Month: November 2004

Grave

Replace “Tom Wolfe” with “David Brooks” and “Novel” with “Non-Fiction Pop Sociology Tome” and Then Call it a Day

Post author By matt
Post date November 16, 2004
2 Comments on Replace “Tom Wolfe” with “David Brooks” and “Novel” with “Non-Fiction Pop Sociology Tome” and Then Call it a Day

I’ll Be Your Mirror: Maya Deren‘s mirror that reflects nothing.

“It’s easy to write a negative review of a Tom Wolfe novel; hundreds of people do it every few years. First, out of the thousands of sociological details Wolfe gets right, you pick out some he gets wrong (thus establishing your superior hipness). You mention that he obsesses over the superficial details of life while you ignore his moral intent (thus hinting at your own superior depth). Then you graciously allow that many of Wolfe’s scenes are hilarious, while lamenting that his characters are not fully developed. Then you call it a day.”

‘Moral Suicide,’ à la Wolfe, by David Brooks, The New York Times, Nov. 16, 2004.

Grave

Captain Quagmire

Man Sets Fire to Himself Outside White House
And they say this isn’t Vietnam, the sequel.

Grave

Finally, Her Ship Comes In

Post author By matt
Post date November 15, 2004

A Crude Likeness – oil tanker named for National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, Harper’s, July 2001
Bush Plans to Tap Rice…
Yeah, in her dreams.

Grave

Victory in Fallujah (or, Colin Powell: certain to be remembered fondly by 9-year-old boys worldwide)

Post author By jp
Post date November 15, 2004

War mementos, by way of the Associated Press: “U.S. Army critical care nurse Cpt. Marvetta Walker checks on a 9-year-old Fallujah boy who was wounded in the face and stomach, while at the 31st Combat Support Hospital in Baghdad, Iraq Monday, Nov. 15, 2004. The boy was in critical condition. The hospital has been treating both American wounded as well as civilians from the Fallujah fighting. (AP Photo/John Moore)”
SEE ALSO: “U.S. Planes Bomb Falluja as Rebels Battle On”

Grave

Imagery like this seemed so much more acceptable when we were merely waiting for the eruption of Mount St. Helens, rather than a regionwide movement of anti-Americanism

Post author By jp
Post date November 15, 2004

Shallow

And then they wrote “In Bloom” after seeing tons of stick figures hanging in the woods

Post author By jp
Post date November 15, 2004
1 Comment on And then they wrote “In Bloom” after seeing tons of stick figures hanging in the woods

In December of 1987, three student musicians disappeared in the woods near Aberdeen, Washington while recording a demo.
One year later their footage was found.
…then released sixteen years later by Geffen Records as “With The Lights Out”, a 3CD/DVD box set by Nirvana, after years of disputes between surviving bandmembers and the widow of the deceased frontman.
While it looks as though Kurt Cobain is doing his best Blair Witch impersonation as he stares into the corner (above, in a still taken from previously-unreleased video footage appearing on the accompanying DVD), bear in mind that this was years before the late 90’s film phenomenon.
Sometimes it seems like everyone ripped off Kurt.
RELATED: The Blair Witch Project and “Why is Mike standing in the corner at the end of the film?”

Grave

Happy Trailers

White(water) Trash: If your Presidential Library is on cinder blocks, you might be a red neck.
Does anyone else find it just a little bit insensitive that the soon-to-opened Clinton Presidential Center looks like a double-wide trailer?
I mean, yes, Clinton famously came from humble Southern origins, and, sure, his nickname is ‘Bubba‘, and yes, he was sometimes called ‘trailer trash,’ but this is just mean.
I wonder what our current president’s library is gonna look like: How ’bout this?
Then again, this may be more appropriate, since highfalutin’ books ain’t really his thing after all.