Monthly Archives: May 2015

Mad Men: Finale

Mad Men jumped the shark a couple of seasons ago, and the writing of the final season was overly didactic and, in some episodes, embarrassingly sophomoric, oftentimes slipping into nightime soap opera dynamics. As the series arced towards its conclusion, … Continue reading

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The Horrors of WW2

In his new book, historian Antony Beevor delves into the indescribable horrors of WW2. Of young, inexperienced, American soldiers thrust into the meat grinder German front: Faced with this onslaught, the American defenders fell back in disarray. The units defending … Continue reading

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Karl Kraus

From Russell Jacoby’s review of The Kraus Project: Essays by Karl Kraus, translated and annotated by Jonathan Franzen, et al: Kraus dabbled in anti-Semitism. He was Jewish himself—or rather he was born Jewish but joined the Catholic Church in 1911 … Continue reading

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On Being Human in an Age of Distraction

Gracy Olmstead reviews Matthew Crawford’s book The World Beyond Your Head: On Becoming an Individual in an Age of Distraction: The subtitle to his latest book promises a look at our “age of distraction.” There have been a plethora of … Continue reading

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Sgt. MacKenzie

I first heard the Scottish traditional “Sgt. MacKenzie“, written and sung by Joseph Kilna MacKenzie, in Mel Gibson’s excellent Vietnam-era film We Were Soldiers (2002). Joseph MacKenzie wrote the haunting lament after the death of his wife, Christine, and in … Continue reading

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The Lost Pyramids of Meroë

The Atlantic has some fantastic photos of the lost pyramids of Meroë, which is a stretch of desert north of Khartoum: In a desert in eastern Sudan, along the banks of the Nile River, lies a collection of nearly 200 … Continue reading

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On David Letterman

Jessica Winter writes on the seminal influence David Letterman had on her adolescence, something I concur with. In the mid-80s, Letterman was it: To my suburban elementary-school self, David Letterman was a window into urban adult life. He was a … Continue reading

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Grapefruit Old Fashioned

This one has been going down nicely now that spring is here. There’s a million variations, but with sage already in season, this is the combo I’ve taken a liking to: 3 pts. Kentucky Bourbon 1 pt. grapefruit juice 2 … Continue reading

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Bronson (2008)

After watching the underrated neo-noir film Drive (2011), which is an outstanding movie, and the equally underrated film Valhalla Rising (2009), the latter a dark and moody, surrealistic Viking-era film shot in the remote highlands of Scotland and which stars … Continue reading

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NYT: Linda Richman’s Most-Emailed List

What never ceases to amaze me is how the stories that, each day, make the NYT’s “Most Emailed” list, serve as a connect-the-dots portrait of Linda Richman, the typical NYT reader and influence peddler. For example: Linda is retired or … Continue reading

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