In defense of
suburbs: "Revolutionary Road," based on Richard Yates's 1961 novel of the same name, is the latest entry in a long stream of art that portrays the American suburbs as the physical correlative to spiritual and mental death.
posted by kliuless
on Dec 29, 2008 -
172 comments
Little Boxes is a song written by Malvina Reynolds in 1962 that lampoons the development of suburbia and what many consider its bourgeois conformist values.
[1]
During the first season of the Showtime series
Weeds,
Malvina's original recording was used during the opening credits. In the second season, the song was performed by a different artist each episode —
Elvis Costello,
Death Cab for Cutie,
Engelbert Humperdinck,
Kate and Anna McGarrigle,
Maestro Charles Barnett,
Aiden Hawkin,
Ozomatli ,
The Submarines,
Tim DeLaughter,
Regina Spektor, and
Jenny Lewis.
[Malvina's recording was used again for the season finale.] Randy Newman just kicked off the third season, which the network promoted with a
Little Boxes music video contest.
Kevin Nealon and
Romany Malco were notable among the
participating cast members.
posted by Poolio
on Aug 14, 2007 -
132 comments
I know this has been on
everyone's mind, but I just read
this article today and was astounded at my lack of foresight.
Silly me, here I was worrying about global warming when what I need to be fretting about is the decrease in fuel's impact on the
structure of international banking! Will we run out of fossil fuel before
it's too late to
save the environment from pollution and greenhouse gasses? The
abiotic nuts think we've got plenty more.
Personally, I think we can kiss the marvel that is
suburbia goodbye and start contemplating the fact that the focus on the post-post industrial revolution will not be information, but rather
agriculture.
And since solar panels and windmills and the like are made of materials that are extracted, transported, and fashioned by using oil-powered machinery, my money's on the folks who're
stockpiling uranium for all those shiny new nuclear plants we're going to need.
So, do we have a plan?
You bet we do! Oh. Well, we'll just rely on the
advancement of technology to allow us to weasel out of it!
Me? I've actually always wanted a
horse.
posted by Specklet
on Apr 14, 2005 -
67 comments
Do Cars force us to give up the outdoors? In jail, prisoners are stuck indoors and aren't allowed to go outside except for an hour at most. But are the car-driving residents of the average American suburb consigned to the same fate? "You go from the box garage in the house to the box car, driving down the street, not touching anything or being part of your environment" says Jessica Denevan. [More Inside]
posted by gregb1007
on Sep 16, 2003 -
70 comments
