cactus i.v.

By BEN SZMANDA
Last week I talked about JM Coetzee’s book Waiting for the Barbarians, suggesting that while it was a very good read, it was not my favorite work of his. My favorite would be his painful novel Age of Iron, and it’s one that I cannot recommend highly enough.
Where Waiting for the Barbarians was […]

By JIM MONTANA
jim.montana(at)yahoo.com
This past week has been one chock full of political tidbits and since last week’s column got lost [[Ed.’s note: It did get published eventually, if you’re looking for it, but it went up late]] I will make up for that this week. Since my last published-on-time column, we have had a political icon diagnosed […]

By BEN SZMANDA
It’s maybe partly because of his country of origin that South African Nobel Prize winner JM Coetzee has always shown a strong interest in the destructive results of imperialism. His disturbing parable, Waiting for the Barbarians, is one of his more definitive statements on the topic. Set on the perimeter of an imaginary […]

By Cathy S.
Sokocathy(at)gmail.com

DAVID COOK!!!  Most of us were surprised and some of us were “shocked.”  Some of us have been rooting for David C. since this season began and we think this win is well-deserved.  David A. fans, of course, can’t believe the outcome.

Like Simon said, it really didn’t matter which one of the Davids […]

by Ty Freer
INT. ROSCOE’S BARBERSHOP. LOS ANGELES. DAY.
KOBE BRYANT, DEREK FISHER, LAMAR ODOM, AND PHIL JACKSON are sitting in barber’s chairs. KOBE is getting a shave, DEREK and PHIL are getting their hair cut and LAMAR is in the corner reading Mad Magazine and laughing hysterically.
PHIL: Big game we’ve got coming up tonight, guys. It’s […]

By JIM MONTANA
As I begin my column this week my thoughts and prayers go out to the rescue workers in China and Myanmar. This week was supposed to be the best week ever for Sen. Barrack Obama as he inched closer to the Democratic nomination; instead on Tuesday it was revealed that the last icon […]

By BEN SZMANDA
When I was talking about the Telegraph’s list of cult books last week, I said that I normally don’t like to include graphic novels in the same category as the regular kind of novel. Hopefully this wasn’t taken the wrong way: I have no real issue with graphic novels as an art form; […]

By CATHY S.
Sokocathy(at)gmail.com
I heard that one of our readers had a Ryan Seacrest sighting on Tuesday. Apparently he was sneaking out of work early (his day job as host of his radio show) because he was sick. I had to find out if he was as short as he appears on television. LP e-mailed me […]

By JIM MONTANA
jim.montana(at)yahoo.com
Before I write my column I want to take this opportunity to extend my thoughts and prayers to the people both in Myanmar and to the victims of Monday’s 7.9 earthquake in China, we need to learn from this disaster and be prepared in the states for a possible disaster such as this […]

By Ty Freer
ty_freer(at)yahoo.com
 
Announcers and sportswriters like to say things like, “You couldn’t have scripted that any better” when something really dramatic happens. (This phrase reached its peak when Boston came back from a 0-3 deficit to beat New York in the 2004 ALCS and go on to take the World Series. Strangely, if this “script” […]

By LANIE PIMENTEL
Petunia5045(at)gmail.com
A few weeks ago, I was given a ticket to our local Renaissance Fair. I was pretty excited because I’d never in my 28 years of living, had been to one despite there being one each year not too far from my house. But I guess it wasn’t my thing, or it wasn’t […]

By DA SOUTHERN
dasouthern(at)gmail.com
So last week I told you about the big Finales, right? Well, after some digging, I have put together a fairly comprehensive list of the schedule. Scrubs and 30 Rock finished up last Thursday, with Scrubs probably making the move to ABC next season, so has the rumor. So without further adieu, here is your […]

By BEN SZMANDA
Lists are fun, and one of the really great things about spending all your time on the computer is you get to pour over other peoples lists, get indignant at their stupid choices and write them overheated, threatening letters about it. Or at least I do. The Telegraphs list of the 50 top “cult books” […]

by Cathy S.
sokocathy(at)gmail.com
The four were asked to choose two of 500 Hall of Fame songs to sing this week.  The judges were asked to comment after each performance.  I guess the producers didn’t want to confuse Paula again.

Most of us reluctantly picked Jason to go home this week.  My mom and her friend, on the […]

By JIM MONTANA
jim.montana(at)yahoo.com
As I sat here on Tuesday night watching the results of the North Carolina and Indiana primaries, I thought that my column would be no problem to write. Nevertheless, it was 11:47 p.m. and there was still no clear victor in Indiana. North Carolina was a no contest with Obama winning 56 to 42 percent.
Instead of a decisive […]

By TY FREER
ty_freer(at)yahoo.com
Have you ever agreed to do something you ordinarily wouldn’t even consider doing but because it seemed so far away you kind of thought it would never happen? You know, like promising to eat sushi or agreeing to see Sex and the City: The Movie? Well, that was my reasoning behind signing up […]

By BEN SZMANDA
I had never seen the movie House of Sand and Fog, nor had I ever read the book, or anything else by Andre Dubus III. I’ve heard good things about all of the above though, so I thought I’d give him a try: I picked up his 1989 book of short stories The […]

What was that all about is all I can say?  Neil Diamond week was more about Paula than about the contestants.

The consensus is that Paula was on some good drugs this week and we all want some of it.  Another idea was that the show is not really live so Paula did see Jason perform […]

By JIM MONTANA
jim.montana(at)hotmail.com
Last week, there was no column. The reason for this lack is simple: I was left in utter shock. Hillary pulled a John McCain. I personally think her nickname should be the Phoenix (for those X-Men fans out there you will understand). The candidate that we all thought was dead came back from the ashes […]