AltWeeklies Wire
Pet Psychic Gets Friendly With Dolphinsnew
A few weeks ago, a pod of dolphins was swimming around the surfers and I thought I would challenge myself to make friends with them.
Santa Barbara Independent |
Laura Stinchfield |
08-03-2009 |
Recreation
Isn't That Super? A Dispatch from the 31st Annual Superman Celebrationnew
Each year since 1979, fans of Superman from around the world descend upon Metropolis, a sleepy hamlet (population 6,482) on the banks of the Ohio River at the southern tip of Illinois, to pay their respects to the iconic "Man of Steel." This year, we were there.
Riverfront Times |
Jennifer Silverberg |
07-31-2009 |
Culture
Take a Seat: How the Adirondack Chair Became a Classicnew
What started as a regional, functional craft is now mass-produced in countries thousands of miles from the Adirondacks and bought by people who couldn't locate the majestic park on a map. But this emblem of rural industry still means something to the people whose lifestyles inspired the chair more than 100 years ago.
Seven Days |
Lauren Ober |
07-31-2009 |
Recreation
Jimmy On the Edge of Townnew
A homeless Christian-Muslim from Palestine pitches a tent behind Bed Bath & Beyond in Northridge. Then come the railroad men and feral cat activists.
L.A. Weekly |
Patrick Range McDonald |
07-31-2009 |
Culture
Blister: Orlando's Big Bang Turns 20new
Big Bang is presently slurring its way through the nostalgic echo chamber of its 20th anniversary party at the Independent Bar downtown. It's an odd bit of nostalgia, because although we are both old bitter record collections, gathering dust in our synth-laden grooves, it is not our nostalgia.
Orlando Weekly |
Billy Manes |
07-30-2009 |
Commentary
Happytown: The World's Best Bodypaintersnew
Yes, indeedy, we are the champions -- or more accurately, we are the home of the champions, twin brothers Brian and Nick Wolfe, who just won a gold medal in the "brush/sponge" division at the World Bodypainting Festival in Seeboden, Austria. The brothers Wolfe beat teams from 38 other countries to claim the trophy and the 2,000-euro cash prize that came with it.
Orlando Weekly |
Billy Manes, Lindy T. Shepherd and Bob Whitby |
07-30-2009 |
Commentary
Cartoon: Wimpy Harrynew
The Cambridge cop who arrested Professor Gates whined that Gates insulted his "mama." Whatever happened to tough cops?
Lawrence Summers is Googling While America Burnsnew
This animated cartoon mocks Lawrence Summers' remark that we can tell the economy is doing better because fewer people are Googling "economic collapse."
My Experiment With Living Off the Land in Minneapolisnew
Teresa Marrone, who wrote Abundantly Wild: Collecting and Cooking Wild Edibles in the Upper Midwest, had agreed to assist me in my attempt to spend a day living off the land in the Twin Cities. When I first asked her if my conceit was possible, she replied, "Oh gosh, yeah -- but it won't be exactly what you wanted to eat."
City Pages (Twin Cities) |
Rachel Hutton |
07-29-2009 |
Food+Drink
Tales From Orange County's Taco Trucksnew
The roach coach. Botulism on wheels. Mobile Montezuma's revenge. The humble taco truck, known universally in Latino OC as loncheras, its workers as loncheros, has finally left its mooring as the feedbag for immigrants, construction workers and prescient foodies and become mainstream, even hip.
OC Weekly |
Gustavo Arellano |
07-28-2009 |
Food+Drink
The Infuriated Lewis Black is Only Telling the Truth ... Just Ask Himnew
First Lenny Bruce, then George Carlin and now Lewis Black -- America continues to rely on comedians to cut through heaps of steaming bullshit (much of which is spouted from our nation's capital).
Metro Times |
Travis R. Wright |
07-28-2009 |
Performance
Sportswriters Can't Decide Whether Steroids is a Black Mark or a Gray Areanew
Baseball scribes would rather moralize about performance-enhancing drugs than make hard decisions about whether their use should keep players out of the Hall of Fame.
Chicago Reader |
Michael Miner |
07-27-2009 |
Sports
A New Crop of Scrappy Troupes is Making Opera Accessible in Chicagonew
Chicago has a new crop of stereotype-busting little opera groups playing at bargain prices in intimate venues -- including the neighborhood pub. Faced with the traditional opera world's shrinking ticket sales, dying audiences, and dearth of opportunity, these artist-entrepreneurs are looking to crack that world open and cozy up to the masses.
Chicago Reader |
Deanna Isaacs |
07-27-2009 |
Theater
Good Mama: Pondering Motherhoodnew
Four weeks ago I shot my own little "chick-let" out of my vagina and unceremoniously became someone’s parent. Although I've had almost a month to get used to the idea, I still sit around my house and scream, "Holy Crap! I have a kid!" at least once a day.
Jackson Free Press |
Lori Gregory |
07-26-2009 |
Comedy
Blister: Such is Our Horrible, Delicate Balancenew
The world is a bitter, deep-fried cocktail onion layered in pathos and prejudice; it just spins and it stinks and it spins again while we all have sex with gravity in hopes that it will keep us around, keep us down on the pickled, pungent surface of it all just long enough to be thrown up in ashes or pushed under, ever deeper into the skin.
Orlando Weekly |
Billy Manes |
07-24-2009 |
Commentary
