Word: peculiar
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...deep and touching way, an American tragedy. The incident at Jonestown could have happened only to Americans: the People's Temple arose out of social conditions absolutely indigenous to this country. Though the final mass suicide was bizarre and unprecedented, the force lying behind it are forces peculiar to America. The proof lies in the public's outrage--some deep nerve of the national consciousness has been touched. After all, 300 Vietnamese died in a boat a week after the mass suicide and no one noticed--the news was buried by the cult stories still appearing...
Elsewhere, prohibition sentiment lives on in a variety of peculiar rules. In Washington State, an obscure law bans the word saloon in the name of any beverage or place of business. Last April the Olympia Brewing Co. made the mistake of launching a new brand called Buckhorn Saloon: it had to destroy 1,751 cases and ship another 4,000 to other states. In Utah, restaurants can only provide setups. A customer can either bring his own bottle or he can buy his liquor from a state-licensed bar at the establishment; the law says the customer must walk...
...trap, much less joust with a man in armor. The sets are also symbolic, rather than realistic-sculptured trees, cardboard castles, painted skies-and they have the strange beauty of a Dali painting. But the beauty quickly palls. Rohmer's films have always been an acquired and sometimes peculiar taste, like snails. Even for diehards, however, Perceval may seem, alas, more like tripe...
However, the two slow ballads from 52nd Street point up the peculiar failing of this album. Both songs work from the success of "Just the Way You Are," but neither is as sincere. "Honesty" is innocent enough, a sweet, simple melody which allows Joel to experiment with a soft vocal. But the song smacks of Elton John's "Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word," and falls flat into a canned, pop sound...
Nevertheless, Geraldine Ferraro eagerly trots down the campaign trail, suffering the trials common to all candidates as well as those peculiar to women. A staff member makes a scheduling mistake, and she ends up at a marina when she is supposed to be at another boat basin; the March of Dimes bike-a-thon starts without her. As she walks down a Queens street handing out literature, one woman whispers to her husband: "She's very pretty, isn't she?" A man urges her to "get the electric chair going as soon as possible." At a housing project, a middle...