For decades, America’s premier skin magazine ran a series of ads called “What Kind of Man Reads Playboy?” It was shameless self-congratulation. The guys featured in these ads were rich, good-looking, and had lots of expensive toys, exactly the kind of men who didn’t need to “read” a girlie rag. We hereby begin our […]
Th. Metzger
Posted inCulture
Outside of the box
As soon as an idea shows up as a bumper sticker, you know it’s dying. Certainly “diversity” has become a tired buzz word. Yet, sometimes the old slogans (like “freedom” and “peace”) retain a trace of significance. Flooded with cliché-mongers, the world of literary fiction still occasionally allows a new writer to tackle these […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
The twin sphinges of UR
The tunnel system under the University of Rochester’s quad has certain tomb-like qualities: low ceilings, wheezing steam pipes, bad air, strange sayings scrawled on the walls. Get lost in this dismal maze and you can easily imagine you’re in some second-rate Egyptian burial complex. What better to stand guard over one of the main […]
Posted inMusic
Q&A with The Batboy
Fifteen years ago when we attended the Monroe County Fair, we got to see an honest-to-God freak show. There was a sword-swallower, a bald guy who pounded big nails up his nose, and a girl who played with snakes and thrashed around in a fake electric chair. So, the next year, when we were […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Two-bit cultural literacy
Used bookstores are great. Garage sales have their value. You can even find some good books poking around in people’s trash. But thrift-store bookshelves contain some of the best literary discoveries. Like garage sales, there’s a certain core library that all thrift stores seem to stock: the requisite three copies of The Godfather, a […]
