Splice Today

Last Sunday afternoon I was watching the Yankees/Rays game on YES, delighted as the Yanks squandered numerous scoring opportunities and eventually lost 6-4. Play-by-play mainstay Michael Kay—now 63, he’s dialed down the NYY propaganda from the George Steinbrenner days; always smart (and lets you know it), Kay nevertheless was breathtaking in his verbal blow jobs of the team’s stars. The “color” man that day, former big-leaguer Paul O’Neill, complained when the Rays’ Jose Siri took forever to round the bases after hitting one into the stands... Читать дальше...

John Peel: You could see it as selfless dedication to the cause of public-service broadcasting or a shocking lack of ambition.

Ken Russell was a known provocateur, but one dimension of his taboo-breaking was specifically English. Russell’s works made grand camp-romantic statements about god and sex, but also usually had something to say about class and power. His artist heroes struggled to advance in a capitalist society, or struggled for the elite’s acceptance, or simply struggled against power grabs. Even if they turned out to have a dictatorial streak themselves, Russell used their stories to send up Britain’s ruling class with glee and no subtlety. Читать дальше...

As Becca danced with Jules and Reva in the hills of Santa Barbara, Neve was navigating the rush-hour streets of Tucson on her Vespa, returning home from teaching afternoon yoga.

In the early-1990s, my painting company bid on a lucrative government-subsidized housing job. The catch, which I didn’t fully understand going in, was that the 1920s-era apartment building was a halfway house for mentally-challenged individuals in the process of transitioning from supervised facilities to independent living. Portland building codes had caught up with the old structure—which was fitted with ancient exterior fire escapes—and required that a sprinkler system be installed in every apartment and on every floor. Читать дальше...

The film Israelism was completed before the present war in Gaza, with its horrific death toll, had begun. Nevertheless it’s an important film. It’s being shown at the student encampments across the United States and the world, many of which are being led by people with similar life stories to the ones in this film.

Robert De Niro didn’t have to wait long until his name shot up from the fifth block of “also featuring” title cards to the top of movie posters—in 1970, he was 27, a working New York actor, and four years later he became the icon he’ll always be with The Godfather, Part II. No ramp up, no lean years, no struggle past the most supple portions of his career. By the time he became an instant superstar, he’d already worked with Brian De Palma, Roger Corman, and Ivan Passer. De Palma’s Greetings was... Читать дальше...

Barnes & Noble is returning to Georgetown. As Washingtonian reports:

"Barnes & Noble is having a renaissance. Under new CEO James Daunt, the bookstore chain is doing away with its cookie-cutter spaces stuffed with board games and toys, and giving its business model a new focus—books. The strategy: to make each existing and forthcoming location feel like a hyperlocal indie bookshop. Among B&N’s 50 new branches is a three-story Georgetown store, which in October will reopen in... Читать дальше...

The two major political parties and the media will spend the remaining three months of the election campaign making it sound as if Trump vs. Harris presents the public with a stark choice. The “felon” vs. the dirty “cop,” they may say, or the mean boss vs. the living embodiment of “our [primary-disregarding] democracy.” The two presidential candidates are roughly the same, though, and Trump’s choice of JD Vance as running mate underscores that fact, despite superficial appearances.