Shots in the Dark

The New York Observer reports on some news about the Harvard-centric magazine.

George Lois, creator of Esquire‘s most iconic magazine covers of the 1960s and Pentagram’s Luke Hayman have been tapped to redesign the magazine. Jamie Hooper, who launched Giant, magazine in 2004, will be 02138‘s new publisher. And David Blum, the editorial director of Manhattan Media and the editor in chief of the New York Press, will become editor-in-chief of 02138 when it resumes printing with its December/January issue.

The Observer notes that Blum didn’t go to Harvard, but Blum doesn’t think it will be a problem.

“I’ve always found that in my career that a certain distance is healthy,” he says. “I’m sort of glad that I have an open mind about the whole thing.”

The New York Post also reports on 02138 (owners Manhattan Media obviously put out a press release).

The moribund magazine about Harvard University, 02138, is about to get a major facelift and an infusion of high-level talent as new owner Manhattan Media gets set to relaunch the magazine as a bi-monthly beginning with the December/ January issue.

“I feel our team is now on a par with our readers,” said [Manhattan Media CEO Tom] Allon.

I wish them luck, of course, but am sad to see that not a single member of the former 02138 editorial staff survived the transition to the new ownership—not even co-founders Bom Kim and Dan Loss. And what will happen to the Harvard 100, the magazine’s most popular editorial feature, which typically ran in September?

Given that there will be close to a year between issues, you have to consider the forthcoming issue virtually a relaunch….

Here’s another positive consequence of $4 gas: the surging popularity of the Smart car.

Here’s a telling story that the Washington Post dug up: For years U.S. Air Force officials have been pushing to get anti-terrorism money spent on creating what are essentially luxury boxes for them in military airplanes.

The Air Force’s top leadership sought for three years to spend counterterrorism funds on “comfort capsules” to be installed on military planes that ferry senior officers and civilian leaders around the world, with at least four top generals involved in design details such as the color of the capsules’ carpet and leather chairs, according to internal e-mails and budget documents.

…Air Force documents spell out how each of the capsules is to be “aesthetically pleasing and furnished to reflect the rank of the senior leaders using the capsule,” with beds, a couch, a table, a 37-inch flat-screen monitor with stereo speakers, and a full-length mirror.

Outrageous though this is, don’t you just imagine it’s merely the tip of the iceberg?

In the Times, Mark Liebovich profiles the odious, oleaginous senator from Connecticut.

Mr. Lieberman’s already precarious marriage with the Democrats has reached a new level of discord and could be approaching divorce, if not necessarily a remarriage into the Republican Party. The strain has been rooted largely in Mr. Lieberman’s steadfast support for the Bush administration’s engagement in Iraq and his hawkish views on Iran. He has not ruled out switching parties but has stopped short of saying he has moved so far from theDemocratic Party — or, in his view, the other way around — that he is at a point of no return.

What’s clear is that Lieberman’s career has been one extended fit of petulance ever since he almost lost his Senate seat to Ned Lamont, a rich anti-war candidate with virtually no political experience.

Though Lieberman proclaims himself a principled independent, he’s not. If that were the case, he’d leave the Democratic Party and join the GOP. But that would end the mutual courtship of Lieberman that comes from both parties, since in a Senate (barely) controlled by Dems, 51-49, a potential party-changer holds enormous power.

If Lieberman actually acted his principles and switched to the GOP—he is, after all, campaigning for John McCain and may speak at the Republican convention—then the courtship would end, his privileged stature gone.

So he sulks, and meanwhile proclaims himself a man of principle rather than a silly child whose feelings were hurt and refuses to grow up and get over it.

Two magazine covers are making news. I’m going to let you be the judge…..

Here’s the first…

And here’s the second….

Are they as different as they might at first glance seem?

The AL wins the All-Star game, the Mets’ ace reliever blows a save, and Jonathan Papelbon, one of the most unlikeable people in the history of the world, probably, gets booed.

Meanwhile, I couldn’t help but notice some unintentional pieces of symbolism.

Outside my new office on West 40th Street near Bryant Park yesterday was a long row of huge Chevy trucks, each designated to tote a player along the red-carpeted Sixth Avenue.

At least four people joked to me that, well, GM had to do something with those trucks, since it couldn’t actually sell them….

I was also amused by Budweiser ads describing the beer as “the great American lager.” Um…not any more!

A thing that inspires me about New York is that, crazy expensive though it is, young people still come here to pursue their artistic dreams.

Case in point: The Worth magazine offices are (until tomorrow, when we move) right next to the business offices of the Robb Report, a luxury lifestyle magazine. I’ve come to know some of the Robb Report employees a bit; several are just the kind of people mentioned above, young writers trying to make enough money in their day jobs to support their creative desire.

Take the case of Marcus Jackson, whose title, he tells me, is “mailroom specialist.” He’s one of those guys who does a bit of everything in the office and is consequently invaluable.

I learned recently that Marcus, a quiet and unassuming guy, has an MFA from NYU. This is a big week for him: This week, his poem, “Mary at the Tattoo Shop,” is published in the New Yorker.

The poem’s great. What’s even greater is the idea of a guy working in a mail room, sending his work to the most esteemed magazine in the country, and ultimately seeing it published in the pages of that magazine. Poetry, indeed.

Yup. I arrived home at about 10 last night after 26 hours of traveling. The most difficult of them came upon arrival in the United States. If vacation is like feeling fresh and clean after a great shower, then New York City airports are like a coat of grime.

Contrast Newark with Singapore. In Singapore, luggage carts are free. In Newark, $3. In Singapore, wireless is free (and computer stations are everywhere). In Newark, I don’t think it even exists. In Singapore, customs is a model of efficiency. In Newark, they couldn’t figure out which line American citizens should enter. (You’d think they’d have that down by this point.) In Singapore, the bathrooms are spotless. Newark…

Singapore also has congestion pricing, by the way, and though not everyone loves it, it seems to work pretty well.

And because my flight was late due to a computer problem, Singapore Airlines gave every passenger a small gift-a Singapore Airlines keychain. Okay, I’d rather have been on time. But can you imagine an American airline doing such a thing?

All of which is not to say that I’d trade places; I never entirely trust a country where the people wait for a green light to cross the street. But there’s no reason any of the small steps listed above couldn’t happen here. They make a big difference in travelers’ experiences.

I’ve long thought that returning to New York is the most stressful part of any vacation, and it’s just a shame that it is that way, when there’s no good reason for it…..

That said, the trip was wonderful. I’ll write more about it and post some more photos in the time to come. At the moment, work beckons.

Sunset on the beach in Seminyak, Bali.

A lovely nudibranch on the drop-off at Tulamben, Bali….