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 […]
Culture
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Rock of ages
Author’s forward and disclaimer: Welcome to the first installment of our new, bi-weekly nightlife column, “Barfly on the wall.” As the name attempts to imply, I’ll be exploring bars and other gathering places (mostly bars) incognito. My intention isn’t to spy on people and expose their embarrassing nocturnal exploits to the public. That is, […]
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The rockets’ red (white and blue) glare
In the wake of the World Trade Center’s destruction, are celebratory fireworks still OK? More than ever. For one thing, fireworks can be used for Freudian sublimation: Take that, you rotten, sub-human terrorist scum — POW! ZAPP! and BANG!! And just to show that our spirits (of ’76) aren’t dampened, nor our ability to appreciate […]
