Don’t Bother with Voicemail in China
Clive Thompson writes in the NY Times magazine about Google and China. “Google was not, in fact, a pioneer in China. Yahoo was the first major American Internet company to enter the market, introducing a Chinese-language version of its site and opening up an office in Beijing in 1999. Yahoo […]
The Death of the Hat in 1960
A few months ago we had dinner on San Francisco’s Fishermen’s Wharf with another couple, and I learned a lot that night about the man, Stan. We began talking about his father, with whom he has always had a stormy relationship, fraught with terrible fights, accusations, and a tangled web […]
Funny Things We Say and Think About
I love words and expressions, and sometimes I chuckle to myself as I am driving or walking about certain turns of phrase. Yesterday I mulled over “poor man’s,” for example. I was thinking about a friend who is an adventure writer, and thought “he’s a poor man’s Jon Krakauer.” Meaning […]
The Film Critics Hated it–So What!
According to a recent AP report, 11 movies so far this year haven’t been shown to critics–up from two in the same period last year. Forbes this week discussed how film critics are becoming almost obsolete. “For the folks who make their living reviewing films, this new tactic adds insult […]
The Glorious Silence of Yoga
Tonight I drove down to Northampton and joined dozens of others in a high-ceilinged room where we did yoga. Telling people you are going to yoga class is funny, there’s always a reaction, either what for? or how great! This was more than an exercise class, it was meditation, and […]
Terror in the Jordanian Desert–September 1970
In September of 1970, four planes were hijacked by Palestinian militants and flown to the Jordanian desert. Tonight on PBS, American Experience replayed the drama of hundreds of hostages left out in planes in the desert, and described how the event nearly toppled the reign of King Hussein, destablizing the […]
I’m In the Nude for Dancing
South London Press had a story last year about a new trend in clubbing–Naked dancing. Hundreds of clubbers are descending on the country’s only nude disco every Saturday night. The craze for letting it all hang out on the dancefloor is pulling in punters to South Central in Kennington Lane. […]
Sailing with the Sea Shepards in the South Ocean
Peter Heller is an old friend who just published an incredible article in National Geographic Adventure, about sailing with the Sea Shepards in the Antarctic, trying to sabotage Japanese whaling ships. “The Nisshin Maru was on our port side, and the two ships approached each other at an acute angle. […]
It’s Poker on Triple Espresso
Today’s NY Times included a story about a new Fox show: ” “Poker Dome” will encase a group of players in a soundproof, glass-walled stage, while viewers and a studio audience watch everything they do. Microphones will capture game chatter, and pulse monitors strapped to the gamblers will track their […]
There Used to be a Cafe There
This morning I drove down into the flats of Holyoke. There I found City Paper, where it felt like I was being transported back in time. Wooden floors, sad and tired party decorations, an older black women behind the counter, no customers in sight. I was there to find plastic […]
Max E. Churchill is Done for a While
I went to Greenfield on Wednesday morning, and was crossing the street when I saw two cops quickly approach in a cruiser. They looked excited, energized, and one gripped his holster as he ran toward the BankNorth on Federal Street. They were looking for somebody, and I didn’t know who. […]
Sob, Weep, Here Come the Builders & Inventors
ABC is becoming the Network of Weeping. On Sunday nights, the juggernaut show is Extreme Makeover, with Ty Pennington, who can draw raw emotions out of anything, including a trip to Sears. Then each of the craftsmen and designers gets a chance to wring tears out of the audience. Then […]
No Books for You! I see Your Undies!
Falkenberg, Sweden — A Swedish school library is refusing to lend books to pupils if their underwear is showing. Pupils of Tullbro School in Falkenberg do not have to wear a uniform but librarians are clamping down on some teenage fashions. Students who wear hipsters which show off their underwear […]
Ms. Mudflap Meets Yosemite Sam, Drives into the Sunset
Home at lunchtime baking lemon poppy and pumpkin bread, I usually turn on the television down in the basement. Today it was Modern Marvels…about UFOs. But what got my attention was this clever ad for the new Honda Ridgeline truck. Therein, the silver girl on the mudflaps slinks her way […]
It Ain’t as Interesting if I We Have to Buy It
At the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the execs are up in arms about what happened after they tried making the employees pay for the newspaper. Below is part of a letter to them: “There has been one unfortunate and unacceptable byproduct of the switch – employees are stealing print copies from […]
Oh Tiger, You Spaz!
America’s leading newspapers yesterday helped Tiger Woods evade controversy by ignoring his use of the word `spaz’ to describe his poor putting in the final round of the Masters at Augusta,” Lewine Mair wrote in the Telegraph. “The LA Times, changed the word to ‘wreck’ while The New York Times, […]
The 24 Guy’s Had an Interesting Life
Rolling Stone published a long interview with Keifer Sutherland, star of the show 24. “As a kid he was tossed about some. One minute he’s being born in England, his extravagant dad setting him up in life with the extravagant name of Kiefer William Frederick Dempsey George Rufus Sutherland, the […]
Chasing the Rich, Rich Richest
The New Republic writes on the love affair between big media and the super rich. The story began with a report on the NY Times Shopping Writer Alex Kuczynski’s new $5000 shearling coat, and how ‘glad she was that she had already paid her credit card bills.” The writer couldn’t […]