Month: July 2001
Cockroaches in New York are bigger, but we don’t harpoon them into extinction
“‘Japan does not have military powers, unlike the U.S. or Australia… In order to get appreciation of Japan’s position, of course, it is natural we must resort to those two major tools. I think there is nothing wrong,’ Komatsu said, adding that the minke whale, the species most commonly killed by Japanese whalers, was ‘a…
If you’re up for a part, even if they know you and love you, they can’t decide
“You eat a lot of humble pie. You can’t be funny and you can’t act. You just get lost, I suppose. That’s when LA becomes a prison. The reason why you go there and the reason why you stay are all muddled. It’s a place where everybody comes to find gold. Some of us come…
My Palm Pilot is a lobe of my brain external to my head
“Schools used to think education was getting kids to memorize lots of facts. Now there’s more emphasis on teaching people how to find the information. And that’s part of what carrying a palmtop does for you: It lets you find all the information you need, quickly and accurately. In our society, what counts is did…
What you’re qualified for now: bartending, if you’re lucky
“A lot of dot-com people can do coat check or can be our wait staff.”
In place of complex justifications of their positions, they’ll just talk softer
“Arab politicians are accustomed to having their views reported in their own country by a servile press, regardless of whether they have anything new and interesting to say. They don’t have to try hard to get their message into print. There are no sound bites
Li Peng, Jean-Claude Duvalier, Augusto Pinochet, Idi Amin: Europe’s most wanted
“There are places I dare not go because they have extradition treaties with places like Libya.”
Nine countries, seven languages and an infinite number of near-nude women
“I go into my competitors’ offices and there are editors who have offices larger than my entire editorial bullpens. It’s ridiculous! These people are ridiculous! It’s absolutely insane! What do they think they’re doing? Magazines are ephemera. They’re ephemera. They’re not important in people’s lives. They’re nice. They’re amusing. The way these magazine editors go…
It’s a mid-life crisis, in pill form
“I was behaving like a cross between a deranged sex maniac and a highly over-excited teenager. For the first time in my life I understood what it was to have a libido. I formed many attachments to women and made a nuisance of myself with them. I was oblivious to the fact these attachments were…
Homesickness for the real Heidi: multicultural visions of the Swiss icon
“In the New World, Heidi is remembered as a sweet, coquettish cross between Bambi and Barbie, a Black Forest maiden and a society Tirolean. This is harmless retouching compared with the countless ‘sequels’ in which she appeared as Peter’s wife, later also as a detective, ski instructor, ghost hunter or porn star. What William Tell…