accidents mean no one’s guilty; ignorance means someone’s killed

This media blow might get political, but that’s no fault of mine: The Lives of Others: Oscar-winning German film from 2007. Set in East Berlin in 1984, it follows a Stasi captain ordered to surveill a popular playwright and his actor girlfriend. The passion in their lives draws him in, until he finds himself bending [...]

ooo, ee, ooo ah ah, ting tang, walla walla bing bang

Fireball Island: At Michelle B’s party on Friday, Noah brought Fireball Island, an exasperating hell-pit from Milton Bradley. You and three other explorers scramble your way up the slopes of Fireball Island, dodging fireballs until you can snatch a jewel from an altar. Then there’s a hilarious slapstick while the jewel changes hands until one [...]

no one wants to be defeated

Your correspondent’s adventures in consumerism in the Arsenal and Watertown Malls over the course of one hour on Thursday evening. First, the Gamestop in the Arsenal Mall. I dropped two unopened XBox 360 games on the counter, hoping to get some store credit. The girl behind the counter looked them over. “We can’t take these,” [...]

it’s like nothing else to make you feel sure you’re alive

I’m in so many other media this week. First, I have a post up on OTI comparing Burn Notice to John le Carre novels. If you like either, you ought to check out the other. Or, at least, my article. Second, don’t forget this week’s podcast if you haven’t listened to it already: our 2009 [...]

rule britannia is out of bounds

WALL-E: Another touching and awesome Pixar spectacle. Pixar has mastered animation to the extent that a one-foot robot with only two words in its vocabulary can emote more effectively than most of the stars expected to carry a summer picture today. They’ve mastered comic timing on a level that puts 99% of comedies released today [...]

ain’t no angel gonna greet me; it’s just you and I my friend

We moved hotels on Saturday, from one closer to the city (for the rehearsal dinner) to one closer to Swarthmore (for Matt and Lydia’s wedding). I rode with Kevin, tailing behind my parents’ SUV down a rain-slicked 95 South while Chuck Barry played “School Days.” “AC/DC does a decent cover of this song,” I remarked. [...]

a couple of guys who were up to no good started making trouble in my neighborhood

The cab ride from Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station to the Courtyard Marriott near City Hall took me past fewer adult theaters than I would have expected. They integrate well into Philadelphia’s downtown aesthetic of 1750s buildings with 1930s storefronts – art gallery, sandwich shop, adult theater, clothing store, adult theater, Western Union, Ben Franklin’s house, [...]

and the road leads somewhere, but it’s not yet to your door

Dear Ted Leo, What the hell, man? What the hell? You decide to play three shows in New England – one in Providence, one in New Haven and one in Massachusetts – the weekend that I’m traveling to Philadelphia. That’s bad enough. And hey, the Massachusetts show is on Thursday night. I could conceivably make [...]

breathe in, breathe out

As an atheist, rationalist and all-around humorless asshole, I don’t go in for a lot of Eastern mysticism. I don’t think much of reiki. I don’t believe in the healing power of crystals, or cranio-sacral touch, or reflexology. I think ear candling’s a dangerous fraud. I don’t trust acupuncturists or chiropractors. So you wouldn’t think [...]

there’s a chance we can make it now

“How many?” the proprietor at Do Re Mi asked. “Thirteen,” Trisha said. Trisha made a rare visit to the East Coast this past weekend, and trashy karaoke in Allston topped the list of events. The old man rubbed his chin with his thumb. “Normal rooms, very crowded for thirteen. Party room, best size.” He led [...]