Contents of the McLuhan Issue The frequently astonishing avant-garde portal at Ubu has just launched an online archive of Aspen, a magazine published from 1965 to 1971 that was delivered to subscribers in a box containing a variety of media: print, phonograph recordings, even reels of Super-8 film. The range of materials collected is staggering, […]

Read more

Yep, they did. This angle has some personal resonance. Tomorrow I take my four-month old son Harry to the doctor for his first round of injections, and though I’m more or less satisfied that the relative risks favor immunization, this anecdotal connection is taking on some familiar and disturbing contours… This piece from the New […]

Read more

I just shut down a weblog that was primarily focused on the disastrous course charted by American planners in Afghanistan. I wish I could say I gave it up because sanity has prevailed: Afghanistan’s ability to produce food has been seriously reduced; grain production has fallen by more than 50% in the past two years, […]

Read more

Most of the arguments made in this piece have been made elsewhere. Then again, there is scant evidence that America’s leadership is listening to any of them … It seems likely that Americans are underestimating the economic commitment involved in a war with Iraq. This is hardly new, for the record is littered with failed […]

Read more

The painting above appears in Wes Anderson’s The Royal Tenenbaums. It’s only visible for a few seconds, but illustrates how a well-chosen bit of detail can elaborate a character. In this case, it’s an early sign that author Eli Cash — played by Owen Wilson — is beginning to dabble in ill-advised psychedelic adventurism… The […]

Read more