Why You Should See “The September Issue”

I was lucky enough back in April to watch a limited viewing of The September Issue at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in Durham, NC (a festival that I highly recommend to everyone who is any sort of interest in ANYTHING). Grace Coddington and Andre Leon Talley, two of the “stars” of the documentary, [...]

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Letter to the Letterwriter

I’ve long thought that people who write letters to the editor aren’t held accountable for much of what they write. This is an attempt to change that. Dear John James, Your letter to Esquire, which received its own byline online, starts off so promisingly. You come off immediately as more than the standard reader, as [...]

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Monday Medley

What we read while wondering what beats DJ AM is trying to impress Ted Kennedy with: William Safire takes on “clunkers”, a word that has been amusing since the “Cash for Clunkers” initiative began. Just as predictable as John S liking Inglourious Basterds was David Denby of The New Yorker hating it: He called it [...]

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Inglourious Basterds: A Review

Of all directors currently making movies, Quentin Tarantino is by far the most interested in movies themselves. All of his films include specific allusions, both in subject and style, to obscure movies, and they often work within the conventions of very refined genres. His latest work, Inglourious Basterds, is supposedly both a war movie (sorry, [...]

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Ranking the Amendments, Number 4: The Ninth Amendment

Robert Bork once referred to the Ninth Amendment as an indecipherable “inkblot.” First, as we know from the Rorschach Test, inkblots can have a lot of meaning. The Founders’ perception of this inkblot could tell us a good deal about their inner thoughts. Second, the Ninth Amendment IS NOT AN INKBLOT. Not even close. The [...]

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Some Belated Thoughts on the New Yankee Stadium

I know I’m a little late to the party, but I made my first trip to the new Yankee Stadium the other day (I realize it took me a while, but tickets are expensive and I have a blog to maintain, so back off). The Stadium’s received mostly praise so far (at least architecturally speaking), [...]

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A Sign of the Apocalypse? Maybe Not

For as long as I can remember reading Sports Illustrated, I’ve always looked forward to the “Sign of the Apocalypse” section. This week’s sign is “A Long Island company is offering insurance to fantasy football owners that allows them to recoup their league fees if a player on their team gets hurt.” Sports Illustrated isn’t [...]

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Mere Anachrony: The Sopranos Season One

It’s been over two years, now, since The Sopranos ended its run on television with one of the most cryptic endings in television history, leading to weeks of debate over whether or not Tony was dead, who killed him, and why Meadow was such a bad parallel parker. For many people, that ending is the [...]

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Ranking the New Testament!

Let’s be clear upfront: Religious biases aside, the New Testament is WAY cooler than the Old Testament. God’s a lot nicer, there’s a lot less holier-than-thou, you’re-all-goin’-to-hell stuff from prophets, Jesus is a lot more compelling than anyone in the Old Testament, and Paul might be the most influential writer in world history.* *Seriously. That’s [...]

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Dear Wendy’s, Bring Back the Pita

You will hear me defend agnosticism, insular arrogance, irrational anchoring, and the Second Amendment before you will hear me offer a general defense of the food quality of American fast food chains. As a child not very into the burger, going to fast food restaurants was a tough experience. While my peers salivated at the [...]

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