Willamette Week, April 28-May 4

"Under Fire" by Patty Wentz

In the wake of Littleton, the National Rifle Association is facing an uphill public relations battle. Patty Wentz files a balanced report on the struggles of several Oregon Second Amendment fans as they grapple with an increasingly hostile public.

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Village Voice, April 28-May 4

"School's Been Blown to Pieces" by Frank Kogan

Frank Kogan makes an interesting point in his reflection on the Littleton tragedy and the state of present-day adolescence:

"The two killers, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, did do something useful, inadvertently. They talked about the normal terror of school life (not the terror they were committing but the terror they were claiming to avenge), and they talked about social divisions in suburbia, and they mentioned the name of a social class -- jocks! -- and said they were deliberately targeting that class and wanted to kill it." While this observation is true and worthy of pursuing deeper, it still baffles me and should baffle us all how this everyday terror translates into mass murder. Hint: Marilyn Manson has nothing to do with it.

"The King of the URLs" by Donna Ladd

The Voice puts an amusing spin on its weekly Giuliani-bashing with this amusing piece on how Mayor Rudy Giuliani has been buying up domain names galore -- from HillaryYes.com to NoGiuliani.org -- clearly hoping to steal the Internet, if not votes, from would-be opponents. Alas, he's a little late for this gem I dug up after doing a little additional reporting: www.rudysucks.com.

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Minneapolis City Pages

"Here Comes the Sun" by Terri Sutton

This is the touching and wonderful story of an annual parade, told by its participants. It began with the Powerderhorn Puppet Theater, a troupe that told stories through large-scale puppets. In celebration of spring and the end of the Vietnam War, on May 1, 1975, they marched into the street carrying their gigantic papier mâché creations. Minneapolis' quirky May Day Parade was born, and it's good to know such things still exist. Throw in the city's beer festival and the resident with a tatooed face who has created something called a "hellivision," and you might start to think that Minneapolis could just be the coolest place on earth, cooler than Austin even.

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Austin Chronicle, April 28-May 4

"Billy Shakes, Superstar" by Rober Faires

Now, I in no way wish to diminish Austin's reputation as the country's current arbiters of cool. But Shakespeare is hip? Come on, people! When was he not? The Bard -- whether you call him Will or Oxford -- has style eternal. He is the new black. Shakespeare nailed unchanging currents in human nature in language so precise and perfect there's nothing else to do but fall at his feet and start kissing. What actually is in vogue at the moment is writing indulgent little articles like this one about all the other articles discussing how damn cool and controversial that crazy Stratford chap is these days. Everyone from Harper's to podunk literary zines for punk rockers have weighed in, presumably hoping to ride on the success of "Shakespeare in Love." And, my God, I'm doing it now. Aigh! I feel so dirty!

"An Eye for History" by Sam Martin

A fascinating interview with combat photographer and photojournalist David Douglas Duncan. You can't really go wrong with a guy who knew Picasso, witnessed Japan's surrender in World War II, photographed multiple presidents and movie stars and has traveled all over the world.

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Phoenix New Times, April 28-May 4

"Dead Dog Day Afternoon" by Matthew Doig

As an intern for the Washington Post, a college friend of mine was forced to follow the road kill clean-up crew in the hot stink of a D.C. August. As I read Matthew Doig's article on the same topic, this time in sizzling hot Phoenix, I paused to think nice thoughts about all the young eager reporters, sent out to make the most of this lousy assigment. Doig makes his mark on the genre with this line, describing a collarless canine corpse: "Another Dog Doe." Oh, the humanity.

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Miami New Times, April 28-May 4

"Daddy Dearest" by Tristram Korten

Man has three kids with wife. Man and wife split. Through a bizarre set of circumstances, man does a little DNA testing on himself and his youngest daughter and discovers -- uh-oh -- his wife had been doing a little hanky-panky on the side. He then petitions the court to lower his child support payments. The courts decide that he not only has to pay the child support even though the girl is not his daughter, but he's not allowed to tell her. Whereupon he calls this 10-year-old on the phone and tells her he's not her father, which lands him six months in jail. It's a disturbing story, well told by Tristram Korten.

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Becoming a Communist is boring, I don't care how retro-Soviet your pad is decorated. The real fun is in becoming a counter-counterculturalist. Here are a few Web sites and articles to get you on your way.

What (the fuck) is Burning Man
An anti-Burning Man guide to the annual desert festival, featuring a guide to lawsuit opportunities for lawyers and an illustrated guide to preventing STDs while screwing strangers in the dessert.

"Confessions of a lapsed leftist"
Our heroine makes the startling discovery that some lefties are as closed-minded as the evil capitalists they seek to destroy through protest and campfire songs!

"Passing Gas"
A compelling argument against participating in the so-called "Great American Gas-Out."

The Nightly Noose
"Supreme Court Rules Against Postmodernism: 'Let's just end this nonsense.'"
salon.com | April 30, 1999

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