"With regard to precipitous heights, if you are beforehand with your adversary, you should occupy the raised and sunny spots, and there wait for him to come up." —The Art of War, Sun Tzu (1772)

One morning in 1978 three men, painted entirely in black and crouched atop a crudely fashioned raft, floated down the pale-blue river that spills down from the Fluoristan mountain range. The current carried the men swiftly, bringing them ever closer to the gleaming white walls of the floating city. Once there the men set to work with sledgehammers and pickaxes. Discovering them, a sentry called out to the city's protectors, who, with the aid [...]

Here is a look back at twenty years ago, when the culture wars were fun and scary! (And somewhat less abortion-doctor-shootingey.) Let's ignore the idiotic use of "Perfect Storm" in this otherwise interesting recounting in Time of the NEA v. Robert Mapplethorpe to-do.

In a storage room in the back of a bar in Hermosa Beach, Dustin Mikulski is stretching his hamstrings. He's not a professional dancer—or, that is, he's not anymore. And technically, Breakers hasn't hired him to dance; the terms of his personal appearance agreement call for him to host: hype the crowd, throw out t-shirts, sign autographs for fans. But this isn't his first gig. Dustin knows that, eventually, he's going to have to perform the routine that made him famous.

Loosened up, Dustin takes advantage of the lull by checking his email. He was scheduled to lead a seminar the next morning in his Econ class at UC [...]

He told us on "Atliens," back in 1996, that he was "cooler than a polar bear's toenails." But now here's proof: Outkast MC, renowned dog lover and overall good guy Big Boi took his family to Seaworld in Orlando recently-and filmed what is surely the best promo spot in the history of marine biology. Also: Judging from early material like "Royal Flush" and "Sumthin' Gotta Give," we have hopes that are high for Big Boi's solo album, Sir Luscious Leftfoot: The Son of Chico Dusty, later this year.