Stephen Lynch
The Archive
STAYCATION - THE TREND THAT ISN'T
The summer's most intolerable meme is the "staycation," the spanking new term for people relaxing at home instead of traveling because of high gas prices. Morning talk show hosts, airline...
FORGING A NEW LIVELIHOOD
Awaiting sentencing for her criminal exploits, Lee Israel wandered into a Manhattan memorabilia shop, looking for "something in a Dorothy Parker." The clerk brought out a signed letter from the...
LETTER-BUG TELLS ALL ON MASSIVE CELEB FORGERY
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery - but don't tell that to the city's memorabilia dealers and publishers. The literary world is steamed over a forthcoming book by Upper...
TV'S SOUND AND FURY
Congress finally figured out how to improve those negative polls. Rep. Anna Eshoo, Democrat from Silicon Valley, last week introduced what has to be the bill of the year: It...
ENVIRO MENTAL INSTITUTION
"Find out when you should die!" says the dog in the lab coat. Oh boy! Are you ready kids? Would you be mine, could you be mine, won't you be...
"SPYCRAFT"
"James Bond is all about assassination and seduction," Robert Wallace says. "Real agents are about communication and information. To be found out is to fail." But 007 and actual spies...
MAIL PATTERN BADNESS
Angelo Mozilo, CEO of embattled mortgage lender Countrywide, received an e-mail Tuesday from a homeowner who couldn't keep up with his loan. Angry that the letter's wording seemed coached, Mozilo...
SPEAK, MEMORY
Judy Parkinson is taking us on a trip down memory lane. The author of "i before e (except after c)" has brought back the playful jabberwocky of middle school mnemonics,...
URBAN LEGENDS
Remember the brave new world of work? Sure you do - all of us sitting around in our bunny slippers, accomplishing great feats at the tap of a key. Project...
PUTTING KIDS IN DOUBLE JEOPARDY
If you're attending a Hollywood baby shower these days, get the two-for-one deal at Babies 'R' Us. Patrick Dempsey, Marcia Cross and Dennis Quaid all welcomed twins recently, and Jennifer...
HEY DJ, PLAY THAT SONG!
This may shape up to be the year of spin - and I'm not talking about politics. Emmis Communications announced this week that it was switching New York's 101.9 FM...
SIX DEGREES OF EXPLANATION
"I don't think any word can explain a man's life," a reporter says in "Citizen Kane." Ah, but what about six? A little more than a year ago, Smith, an...
IF LOOKS COULD KILL
They say beauty is skin deep. They didn't say there was an indestructible titanium exoskeleton underneath. We're used to our killer robots from the future having a certain mien, an...
THE SONG REMAINS THE SAME
That bustle in your hedgerow? Don't be alarmed - "Stairway to Heaven" is back on the charts. Groan if you will. Deny the power of Jimmy Page's guitar and the...
THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT
If you read Governing magazine (and really, who doesn't?) you may have stumbled across this delightful passage in the September issue, in an article about how Generation Y isn't taking...
ONE MAN TAKES A 'STAN
Legend has it that the road connecting Afghanistan to Uzbekistan leads the region in car accidents, as truckers emerging from burkaland catch their first glimpse of Uzbek women in miniskirts...
NOBEL CAUSES
For those looking to solve the mystery of fine writing, this is your "Rashomon." "Nobel Lectures" is a collection of acceptance speeches by 21 winners of the Nobel Prize for...
PAWN TAKES KING
The insatiable business advice genre makes plenty of money convincing junior executives that superstars of the playing field can help them get ahead in the boardroom. Don Shula made it...
Scene
Erinn Einhauser, a student working for IMG, wears a Pucci dress, Alexis Bittar bracelets, shoes by Ash, and a necklace she made herself. She plans to sell under the name...
GOOD GRIEF
Schulz and Peanuts by David Michaelis HarperCollins For Peanuts fans, the parlor game hidden inside David Michaelis' comprehensive biography of strip creator Charles "Sparky" Schulz is Spot the Influence. Dusty...