Category Archives: Uncategorized

According to Eater, my new neighborhood gastropub, EU, having failed to get its liquor license, has now been barred even from operating as a BYOB: the full story is unclear, but it seems as though the police busted the police … Continue reading →

I was wrong. When I came back from Marfa, I was convinced that it didn’t really matter what happened to Donald Judd’s gallery works, because his real masterpieces are permanently installed at Marfa. But now I’ve seen the show at … Continue reading →

Does the FT have a web strategy? I just spent a bit of time clicking around ft.com, and there seemed to be big problems with the subscription firewall. If I clicked on a story with a blue "s" for subscription-only … Continue reading →

Updike reviews Fernanda Eberstadt’s Little Money Street in the New Yorker this week. Here he is talking about Gypsy girls: Her value, as a virgin, is ascertained not by the young groom on the wedding night but, according to archaic … Continue reading →

Two things struck me about this story. Firstly, it’s well known now that HIV+ individuals can lead long and healthy lives. What I was less aware of is the fact that the same is true of people with Aids. The … Continue reading →

Rents in Leipzig are cheaper than rents in Manhattan! This astonishing news is brought to you by the New York Times. But they still manage to get it wrong: What Mr. Amrhein is paying, per month per square foot, in … Continue reading →

Why isn’t there a free wine database on the web somewhere? It could start in the US, but very easily expand worldwide. The problem is that wine is the ultimate long-tail business – I would say that more wine sales … Continue reading →

I’m a big fan of Mark Hurst and his This Is Broken website. But today’s entry, to me, speaks much more about the ridiculous level of American self-entitlement than it does about bad design. Hurst stayed at the Marriot Monterey, … Continue reading →

Bill Buford is about to become a household name. His new book, Heat, is a guaranteed bestseller: it’ll be on airplanes and beaches around the world this summer. It’s funny, accessible, and as addictive as Mario Batali’s lardo. The book … Continue reading →

At six o’clock on a freezing Chimayó morning last week, I dragged myself out of bed and onto a porch, where a friendly B&B proprietor had left me a cordless phone. The reason was that a radio program, Democracy Now, … Continue reading →

Click on the picture for a small gallery of photos from my trip to the Southwest.

In January 2005, Curbed noted an apartment for sale on Water Street being sold on the strength of its fabulous views – views which, it seemed, were doomed. Last month, the new owner of the apartment wrote to The Ethicist: … Continue reading →

I just had a phone conversation with a woman from gather.com, who wants to republish my blog posts, especially the media criticism. Does anybody have any opinions about this site? Is there any advantage to my posts having two permanent … Continue reading →

I’m back. Had the most wonderful holiday in New Mexico and West Texas. If you’re thinking about heading out that way, I can highly recommend southern New Mexico, especially the strip of desert from White Sands National Monument, in the … Continue reading →

Off to points west. Don’t expect any new posts until early April.

My eyebrows went up when I saw this report from the Minnesota Daily: Atheists are America’s least trusted group, according to a national survey conducted by University sociology researchers. Based on a telephone survey of more than 2,000 households and … Continue reading →

Frank Rich, of course, was the famous "Butcher of Broadway", who could close a show with a single review. But his successor, Ben Brantley, has his moments as well. Remember The Capeman, the $11 million flop from Paul Simon? Brantley … Continue reading →

As I was walking down 13th Street last night, I looked up, as I usually do, to see if there were any horrendously ugly sculptures on view. For 218 E 13th Street was for a very long time the studio … Continue reading →

Nick Lemann has 4,685 words on Bill O’Reilly in this week’s New Yorker. At no point is the article presented as a profile, but that’s how it reads. Until you reach the end and you realise that although Lemann has … Continue reading →

Le Miu. Went there last night. Just check out the menu here. We spent rather more than we’d intended. But it would have been worth it if we’d spent twice as much. Quite possibly the best sushi I’ve ever had … Continue reading →

Amy Lawday sends me a rather weird on-the-one-hand-on-the-other-hand report-slash-editorial about Brutalism on the BBC’s website. The story comes in the wake of the first listing of a Brutalist building: the 1958 Old Vic Annexe, by Lyons Israel Ellis. Writes Amy: … Continue reading →

In my first Report Report Report (please nominate articles for subsequent ones!) I went into some detail about the views of Austan Goolsbee and David Reiley on the subject of incentive pay for bus drivers. Both of them agree that … Continue reading →

Report Report Report 1: Buses Many thanks to Gari N Corp for recommending this Slate article as the first recipient of my Report Report Report, wherein I compare academic reports with the journalism which reports on them. At first, I … Continue reading →

Summit Communications, a company which makes money by taking the prestige of the New York Times and selling it to corrupt third-world governments, has outdone itself today with a "Special Advertising Section" on Sudan in the New York Times, featuring … Continue reading →

David Carr ♥ Graydon Carter. Carter has just poached Cullen Murphy and William Langewiesche from the Atlantic; they’re only the latest in a long list of big-name journalists at Vanity Fair, from Christopher Hitchens to Todd Purdum. Gushes Carr: Beneath … Continue reading →