January 2012
25 posts
“You say she is cold; that just adds to the flavor. You like ice cream, don’t...”
– Bazarov
Brevity is the soul of lit...reviews
I was prepared for something much more revolutionary in scope, since Fathers and Sons is generally considered in the same vein as things like Notes from the Underground and Devils. But the book it really reminded me of was Goethe’s Elective Affinities, with its politics merely underpinning romantic storylines. It struck me as a typically Victorian romance dressed up as a political manifesto...
"When we say that movies fail to live up to... →
"Fortunately my business card reads 'Mediating... →
"But to say you saw all of that coming? You'd have... →
“Maybe that’s what originality is. It’s the confinements you choose...”
– David Mitchell
"Don't try to tell me that Muhammad Ali is 70... →
“You know, I can’t say I’ve been looking for a job, but it’s...”
– Stu, The Life and Times of Tim
"When the segment ended and Tom Brokaw looked up... →
Watch“How can you change the world?”
“By catching it in the headlights of my justice.”
"I thought (and still think) that 'Assessed on the... →
Happy Endings, Again
ALEX: Something is going down.
MAX: Just like "The Wire."
BRAD: We should go undercover.
MAX: Just like "The Wire."
BRAD: What can I do to make you stop saying that?
MAX: Yeah, well, just like "Blue Bloods" doesn't have the same pop.
On what would have been his 97th birthday, I... →
Brevity is the soul of lit...reviews
“If only I still had faith in words.”
I had never read any Dos Passos before, so it was interesting to see what American Modernism looked like. It’s probably unfair to say it isn’t as good as Joyce or Bely, since, you know, what is? You can definitely see the influence of Joyce (Manhattan Transfer was written in 1925, three years after Ulysses) with the stress on dialects,...
Happy Endings
DAVE: And I am not paying for those two 20-minute phone calls!
RICK: Those were legitimate sessions.
DAVE: You called me -- crying.
RICK: Therapy is a two-way street, Dave.
"Certainly there are some drawbacks to this... →
The Coast of Utopia
TURGENEV: You said Fenimore Cooper was as great as Shakespeare.
BELINSKY: That wasn’t wrong; it was only ridiculous.
“If only I still had faith in words.”
– Manhattan Transfer
Brevity is the soul of lit...reviews
Mike Birbiglia’s terrific on-stage delivery — the relaxed-but-never-fully-at-ease manner in which he tells funny but meaningful stories — makes him one of my favorite comedians I’ve ever seen live, if only for one 10-minute set. That fusion of humor and meaning when he told a story about his mom’s sickness and how it affected his take on religion — it’s...
