OP-Ed at 40. Four Decades of Argument and Illustration-NYT
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/09/25/opinion/opedat40.html
Forty years of opinion and conflicting philosophies from the New York Times.
When Life Gets in the Way of Art
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/26/weekinreview/26kennedy.html?_r=1&hpw
New Portraits Revelations challenge the way we see their work: the photographer Ernest C. Withers, the artist Larry Rivers and the actor Joaquin Phoenix.
Some good questions posed about life and art. JR
Obama in Command: The Rolling Stone Interview
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/17390/209395?RS_show_page=0
We arrived at the southwest gate of the white house a little after one o’clock on the afternoon of September 17th. It was a warm fall day, but the capital felt quiet and half-empty, as it does on Fridays at the end of summer, with Congress still in recess. Executive editor Eric Bates and I sat down with the president in the Oval Office, flanked by busts of Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr. The conversation stretched on for nearly an hour and a quarter.
Brilliant To Dead: The High Art Of ‘Lampoon’ Satire
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130186909
In the spring of 1970, a daring new product from alumni of the Harvard Lampoon appeared on American newsstands. It was called theNational Lampoon, and it mixed the satire ofMAD magazine with a dose of sex and drugs for a combination that helped launch the careers of its contributors.
Bob Woodward’s Inside Account Of ‘Obama’s Wars’
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130194275
A year ago, President Obama was in the thick of a review of policy on Afghanistan. In the end, he ordered 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan, and he set July 2011 as the point at which the U.S. presence would start to decline. NPR’s Robert Siegel talks to Bob Woodward about how the president arrived at that policy — the subject of Woodward’s latest book, Obama’s Wars.
‘Poisoning The Press’ Recounts Nixon-Anderson Feud
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130052158
If Richard Nixon and Jack Anderson hadn’t spent the majority of their professional lives hating each other quite so intensely, they might have become kindred spirits.
Water Use in Southwest Heads for a Day of Reckoning
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/28/us/28mead.html?src=me&ref=homepage
Barring a sudden end to the Southwest’s 11-year drought, the distribution of the river’s dwindling bounty is likely to be reordered as early as next year because the flow of water cannot keep pace with the region’s demands.
Old Trees May Soon Meet Their Match
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/28/science/28pines.html?_r=1&hpw
For millenniums, the twisted, wind-scoured bristlecone pines that grow at the roof of western North America have survived everything nature could throw at them, from bitter cold to lightning to increased solar radiation.
Jerry Lee Lewis: Rock Legend Keeps Rolling
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130104597
His wildest days may be behind him, but old age hasn’t kept him from his keys. On Sept. 29, Lewis will celebrate his 75th birthday in the afterglow of a new album, Mean Old Man.
A Killer interview with “The Killer.” JR
Lee Hamilton Shares Memories From His Public Life
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130149474
Former Democratic congressman Lee Hamilton of Indiana is retiring after more than 40 years of public service. Hamilton will step down from his position as president of the Woodrow Wilson International Center later this year. He talks to Steve Inskeep about his experiences.
A very good interview with a man who’s 40 yrs. of historic perspective concerning the U.S. foreign policy & a possible view of the future. JR
James Franco, Loosing A ‘Howl’ In Ginsberg’s Honor
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130046168
Written and directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, making their feature debut documentaries, includingThe Celluloid Closet and The Times of Harvey Milk, Howl takes a prismatic look at Ginsberg’s seminal 1955 poem and the controversy surrounding it.
Jon Stewart ‘saddened’ by Obama
http://watching-tv.ew.com/2010/09/22/bill-oreilly-jon-stewart/
Appearing on The O’Reilly Factor to promote his new book Earth (The Book), Jon Stewart was asked by Bill O’Reilly whether he had “Obama remorse.” After jousting jokingly with O’Reilly for a few minutes, Stewart said the problem with President Obama is that “he ran as a visionary, and he’s led as a functionary.”
Two New Dinosaur Species Are Discovered in Southern Utah
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/09/22/science/AP-US-Dinosaur-Discovery.html?_r=1&hpw
Scientists said Wednesday they’ve discovered fossils in the southern Utah desert of two new dinosaur species closely related to the Triceratops, including one with 15 horns on its large head.
At the Movies With Peter Travers: ‘The Town’ Has Everything
http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/peter-travers/blogs/thetraverstake-May2010/204285/49670
Ben Affleck directed and starred in the film, which centers on a group of bank robbers in Charleston, a neighborhood near Boston. While disguised during a heist, Affleck’s Doug falls in love with a bank manager, played by Rebecca Hall, and later pursues her with the mask off, much to the dismay of his partners in crime.
Pleasure in Pain of Chilies
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/21/science/21peppers.html?src=me&ref=homepage
Late summer is chili harvest time, when the entire state of New Mexico savors the perfume of roasting chilies, and across the country the delightful, painful fruit of plants of the genus Capsicum are being turned into salsa, hot sauce and grizzly bear repellent.
Furniture Takes a Manly Turn (at last)
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/16/garden/16craft.html?emc=eta1
Tired of refinement, a group of designers takes its cues from shop class instead of art school.
Struggling Senator Sticks To Middle Of Road In Colo.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130054454
One of the key races to watch is for the U.S. Senate seat in Colorado. The incumbent, Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO), is a moderate, facing Tea-Party-backed conservative Republican Ken Buck.
Mavis Staples: Her Father’s Daughter. A new recording!
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130051633
Mavis Staples says her father, Roebuck “Pops” Staples, played a significant role in her development as a performer. The singer recalls his advice at an early performance, when she, at 13, felt it necessary to replicate the energy of a young gospel group who’d gone on before her.
Bob Woodward book details Obama battles with advisers over exit plan for Afghan war
President Obama urgently looked for a way out of the war in Afghanistan last year, repeatedly pressing his top military advisers for an exit plan that they never gave him, according to secret meeting notes and documents cited in a new book by journalist Bob Woodward.
Woody Allen: ‘You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger’
NPR http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130019919
NYT http://movies.nytimes.com/2010/09/22/movies/22you.html?hpw
Video clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATfAzFah3aQ
The latest movie by Woody Allen, You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, begins with a silver-haired woman who’s been abandoned by her husband in London. She goes for solace to a fortune teller, a woman who offers a glass of Scotch and a vision of hope, promising “nothing but good” in her future.
Highly Subjective Highlights From the Guggenheim YouTube Contest
There are some very cool films to be found through random wanderings of the competition’s official Web site, atyoutube.com/play, including, above, Tiffany Shlain’s “Yelp,” a 21st-century update of Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl.” (“I saw the best minds of my generation distracted by texting, e-mailing, tweeting…”)
Reform On The Range: Cubans Heed The Call To Farm
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129757511
Cuba has miles and miles of fertile, lush countryside where nothing is growing or grazing. After five decades of state-controlled agriculture, the country struggles to feed itself, forcing the government to import some 70 percent of the island’s food.
NPR audio interview this morning…
Jerry Roberts
