The Guilfoile-Warner Papers
Sept 30
Somebody missed a real leadership moment yesterday. After the bailout bill failed, John Boehner and Roy Blunt, the top two Republican lawmakers in the House, held a press conference in...
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Watching
Kucinich for the Win
Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) is my favorite congressional representative. He's intelligent and thoughtful, he's vegan, and he doesn't seem to have ever compromised his integrity during all his years in politics....
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Spoofs & Satire
Transitioning
Two candidates are vying for the White House—as are their decorators. Planning for a January move-in date, both teams have ideas for ways to ensure a smooth handover.
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Listening
Smile Down Upon Us
Listening to Bjork's entire back catalog early this year, I met five hours of pop music, experimental sounds, lots of magic. After years of shallow appreciation, immersion provided the best,...
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Gallery
Survival Paintings
Syrian painter Sabhan Adam’s work brings us face-to-face with creatures that might have crawled or hopped or slithered out of our dreams and onto the couch.
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Announcements
Behind the Times
It’s time for our latest Of Recent Note. This month’s theme is: Stuff You Should've Gotten Into Before Now You ignored the critical acclaim and the praise heaped...
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Listening
The Sons of No One
Last week Rhino Records, proud purveyors of our pop cultural history, released CD reissues of the Replacements' four Sire/Reprise releases spanning 1985 to 1990. Those years sadly saw the decline of...
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The Guilfoile-Warner Papers
Volley 2
Prior to the last week I began working on a speech for Barack Obama: My fellow Americans, I stand before you today humbled and grateful for the opportunity to be...
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The Guilfoile-Warner Papers
Volley 1
It was McCain's bad luck that the Bush Administration chose the week of the foreign policy debate for its final (maybe?) stroke of incompetence--blowing up the financial industry. I mean...
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Reading
The Killing Circle
As little attention as is paid to literature in the United States—apparently we have greater matters with which to deal—Canadian writers are rarely acknowledged (Alice Munro excepted) down...
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Reading
Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency
Like many right-thinking Americans, I have been sporting a 1-21-09 sticker on my front bumper for a few years. That date, enlightened citizens will acknowledge, is the last date...
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Letters From Mumbai
Ask the Sexpert
Among India’s treasures, the Mumbai Mirror’s Sexpert column stands apart, advising modern Indians on the confusing sexual issues of our time, like why the foot lacks the vagina’s power.
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Wordsworth
Oracular Spectacular, in Particular
Lyrics in music rarely get the scrutiny and attention they deserve. With an ear for meaning, Orr Shtuhl digs into the glam roots of MGMT’s critically acclaimed album.
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Listening
Rusted, Golden, Aged
TV on the Radio's first two efforts were rough and sharp: There was a lot of spirit but a lot of weight in those works. Though, to call them "efforts"...
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Watching
The Holocaust Section
On June 13, My Bloody Valentine played their first public performance in 13 years at the ICA in London. The reformation arrived stateside this past weekend, with their first performance in the...
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Watching
A School Daze Refresher
Lessons start again this month across schools in the Western world, whilst Lehman Brother's and AIG got schooled in the pitfalls of unregulated capitalism. Election year guarantees we will learn...
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Gallery
The Oxford Project
In 1984, photographer Peter Feldstein announced that he wanted to take free portraits of everyone in Oxford, Iowa (pop. 673). Twenty-one years later, he went back.
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Reading
On the Road
With nearly 30 books of novellas, novels, stories, essays, poetry, and food and travel writing under his ample belt, one might expect Jim Harrison’s name to have to have wider...
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Reading
Advertising and Art: International Graphics From the Affiche to Pop-Art
For those people who attempt to claim the world of fine art is distinct from the commercial one, sullied by filthy lucre and other crass venal motives, this book may...
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Reading
A New Life Cut Short
If you remember (as I do) or are not long removed from your reiterated adolescence—known, in America, as your undergraduate years—you will recall all manner of silly affectations,...
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Letters From Lebanon
Rockets to Ruins
Outsiders have meddled in Lebanon for centuries, and the signs are everywhere: Crusader castles, Syrian agents, Häagen-Dazs. Our writer surveys larger Beirut, from Roman ruins to Hezbollah’s museum exhibits.
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Politics
Frothing at the Latte
Politicians use stereotypes to lampoon and persuade. But what if they’re actually right? Our writer hits the road to answer that burning question: how well does a latte identify political preferences?
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Personal Essays
My Life in Jest
When floating through post-collegiate limbo, you can use an anchor. Recalling when a very large book played a very large role in life.
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Listening
Story Songs
I was looking over a recent copy of The Believer (the annual music issue) and was much pleased to see there was an article on singer/poet/songwriter Gil Scott-Heron,...
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Reading
The Aura Estrada Prize
As we have seen over the weekend, an untimely death (such as they are) of a prodigious young talent is a shock to the system. Francisco Goldman, who did great...
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Watching
Do the Swiss Dream of Post-Apocalyptic Rap Battles?
You shouldn't be disappointed that the one in 50 million chance of apocalypse didn't happen this week; you should be pretty damn happy that nothing exciting happened to reward those watching...
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America, America, Burning Bright
The Well-Known Citizen
In spite of all the reporters crawling around Alaska, Gov. Palin remains unknown to the general public. Thanks to W.H. Auden.
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Backcourt
Where Amazing Happens
The current NBA playoffs—including the elderly, surprising Celtics—are offering up some record-breaking basketball. From 2008, an ode to professional players, including Kevin Garnett and friends, and why pro ball is the best ball of all.
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Gallery
I Am My Family
Say your family isn’t very good about keeping photo albums—why not create your own? Rafael Goldchain transforms himself into his ancestors to understand them better.
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Listening
A Stern Mouth- and Earful
Shortly after the release of her first album early last year, Marnie Stern was featured alongside Kaki King in a New York Times article for, essentially, being a woman who...
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Reading
Matrimony
One of the benefits of doing literary journalism is the sporadic largesse of book publishers; as a recipient of daily deliveries, one of the more fun and pleasing byproducts of...
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Spoofs & Satire
Of Thee I Zing
In the two weeks since she became John McCain’s running mate, Sarah Palin has made her mark—most notably for her aggressive joke-telling. Since the Democrats are unwilling to jibe back, here are some punchlines.
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Listening
Another Word for Fiddlesticks
Nearly every day another part of my adolescent self is beaten into further submission. Where vitriol and bombast once reigned, now softness and grace are slipping in. This has been...
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Personal Essays
A View Across the Bay
The Sept. 11 attacks bonded Staten Island, the city’s most ambivalent borough, more closely than ever before to the rest of New York. A look at the ripple effects.
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Spoofs & Satire
The Secret Journal of Levi Johnston
In just a few short weeks, vice-presidential hopeful Sarah Palin’s future son-in-law has traveled from the hockey rink to the political arena. What happened in between?
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The Guilfoile-Warner Papers
Welcome to the Palindrome
The GOP’s V.P. pick has been a doozy, though the reasons behind it are anybody’s guess—and guess they have. In search of answers, Kevin Guilfoile and John Warner recon the brain of John McCain.
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Listening
Re-Appropriating Appropriation
In the past week, two major music blogs (Stereogum and Gorilla vs. Bear) have featured Malawi's Esau Mwamwaya along with leaked tracks from his highly anticipated debut release produced by...
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Gallery
Artists/Models
Hope Gangloff has expanded her palette. This is big news if you’ve loved her illustrations and paintings as they’ve popped up, black and white and red all over (plus some blue).
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Listening
Ambient Religious Jam
The words "folk," "pastoral," and "Tropicalia" ensure I read the whole piece and listen to whatever music is being pushed my way--"Tropicalia" references the hazy, Brazilian psychedelica to which...
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Watching
Getting Literacy Dun, the Rendition of Bamboozled Pandas With Chinese Accents
Ed Rondthaler, 103, a typographist since the age of five, tells us why spelling is D-U-M, championing simplified spelling in a very smart video from House Industries. He reminds thousands of...
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Listening
And We All Drone On
The music of James Blackshaw, 12-string guitar virtuoso, elegantly drones and is perfect for drifting--in and out of the room, in and out of concentration, between the city, silent trains,...
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Reading
Nicaragua
There is an open question on what character flaw or personality disorder causes me to lord over people who don’t know anything about Nicaragua or at least where it...
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Watching
Raising the Bar
In the large, inchoate expanse of critical terrain best characterized by the question of “What were they thinking?” one must relegate the newest effort, Raising the Bar, by veteran TV...
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Reading
City of Refuge
This time around—it being an election year and all—a hurricane’s landfall stole the G.O.P.’s most recent thunder. This time, the threat of another deadly...
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Reading
For the Thrill of It
Growing up in the shining city on the plains—Chicago—early on in my life I encountered the dark and shocking story of Leopold and Loeb’s crime: In 1924 two...
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Personal Essays
It’ll End in Tears
Everyone has a talent, something they do better than most anyone else. For some, that may be solving complex problems. For others, it may be performing an athletic feat. For me, it’s crying.
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Reading
Constructive Self-Criticism
In fits of attempting constructive self-criticism (also known as navel-gazing), I ponder the possibility that my disaffection with mainstream politics and my lifelong drift from left-leaning liberal to socialist to...
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Spoofs & Satire
The Fierce Urgency of Preseason Rankings
To help you reverse the failed policies of your previous defensive lines, the presidential candidates offer last-minute fantasy football drafting advice.