I’ll take a Michelob
They say you can’t go home again. For me it’s too easy. I now live two doors down from the house where I grew up. My parents have been keeping tabs on the neighborhood for fifty years. It’s that kind of continuity, unique to fewer and fewer communities in the United States, that binds us … Continue reading
The Ghiradelli Square Chocolate Festival
It’s Sunday and I’m hungover. This is not your department-store hangover, though. Yesterday, Charlie and I went with our friend Greg to the 19th Annual Ghiradelli Square Chocolate Festival for his birthday. After driving on some roads that looked like they’d lead us off the end of the earth and finding a parking spot that … Continue reading
September 5-9, 2011
Mike Vincent isn’t the only person obsessed with Serge Gainsbourg. Gainsbourg has been covered by everyone from Donna Summer to the Pet Shop Boys to The Ukelele Orchesta of Britain. Check out the results in “Nor do I”
Before the DC Universe reboot, Superman got one last shot at Doomsday, the villain that killed him. Andrew DuPont tells you how it went down (and whether it was worth it) in “Not a bang, but a whimper”
Amy Doan is the one-woman powerhouse behind both the independent clothing line Shrinkle and Sugarpill Cosmetics, which the best qualities of theater, luxury and club makeup with a velvety formula for daily, long-lasting wear. Rosemary Van Deuren interviews her in “Sugarpill: An interview with Amy Doan”
Buddy Cole was a glorious beast, transcending nationality and orientation, and he saved the adolescence of a poor, straight Detroit boy in the 1990s. Tim Carmody tells you how in “The border virtues of Buddy Cole”
It’s labor day, so Jill Kolongowski is taking the day off cooking, and instead shares her list of absolute kitchen essentials. Read “How to equip your kitchen”
Nor do I
Ok, I’m stuck on this song. Writing about Serge Gainsbourg for the past two weeks has me stuck on this, his famous-est song and filthiest song, “Je T’aime Moi Non Plus.” I’ve dedicated space to the song as sung by Gainsbourg with Bardot and with Birkin and I’ve spoken of Nick Cave’s version of the … Continue reading
Not a bang, but a whimper
This week marks the full-scale beginning of DC’s Universe-wide reboot, but before we hit the reset button on every superhero’s origins and adventures, it’s worth acknowledging the end of one of the longest running comic series in history: Action Comics Volume 1. The first issue, which came out in June 1938, it the holy grail … Continue reading
Sugarpill: An interview with Amy Doan
Amy Doan is a one-woman powerhouse who is equal parts kind, fun, unpretentious and driven. I first met her online in 2004, and it’s been wonderful to watch her go from her hot independent clothing line, Shrinkle, to her new runaway brainchild, Sugarpill Cosmetics. Sugarpill is a custom line of richly-pigmented eyeshadows in paint-bright, show-stopping … Continue reading
The border virtues of Buddy Cole
It was the perfect time and place to discover Kids in the Hall. In 1990, I was ten years old, and had spent the last three of them insomniac, sneaking downstairs, only sometimes with my mom’s grudging permission, to catch bits of Saturday Night Live and The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. It was my … Continue reading
How to equip your kitchen
In the spirit of Labor Day, I’ve done as little cooking as possible. I did cook up some salmon for the boyfriend, so that he doesn’t completely despair that I’ll ever cook him a nice dinner again. Also I like salmon. As I’ve been unpacking boxes and outfitting my new kitchen, every day is like … Continue reading
August 29-September 3, 2011
The Idler is celebrating our first year!
Revisiting her first “Rounding Third” column lets Angela Vasquez-Giroux touch on one of her favorite subjects, Detroit Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera (who should have been AL MVP in 2010). Read “Rounding Third: year one”
Gavin Craig’s favorite part of The Idler is the surprises, and to try to make his own contribution, he serves up a bit of lore about how The Idler got started, and Ayn Rand’s unexpected contribution. (Surprise! You thought he was going to write about video games.) Read “Diary of a Casual Gamer: year one”
Serge Gainsbourg was an ugly man, but he had a talented, eclectic, and shockingly good-looking daughter. Mike Vincent watches Charlotte Gainsbourg’s films and listens to her music in “Family tree” (Beck has a cameo, but it’s not a flattering one.)
Kevin Mattison observes that The Idler is at its best when it’s weirdest, and he traks his own course off the beaten path in “The Cinephiles: year one”
Mike Vincent is a chatty man, and he looks back on a year of sound and talking in “Dysphonia: year one”
The Idler is the kind of site that would be nothing without our readers, so we asked a few of them what they enjoyed most from our first year. Check out the results in “Year One: Readers’ picks”
Rosemary Van Deuren comes full circle, starting and ending with John Waters, with some really outstanding interviews in the middle. Like a pie. Some kind of deeply weird, wonderful John Waters/interview pie. Read “Flipside: year one”
Kate Sloan looks back at her first year of writing, how she’s branched out a bit from just words and drawings, and outlines a scenario in which she might just have to fight you. Read “Drawn and Paneled: year one”
Wayne Barlowe is a living legend in the world of science fiction painting and creature art, and his work has appeared everywhere from the covers of Time and Newsweek to the film Avatar. Rosemary Van Deuren interviews him in “Wayne Barlowe”
Sometimes it’s not enough to watch a movie. Sometimes you have to watch somebody watching a movie, especially when those somebodies are a hapless janitor and two robots and the movies are some of the worst movies ever made. Daniel J. Hogan celebrates the wealth of Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes available on Netflix in “Movie sign with Mystery Science Theater 3000”
Pumps, TV, and tattoos, Ana Holguin looks back at what made the first year of “PopHeart” so great in “PopHeart: year one”
Exactly one year after The Idler‘s first post, the editors share some of their favorite pieces. Not in any particular order of course, or with any particular methodology. In fact, I’m sure there’s some really great stuff we left off, but it’s a good place to get started. (Man, I’m going to go take a nap. This all just smacks of effort.) Read “Year One: Editors’ picks”
Lindsey Malta looks back at the evidence of a vibe (or several). Read “Thoughtcicles: year one”
As is only appropriate, the writer of our first column gets us started. Jill Kolongowski looks forward, back, and gives a tip of the hat to the Idler column that gave her a new direction. Read “The F-Word: year one”
Rounding Third: year one
I need to start this off by saying (writing) that when Gavin Craig approached me (instant messenged me) about this idea — starting a web-zine stocked with writers drawn from our group of quirky, nerdish pals and their quirky, nerdish pals — my biggest worry was making sure I was producing content as interesting, and … Continue reading
