Tag: Social Commentary
Friends Don’t Let Friends Drink at Independent Coffeehouses.
As Starbucks slips in the recessional tide, anti-corporate types seem to be cheering the chain’s decline. Finally, the independent coffee shop’s villain is paying for its multiple-outlet-per-block hubris, and the four-dollar latte has become an emblem of our so...
Why we love Super Heroes and why we wish we were one ourselves.
Next time you walk down 5th avenue or anywhere along Broadway, stop for a moment, put your hands by your side and look way up to the sky. What you’ll see wont really be the sky scrapers and the...
Why French People Love McDonald’s and for that matter the USA.
In Paris, people obey the rules. Take, for example, the Luxembourg Gardens, the city's prettiest and most prominent public park, where people actually resign themselves to looking at the grass instead of playing on it. As a Californian, this...
Why you should be in Berlin.
We’ve been hearing it for ages now, but is it really true? Your mighty self better pack itself off to Berlin and make the most of the vibe, creativity and the vast amount of space that can be had...
Rogues, Rebels and Renegades: The Art of an Outlaw Interview with Filmmaker Hilton Ruiz.
This past Tuesday afternoon I made my way to the Lower East Side to visit filmmaker Hilton Ruiz for a private screening and conversation about his as-of-yet unreleased documentary, Rogues, Rebels and Renegades: The Art of an Outlaw. Admittedly,...
Love is a Toxic Event. A 7 step guide to Valentine’s Day .
First of all, the day doesn’t hold much significance. Well, it does and it doesn’t. It does because of the jerky couples making out everywhere, and their fake happiness can serve as a painful reminder that today especially, you...
Why are you still Single? A Smug Married girl’s guide to getting Hitched
You’re conflicted:
And like dogs, they just know. Your post-feminist need for self-power is all tangled up with your pre-war sentiment for being taken care of. Maybe your motivation to be independent is mangled with your fear of...
“Makes you think, Doesn’t it…”
The chelfitsch Theater Company’s U.S. debut of 5 Days in March begins before the lights dim in the theater when two male hipsters meet center stage and begin speaking in Japanese. They tell us that they will be telling...
Recession Depression: Why Reality (TV) Bites.
"I need to stop spending like an heiress", she said as she exited the cafe on the corner. Who she was I haven't the faintest; she hardly looked like an heiress. But she did leave this scallywag to ponder:...
Russian Speed-Dating Would Make My Uncle Smile
My uncle Nikolai has been building castles in the sky around the idea of me marrying a traditional Russian girl since my immaculate and flawless birth in 1982. He’s come to my parents’ house with pierogi s’mockum and ginger...
The Culture of Self Help.
What is self-help? Does it work? And why do we buy it? We here at Scallywag and Vagabond get a kick out of self-exploration so we sat down with the effervescent Ariane de Bonvoisin, change guru and author of “The First 30 Days”,...
Hidden Gem: The Male Libido.
“So, whatever happened to shagging madly in an elevator on whim?”
These are the important questions that keep me awake at night. I have found that in my short time on this planet, there are the things we all love...
Looking for Guevara on Canal st.
Traveling to Canal Street, I descend from the Botoxed, done-up face of Time Square capitalism into the bowels of the American economy. For if Time Square is an expression of the American dream to drive fancy cars, drink expensive...
Bright Lights. Big City.
Time Square isn’t a square at all, but a triangle, with its two main avenues like a lady’s legs spread wide. Coming up in between her thighs is a large glowing billboard, a seemingly thousand foot tall Mercedes-Benz sign....
I’d Like this in a 6 and a Glass of Cristal.
For most, 5th Avenue is the epitome of New York glitz and glamour. For me, it is the perfect catalyst for a panic attack. I frequently find myself hyperventilating while fighting through idle mobs of tourists, running away from...
