Curated knowlege, trenchant insights & witty bon mots
Glasnost was the Russian phrase for the spirit of openness that former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev tried to instill until he was driven from power in 1991. Since the rise of Vladimir Putin, many of the media freedom gains under glasnost have retreated. From the BBC: “The new Russian journalism first lost its modesty, then [...]
Sat, February 7 2009 » Main Page, Media » Comments Off
The NYT's Nathan Lee said this about Chocolate: Risibly sentimental even for a genre not known for its emotional sophistication, “Chocolate” follows Zen as she collects on debts owed her ailing mother in order to pay for medical care. (You hope her targets have paid up their own premiums.) All of which is pretext — [...]
Sat, February 7 2009 » Film, Main Page » Comments Off
From Reuters via globeandmail.com: Health officials in Alberta confirmed Friday that there are more cases of cancer than expected in a small aboriginal village downstream from the massive oil sands plants, but they said there was no cause for residents to be alarmed. People in the village of Fort Chipewyan, a one-time trading post on [...]
Sat, February 7 2009 » * Big Picture Stuff, Main Page » Comments Off
In 1964, the Trashmen recorded a manic, two-minute ditty called Surfin’ Bird that went on to be covered a dozen years later by punk bands such as the Cramps and the Ramones. It was a popular Vietnam-era song (it came out just the U.S. was just gearing up to get serious in Indochina) and helped sonically illustrate [...]
Sat, February 7 2009 » Film, Main Page, Minutiae, multimedia » Comments Off