“Panem et circenses. Bread and circuses. How the Romans kept the people passive. We’re addicted.” – Lobster, the Clown As we did in “Monkey Gods,” Peter Saputo and I begin “Under the Big Top” mid-conversation at our usual table. It’s such a useful device, that table, so comfortable, so unobtrusive. Peter wears a clown shirt […]
In “They Live”, director John Carpenter describes a world overrun by aliens very convincingly disguised as human beings. Then a drifter named Nada finds a pair of sunglasses that allows him to see through the disguise. He’s horrified to discover that every other passerby is, in reality, a skull-faced monster from outer space. Yikes, huh? […]
English teacher Scott Compton, in the context of what his attorney Darryl Smalls describes as a “lesson in symbolism,” reportedly stomped on an American flag during three honors classes at Chapin High School in mid-December. According to Smalls, Compton was “trying to show (that) America is greater than its national emblem.” There are folks in […]
