I walk through my blindness the way I saunter down streets in Paris: unfettered and alive, ever delighted by the raw material of the senses. Come along with me. Just don’t try to take my arm unless I ask. What’s a flaneur? Read the first post, ![Fog at Isle Royale [Source: wildmengoneborneo.com]](../wp-content/uploads/2008/04/isle_royale_fog.jpg "Fog at Isle Royale [Source: wildmengoneborneo.com]")
"Brendan, this is what the world looks like all the time to me. Just a little fog. It’s a fine day for boating on the Great Lakes.” Without missing a stroke he turned to dart a skeptical glance at me. Brendan the Navigator. When we named him I didn’t tell his mother everything the legendary Irish name implied. But I imagined him taking on the role of navigator for me. Growing up with Coastal Survey charts and tales of Great Lakes shipwrecks, he came to know Superior as another home. He never doubted the wisdom of canoeing there with a father who was half blind. 
If there is an emerging genetic underclass, I could run for class president or class clown. Read more in 
![Charlotte Casiraghi in a red dress. [Source: Stylophile]](../wp-content/uploads/2008/02/charlotte_casiraghi_red_dress.jpg "Charlotte Casiraghi in a red dress. [Source: Stylophile]")
When I figured out who Charlotte Casiraghi was, I realized that I once sent a poem to her mother. 
Poet and street artist Miss Tic isn't exactly a kid in a hoodie with a can of spray paint. Maybe she can still run like hell when the police show up, but can she sprint in high heels? Well-known in international avant-garde circles, her work is exhibited now at the Venice Biennale as well as the alleys of Paris. 
Bill Cunningham is back from Paris, and his latest On the Street photo essay takes a look at autumn in New York. The pumpkins seen here festoon a balcony in my favorite Manhattan neighborhood, Gramercy Park. As the season turns, Bill salutes the élan of NYC fashionistas as they head to work every morning, even [...]
Entries from October 2008
Fashionista Street: Autumn in New York
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October 26, 2023 at 8:56am
by Mark Willis
Imaging America · fashionista Add Your Comment
Who the F@#k Is That Guy?
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October 25, 2023 at 8:20pm
by Mark Willis
Who the F@#k Is That Guy? - Political Experts | The Daily Show | Comedy Central
Café Mouffe: Miles Davis & Jeanne Moreau
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October 24, 2023 at 3:00pm
by Mark Willis
Miles Davis has been long overdue at the Mouffe. Alex suggested Looking for Julien from the soundtrack of Elevator to the Gallows (Ascenseur pour l’échafaud ), director Louis Malle’s 1958 film debut. Jazz critic Phil Johnson has described Miles’ score as “the loneliest trumpet sound you will ever hear, and the model for sad-core music [...]
Another Reason To Love The French
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October 23, 2023 at 10:10pm
by Mark Willis
If Brigitte Bardot, chocolate éclairs, and the poetry of Jacques Prévert are not reasons enough to love the French, here is another. Le Monde reports that fewer than 7% of the French “of all social classes and political inclinations” would cast ballots for John McCain if they could vote in the U.S. election. My thanks [...]
global citizen Add Your Comment
She Can Dress A Moose, Too
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October 22, 2023 at 10:40am
by Mark Willis
The first thing we learned about Sarah Palin after her national debut in September was her prowess in killing and dressing a moose. She sounded like a cross between Annie Oakley and Amy Semple McPherson, and what gun-loving, God-fearing, red-meat American could resist that? Turns out she also knows how to spend money like Nancy [...]
A Flaneur’s Nemesis: Suburban Patio Man
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October 21, 2023 at 9:51am
by Mark Willis
Two details from the morning news stream disconcerted me gloomily as I rode to work with my car pool. David Brooks’ latest reification of the U.S. Everyman brand reduced it to one nervous, order-seeking archetype: Patio Man. “He’s happy with the new street-scape shopping area where he and his family can stroll before a [...]
Joie de Vivre in the Luxembourg Gardens
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October 20, 2023 at 6:00am
by Mark Willis
Another October, and again I missed Nuit Blanche in Paris. Bill Cunningham was there, and his latest On the Street photo essay finds joie de vivre and vivid colors everywhere in the City of Light. Look for sapphire blue in the Luxembourg Gardens.
Imaging Paris Add Your Comment
Amy Poehler DoesThe Moose Hunter Rap
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October 19, 2023 at 6:46am
by Mark Willis
Saturday Night Live - Update: Palin Rap - Video - NBC.com
Whoa, if you get into the trailer for Oliver Stone’s “W” at the end of this clip, you may need another hit of Talking Heads. I thought “Once In A Lifetime” was my theme song. This is not my beautiful house…
politics · satire Add Your Comment
Way Hotter? Isn’t That Global Warming?
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October 19, 2023 at 6:11am
by Mark Willis
Saturday Night Live - Gov. Palin Cold Open - Video - NBC.com
politics · satire Add Your Comment
Tina Fey’s Kids Say “That’s Mommy!”
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October 18, 2023 at 8:22pm
by Mark Willis
Not sure I’m willing to suspend my disbelief tonight when Sarah Palin appears on SNL. Hunter S. Thompson smoking ibogaine on the campaign trail in ‘72 couldn’t have concocted politics as surreal as this. So, for a reality sandwich, here’s Tina Fey talking about trompe-l’œil last night onLetterman.