AltWeeklies Wire
Skrunk Happens: We're Not Fans, But The Kids Seem to Like Itnew
The Warped Tour's 15th year sees a large number of acts that have embraced a combination of minimalist Southern hip-hop, Auto-Tune croons, techno breakdowns, barked vocals, and party-til-you-puke poetics. It's called scrunk, a bastardized combination of crunk and screamo, and it's the hottest thing since sliced bread joined Twitter.
Boston Phoenix |
Leor Galil |
07-15-2009 |
Music
The Search for 'America's Biggest Asshole'new
This week in Boston, Spike TV held auditions for its new sub-low-culture program, America's Biggest Asshole. You're right -- all reality show tryouts are essentially auditions for America's Biggest Asshole, but this one is transparently egregious, as if the NHL re-named hockey "Kill the Man with the Puck."
Boston Phoenix |
Chris Faraone |
07-15-2009 |
TV
$arah, Inc.: Palin Enters the Burgeoning Right-Wing Marketplacenew
Thanks to the election of Barack Obama and a heavily Democratic Congress, the conservative industry is, despite the recession, experiencing boom times. Palin is poised to be the hottest brand to ever hit that market.
Boston Phoenix |
David Bernstein |
07-15-2009 |
Politics
Obama Covers Up a Dozen My Lais
Obama sort of announces kind of an investigation of Bush's biggest single war crime. It's more of the same for a story the media has ignored for six or seven years.
Outdoor Clothing Companies Go Greennew
New materials are giving outdoor gear a green hue as companies look to bamboo and recycling clothing to meet consumer demand for environmentally friendly options.
Boise Weekly |
Deanna Darr |
07-15-2009 |
Recreation
An Oakland Think Tank Says the Federal Climate Bill Will Do More Harm Than Goodnew
The Breakthrough Institute, which has become one of the most vocal opponents of the climate bill sponsored by Democratic congressmen Henry Waxman and Edward Markey, argues that the legislation fails to generate enough investment in green energy because it offers too many corporate giveaways.
East Bay Express |
Robert Gammon |
07-15-2009 |
Environment
Three Recents Books Tackle Iran From the Inside Outnew
Books about Iran have been recently proliferating. The last year in particular has delivered three notable titles: Hooman Majd's The Ayatollah Begs to Differ, Azar Nafisi's Things I've Been Silent About: Memories and Azadeh Moaveni's Honeymoon in Tehran.
The Texas Observer |
Azita Osanloo |
07-15-2009 |
Books
Unagi Keeps Hip-Hop Reference-Richnew
Unagi takes hip-hop on a maximalist ride that jells with his geography. He talks up living in the birthplace of Del the Funkyhomosapien, Hieroglyphics, and DJ Shadow, and his drive to "go for more obscure references than [sampling] the obvious song."
SF Weekly |
Jennifer Maerz |
07-15-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Researcher Says White Folks are Fleeing MySpace for Facebooknew
Last week, a study showing that older folks have flocked to Facebook was all over the news. But word of an even more provocative trend waits in the wings: white flight from MySpace to Facebook.
A San Diego Case Sheds Light on the Messy World of DUI Prosecutionnew
In April, San Diego's city attorney declined to file drunk-driving charges against local TV sportscaster Kyle Kraska, despite a police-station breathalyzer test that put Kraska's blood-alcohol content just above California's legal limit. Kraska's attorney said the case was dismissed because of police error, though city officials would say only that prosecutors felt they couldn't prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.
San Diego CityBeat |
Kelly Davis |
07-15-2009 |
Crime & Justice
How Hi-Fructose Magazine Stayed Sweet in a Bad Economynew
Attaboy and Annie Owens felt marginalized by the art magazine world. The fine arts magazines were too over-theorized and curatorial; the hipster magazines were too self-consciously ironic and sceney. So they created their own.
East Bay Express |
Rachel Swan |
07-15-2009 |
Art
Six Shirazes and Shiraz Blends from Australia Offer Something to Suit Every Palatenew
For many Wineaux, mass-market Australian Shiraz played a key role in our earliest attempts at wine-related sophistication. I can still picture the $3.99 bottle I brought proudly to a friend's dinner party in the mid 1990s.
East Bay Express |
Blair Campbell |
07-15-2009 |
Food+Drink
Minneapolis Spending $200K to Promote Tap Waternew
The critics of the TapMPLS project ignore the fact that promoting tap water has the ability to make the city millions.
City Pages (Twin Cities) |
Bradley Campbell |
07-15-2009 |
Environment
Is '(500) Days of Summer' the Ultimate Date Movie, or Exactly the Opposite?new
(500) Days of Summer is funny and charming and painful and truthful. There are movies I like, movies I love and movies I appreciate. But it's rare that I'm genuinely smitten.
San Diego CityBeat |
Anders Wright |
07-15-2009 |
Reviews
'Catching Fire' Can Be Boldly Essentialist ... Perhaps Too Boldly Essentialistnew
Since the 1950s, scientists have hypothesized that the key factor bringing our ancestors down from the trees was the decision to eat meat. In this persuasively argued book, Richard Wrangham disagrees. Instead, he writes, it was the decision to cook with fire that literally made us human.
The Texas Observer |
James E. McWilliams |
07-15-2009 |
Nonfiction
