Monthly Archives: November 2003

New York Stories

Posted on November 28, 2003 by Felix

Firstly, many apologies for not updating this blog in a little while. I would use the excuse that I was in Uruguay for most of the time, but that would be disingenuous, since I had (a) laptop; (b) internet connection … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture | 1 Comment

Jeff Jarvis is pro-American

Posted on November 17, 2003 by Felix

Read this. It’s an unexceptional, and unexceptionable, article by Stryker McGuire, the London bureau chief of Newsweek. The subject is anti-Americanism. It’s fading, he says: Bernard-Henri Levy recently won a debate in London arguing the proposition that ‘The American Empire … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | 4 Comments

Pledge a bald head!

Posted on November 16, 2003 by Rhian

Dear friends, strangers, kind people out there in the ether…. We have had over SEVEN AND A HALF THOUSAND POUNDS in pledges for my hair to be shaved off! Thankyou so much,- I had no idea you felt so strongly! … Continue reading →

Posted in Rhian in Antarctica | 6 Comments

Crossing the line

Posted on November 16, 2003 by Rhian

It’s been quite a week. Quite a surreal week. But great too. There are all sorts of things I want to write about and they don’t have much coherence except that they all occurred this week and were experienced by … Continue reading →

Posted in Rhian in Antarctica | 3 Comments

Windowless buildings

Posted on November 14, 2003 by Felix

When I posted an entry on 2 Columbus Circle last month, I said that "The lack of windows gives it the feel of a prison: you imagine yourself stuck inside, unable to look out. It is an exercise in claustrophobia, … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture | 6 Comments

Misinterpreting Greg

Posted on November 13, 2003 by Felix

It’s the battle of the ArtsJournal bloggers! Taking a perfectly good Boston Globe editorial as their jumping-off point, Terry Teachout and Greg Sandow came to different conclusions about what National Public Radio (NPR) can and should do with its $200 … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture | 5 Comments

Ten miles an hour around the globe: travelling through a meteorology text book

Posted on November 12, 2003 by Rhian

We have crossed the equator! I still have my hair (the ceremony is sometime this week but we won’t know when until it’s too late to run) and the fish are still flying. Birds have now joined us as well, … Continue reading →

Posted in Rhian in Antarctica | Comments Off

Stefan Geens on the New York Times

Posted on November 9, 2003 by Felix

Stefan Geens, once a journalist himself, really ought to know better. He’s just published a bizarre essay on his website, which alternates between bog-standard European superciliousness ("Go ahead," he tells the New York Times, "become openly slanted, crusading, editorial, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Media | 1 Comment

Flying Fish

Posted on November 9, 2003 by Rhian

I am more and more convinced of the necessity of ignorance in appreciating the world. One and a half days into a two or three day bus journey to Ayers Rock, I was dismayed when photos and postcards of our … Continue reading →

Posted in Rhian in Antarctica | 1 Comment

Pledge-a-dread

Posted on November 9, 2003 by Rhian

Dear friends and friendly strangers, It’s true! The dreads are being pledged. What am I doing?!!! This week, the RRS Ernest Shackleton is CROSSING THE LINE and the eight uninitiated BAS employees on board are scared. Very scared. Especially me. … Continue reading →

Posted in Rhian in Antarctica | 4 Comments

Pledge-a-dread: Sponsored Head Shaving Extravaganza!

Posted on November 8, 2003 by Rhian

This week, the RRS Ernest Shackleton is CROSSING THE LINE and the eight uninitiated BAS employees on board are scared. Very scared. Especially Rhian. In what started out as an innocent joke in the bar, Rhian has found herself committed … Continue reading →

Posted in Rhian in Antarctica | 29 Comments

Chagall at SFMOMA

Posted on November 5, 2003 by Felix

If you’ve picked up a reasonably highbrow magazine recently, chances are that you’ve seen a feature on Diane Arbus. She’s all over the news because a major retrospective, Diane Arbus Revelations, opened at SFMOMA on October 25. It would be … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture | 3 Comments

Bay of Biscay to Madeira

Posted on November 4, 2003 by Rhian

It has been a most beautiful night imaginable. And day, for that matter. A perfect day. A perfect, beautiful day. I don’t know where to begin. The air, for starters, is gentle and the sea, calm. This means much more … Continue reading →