It is only in the last few years that, thanks to one of our resident Russophiles, LP, I have come to appreciate a good May 9th party. May 9th, as you may know, is the day that Russia and the other former Soviet republics celebrate as Victory Day, when the Allies finally overcame the Nazis [...]
Archive for the ‘War’ category
Notes from Downtown
Not too long after those marches we went to in DC that so effectively stopped the war in Iraq, a friend of mine said one of those sentences that got pasted on my brain like a bumper sticker*. “Chanting in unison,” he said, “makes me ambivalent about, oh, just about everything.” I had felt this [...]
What is it you want?
After the ball was over, after the break of morn, after the dancers’ leaving, after the stars were gone…it was about forty eight hours before I read my first piece of Internet verbiage about how the goal of marriage is an assimilationist one and how saddened the writer was to have her queerness coöpted. And [...]
S prazdnikom!
I hope you all celebrated May 9 yesterday, the day that the Germans finally surrendered in WWII. It’s a huge holiday in Russia – Dyen’ Pobedy, or Victory Day, the day the Great Patriotic War ended. If you missed it yesterday, raise a glass today: … plus … = Delicious. And culturally appropriate. [...]
Slaughterhouse five
(Text by Swells, photos by ScottyGee) Dresden is known for its beautiful central theater complex, its devastation after the Allies firebombed it in WWII, and of course its central role in Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five. It’s such a culty novel, at least for American college boys, that I assumed its iconic status would at least [...]
Nice Day For A Drive(by)
It’s a rare day that it rains in Los Angeles, and a rarer one that Tim and I spend the afternoon together at home, not running errands or otherwise careening about. The rain had been coming down in sheets for a good part of the morning, and we were cosily tucked at our computers, working [...]
So this is Christmas
I’m sure you’re all well aware of the news: President Obama orders 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan. It seems so clear to me that this is a case of a Democratic official buckling to the not-wanting-to-appear-weak-on-defense pressure, but I was hoping that you all could give me some other reason for Obama’s decision, so I [...]
Tomorrow’s nostalgia today: The Aughties
Quick, what comes to mind when you think about what’s happened in the world since 2000? We’re at the end of the first decade of the 21st century (okay, pedants, I know the new decade doesn’t technically start until 2011, but roll with me here), and the inevitable looking-back lists are starting to appear. One [...]
Warmest welcomes
You might have seen this when it went viral last week, but in case not, here’s the most incredibly touching welcome home I’ve ever seen: It turns out that there are a spate of such “welcome home” videos, showing soldiers returning from the Middle East to rapturous receptions from their kids… … and their dogs: [...]
Angel of the Waters
New York seems, to me, to differ from other major world cities in the recyclability (is that even a word?) of its symbols — especially its architecture and public art. To get what I mean, consider the Louvre by contrast. You experience it as an art museum, and yet if you’ve given your tour book [...]
