Curated knowlege, trenchant insights & witty bon mots
I went into an Italian-dominant deli today to make a few small purchases. On the door of the freezer was a sign saying “perogies for sale.” “Perogies?!” I told the clerk. “How would you feel if the Ukrainian delis started selling frozen ravioli?” She had no response, which is appropriate, because the store's position is [...]
Tue, November 1 2005 » Main Page, Minutiae » 2 Comments
Maureen Dowd is a gifted writer who comes up with some curious opinions. According to Salon, an excerpt from her new book Are Men Necessary: When Sexes Collide provoked some unflattering reaction from feminist bloggers over the weekend. That left me feeling vindicated for posts like this. Anyway, New York magazine has profiled Ms. Dowd.
Tue, November 1 2005 » Main Page, Media » Comments Off
This IHT story looks at al-Jazeera's efforts to sell its new English-language international service. Some excerpts: Fruit cups and tea were served, and then came the matinee feature: a documentary about the Arabic broadcaster Al Jazeera, full of American bomb bursts and bloodied and bandaged Iraqi children. At an international trade show for television programming [...]
Tue, November 1 2005 » Main Page, Media » Comments Off
I went to see Good Night and Good Luck last week, and am happy to report that it's a fine film. To learn a bit more about the times in which it occurred, read this AP story on CTV.ca: 'Good Night' accurate but out of context: Critics.
Tue, November 1 2005 » * Big Picture Stuff, Film, Main Page, Media » Comments Off
After reading this post, you'll probably think I made it up, but I didn't: NBC is going to make its nightly newscast available on its website starting Nov. 7. How do they come up with ideas like that? “Many of our viewers tell me they often miss the broadcast because they're not at home or tending [...]
Tue, November 1 2005 » Main Page, Media » Comments Off
Pity the poor cut-rate, cutthroat retailing giant. It's turning to professional pols to try and restore its lustre with consumers — especially in the face of the upcoming Robert Greenwald documentary Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price. The doc will screen in T.O. at the Bloor on Nov. 15 (rsvp here; H/T to Paved). [...]
Tue, November 1 2005 » * Big Picture Stuff, Main Page, Media » Comments Off
The prosperous but semi-authoritarian city-state of Singapore thinks there are bigger problems than low press freedom rankings. An excerpt from the Reuters story on Yahoo! News: Singapore should not be embarrassed by its lowly ranking on the international press freedom index because it has achieved top ratings for economic freedom and prosperity, its senior minister [...]