FIJI Water
The myriad of bottled water options currently flooding the market – spring, mineral, purified, distilled, carbonated, oxygenated, caffeinated, vitamin-enriched, flavored – leave many a savvy beverage consumer mystified by their relative merits and flaws. As if bottled water weren’t decadent enough in and of itself, water bars now populate the hipper districts of Paris and […]
Hey Hey, Ho Ho: Polarization’s Gotta Go
Polarization pays. For every DailyKos, there’s an O’Reilly Factor; for every Michael Moore, an Ann Coulter; for every Russ Feingold – a liberal populist Senator eyeing the Presidency – there’s a Sam Brownback, an evangelical conservative Senator hoping for the same. Alienation has bolstered both sides, spiking viewer ratings if not voter turnout. But, devalued […]
Of Turks and Laurels in Stockholm
Perhaps to the slight disappointment of the Princetonians hoping to make the University home to a second Nobel Laureate in literature, this year’s Nobel Prize in literature went to Orhan Pamuk, one of Turkey’s most critically acclaimed novelists. The Swedish Academy commented when announcing the award that the 54-year-old author introduced readers to “new symbols […]
Target Practice
I’ll shoot straight with all y’all: I was born and bred in Georgia, a state whose famous red clay mirrors its perennial color on the political map. But I’m from Atlanta, that one blight of blue in a sea of perfect scarlet. While I can slip into the languid drawl of a southern belle at the drop of a camo-and-fishhook baseball hat, I normally maintain the accent of many an Atlantan – that is to say, none at all.
Dispatches from the Delta
For the last six months, people have been warning me about October. A few weeks after I received my acceptance e-mail from Teach for America, a man from the staff called me to discuss the school where I would teach in the fall.
NBC Scores a Touchdown
“Friday Night Lights” is remarkable, and my subsequent praise will not even begin to do it justice. It is quite simply not only the best thing I’ve laid eyes on in years, but maybe the best thing I’ve laid eyes on. Ever. And by all rights, it shouldn’t be. By all rights, this new series, […]
The Princeton Towpath
In training to run a marathon, I found myself facing the prospect of an 18-mile run. Being a freshman, I had no clue of where to go for long runs around Princeton. Upperclassmen informed me that the Princeton Towpath was “the place to go.” The towpath was “scenic and beautiful” and filled with other “encouraging” […]
Guinness, Galway and Gaelic
Noticed a sudden hankering for Guinness? Find yourself prone to a spontaneous jig? It’s not surprising – you can’t seem to escape the influence of the Irish on campus these days. It’s all thanks to Leonard Milberg ’53, who donated an enormous collection of Irish theater to the University in honor of Paul Muldoon. The […]
A. O. Scott
Despite grossing nearly $26 million at the box office in its opening weekend, Michael Mann’s most recent film, Miami Vice, a remake of the 1980s television series, turned out to be neither a commercial nor critical success. Box-office returns fell sharply in the weeks that followed the opening. The movie was widely panned by reviewers, […]