Monthly Archives: September 2002

Reading and travelling

Posted on September 29, 2002 by Felix

I’m in Washington this week, for the IMF annual meetings. I took the train down here, and, as is often the way with trains, there were lots of cancellations and delays, and I had quite a bit of time on … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Media | Comments Off

Dick Armey, intellectuals, and the Jews

Posted on September 25, 2002 by Felix

I doubt that House majority leader Dick Armey is going to go down in history as a great intellectual heavyweight. His weapon of choice is more the sledgehammer than the scalpel, and his less-than-subtle pronouncements on the Palestinian question have … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Politics | 2 Comments

8 Women and True Lies

Posted on September 24, 2002 by Felix

No review of Barbershop here, I’m afraid, despite the fact that it remained at the top of the box-office chart for the second week running last weekend. It was my girlfriend’s birthday, so she got to choose, and she chose … Continue reading →

Posted in Film | Comments Off

Good news at the Box Office

Posted on September 17, 2002 by Felix

The numbers are in for the weekend, and the news is good! At the top of the list is Barbershop, a $12 million-budgeted film which took in $20.6 million over the three days. Next is the unstoppable My Big Fat … Continue reading →

Posted in Film | 2 Comments

Koba the Dread

Posted on September 8, 2002 by Felix

When Tina Brown signed her ex-boyfriend Martin Amis to the nascent Talk Miramax Books, she certainly knew there was a memoir in the pipeline; a collection of reviews and essays was part of the deal as well. But after that, … Continue reading →

Posted in Media | 3 Comments

Holier-than-thou journalism

Posted on September 6, 2002 by Felix

Jim Romenesko’s superlative Media News blog has long been one of the first sites I visit every morning. It’s interesting not only for the stories it links to but also as a measure of what’s considered important in the US … Continue reading →

Posted in Media | 4 Comments

Michael Bloomberg

Posted on September 5, 2002 by Felix

I was no great supporter of Michael Bloomberg’s mayoral bid. His cookie-cutter style of management (all news stories have the same structure, all bureaus have the same fishtank) might work with people who are self-selected for the organisation, but couldn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | Comments Off

Kagan’s Power and Weakness

Posted on September 2, 2002 by Felix

If you have a little time to spare, I would highly recommend reading Power and Weakness, Robert Kagan’s essay about "why, on major strategic and international questions today, Americans are from Mars and Europeans are from Venus". My friend Matthew … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | 3 Comments