Clips
Only my latest and my favs.
FOR NEWSWEEK:
What’s Preppy Now? (September 3, 2010): “Once upon a time in breezy New England, preppies wore boat shoes so they’d be ready, at a moment’s notice, to jump on a dock and sail into the whiskey-colored sunset off the Cape (or maybe the Vineyard). The Sperry Top-Sider—that iconic boat shoe with the itty-bitty sailboat logo—is supposed to be durable, waterproof, and comfortable. What it’s not supposed to be is metallic, because shimmer is decidedly antithetical to prep. Muffy doesn’t do glitter. Shiny is so bourgeois.”
Why is Discovery’s ‘Shark Week’ So Beloved? (August 2, 2010): ““I’m watching Shark Week!” is a little bit like saying “I’m on a boat!” It’s not about sharks, man. Like Snakes on a Plane, Piranhas 3-D, or any other over-the-top animal-attack-fest with a blunt, obvious name, Shark Week has bite—albeit, the self-conscious, meticulously styled, trying-so-hard-to-be-cool kind.”
Chelsea Clinton’s Wedding: A Good Girl Grows Up (July 30, 2010): “On the surface, Chelsea’s nuptials might look like any other over-hyped celebrity wedding: the eye of a swirling hurricane of gossip and glitz. But somewhere underneath the photographers’ arrests and the guest-list brouhaha — somewhere closer to the “congratulations!” poster in the window of a Rhinebeck restaurant — lies something that is rarely found in the world of American celebrity: genuine interest in and affection for the bride.”
Who Needs a Publisher? (July 30, 2010): “Until recently, reviewers and booksellers looked down on self-published authors the way Anna Wintour scorns Dress Barn. Now new writers and established authors alike are increasingly taking publishing into their own hands, and the publishing establishment is paying attention.”
Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? (July 16, 2010): “Matisse’s artistic practice unfolded slowly, painting by painting, sculpture by sculpture, and occasionally he went back to work he had done before with a fresh eye, but always with a singular vision. If the artist’s hand worked through his oeuvre from past to future, why shouldn’t our eyes trace its path the same way?”
Where Have All the Good Guys Gone? (July 8, 2010): “Imagine a world where being a bad guy is a profession just like any other: villains go to Starbucks, ride around town in their metal-plated hybrid cars/rockets, and put on their spiffiest black shoes to go demand unreasonably large bank loans to finance their evil projects. Actually, that sounds a little like the world we read about in the news, doesn’t it? (Except for that car/rocket, of course—most of our villains aren’t driving hybrids of any sort.)”
Making Money off Michael (June 24, 2010): “Sadly, the most moving thing about the scene is the fact that Bubbles doesn’t really seem to care. Don’t worry, LaToya, retirement can make a chimp cranky sometimes.”
Play It Again, Gotham (June 22, 2010): “It isn’t always easy to hear the music over the general din of car horns and braking buses, but, then again, the music isn’t really the point.”
King of the Amazon (June 17, 2010): “Beck has the country going haywire for Hayek the same way he’s getting it to read his own book: by employing his extraordinary talent for making anything sound sexy. There’s actually a line in The Overton Window where the protagonist tells his love interest, ‘Hit me with some Thomas Paine.’”
Now You See It (October 9, 2009): “Bastide hopes that one day, in a stable, democratic Afghanistan, a physical Museum of Afghan Civilization might be built. But for now, the virtual approach will allow the museum to live—without having to exist.”
Why ‘Post Grad’ Disappoints an Entire Generation (August 21, 2009): “I think it’s time for a new Elle Woods to come along so that, for once, a happy ending can hand a girl the whole equation.”
The Writing on the Wall (July 24, 2009): “In one poster advertising a 1981 production of Macbeth, the king’s face appears trapped in a kind of brick bandage resembling a castle. His eyes are obscured, his jaw locked in place. To the censor, it showed a face with a castle; to the viewer, it could speak volumes about the blinding, mind-numbing danger of power.”
How Crazy Are Harry Potter Fans? (July 14, 2009): “Slack says he tries to get Potter fans to understand the need for activism by making analogies between the book’s plots and current events: wizard newspapers ignore the return of Lord Voldemort, while our media does not give due attention to the genocide in Darfur. Harry’s teacher, Remus Lupin, faces social persecution because he is a werewolf, while people in our world are discriminated against on the basis of race, religion, or sexual orientation.”
FOR THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN:
A Portrait of the Artist (March 4, 2010): “A self-portrait claims to be a work of introspection, offering a privileged view into the artist’s life. Yet a work like Jean-Jacques de Boisseau’s 1796 etching “Self-Portrait” is fundamentally performative, as the artist presents himself holding a painting of a country scene, looking forward at the viewer but gesturing at his own work. Boisseau’s subject is not Boisseau himself, but Boisseau’s idea of what an artist should be: a cultured, cultivated man, in a dramatic hat and dark clothing, displaying his creation as his treasure.”
Why I Love Gossip Girl…and Why You Should Too (September 25, 2008): “Therein lies the genius of ‘Gossip Girl.’ It is very, very bad, and it knows it. I don’t just mean ‘bad’ as in ‘inappropriate,’ though the show is that too (anyone who’s seen this week’s episode already knows what I’m talking about - shocking, right?). What really makes the show worthwhile is its wholehearted embrace of its kitschiness, bringing a new level of self-awareness - and self-ridicule - to the over-the-top drama of the small screen.”
The Poland Diet (October 4, 2007): ”This summer, I ate full-buffet breakfasts, three-course lunches and three-course dinners every day for a month: huge slabs of pork, piles of potatoes, creamy vegetable soups, meat-filled dumplings, cheese-filled crepes, bread loaded with butter, heavy cakes, sweet tarts. Nothing was off-limits, and I didn’t make a single trip to the gym. But somehow, I lost weight.”
My Grandmother’s Piano (December 8, 2006): “My grandmother’s family had to remove their belongings one day, and they took the piano to the home of their gardener, for lack of another place to put it. They did not regain it until after the war.”
iLove u (October 12, 2006): “After 18 years of watching kissing scenes in chick flicks like my life depended on them, reading Jane Austen and jealously eyeing adorable couples in subways and buses on at least four different continents, I have finally found a man of my own, and this one’s a keeper. His name is MacBook.”
