On dissing Russian men
Welcome to the re-launching of Natalia's column. It will run every other Sunday, and will now be more personal, for we have decreed that it will be so. Forever and ever - or until she gets bored with...
Searching for David Bowie in London
Somewhere in London it stopped seeming like a coincidence anymore and started to feel like something I should pay attention to. “China Girl” haunted my steps from my arrival. It showed up on...
The Karate Kid and his rip-offs: a showdown
You may have heard about Hollywood’s latest rabbit punch to our collective forehead, namely the remake of The Karate Kid. I certainly have, and I’ve seen any number of by lines exclaiming that...
The Marin Foundation – still banging
“I used to be a Bible-banging homophobe. I’m sorry.” Thus read a sign carried by Andrew Marin of the eponymous Marin Foundation at the Chicago gay pride parade on Sunday. But despite his...
“Predators”: a waste of a perfectly good Adrien Brody
We’re falling. Falling, spinning, hurtling through the air, plummeting to certain death. The Flay-like mercenary, Royce claws at his parachute, desperately trying to punch it open before he...
Words and pictures: Remembering Harvey Pekar
It’s sad, but fitting, that I hear the news through Warren Ellis. His six words fire across my twitter feed like gunshot, instantly stopping every writer, illustrator, reader and thinker I know in...
World Cup 2010: looking past the diversity storyline
The world will probably best remember World Cup 2010 as the dawn of the Age of the Vuvuzela, but a few other things also happened, most of them soccer-related. This World Cup feels more diverse than...
Big Government, Nixonland, and the Tea Parties
This is part two of two parts from historian and Global Comment regular contributor Erik Loomis on the history behind the U.S.’s current “Tea Party” movement. Part one is here. Enjoy! Big...
When it comes to IVF, do we ask whether we should?
The modern world is filled with scientific innovations that have advanced the quality and longevity of life. There was a time when women who were infertile had two options: adoption or nursing an...
Letters to the crowd that pre-ordered “Twilight” tickets
I was going to the gym the other day, and found that my local mall had been positively overrun by hundreds of questionable individuals. They were formed into a rough line that started at the move...