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Emily Atkin

By Emily Atkin 9/27/11 7:32pm

Expose

Final_SalonDrinking

A Blow-Out Made Me Blotto! The Illegal Scourge of Salon Drinking

We weren’t three minutes into our pedicure—or two toes—and already The Observer was getting wasted.

The place was Dashing Diva in Greenwich Village, a chain nail salon with 12 locations in the city and two in California. The place’s decor resembles a little like what might happen if Elle Woods met Malibu Barbie. The only part that isn’t either bright pink or white are the racks of multicolored nail polish on the walls. The pedicure station is a banquette of pink pillows, cut off from the rest of the salon by a wall of mini pearly-pink tiles. It’s a nice place to get plastered. Read More

By The Editors 8/16/11 7:42pm

opinion

Legalizing Online Gambling Is a Good Bet

It’s no secret that local and state governments are starved for revenue. Fortunately, most have avoided broad-based tax increases that kill economic growth and the jobs that come with it. But governments have been less wise and less creative when it comes to producing new revenue streams.

With any luck, that’s about to change. States Read More

By The Editors 8/16/11 7:36pm

opinion

Why the FDNY Could Use Some Color

The Fire Department of New York soon will commemorate the anniversary of its greatest tragedy and, in some ways, its greatest triumph. The department’s extraordinary sacrifice on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, when 343 service members were killed trying to rescue civilians in the twin towers, became a symbol of sacrifice and courage in Read More

By The Editors 8/16/11 7:36pm

opinion

Ms. Bachmann, You Are a Bigot

With the recent straw poll during the Iowa State Fair—a pseudo-event if ever there was one—the presidential campaign of 2012 has begun in earnest.

But that does not mean that the campaign has gotten serious. Not when a character like Michele Bachmann is running around with a claim to be the front-runner for the Republican Read More

By Meghan Keane 8/16/11 7:30pm

movies

Jesse Eisenberg and Aziz Ansari in 30 Minutes Or Less

30 Minutes or Less: A Bank Heist With Extra Cheese

Jesse Eisenberg and Aziz Ansari in ’30 Minutes Or Less.’

 “30 Minutes or Less” is the wish-fulfillment fantasy that generations of slacker pizza delivery guys have been waiting for. The rest of the world may look down on the stoners who deliver their pies, but Jesse Eisenberg is Read More

By Hannah Gersen 8/16/11 7:18pm

books

Luminarium

The Trials and Tribulations of Alex Shakar, Post-9/11 Novelist

It took Alex Shakar 10 years to complete his second novel, Luminarium (Soho Press, 448 pages, $25.00), and he had to take up Zen meditation to do it. “I knew I wanted to write about spirituality,” Mr. Shakar said during a recent phone interview. “But it took me a while to figure out that Read More

By Una LaMarche 8/09/11 8:07pm

movies

ayrton-senna-1

Senna Brings an Obscure Legend to Light

Professional car racing, like any dangerous sport, tends to attract people who are daring, confident and skilled. Ayrton Senna, the Brazilian Formula One driver who died at the age of 34 during the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, was no different. Strikingly handsome, charming and ambitious, Senna makes for a captivating screen presence—an ill-fated Read More