Tuesday, September 26 2006
So-Called Liberty, Justice and Peace, per the PCC, in São Paulo
The PCC has generated an urban war to fight for better conditions for their members in prison -- and the people of São Paulo live imprisoned within their city.
Monday, September 25 2006
Wild Abandon
It may seem quaint now, even after punk's scorched-earth campaign, to think of '50s rockabilly as a danger to Western Civilization, especially in light of pop culture's rampant envelope-pushing since then. But a closer inspection would make even the seen-it-all cynics take pause.
Friday, September 22 2006
Collect ‘em, Race ‘em, Trade ‘em: Putting the “Fantasy” in Fantasy Sports
From the Cheap Seats -- Collect 'em, Race 'em, Trade 'em: Putting the 'Fantasy' in Fantasy Sports -- For fantasy leaguers, today's athletes are but tools to be used in a make-believe struggle for dominance.
Thursday, September 21 2006
I Am / We Are / You May or May Not Be, Depending
Maybe it's quite enough to try to sell the idea of Australia as a 'somewhat tolerant' country rather than a 'multicultural' one, with all the latter's suggestions of actual unity.
Wednesday, September 20 2006
Lolita’s Balls!
Between the scandalous novel and it's equally inflammatory big screen adaptation, Vladimir Nabokov's classic story of unnatural, obsessive love still has chutzpah.
Tuesday, September 19 2006
Do You Wanna Funk with Me?: A Beginner’s Guide to Gay Nightclubs
Going to a gay nightclub shouldn't be an intimidating experience, and could prove to be the most fun straight people have had out in a long time.
Monday, September 18 2006
I Want My (insert movie/TV show/music), Now!
On-demand programming: it's all about you. At least, that's what you should think.
Friday, September 15 2006
Sympathy for the Middleman
Despite mounting debt, it's imperative that we continue to laugh at calls for austerity and conservation, and celebrate those noble marketers that keep us consuming -- whoops, I mean innovating.
Thursday, September 14 2006
If You Love Tupac, Help Find His Killer
Because Tupac and Biggie were -- and are -- so famous, a massive cry for breaks in the cases would signal to the world that the Hip-Hop Nation, that amorphous band of young people blamed for all the ills of urban life from drugs in the streets to questionable taste in fashion, does in fact care about something bigger than bling.
Wednesday, September 13 2006
Towering Concerns
It's admirable that people want our culture to strive for relevance and depth in its filmmaking and film watching, but our desperate grasping for real world ideals has dissolved our sense of cinematic values.
Tuesday, September 12 2006
A Need for Nerds
Now more than ever, as we stumble along the dark, uncertain path of These Troubled Times, we need our brainiacs to help illuminate the way.
Monday, September 11 2006
An Overheard Conversation Concerning Musical Taste
'But who determines the criteria by which one determines if something is well formed?' A debate of taste rages in a small field outside Maryland.
Friday, September 8 2006
Monkey Business
Performers in monkey suits hitting each other with mallets? Is that all that's left of Ernie Kovacs' television legacy? It's the subject up for debate during this overview of the more or less forgotten funnyman.
Thursday, September 7 2006
Notes from Underground
Begrand hits the traveling metal show Sounds of the Underground for nine hours of mayhem, moshing, and merch. And though this town's put the kibosh on mosh, there's plenty of familiar sights and sounds, from Metallica wannabes to papier-mâché phalluses.
Wednesday, September 6 2006
Rock Steady Revelations
How far from traditional Bronx breaking can one go before hiphop dance is no longer quite hiphop dance?
Tuesday, September 5 2006
Discovery: Internet!
Join our guide on a tour of the Internet, where stealthy sexual predators, docile digerati, pathetic loners, and vast, roaming herds of the dangerously overinformed roam freely in their habitat.
Friday, September 1 2006
Why Hip-Hop Sucks, Part 3
There's good hip-hop and there's mediocre hip-hop. The latter is outnumbering the former.
Thursday, August 31 2006
The Skeleton of My Dead Child
Eric Von Stroheim would have been a fantastic television director, free to spin out 13-hour movies as a full season of edgy, mature, character-driven drama.
Wednesday, August 30 2006
It’s Not Just a Job… It’s a Dead End
An appeal to those who feel drawn to military service out of economic necessity.
Tuesday, August 29 2006
Five Colors Rock Taiwan
Che Guevara, John Lennon, Mother Teresa, Albert Einstein -- and Taiwan's late DPP legislator Lu Hsiu-yi -- all met up on a rock 'n' roll stage to rouse up a revolution.
