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TV's News Central: One Source Fits All
by Paul Farhi, Washington Post
The "local" news — direct from suburban Baltimore? It coul dbe the news of the future.

The Call Of The Word
by EL Doctorow, The Guardian
I believe nothing of any beauty or truth comes of a piece of writing without the author's thinking he has sinned against omething — propriety, custom, faith, privacy, tradition, political orthodoxy, historical fact, literary convention, or indeed, all the prevailing community standards together. And that the work will not be realised without the liberation that comes to the writer from his feeling of having transgressed, broken the rules, played a forbidden game without his understanding or even fearing his work as a possibly unforgivable transgression.

Ronald McDonald Is So Busy, But Just How Does He Do It?
by Shireley Leung and Suzanne Vranica, Wall Street Journal
When it comes to Ronald McDonald, McDonald's doesn't clown around. It won't even admit that there is more than one Ronald.

Lightning In A Bottle
by Dan Rather, CBS News
Imagine a movie studio that produces nothing but blockbuster films, wins lots of Academy Awards, and controls its actors with the push of a button.

Blogs Opening Iranian Society?
by Michelle Delio, Wired News
"Until there is a free press in Iran again, weblogs will flourish."

Why Not Put The Bombs In Rerun Slots?
by Brian Lowry, Los Angeles Times
Pilots, even uproariously bad ones, are worth seeing, especially if the alternative is multiplexing or repurposing or whatever idiotic term cable officials have dreamt up that simply means filling time with network reruns.

A Dating Game With No Straight Answers
by Lisa de Moraes, Washington Post
Imagine a TV dating show in which a gay guy has the hots for another gay guy, only the producers have fooled him and it turns out the other guy is straight.

City Lights Illuminates The Past
by Shawn Hubler, Los Angeles Times
For 50 years, the bookstore of the Beats has been at the heart of San Francisco's literary life. Its founder hopes to ensure it survives him.

Shakespeare And The Spice Girls
by Steven lagerfeld, Wall Street Journal
Who's more clueless, college students or their professors?

Cut By Criticism
by Kristin Hohenadel, Los Angeles Times
We know what reviewers think. But how do artists fell when judgment has been passed? Some benefit, others feel angry, anxious or, in one case, suicidal.

Remake Man
by Tad Friend, New Yorker
Roy Lee brings Asia to Hollywood, and finds some enemies along the way.

The Last Stand
by Steve Nash, Washington Post
Very old trees offer a glimpse into our past and clues to our future. But are they worth saving?

Doting Husbands And Sugar Daddies
by Anne Roiphe, The Guardian
Some great female writers have had male muses. Lucky them.

Rooting For The Robot
by Reed Johnson, Los Angeles Times
In the battle between man and machine, which has more soul? Science fiction has disturbing answers.

The Writing Life
by Paul Theroux, Washington Post
I am possessed by the great gnawing fear of every writer, that if anatomize the craft of fiction writing, I might never write another word of fiction again. Writing travel. I can talk about that. I have certain guidelines.

Britwits
by Dave Barry, Washington Post
It's time for an update on the British art world, which, as far as I can tell, exists mainly to provide me with materials.

Buried Treasure
by Jonathan Reynolds, New York Times
Just because they're common doesn't mean potatoes can't be special.

There's No Exit From The Matrix
by Frank Rich, New York Times
The genius of the P.R. strategy was its exploitation of the original film's geeky cult status as a thinking kid's kung fu extravaganza.

Prospecting For Gold Among The Photo Blogs
by Sarah Boxer, New York Times
Thousands of photo bloggers post their work on the Internet, hoping that strangers will come look at them and comment.

Where Nothing Is Fun
by Mark Guydish, Times Leader
By definition, aimlessness mus tbe the cornerstone of a "Seinfeld Club."

Jokes Spring Eternal: Celebrating Bob Hope's Century
by David Montgomery, Washington Post
On Thursday Bob Hope turns 100. He is too frail to have attended the celebration of his career last night at the Library of Congress. He's not delivering two-beat quips much in public anymore. But the jokes live on. They are immortal.

Can A Wild Turkey Find Success And Happiness In The Canyons Of Manhattan?
by Thomas J. Lueck, New York Times
A mysterious wild turkey has been flying over Manhattan and has been sighted in some unusual places.

The Art Crowd
by Eric Gibson, Wall Street Journal
What's wrong with blockbuster museum exhibits? Too many people.

'Shrek 4-D' Breaks The Mold
by Robert Niles, Los Angeles Times
The idea of a theme-park attraction based on the movie "Shrek" seems absurd. After all, "Shrek" earned many of its laughs mocking theme parks, an irony apparently lost on the creators of the new Shrek 4-D attraction at Universal Studios Hollywood. But a nod to that irony is the only thing missing from this entertaining romp.

'Black Men Are So Much More Beautiful Than White Men'
by Rory Carroll, The Guardian
Nobel laureate Nadime Gordimer talks about writing at 80, cheeky questions and mixed-race couples in the park.

Haunted By Journalist Who Broke Trust
by Dennis Rockstroh, San Jose Mercury News
In journalism school, if we misspelled someone's name, we got an "F" on the paper or the test. It was an inflexible rule. We have to get it right. That's our trust. That's why what Blair did to you hit us in the gut.

Literary Theory And Historical Understanding
by Morris Dickstein, The Chronicle Of Higher Education
As we look back at the theory years today, now that the fierce polemical passions have waned, the transformation of literary studies through several phases in a single generation sems astonishing.

Fangs For The Memories, Buffy
by Rita Kempley, Washington Post
Theologians, psychoanalysts and academics from all disciplines are drawn to the show like vampires to blood banks. Not that you have to have a degree to fall for the slayer and the Slayerettes.

Reviewing A Fraud: Critics' Dilemma
by Kevin Canfield, Hartford Courant
Should [book editors and critics] review [Stephen Glass'] novel, thereby rewarding his bad behavior with the media attention he and his publisher so deeply crave? Should they treat the book as a news event about the re-emergence of a fallen star/ Or should they punish Glass for his bad behavior and ignore the book altogether?

The Doors To Women's Locker Rooms Slam Shut On Sportswriters
by Gerald Eskenazi, Los Angeles Times
Do I really need to be in a women's locker room? That isn't the question. It's one of equal access, isn't it? I wouldn't want to make a federal case out of it.

Buried Treasure
by Mary Batiata, Washington Post
Why has Bill Gates stashed millions of the greatest images of the 20th century under a mountain in Pennsylvania?

The All-American French Chef
by Judith Weinraub, Washington Post
A Frenchman by birth. An American by choice. Michael Richard brings the best of both cuisines to the table. Now that's diplomacy.

Hot Market For A Magazine Not Yet For Sale
by David Carr, New York Times
Media executives all over New York are hungrily circling a magazine that is barely profitable, has low recognition outside Manhattan, and oh, by the way, is currently not for sale.

A New Brand Of Journalism Is Taking Root In South Korea
by Dan Gillmor, San Jose Mercury News
OhmyNews [in South Korea] is transforming the 20th century's journalism-as-lecture model, where organizations tell the audience what the news is and the audience either buys it or doesn't, into something vastly more bottom-up, interactive and democratic.

Going Native
by Susan Heeger, Los Angeles Times
With water supply restrictions, conservation campaigns and the threat of drought, the time is right for growing indigenous plants.

Single Occupancy Indeed
by Keith Bradsher, New York Times
My goal was a simple one: to spend the night in one of the city's grand luxury hotels, to see what it was like after the World Helath Organization's SARS advisory on April 2 recommending that people defer all but essential travel to Hong Kong.

The State Of American Singing As Heard On 'I-I-I-I-I-I-Idol'
by Jody Rosen, New York Times
Vocal showboating is to be expected in a high-stakes singing contest with a repertory that leans toward florid pop ballads. But what is notworthy about "American Idol" is the similarity between its young hopefuls and the reigning royalty of Billboard's pop and rhythm and blues charts.

Child Unfriendly
by Phil Hogan, The Observer
Child-free residential zones are bringing solace to stressed-out fortysomethings. No kidding.

The Night Shift
by Maureen Rice, The Observer
For most of us, sleep can be blissful interlude of unconsciousness. But for an increasing number, however, it is a time of dark terrors and incomprehensible fears.

Why Will Wireless Camera Phones Revolutionize The Photography Industry?
by Evan Nisselson, Digital Journalist
Carrying a combined cellular phone and camera is a totally differnet mindset than meandering around making pictures with a typical camera.

They're Reinventing The Marshmallow
by Andrea Pyenson, Boston Globe
Marshmallows have grown up. Handmade — some in beautiful pastel colors and a mouthwatering array of flavors — marshmallows are now available at upscale markets.

She Has Arrived
by David Mehegan, Boston Globe
Sabina Murray's latest journey, from unknown writer to award-winning author, has put her on the literary map.

Dating A Blogger, Reading All About It
by Warren St. John, New York Times
In the rush to publish, many bloggers are running headlong into some of the problems conventionally published memoirists know too well: hurt feelings, newly wary friends and relatives, and the occasional inflamed employer.

More Students In Writing Programs Expect (And Get) Hollywood Offers
by Gregory Jordan, New York Times
Like it or not, creative writing programs have become forces on the literary landscape.

Rem Readings
by Claire Dederer, New York Times
People in Seattle don't seem to like the idea of Rem Koolhaas building them a new library. But they haven't seen it from the inside yet.

How Architecture Rediscovered The Future
by Arthur Lubow, New York Times
The best new buildings no longer steal from the past or surrender to their surroundings. They express a vision of where the world is heading.

Big Sponge On Campus
by Pagan Kennedy, New York Times
From afar, [Simmons Hall] looks like a three-letter word that I can't quite read, rendered in sci-fi letters against the sky. It's only as I get closer, walking over the springy grass of M.I.T.'s athletic fields, that I notice the small square windows that pock just about every surface of the new dorm. M.I.T. hired a maverick architect, Steven Holl, to create a groundbreaking desgin. He says his inspiration for the building was a sea sponge.

Tickets? Lifestyle Guru? All Set
by Karen Robinovitz, New York Times
It may seem like indulgence to the nth degree, but in some echelons of society, where a $1,000 handbag is considered a bargain and conversations about Iraq are conducted over dinner at Jean Georges, a trusted expert is a necessity.

The Writing On The Wall
by Lynne Duke, Washington Post
9/11 mural near ground zero outrages some New Yorkers.

A Carnivore Finds Joy, Meatlessly
by Nigella Lawson, New York Times
You do not have to be vegetarian to appreciate the pleasure to be gained from these dishes.

Descartes For The 21st Century, Jesus With Cool Shades And A Beltful Of Guns
by Colin McGinn, The Times
What is the value of not being deceived — why does knowledge matter?

Confessions Of A Chess Dad
by James Traub, Slate
How to console your son after checkmate.

Soda Adds Pop To Some Students' Lives
by Afsha Bawany, Boston Globe
What is it about the taste that makes so many students reach for Coke instead of coffee first thing in the morning?

As Funds Disappear, So Do Orchestras
by Stephen Kinzer, New York Times
Nearly a dozen orchestras across the country have either closed or are in danger of doing so. Orchestra administrators blame their woes on the weak economy, but critics say many of them have failed to adapt to changing times.

Diversity Had Nothing To Do With Reporter's Deceit
by Terry M. Neal, Washington Post
Blair's career wasn't fueled by his race, but by stories that were too good to be true.

Studios' Latest Special Effect: Budgets Out The Window
by John Horn, Los Angeles Times
This time, instead of simply cloning the famous "Matrix" fight choreography and "bullet-time" visual effects, other filmmakers are outpacing their own extravagant spending patterns as the Wachowskis throw down a can-you-top-this fiscal dare.

Lenoard Michaels, Writer, Dies At 70
by Douglas Martin, New York Times
Leonard Michaels, a novelist and short-story writer whose precise, highly literary style illuminated weirdly realistic human predicaments, died on Saturday in Berkeley, Calif. He was 70 and had homes in Italy and Berkeley.

Wife Envy
by Kristen Taylor, Los Angeles Times
A mother's mother's day musings.

A Dearth Of Successful Sitcoms
by Jim Rutenberg, New York Times
There have been three great comedy droughts in the history of network television, and this is one of them.

Times Reporter Who Resigned Leaves Long Trail Of Deception
by New York Times
A staff reporter for The New Yrok Time3s committed frequent acts of journalistic fraud while covering significant news events in recent months, an investigation by Times journalists has found. The widespread fabrication and plagiarism represent a profound betrayal of trust and a low point in the 152-year history of the newspaper.

... The Cat Will Play
by Liza Mundy, Washington Post
In classic children's literature, nothing interesting ever seems to happen until Mom's out of the picture. Are generations of great writers trying to tell us something?

How Does A Piano Get To Carnegie Hall?
by James Barron, New York Times
It will take 8 months from start to finish to produce Steinway piano No. K0862, but it will take longer than that to figure out if the piano is great, or merely good.

Work Without Worry
by Kathleen Gerson, New York Times
Many working mothers, confronted by a stubbornly ambivalent society, continue to believe that they are shortchanging their children. They shouldn't.

The Great San Francisco Bubble
by Mark Morford, San Francisco Chronicle
Life in America's last great progressive cocoon, as conservatives snicker and pule.

Parenting On A Dare
by Amy Benfer, Salon
I had a child at 16 because I wanted to prove the world wrong. I was going to raise an extraordinary daughter and still live my life the way I pleased.

Imagine This
by David Herman, Guardian
There was a time when television introduced unknown artists, showed writers in close-up and directors in full flow. That age is lost — but, history might have a lesson for us.

Pod People
by Jonathan Reynolds, New York Times
For such a tiny vegetable, peas sure provoke intense reactions.

Why Is Jonathan Simms Still Alive?
by Lisa Belkin, New York Times
As a result of mad-cow disease, this 18-year-old lost the ability to move or speak, and his doctors said he would soon lose his life. But his father had other ideas.

My Lingerie, A Story In 3 Acts
by Valerie Frankel, New York Times
I don't have the body of a lingerie model, but I have the underwear drawer of one.

Like Mother, Like Son — In The Kitchen
by David Shaw, Los Angeles Times
On the benefits of cooking up some love on mothers day.

A Mom Makeover
by Janet Saidi, Los Angeles Times
Today's mothers are confessing to fallibility even as they display fierce love.

Obsession, Not Proportion, Still Drives Television News
by Howard Rosenberg, Los Angeles Times
Instead of showing us architects of history, TV encourages carpenters with fast hammers.

We All Die Alone
by Laura Miller, Salon
News flash: Having children won't save you from a lonely old age.

Who's To Blame For Birtney?
by Alan Rusbridger, The Guardian
When people talk of the dumbing-down of our culture, they invariably make a scapegoat of the media. But high art is everyone's responsibility.

Don't Write Off The Net
by Ben Hammersley, The Guadian
Now, with the internet firmly placed in the majority of homes in the English-speaking world, the web is seeing a burst of old-fashioned literary endeavour. Writing, it seems, is very much alive and well on the web.

Gulp! Just Look At That Tab
by Valli Herman-Cohen, Los Angeles Times
Even as restaurants lower menu prices to match the times, the cost of cocktails is rising. And so is the entertainment value.

Asian Markets Go Super
by Walter Nicholls, Washington Post
From peanut butter to kimchi to canary beans, these multicultural stores have something for everyone.

The Zen Of Tornado Survival
by R. M. Kinder, New York Times
Tornadoes lashed the Midwest and South this week, killing 18 in my state and more than a score elsewhere. But in spite of all the horror ó- and it is horrible ó- there's a calm in this storm that you can't see in the newspaper and television pictures of sudden powerful destruction. People continue to shop, they make mad dashes to the store, cover their flowers, phone friends. It's a paradox: take cover, but first cover what you can.

Women In Place
by Melissa Ann Pinney, DoubleTake
Although I have always been drawn to what is hidden, especially concerning womenís experiences, I couldnít say for certain that I would have recognized the secluded diaper-changing scene at Disney World as a possible subject until my daughter, Emma, was born.

It's Not In Our Nature To Nuture
by Cary Tennis, Salon
Most people have a powerful wish, a yearning, for children. My wife and I don't.

Mother's Day, USA
by Tina Brown, The Times
Growing up, I was proud of how original my mother was ... it made her a great conspirator and ally.

Why It's OK Not To Like Modern Art
by Julian Spalding, The Times
Modern art's duty to shine an aesthetic light on the soul has been eclipsed by commercialism, says the founder of the Gallery of Modern Art in Glasgow.

Just Stop Teasing Us, Please
by Diane Werts, Newsday
Now, an entire TV show can serve as an ad — for itself in the lucrative DVD market.

Gerry Volgenau Starts A New Journey
by Gerry Volgenau, Detroit Free Press
What good is a great meal when eaten alone?

In California, A New Kind Of Continental Cuisine
by Mark Bittman, New York Times
You may occasionally hear the word "dude," but a handful of significant new Los Angeles restaurants are all European in tone and execution.

Big News, Little Paper
by Ellen Warren, Chicago Tribune
Read all about it: High school sports, a plant explosion and the columnist's beard.

Warned, She Wrote It Anyway
by Renee Tawa, Los Angeles Times
Friends tried to wave Suzan-Lori Parks away from fiction, but the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright knew better.

Favorite Color
by Hans Ibelings, Metropolis
Seldom has such a small building occasioned as much fuss as the bright orange studio MVRDV built for the graphic-design firm Thonik in a secluded courtyard in Amsterdam.

We're Older So We Can Be Bolder
by Lucia van der Post, The Times
Freed from the tyranny of youth and fashionable good taste, women of a certain age can revel in their stylish eccentricity.

Death Of A Chef
by William Echikson, New Yorker
The changing landscape of French cooking.

A Small Token Of Our Affection
by Paula Span, Washington Post
The finale was, to be honest, a bit anticlimactic. No grand gestures or valedictories as Saturday turned to Sunday and a 50-year transit tradition vanished.

Please Pass The Trichinosis
by John Powers, Boston Globe
My wife and I concur on most things -ñ money, household priorities, politics, movies, restaurants, vacation spots. Yet after 29 years of marriage, we still don't agree on how long to cook a piece of pig meat. One man's pink, it seems, is another woman's poison.

Our Baby Daughter Came From China
by Amanda Brookes, The Times
It was a long haul, both geographically and emotionally, before the family could meet their adoptive little girl. This contributor kept a diary on the journey to collect Xiu Yan from Nanchang.

Whither The Lawn
by Preston Lerner, Los Angeles Times
What Southern California's booming population and looming water crisis mean for the great green carpet of suburbia.

In Miami, A Bus Stop For Broken Marriages
by Manuel Roig-Franzia, Washington Post
Need a transfer to singlehood? Go to the end of the line.

With Censors Gone, Books Reemerge
by Laura King, Los Angeles Times
Vendors at a Baghdad market that once was a magnet for the Mideast's bibliophiles are eager for a revival. But they know it will take time.

Have It Their Way
by Jonathan Reynolds, New York Times
Today's chefs whip up tomorrow's fast food.

The Futures Of Food
by Michael Pollan, New York Times
If the postwar food utopia was modernist and corporate, the new one is postmodern and oppositional, constructing its future from elements of the past rescued from the jaws of agribusiness.

Everybody Gets A Cut
by Terrence Rafferty, New York Times
DVD's give viewers dozens of choices ? and that's the problem.

The Road To 1984
by Thomas Pynchon, The Guardian
George Orwell's final novel was seen as an anticommunist tract and many have claimed its grim vision of state control proved prohetic. But, Orwell had other targets in his sights.

So It's Goodbye To Janet And John
by Erica Wagner and Maureen Freely, The Times
Once upon a time children?s books were as safe as the houses they were set in. Sex didn?t exist and vice happened only if it came with a Message. How different it is now.

Cover Stories: A Grand Slam For Media Monotony
by Mike Conklin, Chicago Tribune
Imagine the surprise when, like a quadruple slot machine coming up with all cherries, each publication had the same image to illustrate the epidemic: a single person wearing a surgical mask.

Poetry Is Dead. Does Anyone Really Care?
by Bruce Wexler, Newsweek
If youíre like me, untangling symbol and allusion seems as irrelevant now as it did in high school.

The Matrix
by Chris Suellentrop, Slate
It's Harry Potter with guns.

Their Goal: Conquer
by Corie Brown, Los Angeles Times
Australian winemakers are taking the world by storm. Their strategy is simple: Topple California.

Say No To Nudity
by Stuart Jeffries, The Guardian
You can't open a paper these days without being confronted by hundreds of people stripping off in the name of art. Whatever happened to good old British reserve? In an attempt to restore some decency in these debauched times we invited Guardian readers to pose for our own Spencer Tunick-style artwork on Brighton beach yesterday. The only qualification: at least three layers of clothing.

Ending Up Venerated But Unread Must Be A Book's Worst Fate
by Jane Shiling, The Times
Most people, when they first come into the house and realise that every cupboard is crammed full of books, tend to recoil a bit. What everyone says sooner or later is: ?And have you actually read all these books??

K-Y Jelly, We Hardly Knew Ye
by Lynn Harris, Salon
The venerable lubricant with the kinky associations is getting a brand makeover. But will it be able to maintain market penetration?

For Better Or Worse: Marriage By The Numbers
by Benedict Carey, Los Angeles Times
In defiance of good sense and most love poems, people in long-term relationships do continually (if not always consciously) perform calculations, tallying up the household chores and kid errands, for instance, or estimating the risk of missing the Friday dinner versus the Saturday barbecue. So perhaps it was only a matter of time before the professionals got involved.

Light In The Wilderness
by Robert Potts, The Guardian
Margaret Atwood grew up partly in Canada's woods, and decided to become a writer while at high school. After international success she became a human rights activist but continued to write, winning the Booker prize. In her new novel, Oryx and Crake, she uses a male narrator to describe a genetically engineered future.