After Lewis and Clark, but before the British were driven north of the 49th Parallel, Scottish naturalist David Douglas (1799-1834) made three expeditions to North America for the Hudsons Bay Company. It was during his second trip, after landing at the mouth of the Columbia River, that he... More >>
Tom Stoppards 2006 play has a 22-year timeline that begins under relatively happy circumstances in early 1968 as giddy Czech grad student Jan (Matthew Floyd Miller) bids farewell to his Cambridge mentor Max and Maxs daughter. Jan returns home to find the Prague Spring underway. From... More >>
On loan from the Casa Buonarroti in Florence (which bears the artist's surname), these studies and sketches for the Sistine Chapel amount to a lot of presentation of very little work. The finished ceiling, painted during 1508-12, is what matters; and there's a large photo of the final product.... More >>
Ten years later, what exactly did the WTO protests accomplish? Paul Schell and Norm Stamper lost their jobs after the tear gas wafted away. Charlize Theron later starred in the Crash-like melodrama Battle in Seattle. But if were not mistaken, globalization continues even more inexorably;... More >>
Shooting with a Polaroid, as Robert Mapplethorpe gradually learned photography in the early 70s, meant that his first draft was the final draft, his sketch the finished product. In these 90 small, black-and-white squares, you can see him searching for his own style. Mainly, however,... More >>
From 1989, Steven Spielbergs third leg of the Indiana Jones trilogy doesnt quite match the first, but the interplay between Sean Connery (as Indy Sr.) and Harrison Ford is awfully fun to watch. Its a first-rate popcorn movie, with Nazis we love to hate, a big improvement over... More >>
Ethereal and deeply emotional, Headlights new album Wildlife is not so much a departure for the band as it is a fuller realization of its ultimate intentions. While much of Headlights work to date has been noticeably poppier and more upbeat, it has always carried an undercurrent... More >>
When Devo was at its peak nearly 30 years ago, founding members Gerry Casale and Mark Mothersbaugh sublimated their political ire into biting social commentary. At the time, the bands ironic restraint and knack for humorously-tinged performance art worked in favor of the furious... More >>