Paul Thomas Anderson, Director of Depravity Paul Thomas Anderson, Director of Depravity
Joaquin Phoenix and Owen Wilson star in Inherent Vice, a delirious romp through all of man’s perversions.
Dec 23, 2014 / Books & the Arts / Stuart Klawans
Salt Song Salt Song
—Zunis make shrines on the way to a lake where I emerge and Miwoks gather me out of pools along the Pacific the cheetah thirsts for me and when you sprinkle me on rib eye you have no idea how I balance silence with thunder in crystal you dream of butterfly hunting in Madagascar spelunking through caves echoing with dripping stalactites and you don’t see how I yearn to shimmer an orange aurora against flame look at me in your hand in Egypt I scrubbed the bodies of kings and queens in Pakistan I zigzag upward through twenty-six miles of tunnels before drawing my first breath in sunlight if you heat a kiln to 2380 degrees and scatter me inside I vaporize and bond with clay in this unseen moment a potter prays because my pattern is out of his hands and when I touch your lips you salivate and when I dissolve on your tongue your hair rises ozone unlocks a single stroke of lightning sizzles to earth—
Dec 23, 2014 / Books & the Arts / Arthur Sze
Letters Letters
Torch-Eyed Elephant Stampede!… droning on… black & white & gray all over… hanging up her pencils…
Dec 23, 2014 / Our Readers
Puzzle No. 3349 Puzzle No. 3349
Click HERE to download a printable PDF of this puzzle. And don’t miss Kosman and Picciotto’s crossword blog, Word Salad. ACROSS 1 Behind operator’s buggy, that woman’s clutching tail of dog that hurts a notable curmudgeon (5,3,6) 9 Snatch money back, excluding $1,000 for software feature (7) 10 Update official with letter from Israel (7) 11 Terrible cad and liar discussed Arab leader’s fashionable embrace of left-wing causes (7,4) 12 & 22 Rush holds a sawbuck (6) 13 Customer’s financial claim in court (6) 14 Jarring ringtone that’s in the air (8) 17 Outdid Johnny and Brian, returning about mid-January (3-5) 19 Rob follows true believer (6) 22 See 12 24 Deranged pariah, alone with a musical instrument (7,4) 26 Beneficiary just articulated travel cost (7) 27 Nonnative plants and animals coexist uneasily (7) 28 Westbound streetcar, around six on Thursday, ought to produce an analytic system that might help you identify the loveless men at the end of three Across entries (7,7) DOWN 1 China removing limits for aquatic mammal (5) 2 One hundred fix a feeling of elation (5,4) 3 Polish a religious image in a historic river (7) 4 Announce new Lear production in high definition (6) 5 Composer improved her swing (8) 6 Part of force, if regimented? (7) 7 For example, Kafka in examination for auditors (5) 8 Famous Argentine stunt: remix old joke (8) 13 European raincoat is ragged (8) 15 Frowning and somber over getting 100% (9) 16 Fans of rock band put on shirts (8) 18 Peter surrounds Hal with unknown soldiers in a line (7) 20 No halos disturbed interstellar smuggler (3,4) 21 Listen inappropriately, making no noise (6) 23 Honor Marilyn, displaying her first name (5) 25 Assignment involves one postulate (5) SOLUTION TO PUZZLE NO. 3348 ACROSS 1 anag. 9 NAT (rev.) + TIER 10 anag. 11 FREN + ETIC (rev.) 12 na[t]tier anag. 13 hidden 14 pun 17 C[hap]lin (&lit.) 19 hidden 22 2 defs. 23 anag. 25 anag. 26 TITANI (anag.) + C 29 pun DOWN 1, 7A, 27D, 28A CAN + DID + CAM +ERA 2 AN + TWERP 3 D + RIVER 4 MAR + DIG + RAS[h] 5 rev. 6 TRA(VEST)Y 7 DE(I)CIDE 8 DENT(ALF)LOSS 11 FAR + THING + ALE 15 anag. 16 DE(MO)LISH 18 PA + LOOK + A 20 C(HI)AN’T I 21 GOETH + E 24 rev.
Dec 23, 2014 / Joshua Kosman and Henri Picciotto
Zephyr Teachout, Hands Up United and John Oliver Made Our 2014 Progressive Honor Roll. Who Else Made the List? Zephyr Teachout, Hands Up United and John Oliver Made Our 2014 Progressive Honor Roll. Who Else Made the List?
From the huge climate march in September to racial-justice activism, it was a year that saw renewal of movement-based politics.
Dec 22, 2014 / Feature / John Nichols
The People’s Court of Eastern Ukraine The People’s Court of Eastern Ukraine
Is rebel field commander Alexei Mozgovoi a social revolutionary or a power-hungry facilitator of mob rule?
Dec 22, 2014 / Alec Luhn
The Deaths of Two NYPD Officers Is Tragic, but Not an Indictment of the Anti-Brutality Movement The Deaths of Two NYPD Officers Is Tragic, but Not an Indictment of the Anti-Brutality Movement
We all should mourn the deaths of Liu and Ramos—but that mourning doesn't mean we become less critical of the police as a violent and racist tool of oppression.
Dec 22, 2014 / Mychal Denzel Smith
As the Semester Ends, the Student Movement for Black Lives Turns Up As the Semester Ends, the Student Movement for Black Lives Turns Up
From the classrooms to the streets, the movement keeps growing.
Dec 22, 2014 / StudentNation / StudentNation
Poetry and Voting in the Age of Eric Garner Poetry and Voting in the Age of Eric Garner
Poet Crystal Valentine: “Maybe politics aren’t Armageddon enough for us”
Dec 22, 2014 / Leslie Savan
More Sanctions for Russia, More Military Aid for Kiev Will Undermine the Fragile Cease-fire More Sanctions for Russia, More Military Aid for Kiev Will Undermine the Fragile Cease-fire
Just after jettisoning one Cold War relic, President Obama gave renewed credence to another.
Dec 22, 2014 / James Carden