The recently late Art Buchwald said something to the effect of that writing political humor meant he never ran out of ideas, he had five or six every morning (when I find that quote I’ll revise this). The even-more recently late Molly Ivins said something like she thanked the good Lord for giving her infinite […]
Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal had a great profile on McDonald’s chef, Dan Coudreaut. McDonald’s. Chef. Make that “director of culinary innovation.” McDonald’s. So you read along, and this being the Journal, the line of his career development and outlook all has a business or marketing focus, but it’s fascinating all the same. Mickey D’s grows […]
Earlier this century — hah! — I created a master’s thesis on how newspaper humor columns have changed. In figuring out how to tackle this, how to quantify the research to make it as solid as possible, I hit a problem: Not all humor writers are alike. Some seem to write with the intent of […]
A news release from the public relations office of the University of Arkansas, the “University Relations,” recently announced that noted writer Ellen Gilchrist, of the UA Creative Writing and Translation Program, had an essay published in last November’s Smithsonian Magazine, “Watching Water Run: My Kind of Town.” The essay is vivid; she explains why she […]
It’s another skirmish between Israel and the Palestinians: “EILAT, Israel (AP) — A Palestinian suicide bomber killed three Israelis at a bakery Monday in the first such attack inside the country in nine months, and the two radical groups that claimed to have sent him said they were trying to end weeks of Palestinian infighting […]
Pinnacle Hills Promenade, the new shopping center in Rogers inspired by The Truman Show, is wonderful to mock. It features Muzak-like music via outdoor Bose speakers. It markets itself as upscale while including tenants like Payless Shoes and Dairy Queen. Sunday marked my fourth visit — and the first time My Beloved and I visited […]