Angel and Apostle takes up the story of Hester Prynne and her illegitimate daughter, Pearl, and fills in the gaps left in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter.  At the end of the earlier novel, Hester and Pearl leave Boston and no one knows of their whereabouts.  Years later, Hester returns to Boston alone, still wearing her scarlet A. There are occasional letters from Pearl, who is married and living in Europe, and Hester lives out the remainder of her life alone.  Such a cheerful story, and one that infuriated all my budding feminist sensibilities as a teenager.  Why did Hester bear her burden alone?  Why didn’t she publicly declaim them — the man who dishonored her and the husband who abandoned her?  I’ve still got no satisfactory answers to those questions, but Deborah Noyes has given us the tale of Pearl’s childhood and marriage. [Read more →]

Tags: books & writing, Lisa Reads by Lisa Hura
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We’re still having internet connection difficulties out here, so I can’t write as much as I wish, but I’ve got to try to chime in on the Oil Spill fiasco at least one more time.  I’m particularly distressed about the idea of retroactively raising BP’s liability cap to cover damages beyond what the law calls for.

[Read more →]

Tags: on the law by Mike McGowan
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Hollywood has been repackaging my childhood for years. And frankly, I love it. You can’t beat the onslaught of movies based on comic book heroes and 1980’s franchises. I’m on the edge of my seat for Thundercats, and I’m holding out hope for a Gobots flick. This weekend I had the privilege of seeing The A-Team on the big screen, which, as a child, I watched in syndication on TV. The experience was WONDERFUL.

[Read more →]

Tags: fan boy says, movies by Steve Mazzeo
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My columns are often full of bad people. Athletes who break the law are everywhere, it seems. Yet the law-breaking athlete does not always seem to be the lowest form of scum in the eyes of sports fans. Instead, the selfish, prima-donna types are often seen as worse than any others. It defies logic, but I know that I feel that way as well. Consider the case of Albert Haynesworth. [Read more →]

Tags: bad sports, good sports by Alan Spoll
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Bugs Bunny knew. Perception is reality. Or at least it is as close to reality as you may need to get. Who cares if it is Wabbit Season? That is merely the arbitrary designation of some bureaucrat somewhere who probably never held a shotgun in his life. The problem is Elmer Fudd. If he thinks it is Wabbit season then Bugs is skinned and fried. If he thinks it is Duck season, well, then it is time for a larf and the relish of the crackle of roasted duck.

The President currently suffers in part from a similar problem to Daffy Duck. [Read more →]

Tags: politics & government, trusted media & news by Ken Watson
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10. They gave you a “World’s Greatest Dad” mug, but they crossed out ‘Greatest’ and wrote in ‘Largest.’

9. They’ve sent several anonymous letters to the Arizona legislature concerning your immigration status.

8. They save the term ‘Daddy’ for the FedEx guy.

7. They bought you a toaster and claim it’s “shower safe.”

6. They bought you a recently caught Gulf Coast trout.

5. Their nickname for you is ‘The Sperm Donor’.

4. They tell everyone they’re adopted, and their real dad is a homeless alcoholic.

3. They bought their mother The Big Book of Divorce Attorneys.

2. They keep telling neighborhood gangs you have the ability to catch bullets with your bare hands.

1. For Father’s Day, they gave you a Do-It-Yourself Vasectomy Kit.
 

Bob Sullivan’s Top Ten Everything appears every Monday.

Tags: Bob Sullivan's top ten everything, ends & odd, family & parenting by Bob Sullivan
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Along with my partner Heidi, I recently completed a 14-day, 4,638-mile road trip from New York to Boulder, Colorado and back. (We drove out in separate cars, delivered one, and returned together.) Since writers and bloggers should never use the term ‘indescribable,’ and should avoid superlatives generally, I’ll simply try to summarize what I learned along the way. [Read more →]

Tags: travel & foreign lands by Jeff Scheuer
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When Falls the Coliseum is looking for bloggers to post commentaries, essays, rants, satire, and reviews about current events, politics, entertainment, culture, and many other topics from a broad range of personal and political perspectives. We appreciate both serious discussion and merciless mockery. We like humor — the funny kind. If you’re interested in being a regular contributor, visit our submissions page and tour our site (see FAQ, Welcome, and History). We don’t care if you are libertarian, liberal, conservative, other, or don’t pay attention to politics. As long as you can write posts that interest readers and you want to do so regularly, we’d like to hear from you. We’re looking to increase our coverage of movies, books, TV, video games, celebrity news, pop culture, politics, current events, social issues, online oddities.

Tags: announcements by Coliseum
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April 15, 2010
I dream I am staying in a secluded house with an old girlfriend and some others. A man I suspect of being a vampire comes over and tries to establish dominion over the house. A transportation strike has begun, and I suspect that the vampire has started it to keep us at this location. I have to escape. I dump the girlfriend and go out on foot during the day and try to get as far away as possible. I hitchhike to Pittsburgh.

[Read more →]

Tags: Fred's dreams by Fred Siegel
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Earlier this week, WFTC contributor Jessica Alfreds offered this post, suggesting some great places for dining in Philly. I made some notes, planning to visit the City of Brotherly Love myself, later this month. Now, thanks to A LOT of local enthusiasm for soccer in that area, I’m asking, “can anyone recommend a good sports bar in town?”

[Read more →]

Tags: sports by Jeff McDonald
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In a rare moment of insight, Ben Kalmen (Michael Douglas) says that he feels invisible. Used to attracting the attention of women and the respect of men, this once powerful man feels irrelevant. Michael Douglas proves that he is anything but irrelevant with a strong and nuanced performance in Brian Koppelman and David Levien’s Solitary Man. He is helped by a first rate supporting cast, fine direction and a thoughtful screenplay. [Read more →]

Tags: Gail sees a movie, movies by Gail D. Rosen
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Patterns are not categories. This thought occurred to me not long after I finished my last column. I was walking along Lombard Street past a parking lot surrounded by a wrought-iron fence. I looked down and noticed that next to the fence some flowers were growing and that there was a shallow pile of yellow leaves around the bottom of each and that the wind had formed each pile into a similar pattern.

My last column had much to do with categories, arrived at by classifying a group of individuals in terms of the features that they share (and ignoring all the ones they don’t share). Categories, it seemed to me, were purely mental constructs, useful to a degree, but also misleading. A pattern, on the other hand, is a real phenomenon. One discerns a pattern. One does not construct it. [Read more →]

Tags: religion & philosophy, that's what he said, by Frank Wilson by Frank Wilson
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“He was supposed to be competent,” declared no lesser a luminary than Peggy Noonan last week. Welcome to the party, sister.

More appropriately, a brief overview of the current Oval Office occupant’s record reveals a staggering inability to rise to the level of presidential performance. [Read more →]

Tags: diatribes, politics & government by Daniel Putkowski
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Earlier this month, the New York Times published a typically incisive piece entitled Democrats Skip Town Halls to Avoid Voter Rage. It contained a sympathetic portrayal of the put-upon politician in fear of a potentially violent electorate, and the ways in which they were choosing to deal with a difficult political climate:

With images of overheated, finger-waving crowds still seared into their minds from the discontent of last August, many Democrats heeded the advice of party leaders and tried to avoid unscripted question-and-answer sessions. The recommendations were clear: hold events in controlled settings — a bank or credit union, for example — or tour local businesses or participate in community service projects.

But it turns out that the voters aren’t the only ones who are angry. The elected officials themselves are pretty riled up, and have the potential to become violent when asked questions about their positions:

So, maybe we should thank the representatives and senators who are choosing to forego appearances at these town hall events, with their finger-waving, overheated crowds. After all, the citizens need protecting.

Video link via reason, from Big Government.

[Read more →]

Tags: politics & government by Ricky Sprague
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It’s been windy every day since I moved into this little lavender house. The tiny tree in the backyard bangs on my bedroom wall all day with its one stretchy awkward branch. It is clearly reaching out and growing crooked to drive me nuts. The old house is gone, sold, and I didn’t think to pack tree-trimming tools.

No cable and no wifi has left me a lot of time with my thoughts. This must be what life was like in the old timey days. I should be reading or painting the walls or writing a frigging book, or at the very least unpacking. But, I can’t seem to wrap my mind around anything for more than a moment. Everyone wants to know how the new house is and I say it’s great. And I say I’m fine I’m fine I’m fine. And I’m not fine. And, of course, I am essentially, because I actually believe that I will be eventually. But, for now, I cry a lot. [Read more →]

Tags: ends & odd, family & parenting by Van McO
2 Comments »

I am a die-hard New Yorker and when I travel I rarely think, “I could live here”, with the exception of Seattle and Philadelphia. I just love Philly. It’s a lot like Brooklyn, but (dare I say), better… 

Everyone knows when you go to Philly you eat cheesesteaks… but Philly has so much more to offer. My first night there my husband and I had an Amazing meal at Tinto… A pintxos bar and restaurant, meaning small Basque dishes served family style. We had the Chef’s Tasting Menu ($70 per person).

[Read more →]

Tags: recipes & food, travel & foreign lands by Jessica Alfreds
3 Comments »

Earlier today, regular WFTC contributor Alan Spoll offered this latest “Bad sports, good sports” post, which included his view on scoring – or lack thereof – in soccer matches.

Alan and I will will have to agree to disagree on this one … though I must admit, right from the start, that mine is hardly an impartial view.
[Read more →]

Tags: sports by Jeff McDonald
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I will start this column out by stating that I am not much of a soccer fan. I am a sports fan, and I can watch anything competitive, but soccer is not something for which I have any kind of real appreciation. Still, it’s World Cup time, and I would not be doing my job as a sports columnist if I completely ignored this event that is dominating the sports news and likely will for the next month or so. No, I won’t be watching Ghana play Serbia, but I can certainly follow the U.S. team and see if they can make a splash at this level. On Saturday, I sat down to watch the American team play England, a country for whom soccer is a national obsession. Watching this match revealed a number of things to me, and very few of them were positive. [Read more →]

Tags: bad sports, good sports by Alan Spoll
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10. Once you start driving a Toyota, you’ll never stop!

9. Look out, we’re comin’ through!

8. Toyota. Moving forward! Whether you want to or not!

7. Click! Vroom! Yikes!

6. Have you driven into a Ford lately?

5. Toyota. Get the Feeling. Of Terror!

4. Accelerating the future!

3. Holy cow, even we had no idea the Prius could do 100!

2. The power of dreams! The reality of nightmares!

1. Give us a break!
 

Bob Sullivan’s Top Ten Everything appears every Monday.

Tags: announcements, Bob Sullivan's top ten everything, damned lies, trusted media & news by Bob Sullivan
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HBO has put For Neda — a documentary about Neda Soltan — on youTube, in its entirety. It’s a truly powerful and courageous film:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F48SinuEHIk

Tags: movies by Colin Cohen
1 Comment »