“110 Stories” by John M. Ford. This should be read at least once a year. A snippet: Hands rise to heaven as asbestos falls. The air is yellow, hideously thick. A photo, private once, on fifty walls. A candle in a teacup on a brick. And so should this: E.B. White, “Here Is New York,” 1948. The subtlest change in New York is something that people don’t speak much about but that is in everyone’s mind. The city, for the... Read more
Chis Kluwe had five punts for an average of 48.4 yards on Sunday in the Vikings’ 26-23 overtime win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. I mention these statistics because the Minnesota punter is now my most favorite NFL player. * * * * * * * * * Kristine Haglund discusses “Why Mormon Men Love ‘Church Ball’ and Are Scared of Homosexuality.” A look at this fraught masculinity may offer a glimpse into what drives the LDS Church, and Mormon politicians... Read more
The Line: the movie. “Courage in women is often mistaken for insanity.” “You may not deride them; you may not reject them; you may not sneer at them, and you certainly cannot blame them for their own existence.” “I really hope we can resist celebrating someone ‘letting us’ do what we have already been empowered to do.” “Then you can use your anger to bring the kelipot under the sway of holiness.” “The proposed new facility, the Belle City Neighborhood... Read more
OK, here’s a can’t-miss movie idea: Oz’s Eleven. It’s a stylish heist caper based, of course, on the Soderbergh/Clooney remake of Ocean’s Eleven. I’m picturing an all-star, all-Australian cast — Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, Hugh Jackman, Cate Blanchett, Nicole Kidman, Geoffrey Rush, Anthony LaPaglia, Chris Hemsworth … you get the idea. But the real star will be Jacki Weaver as the villain — the odious and predatory heiress to a mining fortune. She’ll be a completely over-the-top caricature of the... Read more
In comments a few days back, I see there was a question regarding whether I believe “that homosexuality is objectively immoral.” It’s my fault if I haven’t been as clear as I need to be on that point: No. I do not believe that homosexuality is objectively immoral. But that’s not strong enough. It’s more than that: I believe that denying LGBT people full legal equality is objectively immoral. I believe that excluding LGBT people from full inclusion, full participation... Read more
Ecclesiastes 12:1-7 Remember your creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come, and the years draw near when you will say, ‘I have no pleasure in them’; before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return with the rain; on the day when the guards of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the women who grind cease working because they are few,... Read more
Emily C. Heath: “How to Determine If Your Religious Liberty Is Being Threatened in Just 10 Quick Questions” I’ve come up with this little quiz. I call it “How to Determine if Your Religious Liberty Is Being Threatened in Just 10 Quick Questions.” Just pick “A” or “B” for each question. 1. My religious liberty is at risk because: A) I am not allowed to go to a religious service of my own choosing. B) Others are allowed to go... Read more
Nicolae: The Rise of Antichrist, pp. 51-56 Last week, at the top of page 51, we saw Buck Williams happily accepting help from Loretta while simultaneously plotting to exclude her from his own plans for refuge. This week we begin at the bottom of that same page, returning to Rayford Steele’s perspective for a longish sequence in which he exhibits that same disgraceful combination of ingratitude and self-centered cowardice. Rayford is in the pilot’s seat of his newest new plane:... Read more
“We will welcome to our numbers the loyal, true and brave …” “That is a little slice of awesome pie.” “A young woman in old-fashioned clothes, a tiny smile on her lips and a hand extended solicitously towards her friend.” “Revisen el orden de llamadas que trataron de hacer y saquen sus cuentas.” (“Check the order of the calls you tried to make and draw your own conclusions.”) “You are standing in an open field west of a white townhouse,... Read more
We did “street” songs, then “road” songs, so here are the songs that didn’t quite fit into those lists. The stars they’re just pretending to hide “Avenue B,” Gogol Bordello “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” Green Day “Desolation Row,” Bob Dylan “Kentucky Avenue,” Tom Waits “Manhattan Avenue,” Nellie McKay “Memory Lane,” Daniel Amos “On the Avenue,” Aztec Camera “Penny Lane,” The Beatles “The Righteous Path,” Drive-By Truckers “Rodeo Drive,” The Swirling Eddies “Route 66,” Nat King Cole “Ruby Lane,” Milla “Scenic... Read more
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