What is the value of a black man’s life? To Judge Robert Perry, the answer is two years. That’s the amount of jail time that Judge Perry sentenced former BART cop Johannes Mehserle for the murder of Oscar Grant. Granted  double credit for time served, Mehserle will end up serving…

Baseball is one of my favorite sports. After soccer, football, basketball, tennis, badminton, and the luge. Let’s be honest, 9 innings of pitch-and-catch just isn’t that exciting. Usually. Like most folks here in the Bay Area (except rabid Oakland A’s fans, who I respect, even though they’re very few of…

What makes art successful? By “successful,” I don’t mean it is just aesthetically pleasing. I don’t mean it brings in a crowd, or pushes the edge of what’s posssible, or moves people to action. I mean ALL OF THAT. And more. There isn’t much art that achieves that type of…

Last year, I said that Jon Stewart at his best usually beats Stephen Colbert. But after watching this video of Colbert testifying before Congress (in full character, no less), I might have to change my tune. Watch the video below, and see how Colbert uses his faux-right-wing personality to deliver…

…No, I’m not talking about those guys. I just finished William Upski’s new book Please Don’t Bomb the Suburbs. Like I said last week, dude is on point. To be upfront, Upski (my bad, I mean Billy Wimsatt — he’s grown now) has been a hero of mine since I…