Dr.Thinky

Hi Culture!
Homage to the New Yorker

Hm, need something to read, dum de dum de der
What’s this in my bag? Why it’s a double issue of the mf’ing New Yorker!
Cover is a fresh hot slice of NYC
Playa drew it on his iPhone, that works for me!

Check the TOC, see what’s going down
Looks like a tight line-up, flip to the Talk of the Town
Hot damn, I sure just learned a lot!
Including a fascinating snippet on the best Manhattan tater tot

Instead of going shopping, I’d rather be fed to sharks,
but you bet your sweet bippy – I’ll read anything by Patty Marx!
Some good laughs from Shouts and Murmurs
An absurdist piece on an alcoholic housewife & an escaped family of lemurs

Following this, a counter-intuitive piece from Gawande about using floss
And then a left-field article by McPhee on high-school lacrosse
Off to a good start, how about an in-depth profile?
Looks like it’s on the lead editor of the Chicago Manual of Style

Platon’s grainy black & white photo of that dude was the bomb
Gotta check out the rest of his portfolio on Newyorker.com
Now a Gladwell piece on the psychology of choosing a wedding dress
Which surprisingly is an accurate indicator of future career success

Usually when I get to fiction my attention wanders…
But AYFKM? It’s a story from George Saunders!!!
Nice exploration of mass media and a sentient parking meter
Now excuse me I gotta skip this article on modern theater

Oh man, I accidentally skipped a few
Totally overlooked a great lit review!
That 600 page tome on the East India Company sounds OFF THE HOOK
(Note to self: never ever read that book)

Please lord let there be a sketchbook soon by Chast or Ware
All those intense articles can be hard to bear
Did I mention the cartoons this week are spicier than tarragon?
And we got some A+ illustration Spots in the margin

Sasha’s got the details on a hot Brooklyn-based indie group
Must have taken a lot of PBR to get that scoop!
Anthony Lane just ripped some action sequel blockbuster a new one
Watching a chick flick with him does not sound like much fun

Last but not least the witty winner of this week’s caption contest
And what a surprise: he hails from Cambridge, Massachusetts!
The New Yorker magazine continues to entertain me silly
Hats off to you monsieur Eustice Tilly!!

I speak of a food so divine…
The smell, the texture, the taste – sublime

It’s born and raised on a simple stalk
Rooted in the earth, unable to walk
In the field it grows a mask
Preparing it’s contents for their holy task

The massive combines, they finally come
And it’s trip to my belly has formally begun.
After harvested it’s shucked and dried.
Losing it’s beautiful hair it surely cried…

The cob now is no longer needed
& to a lucky cow it is summarily feeded
At last released from their structured cells!
Freedom! Liberation from their restrictive shells!

Soon I spot a bag of them in a store,
I buy them and their journey seems over, but wait – there’s more!
Now, with much thoughtful trepidation
I begin the final steps of their preparation

Ah, the homely kernel does not realize the special treat
It may become with the right application of heat!
The mechanism itself matters not,
Be it hot air, microwave or scalding oil in a pot

The culinary staccato soothes anticipation
and announces an arrival of this delicious creation
It’s state is reduced to entropy…
and I am as happy as a flea!

At last we have 2-3 second between pops
Silence descends as the machine stops…
The steam clears, a snack is born
Behold this simple perfection: a bowl of popcorn!