Brother Yoo explains it for you

When my head starts to hurt from the arduous mental gymnastics required to make sense of the Bush Admninistration’s actions and explanations, I often turn to San Francisco Chronicle columnist Jon Carroll. Today is one of those days. Jon has given us an imaginary interview with a real dangerous man. Perhaps you have been unable … Read more

The death penalty: I’m against it

Here in California, we are plunging toward another rendezvous with destiny: Stanley “Tookie” Williams is scheduled to be executed tonight. The newspapers have been filled with bloodthirsty op-eds demanding closure on behalf of the victims’ families, and on the other side of the question we’re seeing stories of redemption: the founder of LA’s Crips gang … Read more

Greil Marcus-Jon Carroll interview (1997)

When Greil Marcus’ book Invisible Republic: Bob Dylan’s Basement Tapes (later reissued as The Old, Weird America) came out in 1997, I invited the author to appear on Dead to the World to talk and play records. Our mutual friend, San Francisco columnist Jon Carroll, got his advance copy and emailed me just to say … Read more

Grandchildren: more powerful than wives

Jon Carroll has written about his granddaughter quite wonderfully over the years. He recently abandoned the “WPMG” ( World’s Most Perfect Grandchild) sobriquet and gave her the pseudonym “Alice.” Last month he wrote about taking her to the do-it-yourself coin-op car wash. Today, they’re back at the Car Wash: Now, here’s the confession I must … Read more

What a marriage needs

This is another excerpt from Jon Carroll’s column in the San Francisco Chronicle. Sometimes Jon just nails something really important in a single sentence. Like this: Maybe that’s what a marriage needs — both parties figuring they married up. It’s from his column of December 17, 2004. Marriage is one of the subjects he does … Read more

Wildcam: watering hole in Botswana

In his column in today’s San Francisco Chronicle, Jon Carroll talks about National Geographic’s new Wildcam – “a live video feed from a remote watering hole in Botswana. You can watch elephants, wildebeest, giraffes, baboons and ostriches coming down to feed, interacting in interesting ways, hanging out.” From the Wildcam site: Embark on a quiet … Read more

“We think we can spot phonies…”

Another fine Jon Carroll column in today’s SF Chronicle: …. We think that we can spot phonies, people who are playing against type for nefarious reasons. Usually we can’t, which is why con games are still popular; people always overestimate their ability to judge character. There are dozens of academic studies suggesting that people cannot … Read more

Writers and critics…

Excellent column by Jon Carroll in the August 10 San Francisco Chronicle. I still read criticism of books I will never read. I suspect lots of people do. Part of it is to get a gloss on the culture — ah, Bret Easton Ellis, looks like I won’t have to crack the latest novel either … Read more