BRYANT PARK, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 18h, 5:00 PM
Masses of skaters enjoy a temporary rink in Bryant Park.
ROCKEFELLER CENTER, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 18th, 4:30 PM
Ah, the traditional Tannenbaum, surrounded by tourists and the traditional pomp of the urban sidewalks. Greg and Susan Schmidt and Ginny and I took in the sights before meeting more of the gang. Kind of fun, despite the constant buffeting of humanity on the hoof.
PROGRESS AGAINST GERRYMANDERING
In Slate, Will Oremus reports the very good news that non-partisan citizen efforts in California and Arizona have attracted lawsuits from aggrieved professional politicians. Excellent news! The cure seems to be working! “Often,” explains Oremus, “congressional gerrymanders are the result of bipartisan compromise—an agreement that allows the majority party to solidify its hold on the …
CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS, 1949-1911
At The Annual White House Correspondents Dinner In Washington DC, May 1, 1999. By Karin Cooper/Getty Images.
TEBOWMANIA!
After entirely too much deliberation, I’m giving Tebowmania another week. It says here that the young miracle-worker will beat the Patriots today. I know, I know: so much of Tebow’s success has been the result of gifts lavished upon by suddenly pregnable defenses. Why did the Jets come with an all-out blitz, knowing that Tebow …
WAINWRIGHTS TO THE RIGHT! WAINWRIGHTS TO THE LEFT!
Ginny and Molly and I had a great time at the Not-So-Silent-Night Holiday Show presented by Rufus, Martha and assorted other Wainwrights and other friends at Town Hall on Thursday Night. The show had a loose vibe that set a fun mood. Highlights of the program, in no particular order, featured Rufus singing a sweet, …
WAINWRIGHTS TO THE RIGHT! WAINWRIGHTS TO THE LEFT! Read More »
THE LITERARY LIFE
Via The New York Daily News, Richard Corkery‘s 1978 photograph of Truman Capote.
FUNDAMENTALLY HILARIOUS
In New York magazine, the cleverDan Amira captures the essence of Newt Gingrich‘s windbaggery–the self-promoting adverb that makes the speaker look like an intellectual. Profoundly, deeply, frankly are frequently padders of Newt’s rhetoric, but by far Newt’s favorite word–the crutch without which he cannot walk a thought past his lips–is fundamentally. Examining Gingrich’s speeches since …
AT THE CONFLUENCE OF VANITY AND MEGALOMANIA . . .
. . .is Trump Tower, right next door to Tiffany’s, where Customer of the Year Newt Gingrich met with TV Star-self-promoter Donald Trump to discuss how they might mutualy enrich one another.