This coming election day, with the proposition on the ballot to legalize the small-scale growth, distribution, and possession of marijuana, we in the golden state have the chance to repeal an outdated law that has done too much harm for too long. Unfortunately, the current debate surrounding the prospect of legalization obscures the simple heart of the issue at stake.
Please excuse the negligence this week. Daddy has a full plate and scant time to write a proper “Audio Files” column. He does have one special item for you though, and it involves country music legend Kris Kristofferson.
It is said that KK moonlights as a Vatican-Based Project Monarch Slave Runner. Project Monarch, you might recall, is the bastard love-child of Projects MKULTRA and ARTICHOKE. Somewhere in its rich, nougaty center lies Kris Kristofferson.
Can a single picture tell the story of an entire city? I don’t know. But if it could, this shot, of one of the new parking kiosks that have replaced parking meters in the University City section of Philadelphia, would be a good candidate. Gives you that warm, welcoming feeling, doesn’t it?
I recently had a family member pass and that night, when I was on edge but exhausted, I started flipping channels. I soon realized I couldn’t concentrate at all (even usual insomnia standby Sportscenter seemed confusing), so I was grateful to stumble upon a channel with naked women, as this was a concept my mind could wrap itself around. As it happened, it was a program called The Suicide Girls: Guide to Living. Having seen it, the world makes a bit more sense. [Read more →]
Remember when some people you didn’t know mapped out where you live and put it on the public domain, all without asking first? That’s because you weren’t looking, or at least you weren’t on the lookout for it. [Read more →]
Back in the late 1700′s-early 1800′s, Japan was closed to the world around them. It was illegal for a Japanese citizen to leave Japan. It was illegal for foreign citizens to enter Japan, except under the most strictly monitored conditions. But countries around the world understood that Japan would be a lucrative market and trading partner, if only they could break through those barriers. The Dutch East Indies Company (the VOC in Dutch) maintained a trading post in Deijma and fought hard to keep lines of communication open with Japan — and to keep their greedy European enemies away. In The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, a young Dutch clerk hopes to make his fortune — and return home to marry his beloved Anna — but his scruples get in the way. It is a lovely, poetic book full of tragedy and hardship and great honor. [Read more →]
In 1975, on the most magical day of my fourteenth year, my father took me to New York. First, we went to Tannen’s, the largest magic shop on the east coast, where I got the birthday present of a hippie puppet with long yellow hair and flowered clothing. After a turkey sandwich at Howard Johnson’s, we went to the Cort Theater and saw a matinee performance of The Magic Show, a musical comedy starring the amazing Doug Henning.
According to their website,
The Library of America was founded in 1979 to undertake a historic endeavor: to help preserve the nation’s cultural heritage by publishing America’s best and most significant writing in durable and authoritative editions.
To that end, they have been publishing volumes featuring the works of people like John Steinbeck, Dashiell Hammett, Herman Melville, Robert Frost, William Faulkner, etc. But what about future editions?
100 years from now, what will the Library of America deem to be worth preserving?
I’m pretty sure I know.
Here is a look at the covers of some future Library of America editions:
It is hard to believe a film about teenage suicidal depression would have the word “funny” in its title. But It’s Kind of a Funny Story is light and somewhat funny. It is rather forgettable, but it is also enjoyable.
Craig (Keir Gilchrist) seems to have a nice enough life. His parents love him, even if Mom (an underused Lauren Graham) seems a little clueless and Dad (Jim Gaffigan) pushes him to excel in school. Craig has a crush on his best friend’s girl and his prestigious New York public school is very competitive, but is that really why he is depressed? A neurotic and medicated teenager is not always cause for alarm, but when Craig stops taking his medication, he feels suicidal. [Read more →]
