Repeal!
Lord Byron wrote, “I’ll publish right or wrong. Fools are my theme, let satire be my song.” Keep this in mind, eh? When duly elected politicians set to work making a safer nation for my family and me, it is a regrettable fact that they are often defeated. When heartless ruffians roam the streets burning […]
Princeton Record Exchange
“Some of the best records come [to our store] when people die,” said Barry Weisfeld, owner and founder of the Princeton Record Exchange, adding, “But that might be a little too grim for your article.”
Fast Times at Facebook High
The day the House Zuckerberg first decreed that high schoolers needed their own Facebook was a classic “what the fuck” moment: the outrage was pure, the anger irrational. We hated it, initially, for no reason other than that it existed and that it was just…stupid.
Straight Talk About Queer Clergy
This year, for the High Holidays and Gay Pride Week, I went to church. Last week, two of the most notable American Christians spoke at Princeton: Harvard’s chaplain Peter Gomes and George Weigel, perhaps the preeminent Catholic intellectual in America. Weigel is the biographer of his friend Pope John Paul II, a just war theorist […]
The Wine of Astonishment
“Church music” for a Haitian in Trenton means a trumpet player dressed like Miles Davis, a twelve-year-old boy on a drum set, a trombonist, and a lady in purple wailing, singing, shouting, and dancing like Aretha Franklin. No droning organ here: The altar, crowded with instruments, looks more like the stage for a salsa band […]
Tune Every Heart and Every Soul
Nearly every object in the Princeton University Chapel has been given in someone’s memory. Names of dead Princetonians are etched on the backs of pews, on plaques at the bases of statues, on the very stones that form the Chapel walls. The Chapel does not only memorialize individuals; it seems also to eulogize a past […]
Commercial Christianity
Toward the end of June, as the dog-days of summer fell upon New York City suddenly and definitely, I made a religious pilgrimage to Corona Park, Queens, to see Billy Graham’s supposedly Last Crusade. Riding a crowded 7 train out to Queens I felt a palpable sense of excitement….It was like going to a Mets game, only more diverse.
The Perfect Medium
Photographs are unquestionably deemed to be accurate representations of the real; whereas a painting is inherently considered to be a fictive interpretation of its subject, a photograph simply reports its subject as it is. Or does it? How is this promise of visual fidelity compromised by the familiar repertoire of tricks known to photographer and […]
Nobel Nerds
Early one morning in mid-October, while most of his classmates were sleeping off hangovers or late night study sessions, Zack Woolfe sat in front of his computer, eagerly pressing his internet browser’s “Refresh” button. The Princeton University senior was up at the ungodly hour of seven AM (one PM in Europe) to check the results […]
Rogue Wave Returns
I miss The Shins. Oh, their new sound is good; frontman James Mercer gives it his all with clever lyrics and solid indie pop. But where have the mellow harmonies of the group’s first album gone? The ones that changed Zach Braff’s life in Garden State? It’s at moments like this that one turns to […]
Deershit? No, Deerhoof
If you’re privy to certain circles, Deerhoof are called the greatest band in the world. If you’re not, you’ve probably never heard of them. My friend overheard a guy call them “Deershit” when they opened for Wilco. In one way or another, everybody’s got a point – Deerhoof are easily the most original, vibrant band […]
Catching up on the Flicks
Good Night, and Good Luck This film begins, and ends, with Edward R. Murrow making a speech after being given an award at a ceremony in his honor. But instead of accepting the award graciously, he challenges his audience not to rest on their laurels simply because their lives are flourishing. The silence of the […]
Donde Esta Journalism?
Dear Readers, Last month, to the consternation of our “reporter” friends upstairs, we inaugurated the Princewatch column. This new feature severely weakened the Daily Princetonian’s morale; we received several outraged emails to that effect. To right their sinking ship, in an October 14 editorial, the Prince demanded that the University create a journalism certificate program, […]
