AltWeeklies Wire
How Not to Hire a Chefnew
The owner of D.C. cafe chain Busboys & Poets spent thousands on a contest to find the right chef. So why's the runner-up doing the cooking?
Washington City Paper |
Tim Carman |
05-21-2009 |
Food+Drink
Super Cuvees Lose Sight of Their Rootsnew
The super cuvee is to wine what the remix is to music -- a busier, more modern version. And as with the remix, the soul of the wine is sometimes lost.
Fast Forward Weekly |
Kevin McLean |
05-21-2009 |
Food+Drink
Tags: super cuvee, wine
Sonny Vaccaro Is Harming Youth Basketball and Those Who Play Itnew
Those inside the basketball world know Sonny Vaccaro for his hucksterism that built a youth-basketball dream world populated by ridiculously spoiled kids and their even-more-ridiculous parents. It's an ugly place, one that manages to suck the fun out of what should be a celebration of movement, athleticism and teamwork.
Tucson Weekly |
Tom Danehy |
05-20-2009 |
Sports
Tags: Sonny Vaccaro, basketball
Jim Gaffigan: Banal Retentivenew
Comedian Jim Gaffigan jokes about mundane topics in his signature washed-out, falsetto delivery.
Gambit |
Noah Bonaparte Pais |
05-20-2009 |
Performance
Tags: Jim Gaffigan, stand-up comedy
The Puzzling Dilemma of an Artist Who Rejects the Imperative of the Contemporarynew
Danville Chadbourne doesn't want to be a contemporary artist, but he has no choice if he wants to be an artist who continues to matter.
San Antonio Current |
Elaine Wolff |
05-20-2009 |
Art
Tags: Danville Chadbourne, visual art
Meet Ron White, the Memory Champ You'll Never Forgetnew
Ron White is a college dropout, a Navy veteran and a businessman, and he's out to prove that memory, and most anything, really, comes down to discipline and practice and not innate talent. He wants to show that he's not unremarkable and that no one else has to be, either.
Dallas Observer |
Megan Feldman |
05-19-2009 |
Performance
Tags: competitive memory, Ron White
A Meditation on Keeping Great Finds to Oneselfnew
Any object is marred by seeing. To reveal it means to erase it. Whatever people find there will not be what it was that inspired their coming.
New Haven Advocate |
Stephen Vincent Kobasa |
05-19-2009 |
Art
Tags: commentary, visual art
'Quixote' and a Cast of Pro and Homeless Actors Come to a Philadelphia Churchnew
People from disparate social, financial, racial and religious backgrounds gather together at Philly's Broad Street Ministry and examine spiritual and social questions as one. And now, a bunch of them are acting, singing and dancing in a New York theater renegade's site-specific extravaganza, Quixote.
Philadelphia City Paper |
A.D. Amorosi |
05-19-2009 |
Theater
To Be a Kinetic Sculpture Derby Star, You Must Sacrificenew
Since its maiden derby in 2007, the Kensington Kinetic Sculpture Derby has become a sort of hallmark of the creative community in Philadelphia's Kensington, Fishtown and Port Richmond neighborhoods.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Andrew Thompson |
05-19-2009 |
Recreation
The Tramp Stamp Storynew
The so-called tramp stamp is considered alternately sexy or vulgar, depending on who's looking at it. Why the special term? And why the fuss?
Philadelphia Weekly |
Amy Saltzman |
05-18-2009 |
Fashion
There's Nowhere in America Quite Like Detroit Right Nownew
The last few years have been really bad for Detroit. Odd as it may sound, this is why you should visit now. If and when money ever comes in, you can be sure much of its eerie beauty will be lost forever. Meanwhile, it's Beyond Thunderdome.
Chicago Reader |
Jonathan Mahalak |
05-18-2009 |
History
'Amazing Race' Contestant Shows the World that Gay Dads Can Be Greatnew
Jet-setting around the globe on The Amazing Race was just another in a series of unique life experiences for gay father Mel White, a biographer and speechwriter for such conservative Christian icons as Jerry Falwell and Billy Graham.
Pasadena Weekly |
Carl Kozlowski |
05-18-2009 |
Culture
A Challenging Year for the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contestnew
A year ago, the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest was hoping that 2009 would be the year that the organization would put extra effort in emphasizing the "world" in the contest's name by recruiting teams from around the globe. As it happens, 2009 is "the economy, the swine flu, and days and days of rain."
The Memphis Flyer |
Susan Ellis |
05-15-2009 |
Food+Drink
Turkey Terror Talenew
It was anything by Tom foolery for an alternative journalist attacked by wild turkeys in an historic Brookline, Massachusetts park. Film at 11.
Boston Phoenix |
Lance Gould and Emily Mello |
05-14-2009 |
Comedy
Inventing the Future at MITnew
At MIT's fabled Media Lab, some will change the world with robots and computers, others with ... Wii guitars.
Boston Phoenix |
Abigail Jones |
05-14-2009 |
Tech
