Last time Patti Smith came through town, she was in her rock star mode, and put on an un-freaking-believable show at the Ventura Theater, chatting with fans in line, going on to play all her hits, her clarinet, a Blue Oyster Song, and just generally being a totally giving person and sweetheart. At one pointContinue reading “Most beautiful “to the reader” ever”
Category Archives: culture
Sarah Palin: She’s no Julie Andrews
The critics don't like Sarah's new reality show. Alexandra Stanley complains: In a way it’s like “The Sound of Music” but without the romance, the Nazis or the music. Steve Brodner, for The New Yorker, artfully makes the same point: Don't think Sarah will care what some New York smarties think. But when some ofContinue reading “Sarah Palin: She’s no Julie Andrews”
Who was the first great blogger?
A debate rages: The New York Review of Books suggests Emerson: “To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men—that is genius.” In this respect the bloggers of our age have more Emersonian genius in them than our analytic philosophers, for goodContinue reading “Who was the first great blogger?”
Why is Facebook so bland?
Zadie Smith has an idea: Here’s my guess: [Mark Zuckerberg] wants to be like everybody else. He wants to be liked. Those 1.0 people who couldn’t understand Zuckerberg’s apparently ham-fisted PR move of giving the school system of Newark $100 million on the very day the movie [about Facebook] came out—they just don’t get it.Continue reading “Why is Facebook so bland?”
The best line on “The Social Network”
From a review on The Millions by Sonja Chung: I came away from the film wanting to send Mr. Zuckerberg a Facebook message saying, “Don’t worry, kid. Just relax and try to enjoy your life” but never wanting to meet the guy – in other words, wanting to be “friends,” but not friends. But ChungContinue reading “The best line on “The Social Network””
The evolution of Nirvana
Funny but true, via Fountain, Not Mountain: And speaking of, here's a glimpse of the real thing, from the astoundingly good live perf at Reading in l992, said by an NPR critic to be the best live recording in the history of rock. This is one of the first numbers in the show, the band'sContinue reading “The evolution of Nirvana”
The science of romantic comedy
The part they don't tell you in school about semen (from Scientific American): Semen has a very complicated chemical profile, containing over 50 different compounds (including hormones, neurotransmitters, endorphins and immunosupressants) each with a special function and occurring in different concentrations within the seminal plasma. Perhaps the most striking of these compounds is the bundleContinue reading “The science of romantic comedy”
Obvi: a new word for the 21st century
That's according to Gary Shteyngart, author of the brilliant/disturbing Super Sad True Love Story…and according, today, to Doonesbury, ever on the cutting edge of American culture: Obvi: a word whose form embodies its meaning. It's so obvious, you don't need the whole word.
Chart of the Week: The fall of Night
Has any director in the history of the movies fallen so far, so fast? Via Marginal Revolution. If any discussion is necessary, the comments are excellent. M. Night Shyamalan must rue the day that sites like Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic began quantifying their reviews. Though that process is not beyond criticism. Rotten Tomatoes continues toContinue reading “Chart of the Week: The fall of Night”
Men: What are they good for?
Not much, says the Atlantic this month. I exaggerate, for the purposes of encouraging amusing and brittle party chatter, but only a little. To wit, on the necessity of fathers: The bad news for Dad is that despite common perception, there’s nothing objectively essential about his contribution. The good news is, we’ve gotten used toContinue reading “Men: What are they good for?”
Kit Stolz 