If you paid $336,265 for a car, would you expect the windshield defogger to work properly? If so, you’re totally bourgeois, at least in the eyes of supercar enthusiast Lawrence Ulrich, who writes about such vehicles for the New York Times. In his recent review of the McLaren 650S, Ulrich notes that the car features…
Author: Alan Vanneman
Thurber Farewell
I just completed a 31-part take on the life and work of James Thurber. I’ll be reissuing the whole thing as an ebook, along with half a dozen Thurber-related essays. To help readers to ease off their Thurber jones, I’m running this wonderful 1940 cover Thurber did for the New Yorker.
The Schlippenbach Trio
Alexander von Schlippenbach, Evan Parker, sax, and Paul Lovens, drums, in Ulrichsberg, 6/12/09. Posted by Shuffleboil
James Pethokoukis is shocked, shocked to discover that Republicans aren’t really interested in entitlement reform
James Pethokoukis is that rarity of rarities, a sensible conservative who is actually sensible. Even harder to believe, Jim actually hangs his hat at the American Enterprise Institute, aka “Fruitcake Central.” But his most recent post, titled, with supreme intellectual dishonesty, “Is the GOP changing its stance on entitlement reform?”, Jim demonstrates he can lie…
Pseudo New Yorker
Legal humor here. All cartoons here. and here “Don’t sweat it, Smedley. You know how the old man loves this sort of thing. A lot of men would envy you. I will say, however, that I’m not one of them.” “Why, Smedley? Why? Because at Goldman Sachs, this is how we roll.” “I didn’t come…
In Search of Mike and Ike
Who are Mike and Ike? I mean, the dudes who give their name to Mike and Ike candy? I thought I knew, but it appears the extensive folk etymology I constructed over the years was largely erroneous. My mother’s mother, Augusta Jewett Street, was born in 1890 and raised a Methodist in Cleveland, Ohio. Like…
James Thurber, A Reader’s Guide, Part 31
INTRODUCTION This is the 31st and final episode of “James Thurber, A Reader’s Guide,” a rambling consideration of Thurber’s works, examining his life and work in some detail.. Ultimately, I’ll be publishing the whole thing as an ebook. The links to the first part and the most recent part are given below. Part 31 discusses…
Torture? Is that even a word? Use it in a sentence! On a second thought, forget about it!
Yes, just when you thought we had reached bottom, well, the bottom falls out. Andrew Sullivan, still manfully pursuing the torture scene, has more bad news. Obama’s found yet another way to cave for the CIA! “The Obama administration is actually now debating whether the legal ban on torture by the CIA in black sites…
Pseudo New Yorker
Legal humor here. All cartoons here. and here “This is the perfect car for New York! To the pedestrians who say ‘I’m walking here!’ this car says ‘No, you aren’t!’” “You’ll never need to buy tires, but regularly scheduled manicures are strongly recommended.” “Just keep it away from SmartCars and Mini-Coopers. I mean, that would…
Liar, Liar, Hair’s On Fire
OK, this is not what I signed up for. Andrew Sullivan accurately diagnoses President Obama’s stance on torture as “hate the torture, love the torturer,” linking to this story by Jonathan S. Landay, Ali Watkins and Marisa Taylor in the newsobserver, which tells me far more than I would like to know about the Obama…