ACTIVISMNot One More Death — Not One More Dollar Unhappy Anniversary! (Assume a Shakespearean tone, but don’t fail to take the rest of this seriously.) Today marks five years since the invasion of Iraq. With Iraq falling out of the headlines and becoming nothing more than a platform point in a most engaging presidential primary … Read more
If you missed Barak Obama’s speech earlier today, see it here, and get back to this post when you’re done. I’m not backing any presidential candidates, but the speech can’t be missed. Besides, then you can take part in the fun — brain food fun, that is. I received an email from MoveOn this afternoon … Read more
Perhaps I’m the only one who wasn’t paying attention to the complications caused by the European Union. But I’ll admit, I’m surprised. When we booked our trip to Italy — after receving an unexpected bequest from my husband’s mother — the euro (which had been under a dollar not long before) was trading at about … Read more
Copyright 2008 NBAE (Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images) Game #66, Home Game #34: Los Angeles Clippers 90, Minnesota 99 Season Record: 16-50 1. Pick and Roll Call The Clippers without Chris Kamen are a feel-good victim for a ballclub ready to generate some springtime momentum despite its inevitable trip to the lottery. Wolves … Read more
Thirty years ago today, in 1978, Pakistani former premier Shaheed-e-Azam Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was sentenced to death. How is that for setting the tone? THEATER & PERFORMANCEMeet the Director and Cast of Frozen The Park Square Theatre is dead in the middle of its production of the 2004 Tony Award-nominated play Frozen, and this evening … Read more
The last few Gus Van Sant films that I have seen were all part of the filmmakers’ Death Trilogy, which are best characterized as plotless trips through discomfort. Elephant was like experiencing the Columbine tragedy, Last Days a pseudo re-enactment of Kurt Cobain’s demise, and Gerry a battle of attrition, both in the desert, onscreen, … Read more
Pull out the green clothes and the Irish pride. Today is St. Patrick’s Day, which, according to one avid Secrets reader, is about more than just green beer. SPECIAL EVENTSIrish Ceili Anthony wrote in to tell us about two Irish Ceili (pronounced kay-lee) dances tonight. "My wife and I met at an Irish Ceili and … Read more
Copyright 2008 NBAE (Photo by Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images) Game #64, Road Game #31: Minnesota 121, Seattle 116 Season Record: 15-49 1. Engines In the Backcourt, Stoppers Up Front My decision to keep a life and hold off on getting League Pass this NBA season is biting me this weekend, as the Wolves were … Read more
I spent my 42nd birthday on a motorcycle, riding through the hills of Umbria and stopping for a late lunch in a beautiful little village called Orvieto. It was, from beginning to end, magnificent. Famous mostly for Classico, a distinctive white wine blend, Orvieto is slanted straight up and home to a remarkable cathedral that … Read more
Like Jabba the Hutt, whose only purpose was to give George Lucas an excuse to put Princess Leia in a slave bikini, this year’s $1 billion budget deficit seems only to exist to further divide a legislature already spoiling for a fight. And much like the epic struggle between Empire and the Rebellion, the battles … Read more