VENICE BEACH

No matter how many times I return to Los Angeles, I always make a point of visiting Venice Beach. The nearly two-mile beachfront walk is the quintessential L.A. experience, and it‘s usually the highlight of my trip. If you’ve never been there I will take you. Venice Beach is the biggest open-air freak-show on the […]

Amusing Ourselves to Death [redux]

In his seminal book Amusing Ourselves to Death [1985], Neil Postman wrote, “[George] Orwell warns that we will be overcome by an externally imposed oppression. But in [Aldous] Huxley’s vision, no Big Brother is required to deprive people of their autonomy, maturity and history. As he saw it, people will come to love their oppression, […]

THE BLUES MAN

[The scene takes place inside the plush offices of IMAGEMAKERS, a major New York PR firm. A kindly old black man with white hair [Mr. Jones] is led into the inner sanctum. He shuffles quietly to one of the big leather chairs at the foot of the enormous desk of Carl Anderson, one of the […]