Recent Columns

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Wednesday, November 25 2009

Are We All Mythtaken About Star Wars?

Fans are mistaken about Return of the Jedi and Luke Skywalker (dismissing the Ewoks, and Skywalker is deemed a wuss). Might they also be wrong about the prequel trilogy? And how.

Tuesday, November 24 2009

Spinach and Broccoli Music: An Interview with Composer and Drummer John Hollenbeck

John Hollenbeck recombines the familiar in compositions that are startlingly new. His new Eternal Interlude is among the best jazz of 2009. Here, he explains his quirky, fresh methods.

Squanto: The Ultimate Guide

Even anglers like myself yearn for guides with fishing IQs as rich as Squanto's, a Patuxet Native American who taught the Pilgrims how to fish.

Monday, November 23 2009

The Death and Rebirth of Black Glossies

Much as Ebony and Vibe crackled with the sense of discovery in their heydays, Arise feels like the magazine that’s got its finger on the pulse of today’s black pop.

Friday, November 20 2009

We All Know the Way to Sesame Street

In the 2008 presidential election, America crossed the Henson Point -- the point where we are a post-Baby Boomer society. The Rockist calls for a champagne toast.

What We Talk About When We Talk About Supergirl’s Shorts

Supergirl's summer costume change -- which included concealing shorts under her skirt as she flew about, kicking butt -- reveals a lot about our changing superheroes.

Thursday, November 19 2009

Strange Muse: Jack London and Ernest Gallo

One bad novel, gallons of cheap red wine, and spring-fed creeks of sweat.

Wednesday, November 18 2009

Dimensional Walls Getting Thinner: The Collective Minds of Krallice

What started out a back-to-basics project has turned into one of the coolest, most forward-thinking American metal bands of this decade.

Tuesday, November 17 2009

Hip-Hop & the Contrast Principle

Hip-hop, as a culture and a musical genre, moves at lightning speed. Keeping up requires an awareness of our expectations and a willingness to revisit our assumptions.

Monday, November 16 2009

What’s More Dangerous on the Web—Hackers or Hacks?

Content producers have the power to be whomever they want, but if they let themselves be dictated too much by factors like Google, page views, and ad revenue, they end up simply joining a droning, mundane chorus of mediocrity.

A Cat’s Triumph and the Midlife Crisis of a Dog

The popularity of the “pet memoir” can be traced to a lot of factors, ranging from honest sentiment to rank anthropomorphism. But our pets, and our books about them, reflect spirit of our age, as well.

Friday, November 13 2009

An Education: Carey Mulligan Comes of Age

Danish director Lone Scherfig spares audiences the trite clichés of a young woman's coming of age, directs a magnificent cast of actors, and defends her film against allegations of inappropriate sexuality.

Does Late Night TV Still Matter? Part 3

In the third part of his never-ending odyssey of late-night talkers, the Rockist endures Kimmel and bits.

Thursday, November 12 2009

The Prisoner: ‘Fall Out’

The Prisoner's unapologetic payoff of surrealism and absurdism heads into that artistic realm where meaning is defined more by resonance than by immediately identifiable relevance.

Wednesday, November 11 2009

So You Think You Can Make Me Like Dance?

Rubenstein views dance much like his girlfriend watches a baseball game; the subtleties are lost on him.

Tuesday, November 10 2009

Nobel Prizes and Nobel Promises

President Obama probably rattled and hummed in disbelief when he got his Nobel Prize. Ask Bono.

Monday, November 9 2009

Table Space: The Final Frontier

The impressive part of 2001: A Space Odyssey isn’t what they have in the future, it’s what they don’t have: clutter.

PopShots: The Lighter Side of Swine Flu

Researchers have largely ignored the pop cultural value of the H1N1 virus: hours on the couch catching up on DVD.

Friday, November 6 2009

Parent-Child Bonding: Video Games that Bridge the Generation Gap

Can Gen X parents bond with the newest generation of gamers given the ways that cooperative gameplay has changed over the years?

Metal, Back from Purgatory

The Rockist attends his most eagerly anticipated metal show in over a decade only to find... the Banana Splits?

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