May 2007 Archives
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Astroland's Last Summer
Captain Bob
Coney Island is under siege, and for Astroland lovers it’s hard to tell if the pirates are friend or foe.
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Op-Ed
Room to Read: A Modest Proposal
What better way to relax after a kid-filled day than with a nice book—and what less likely scenario can many parents imagine? For page-turners everywhere, a novel idea.
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Gallery
Appearing In
Stuart Hawkins’s humorous photographs self-consciously imagine moments of cultural intersection, challenging the audience to imagine what happens before and after a picture is taken.
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Kristen Elsby
Sydney: Carmen Rupe
Name: Carmen Rupe Time of birth: 1936 Occupation title(s), both real and desired-in-another-lifetime? Entertainer and former Les Girls performer How would you describe your look? Unusual, different, fabulous What do...
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Watching
Video Digest: May 25, 2007
Living in San Francisco means constant reminders that the Big One could come at any time. This year marked the 101st anniversary of the Great Quake, when a 7.8 exploded along...
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Awards
2007 Editors’ Awards for Online Excellence
We read and see a lot of websites, and though most are terrible, some are extraordinary.
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Listening
Driving Me Backwards
Riding New York subways for so long, I long to drive cars again. I love the part in Raising Arizona when John Goodman’s convict character, behind the wheel and...
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Spoofs & Satire
Choose MedCalf
Americans spend more on health care than anyone in the world, yet the quality of our care doesn’t match up. We need a new system—one we can believe in.
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Reading
Book Digest: May 21, 2007
My buddy Howard and I were involved in a somewhat heated dispute over recent remarks in this space suggesting the pantheon of iconic American painters was in his words, “small...
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Gallery
Vanishing Point
The symbolism of swimming is well-worn territory. We all realize that water represents transformation, rebirth, and tranquility. But Eric Zener’s work reminds us of the real power it has over our imaginations.
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Watching
Video Digest: May 18, 2007
With the endless malapropisms, spoonerisms, and eggcorns spilling out of the mouth of our president, we’ve been spoiled for political humor. Back when I was a wee girl, it...
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The Non-Expert
Jock Party
Experts answer what they know. The Non-Expert answers anything. This week we fashion a taxonomy of American athletes to help a reader get in touch with his jock-dom.
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Personal Essays
Misery Loves Comedy
Grief takes on many forms, though it’s rare to hear about a sudden addiction to comedy clubs and Seth Meyers’s political impersonations.
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Albums of the Year
The Top 10 Albums of 1982
MTV was shaking up the airwaves, but if it was happening during an episode of Diff’rent Strokes. Ten favorite albums from the year the ‘80s really began.
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Reading
Book Digest: May 14, 2007
Last week I noted Christopher Hitchens’s new book, God Is Not Great, and my own disinterest in the book’s subject, but certainly not its author. This week Michael...
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Gallery
Dr. Strangelove Dr. Strangelove
Kristan Horton imitates Kubrick and creates a new world for the film—silverware become an airplane, plastic and coffee grounds become the sky.
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The Non-Expert
Gleesome Threesome
Experts answer what they know. The Non-Expert answers anything. This week we help a confused young woman make the best of a beast with three backs.
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Watching
Video Digest: May 11, 2007
I’ve never been a big fan of House, the television show. I find it painfully contrived, annoyingly outlandish. I’m a kid who grew up on St. Elsewhere and...
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Listening
“This Ain’t No Fado,” guest-edited by Philip Graham
My roommate my first year of college had spent the preceding summer traveling across Europe and buying albums by artists who never had a hope of getting distribution in the...
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The Artist at Home
J.P. Donleavy at Levington Park
Home is where writers often retreat to focus on work, not receive visitors. Here’s the author of The Ginger Man at his Irish estate. Lock your doors, Salinger.
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Gallery
Dreamland
What becomes of resorts planned with big dreams—yachts, country clubs, roads paved and phone poles wired—that never materialize? Forty minutes from Palm Springs, photographer Marshall Sokoloff spent two years roaming the deserted zones of Salton City, tracking the desolation.
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Reading
Book Digest: May 7, 2007
The recent brouhaha regarding the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s decision to downsize by eliminating the book editor’s position (currently held by the well-regarded Teresa Weaver) is a curious thing. It...
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Spoofs & Satire
Random Acts of Kindness
Hilton’s latest “be hospitable” campaign has people all over reporting on the good deeds of others. With only 1,000 baht—and a little help from Jeremy Piven—a chance to pay it forward.
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Birnbaum v.
Colum McCann
Transplanted Irishman Colum McCann has just finished a ramble with Gypsies in his newest novel, Zoli. A conversation about the Romany people, the perils of writing novels tied to history, and more.
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Listening
Hate Thy Neighbor
The word “scene” makes me retch something awful. As in “what about the scene, man?” It’s right up there with “society.” Besides being vague and meaningless, it carries with...
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Letters From London
A Mystery of Violence
Terrorism fills the British papers this week, but over the winter a different sort of violence kept London on its toes. Our correspondent reports on the personal impact of a season of murders.
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Personal Essays
My Hairy Boy
Maybe you don’t have a problem with really hairy arms, but then again, you’re not the father of a Wookie.