AltWeeklies Wire
Foster Youths in L.A.: A Before-and-After Storynew
L.A. is home to the largest foster-care agency in the U.S., with many of its 7,000 employees fighting valiantly to try to fix the system and the lives of children caught in it. But with John, on a brisk night on a corner frequented by former foster youths now homeless, you notice only the system's failings.
L.A. Weekly |
Daniel Heimpel |
09-11-2009 |
Children & Families
It's a Battle of Thingamabob vs. Machine in '9'new
WALL-E would never get out alive in director Shane Acker's postapocalyptic hellscape.
L.A. Weekly |
Scott Foundas |
09-11-2009 |
Reviews
A Week Without Movie Stars at the 33rd Montreal World Film Festivalnew
For years Montreal's festival ran neck and neck with the Toronto Film Festival, competing to premiere films from the same pool of foreign and independent releases. But as Toronto secured its position by bringing in more big Hollywood pictures, Montreal continued to rely on foreign films. And with fewer of those picked up for North American distribution every year, the pool of high-profile picks shrank steadily.
Ignorance Unbound in the Health Care Debatenew
Among the most persistent and far-fetched of modern myths is the one that says government is always wasteful and inefficient, and the private sector never is. We've seen this mantra repeated in this summer's debate over health care, as fearful and unenlightened citizens inadvertently reveal that not only do they not know how the various programs run, they don't know who's running them.
Arkansas Times |
Editorial |
09-11-2009 |
Commentary
Central Arkansas Library System Will Soon Roll Out E-Booksnew
Sometime around the first of October, patrons of the Central Arkansas Library System will be able to check out books, read them and return them without ever going to the library. Some readers are more excited about this innovation than others.
Arkansas Times |
Doug Smith |
09-11-2009 |
Books
Chris Fuller on His Microbudget 'Loren Cass'new
An autodidact whose words tumble out in a slurry stream, Fuller carries himself with such intense conviction that, when he tells you Loren Cass is a project he's been working toward his entire life, you believe him.
L.A. Weekly |
Scott Foundas |
09-11-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Chris Fuller, Loren Cass
Meet Ohio Demagogue Dave Daubenmirenew
Though he has been "living his faith" over the airwaves and in the public square for the past decade, the attention of mass media broadcasters has come largely over the course of the past year, particularly during the past few months of Town Hall mayhem.
The Other Paper |
Kitty McConnell |
09-11-2009 |
Politics
Matt Prior's Life is in the Toilet ... Jess Walter Put Him Therenew
Matt Prior is the protagonist of The Financial Lives of the Poets and a complete figment of Walter's imagination. Walter has taken pains to ensure Matt Prior's life is as shitty as a well-educated white American male's can be.
The Inlander |
Luke Baumgarten |
09-10-2009 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
In 'Scorch Atlas,' Blake Butler Rains Gravel and Glassnew
Blake Butler aims his telescope at the future, and if what he finds there and shows us in Scorch Atlas even approaches the truth, we can all only hope we won't be around to see it.
Boston Phoenix |
Nina Maclaughlin |
09-10-2009 |
Fiction
The Significant Objects Project Looks At What Gives An Object Its Worthnew
Significant Objects works thusly: a tchotchke is bought for a buck or two at a thrift store. A writer is told to craft the trinket's fictional back-story. The object is listed on eBay with that tall tale as its descriptor. The winning bidder gets the object; the proceeds of the sale go to the writer.
Boston Phoenix |
Mike Miliard |
09-10-2009 |
Culture
Tags: James Dean, Norman Rockwell, Stewart O'Nan, Josh Glenn, objects, Rob Walker, value, Luc Sante, eBay
If Curt Schilling Runs for Senate, Will He Keep His Sports-Media Perch?new
Known for his arm and his mouth, former Red Sox great Curt Schilling is now stretching his legs ... for a possible Senate run for Ted Kennedy's old seat. But he's blaming the media for getting the facts wrong, even though, as a regular contributor to WEEI-AM and weei.com, he is the media.
Boston Phoenix |
Adam Reilly |
09-10-2009 |
Media
Conspiracy is in the Air ... No Wonder Hollywood is Embracing Paranoianew
With 9/11 Truthers, Birthers, Tea Partyers, and even Obama school-speech muckrakers dominating news cycles, conspiracy is clearly in the air. Hollywood has noticed -- that's why theaters are suddenly awash in paranoia.
Boston Phoenix |
Peter Keough |
09-10-2009 |
Movies
Boss Lady: 'The September Issue' Takes You to Worknew
In September, Anna Wintour's legendary iciness seems like the unremarkable product of natural decisiveness and an incredibly heavy schedule. She's irreverent, yes, but someone has to be, even at the highest echelon.
The Portland Mercury |
Marjorie Skinner |
09-10-2009 |
Reviews
Singer Gretchen Parlato Makes Every Gasp and Exhale Count on 'In a Dream'new
The foremost qualities of jazz vocalist Gretchen Parlato's artistry are her breathy gentleness and sensuality -- she doesn't sing so much as insinuate. Throughout her latest, she exhibits a supple, nuanced airiness that puts the disc leagues ahead of the year’s other vocal jazz recordings.
Washington City Paper |
Michael J. West |
09-10-2009 |
Reviews
The Ex-Gay Movement That Wasn't: Meet D.C.'s Tiniest Demographicnew
This summer, a D.C. Superior Court judge ruled that ex-gays ought to be protected under the D.C. Human Rights Act's sexual orientation clause, alongside heterosexuals, bisexuals, and gays. But are there any ex-gays in town?
Washington City Paper |
Amanda Hess |
09-10-2009 |
LGBT
