During the Olympics the geopolitical world seems relatively simple, cultural stereotypes prove true, and we’re all basically friends if the teevee is tuned in to an NBC affiliate. It’s the USA v. China in the medal count. Great Britain’s pommel horse savant looks like a DJ. Kazakhstan wins gold in weightlifting. Cherish these simple times….
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Briefings: Skullware, Cold Patrol, Cashing Out, Cosmopolis: Cronenberg Makes DeLillo, and Trojans
One way to look at this week’s serving of culture is by taking a second to enumerate the things we chose not to write about: a swimsuit video with Candice Swanepoel, Justice Antonin Scalia on broccoli, The Hunger Games, and Geraldo Rivera’s mustache. Make of it what you will. We’re at tips [at] gearpatrol.com if…
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A Lesson on Improvisation
Jazz: The Smithsonian Anthology
Miles Davis and John Coltrane are those guys with the Blue albums. Cannoball Adderly — now wasn’t he a famous dare devil? If this sounds like your internal monologue on the subject of Jazz, then we strongly suggest reading Jazz: The Smithsonian Anthology ($100). Like the college course you should have picked over econ, minus…
