Culture For The Non-Cultured

I finally saw the movie version of Defiance yesterday. The story touched me profoundly: Polish Jewish people who hid from the Nazis by living in the forest, led primarily by the three Bielski brothers. The community mainly was just that — a community — with shelter and organized division of labor and, eventually, [...]

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I STILL can’t believe that the New York Times published a story that certain subway screeching sounds like West Side Story’s “Somewhere.” I told multiple people I heard this in the past couple of years, and multiple people thought I was INSANE.
Totally awesome.
(FYI: West Side Story is now on Broadway.)

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Lots of cool things in this article about Norman Rockwell, Stockbridge, Mass., and the Norman Rockwell Museum.
– The Museum is going to create the Rockwell Center, which will “transform the museum into a nexus for the study of American illustration art, a woefully neglected field.”
– In his final years, Rockwell used the people of Stockbridge [...]

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Alright, it’s October, and time for a 3/4 Year Resolution:
I will now try to drink good, clean New York City tap water rather than convenient, but Earth-destroying and money-devouring bottled water.
Why? Because bottled water companies use more than 47 billion fossil fuels annually to deliver their product. And according [...]

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Dear Tourists,
God bless you.
Tourists, even in a good economy, you are vital. In an economy such as this, you may just be the arms that pull New York out of financial hell.
Please, treat yourself and a busload of your best buddies to Four Seasons. Pay full price for Broadway shows. Buy a [...]

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So, we live in New York City, where it is not so unusual to see celebrities walkin’ down the street, just like the rest of us slobs
Once upon a time, about 6 or 7 years ago, I was walking across the street in midtown, with two women behind me.  All of a sudden [...]

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Forbes had a great article on Modest Needs, a website that connects people with short-term needs — such as covering the rent for one month, hormone treatments to prevent a premature birth, hospital bills that insurance won’t cover — with people who donate money to cover those needs.  People can donate as much or as [...]

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Kurt Vonnegut, author of Slaughterhouse Five, Welcome to the Monkey House, and other novels contributed fantastic words of advice to writers in a newspaper years ago, re-published on San Diego State University website (via Kottke via Chris Glass)
Vonnegut’s whole article is great — self-deprecating and witty and downright charming. His suggestions are for writing, but [...]

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Can violent video games narrow the gender gap in science? According to one intriguing paper, reported on by Cognitive Daily, it seems possible.
The study found that:
– After playing a violent video game, women performed just as well as the men did on a spatial test commonly used to test science skills — and this [...]

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I don’t know if you could completely see this ad for Gold Peak Tea, but you can see the large feet in the corner, right?  The words next to those large feet are “The Way Tea Should Taste.”
It’s really hot outside.  I don’t know about you, but I could go for a refreshing gulp of relaxing male [...]

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