AltWeeklies Wire
Everybody's Fine, but What About Bob?
Everybody’s Fine, but America’s once-greatest actor ain’t what he used to be.
Salt Lake City Weekly |
Scott Renshaw |
12-01-2009 |
Reviews
Tags: Everybody's Fine, Kirk Jones
Cartoon: Strategy?new

Obama refuses to tip his/our hand in Afghanistan...because he doesn't have one.
Cartoon: Jobs for Afghansnew

Finally, a jobs program. The catch is, you have to join the Taliban first.
Half Baked Comic Jim Breuer Finally Grows Upnew
Jim Breuer has always rocked. The New Jersey comic hangs with Metallica, screeches AC/DC versions of "The Hokey Pokey" during his standup act, and wears Jerry Garcia's ashes around his neck in Half Baked. But in recent years, he's been rocking something else -- cradles.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Scott Yorko |
12-01-2009 |
Performance
A Screwball Crew of Gearheads Retool the Outlaw Cross-Country Car Racenew
Just like the madcap Cannonball Run races of three decades ago, the idea is to go as fast as you fucking can. And if that means doing 115 mph in a junky old police cruiser, rigging up auxiliary gasoline tanks, subsisting on beef jerky and peeing into plastic bags to save time, well, so be it. Welcome to the "twenny-nine-oh-four."
Riverfront Times |
Nicholas Phillips |
12-01-2009 |
Recreation
Evol Intent Ruptures the Walls of Drum 'n' Bassnew
These three guys originally from Atlanta produce and play galvanic, kinetically de-tuning, glitch-hop-tinged drum 'n' bass, influenced by everyone from N.W.A. to Squarepusher. And they are popular in a genre that doesn't get much press but that is loyal and long-running.
Baltimore City Paper |
Tony Ware |
12-01-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Vanilla Ice Talks About Madonna, Wallaroos and What's Nextnew
After a quick rise, Vanilla Ice quickly became America's favorite joke. But with time, the vitriol has worn off. Now, the name Vanilla Ice evokes the sweet charm, the unknowing innocence of another time.
New Times Broward-Palm Beach |
Michael J. Mooney |
12-01-2009 |
Culture
The World's Greatest Dysfunctional Body: Why the U.S. Senate Can't Governnew

Ever wonder why the federal government can't get anything done -- like health care or immigration reform -- despite one party's control of Congress and the presidency? It's because of a procedure that allows the threat of a filibuster to obstruct action more easily than a real filibuster.
Reno News & Review |
Dennis Myers |
11-30-2009 |
Politics
Unemployment Gets a Lift in 'Up in the Air'
George Clooney's intentionally ambiguous character Ryan Bingham is a poster boy for America's lack of ethical direction in this thought-provoking satire about America's unemployment epidemic.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
11-30-2009 |
Reviews
Two years after a foreclosure disaster, one Colorado county is still stuck with a messnew

The phenomenon of squatters staying in bank-owned homes has been widely reported. In Colorado Springs, it's rare. But here, some have even twisted the model, living reclusively in what should be a government-owned home.
Colorado Springs Independent |
Anthony Lane |
11-30-2009 |
Housing & Development
Earthless taps the spirit of classic Krautrock, Brit-blues and Japanese psych-rocknew

Mario Rubalcaba figures he's been with more than a dozen bands — he is, after all, a drummer — but that Earthless is the one he was meant for.
Colorado Springs Independent |
Bill Forman |
11-30-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Author Carol Ann Wilson on utopia and the man who brought it to Coloradonew

When alternative thinkers and restless souls go looking for utopia, where do they go? According to Wilson, one group of bliss-seekers in the early '70s chose Manitou Springs.
Colorado Springs Independent |
Jill Thomas |
11-30-2009 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
Searching for Meaning in the Overly Sanitized Myth of Thanksgivingnew
If you think Plymouth Rock was a crock, you might be onto something. The Thanksgiving story is full of inconsistencies and overblown mythology. We journeyed to southeastern Massachusetts to see if we could set the record straight.
Boston Phoenix |
Greg Cook |
11-30-2009 |
Culture
Can Harvard's Superstar Atheist Greg Epstein Save Nonbelief from Itself?new

The nonbelief community is now embroiled in its own feud, in which the contemptuous "New Atheists" are pitted against the softer humanists, led by Harvard chaplain Greg Epstein.
Boston Phoenix |
Adam Reilly |
11-30-2009 |
Religion