I think your point is valid, re: trying to see the wider cultural field out there.

It sounds like it’s a very conscious marketing decision (re: “den” v. “man cave”): in the wild, females bears and wolves dig a maternity den to keep cubs in. The word “den” has that 1950's sound to it, so it was very likely adopted to make it sound maternal —e.g., it’s where the woman of the house lets everyone eat…

FWIW, this kind of reversal in gendered product lines is not that out there. You remember the Marlboro Man, the Cowboy of Flavor Country, and the mascot that sold a generation of juvenile would-be tough guys on smoking?

IMHO, the affluent-people-beset-by-problems is a subgenre unto itself. Maybe a sub-subgenre of body horror in fact.

Somehow, Dolan found a way to make four different venues make Altamont look like Woodstock.

Once the opiates epidemic dies down —literally and figuratively— then the confouding effects of overlapping opiate and heroin addiction will sort themselves out. At which point, I’m pretty sure we’re going to see some hard data that demonstrates how subtly dangerous overprescription of benzos are —everything from…

I agree about 9/10 of the way with you. Kids are not equipped with a moral compass, parents can do some profound damage to people, different era, etc. All good points.

What you’re saying is true, but “drug overdose” (or drug-related death) does not equal illicit drug use or suicide or some sort of character flaw.

I think by the same token, though: there’s an understandable reason for ignorance. M.I.A. isn’t American by birth, citizenship or residence. She’s a Brit from the desi diaspora.

It’s not just that democracy is new, it is that corruption is very entrenched —mostly because in the participants’ eyes, it’s just the way people learn how to do business in small villages (e.g., you scratch my back...), except it is writ large.

It is simple: in Indonesia —as with most countries— a foreigner who starts making noises about the country’s laws or policy is most easily dismissed as a foreigner, rather than on any reasoned grounds.

Nevertheless, it makes me giddy thinking, “Well Rupert, how do Mick Jagger and Bryan Ferry taste like?”

Method acting isn’t living in-character 24/7. It is an approach to acting where characters are built “from the inside outward” —e.g., the character’s emotional state is what’s supposed to dictate the delivery of lines and mannerisms.

I have to say, from the other side of the coin (as a man): it strikes me that hitting on coworkers or subordinates is such childish, impulsive behavior. Beyond the issues around sexual harassment and liability, I really just don’t see why so many offices trust men who can’t exercise basic self-control around the…

In another vein in the “laws are like sausage, enjoy the results but don’t watch it get made”:

Last I was checking FB, even in the feed’s “Most Recent” view, there were subtle forms of manipulation —some things get grouped together, made less prominent, certain Pages campaigns are promoted, etc.— all of which screws around with your sense of chronology.

I hate to be a stick in the mud, but describing Winston Scarlett as only having notoriety for being in the “30 Under 30 Envy” list isn’t quite right. He was also a fairly longtime activist in the NYC area from the 2000's —he belonged to a student group that, I know for a fact, had another sexual abuser in its midst…

I really want to hate that guy yelling into the mic (“Let’s just get into it.” “YEAH, LET’S JUST GET INTO IT!”)

If any of the arguments involved Yiddish curses, my condolences.

Re-reading my own work, I understand where I erred by making the burial society sound like an exclusively Jewish institution; of course it wasn’t. My point, though, is that burial/mourning rituals are very important in Judaism, as a way of preserving the way of life, and so Jewish burial societies played a much more…