in which the author discusses five books he'd read, if time permitted.
1. Living Originalism, by Jack M. Balkin.
People say a lot of crazy things about Thee Grand Ol' Constitution. Some think it's perfect in its original form and shouldn't be all bent out of shape to allow for things like federal highways and public schools. [...]
in which the author discusses five books he'd read, if time permitted.
1. The Vegetarian Imperative, by Anand M. Saxena.
Dear Occupy Wall St./D.C./Oakland/Berlin/Milan/Honolulu/Darfur/et. al.: I don't wanna see any of you crusty motherf*ckers eating a hamburger, a hot dog, a chick'n McNugget, a half-smoke, or any other damn thing that used to be alive. It's bad [...]
For the last few weeks, Arts Desk contributor Justin Moyer and his band, D.C. modern rock quartet Edie Sedgwick, were touring Europe. Here is his final dispatch.
Dear corrado90,
I write to express disappointment that you fucked me out of a 450 euro guarantee for a show at the club "Lo-Fi" in Milan on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011. [...]
We drive more than six hours from Vienna to Zagreb, the capital of Croatia and the only stop on our tour outside the European Union. Booking Agent A., who’s planned this part of the trip, warns me that Croatian border police may prevent us from entering their country without an “auto carnet”—a list of our [...]
The drive from Bratislava to Vienna, the capital of Austria, is less than one hour. The venue is Arena, a dilapidated squat on the outskirts of town. The last time I played here, the sound guy played Guns N' Roses' Use Your Illusion Pts. 1 and 2 during sound check, less than 10 people came [...]
The drive from Piest’any to Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, is less than one hour. We kill time in Piest’any at two different bowling alleys. At the first, I manage to break 100. During a second game at a second bowling alley, I sleep in the car.
The venue in Bratislava is “Sub Club.” Sub Club is [...]
Boss J. drives us to the train station in Brno to meet Driver D., who will rejoin us for the rest of the trip. I pay Boss J. the rest of the money I owe him—about 16,000 Czech crowns, or 650 euro. I’m left with 1000 euro.
This is a crucial moment. The money we will [...]
We drive a little more than two hours to Brno (BURN-OH). We arrive early—always a problem. Some members of our traveling party want to sleep; others want to eat something vegan; others want to eat something not vegan; some want WiFi; some want to go to the music store; some are indifferent. Somehow, we kill [...]
We arrive in Novy Jicin (NO-VEE NEE-SIN)—a small city in the far east of the Czech Republic that looks like Annapolis, but without cadets or water—at dusk. The venue is called “Galerka.” We are served delicious vegan soup by a handsome young man with the left side of his head shaved, like Jason Newsted in [...]
Boss J., our driver for the next three days as Driver D. gets some rest, pilots our Ford Transit six hours through rain on country roads from Hradec Kralove in the Czech Republic to Krakow, Poland. We pass four car accidents, then stop counting. We also pass Auschwitz, and a huge poster of Chopin. The [...]
