Email Author Paul M. Davis

2010 Stories by Paul M. Davis

• Cute, or Something

  published December 22, 2010

  No one has gone broke overestimating alt-culture’s appetite for cutesy images of anthropomorphic creatures. Given the bustling market for... More >>

• Radical Shopping

  published December 1, 2010

  It happens every year: The media blitz begins on Black Friday and Cyber Monday compelling us to buy a pile of crap bound to be obsolete by April.... More >>

• Mushroom Cloud? Liz Taylor Film Flop

  published December 1, 2010

  What does the word “BOOM!” bring to mind? That Thomas Pynchon line about a jet engine tearing through the sky? An 808 drum kick?... More >>

• Marble Thigh City

  published November 24, 2010

  The preponderance of cracked ribs and shattered MacBook screens among our friends demonstrates that booze and bicycles don’t generally mix.... More >>

• Bird Is the Word

  published November 24, 2010

  Anne Lamott has the rare ability to approach subjects devalued by empty platitudes and false sentiment — faith, grief, the writing... More >>

• Good Things

  published November 24, 2010

  "Pop-up shop" is a cutesy euphemism for what is essentially an old-fashioned arts and crafts fair, different from your grandmother's only in... More >>

• Just Before It All Went Kablooey

  published November 10, 2010

  Modern society is so intractably fucked that it's a fair question whether we still need the dystopian novel. Many of the most despairing science... More >>

• Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

  published November 10, 2010

  Neon lights aren’t usually associated with highfalutin’ notions of art or metaphysics. They’re usually the domain of Vegas and... More >>

• Do You Feel Drained?

  published November 3, 2010

  Rolling Stone political journalist Matt Taibbi has won many admirers (and plenty of enemies) with his take-no-prisoners reportage on... More >>

• If It’s Too Loud ...

  published November 3, 2010

  Probably the last place you want to be on Saturday morning with a hangover, the International Taiko Festival is still worth rousing... More >>

• Old New Again

  published October 13, 2010

  Well-worn irony is still the de facto tone for many stand-up comedians, while the Internet and Adult Swim have championed a type of comedy that... More >>

• You Mean It’s True? Damn.

  published October 13, 2010

  Trevor Paglen documents democracy's most obscure swamps: secret testing installations that don't appear on maps, extraordinary rendition... More >>

• Learning to Kroll

  published October 6, 2010

  Nick Kroll may be best known for his numerous appearances on VH1’s Best Week Ever series (and the endless run of I Love the... More >>

• We Are Not Afraid

  published September 29, 2010

  H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos has become the dominant joke religion for Internet geeks the world over, eclipsing other willfully... More >>

• When Worlds Collide

  published September 29, 2010

  The tattoo and fine art communities have long existed in uneasy symbiosis. The fine art world has provided the tattoo scene with some of its best... More >>

• It Looks So Reel

  published September 22, 2010

  Tightly orchestrated sound accompanies lingering shots of abstract figures and pulsating light in Paul Clipson’s impressionistic films. He... More >>

• Boring Is Safe

  published September 22, 2010

  It’s well-established that the devil has the best music, roller derby teams, and cocktail mixers, so we can assume his nine circles of... More >>

• The Only Vampire Books We’ll Put Up With Right Now

  published September 22, 2010

  The steady stream of bullshit that nurtures Hollywood can drive its denizens to believe they're capable of anything: Actors want to direct,... More >>

• The Outsider Is In

  published September 15, 2010

  Chinese-American comedian Joe Wong may be the most successful immigrant comic working today. He voraciously consumed Western culture in... More >>

• Storm Warning

  published September 15, 2010

  As though he’s doing penance for younger indulgences, Dave Eggers has gone in an unexpected direction in recent years, focusing on sober,... More >>

• What to Dor Friday's Pick: Comedian Jim Short

  published Sep 03, 2010

  Jim ShortPunch Line8 p.m. and 10 p.m., $24.05Jim Short is a literate comic, but not one who takes pains to demonstrate what a smarty-pants he is. Unlike David Cross, Short isn't throwing out the occas... More >>

• The Future Is Coming

  published September 8, 2010

  It’s a forgone conclusion that author William Gibson is remarkably prescient. This is the guy who coined the term "cyberspace," after... More >>

• Been a Long Time, Been a Long Time

  published September 8, 2010

  It’s strange that it took years for the visual art world to establish its online voice. Despite a plethora of image-sharing services such as... More >>

• BFE

  published September 8, 2010

  Spend any time driving around this country, and you’ll find that the one thing America has a surplus of is dead-end towns. These are the... More >>

• Long on Wit

  published September 1, 2010

  Jim Short is a literate comic, but not one who takes pains to demonstrate what a smarty-pants he is. Unlike David Cross, Short isn’t... More >>