Gian Carlo Menotti 1911-2007 Along with all the other Amahls out there, a salute to Gian Carlo. Everybody should have such a regret in their obit: "I used it as an excuse to work less. Now I regret it bitterly." He was 95, and the Spoleto Festival he founded and ran for over fifty years made him … [Read more...]

File under: "My daughter's not gay so I have to find another way to be massively hypocritical..." "America's corporate boardrooms must step up to their responsibilities," he said. "You need to pay attention to the executive compensation packages that you approve." George Bush to the New York Stock … [Read more...]

GIVE ME ONE MORE CHANCE I can change, I swear... Stop him before he kills again. That is the judgment of the American people, and indeed of the entire world, as to the performance of our president, and no State of the Union address can erase that dismal verdict. President Bush has accomplished … [Read more...]

From NYTimes Arts Briefs this morning: 'CSI' vs. 'Grey's Anatomy' The addition of Liev Schreiber to the cast of "CSI" helped give CBS the top spot Thursday night, but "Ugly Betty" and "Grey's Anatomy," which both won Golden Globes on Monday, put ABC on top among adults 18 to 49. According to … [Read more...]

The Painted Veil Sleeper of the year, with an unnecessarily distracting and anachronistic score by Alexandre Desplat featuring the very overhyped Lang Lang. Eragon Featuring the Come Hither Line of the Year: "You look... fit for battle." The Good Shepherd Good performances, weak writing, … [Read more...]

You could quibble, punch up the lead (a Johns Hopkins report has Iraqi civilian deaths surpassing 650,000), but this wins the year-in-review prize for tone alone: Thousands of people died in the Iraqi civil war, which was costing the United States $100,000 a minute. U.S. forces began to negotiate … [Read more...]

COLD SWEAT Idolator lists Jonathan Lethem's Rolling Stone profile, Ben Greenman's New Yorker overview, and Douglas Wolk's WFMU 2001 playlist (somebody BURN this). Alongside Jon Pareles's big statement, I'd put Phillip Gourevitch NY unposted profile from a couple years back. Besides Milo Miles at … [Read more...]

SNAPPY HEADLINE Paper Thin Walls, with links to Douglas Wolk's 2006 double-disc mix. … [Read more...]

Rosenbaum in the NY Observer: Holocaust denial is a particularly insidious evil. It was almost painful to read The Times’ earnest struggle to report on the Iranian Holocaust-deniers’ conference in anticipation of its opening on Dec. 11. It will be fascinating to see how the rest of the media … [Read more...]

SITE OF THE WEEK indexed LEAD OF THE WEEK SENTENCE OF THE WEEK PHOTO OF THE WEEK … [Read more...]

Is it a coincidence that two of the best dramas on TV are savage critiques of medical culture? ER thrives in its 13nth season, even if it errs on the side of cheap laughs, disaster blowouts and sentimentality. Besides taking the most prized advertising eyeballs to Africa, it boasts complicated, … [Read more...]

NEVER CAN SAY GOODBYE Anyone else toss their NYTimes across the room twice in one week when Rummy was prominently displayed above the fold? First he threw out a ceremonial football at the Army-Navy game. Then he held his hand to his chest, all choked up, saying bye to the Pentagon staff. Can you … [Read more...]

(Boston) Several giant supersquids are on track to hit Boston harbor this coming Monday, December 11, in honor of a terrestrial pagan ritual. The scientific names given these sprawling herbivores, who swam all the way from Scotland, include Fats, Wills, Buddy, and Graham. Go to this web page for a … [Read more...]

So, if you had to guess based on last night's show, is Aaron Sorkin Protestant or Jewish? SKL says Protestant, since Jews already know all that abstruse Christian arcanae. (Matthew Perry sure ain't Jewish.) SKL thinks the problem is direction, too many overplayed expressions, telegraphed emotions, … [Read more...]

Another barometer of the press losing its head under Bush came when Justice Sandra Day O'Connor stepped down last year. The NYTimes lauded her as an essential centrist, a fine judicial mind who balanced her opinions and offset in Scalia and Thomas. At 75, few mentioned her reasons for her retirement … [Read more...]