Gene Shalit’s NBC review of Brokeback seen as defamatory.
GLAAD: “In the piece, Shalit refers to Jake Gyllenhaal’s character, Jack, as a “sexual predator” who “tracks Ennis down and coaxes him into sporadic trysts.” Shalit’s bizarre characterization of Jack as a “predator” and Ennis (Heath Ledger) as a victim reflects a fundamental lack of understanding about the central relationship in the film and about gay relationships in general. It seems highly doubtful that Shalit would similarly claim that Titanic’s Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) was a “sexual predator” because he was pursuing a romantic relationship with Rose (Kate Winslet).” CLIP.

As a huge Edward Hopper fan I was excited to see his rarely opened studio photographed by Duane Michals, also one of my favorite artists. Though the photographs are not particularly dazzling, the portfolio and accompanying post are still a treat for Hopper fans: “…the studio remains locked out of time, a window onto a man who was indifferent to the changing world around him. Hopper was a poet of the abyss, a chronicler of discontinuity and disruption, who seemed to need a static environment from which he could take inventory of what was emotionally solid and measure the distance to the nearest patch of null. Whether he represented the void with naked space, naked light, or naked flesh, it never lay far away. It fact, it was right in the neighborhood.”

The NYC maple syrup chronicles continue with a NYT investigation.
The conclusion? It came from New Jersey.