 | Needs More Color How "alternative" are alternative weeklies, really? If you look at the racial makeup of their staffs, not very. Turns out the press's most left-leaning publications are also the whitest. |
 | Christmas? Should Christmas be about Santa, Frosty, and Rudolph -- or Christ, the menorah, and the equinox? Various religious leaders duke it out in the battle for holiday meaning. |
 | All Wrapped Up With new films from Scorsese, Spielberg, Cameron, Levinson, Tarantino, Van Sant, Woody Allen, and even Bond (James Bond), it's beginning to look a lot like the Christmas movie season. |
 | 50 Years and Counting Has the last half-century of television resulted in cultural richness, or a "vast wasteland"? You be the judge when you read this rundown of the programs that made TV what it is today. |
 | Within Him, Without Him Friends, family and fellow musicians pay tribute to the late Rainer Ptácek, whose crafty, finger-picking blues guitarwork was but one of his many charms. |
The odds don't look good for Bruce Babbitt's "Department of Ulterior." Read this special Weekly Wire / Phoenix NewTimes Xtra to see what we mean.
Slammers
Slap me some poetry
One of the all-time best film-review resources on the Web. Sort
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Red Meat
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Meat Archive, Reader Favorite Archive, and the Meat Conference Forum!
An investigative report unearths shady dealings at Bruce Babbitt's
"Department of Ulterior"; a tribute page says goodbye to well-loved blues
guitarist Rainer Ptacek; a Comics page features first-rate artwork from
several underrated national cartoonists; National Public Radio chickens out
by refusing to air a poem; and the Weekly Wire staff selects favorite
articles from the first 10 issues.
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News & Opinion
What's white and white and white all over? The press -- alternative and otherwise. For such an equality-conscious profession, where are the minorities? Plus: Students learn to ace the SAT; a "nurse" experiments with St. John's Wort; upset family members fight against mandatory drug-abuse sentencing; religious leaders duke it out over the meaning of Christmas; and an editorialist vents about automated speeding tickets. [13 articles]
Film & TV
Just because it's a vast wasteland doesn't mean it isn't fun. That's the consensus among journalists who summarize their favorite TV programs, characters, and theme songs from the medium's past 50 years. They also say bye-bye to "Beavis and Butt-head," hello to interactive TV news, and get lost to "The Real World." Plus: reviews of "Alien Resurrection," "Flubber," "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil," and more! [25 articles]
Music
Rainer Ptácek and Robert Palmer: They may be dead, but their music and inspiration live on. The same is true of Miles Davis, who has finally acquired the recognition he deserves. Other artists seeking recognition include New Age runaway Eliza Gilkyson, Lambchop, OR, Atari Teenage Riot, Dusty Springfield, Ann Tiley, and Salt-n-Pepa. Plus: What crawled up Garth Brooks' butt and died? [16 articles]
Arts & Leisure
It was inevitable: now there are whole stores devoted to Christmas theme products. Why not skip 'em and consider purchasing stuff like Douglas Adams's new CD-ROM game instead? Or how about a nice pair of snowshoes? Just whatever you do, don't read these horoscopes; don't go to Delhi; and don't, repeat, don't try to order caviar on Death Row. Plus: theatre and arts reviews! [11 articles]
Books
Will the real journalism please stand up? John McPhee's essays put the "new" back into New Journalism; Danny Schecter rails against suck-up reporting on TV and elsewhere; Dan Eldon packs a life's worth of art and travel journalism into 22 years; Dominick Dunne turns journalistic memoir writing into a form of novel; Stephen Duncombe examines the meaning of 'zines; and much more... [13 articles]
Comics
Come down from your Staggering Heights and get to the Red Meat of the matter with this swell set of cartoons that also includes Mueller, Eye of the Beholder, K. Rat, Random Shots, and La Cucaracha. [7 comics]
All the contributors to Weekly Wire, along with other AAN (Association of Alternative Newsweeklies) publications, can be read from this one easily accessible spot. Strongly recommended for bookmarking. [107 newspapers]
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