Category Archives: art and humor

LA Times: out of the fire, into the Eisner frying pan?

The Los Angeles Times is in the middle of a bankruptcy proceeding that is opaque, to say the least, from the outside; it's shed literally hundreds of reporters and editors over the last few years, its circulation has plummeted…but despite all that, it's been on fire this summer. Its series on the public pensions inContinue reading “LA Times: out of the fire, into the Eisner frying pan?”

Peak cinema: Are the movies fading out?

Lately I've been asking friends and acquaintances a simple question: What are you really looking forward to seeing in the movie theater? Last year the answer I heard, again and again, was: Avatar. And this summer the answer was equally predictable: Inception.  Each of these movies, though flawed in details and heavy-handed in execution atContinue reading “Peak cinema: Are the movies fading out?”

Against flying: Joel Achenbach

Another edition in my wildly popular series. Not really! It's just that Wa-Po columnist Joel Achenbach is so funny, when he rants against a rantable subject, he must be linked. Here goes: Air Schlep To save the company a couple hundred bucks I eschewed the slightly expensive Southwest flight to Houston and instead bought aContinue reading “Against flying: Joel Achenbach”

Are texts the new quips?

Seriously. Being a big fan of dialogue — on stage, on screen, and in life — I track a couple of dialogue-tracking sites, but they've been eclipsed as of late by super-popular Texts from Last Night Example: driving around with you guys listening to the beach boys made me very concious of how white youContinue reading “Are texts the new quips?”

A heated rant against deniers: Tom Toles

The great Tom Toles, the Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist, said to be the 48th most-powerful man in D.C. by one survey, has a nifty new website, complete with rants. Last Friday the heat got under his collar, and he turned on climate change deniers, who love warm winters, and see warm temps at that timeContinue reading “A heated rant against deniers: Tom Toles”

Best lit journal for backpacking

Without a doubt, Threepenny. Not because they're especially interested in the mountains or the environment (they're not). Because the richness and spontaneity of the writing flows well out of doors, and because the physical form they have chosen — thick paper, broad sheets, light weight — packs well, and works well as tinder, or evenContinue reading “Best lit journal for backpacking”