Word: smug
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FOOLS PROVIDE the tabloids with copy, the wise with confidence, and the timid with smug self-satisfaction; often symbolizing an era to a degree aesthetes are unwilling to admit. Harry Crosby would have made a superlative court jester. If ever an artist appropriated the spirit of his era it was Crosby. This golden-haired nephew of J.P. Morgan spent a lifetime scrambling after insight and sensations others had long since experienced; obsessed with material possessions and the construction of elaborate mythologies. Yet his diaries ruthlessly expose foibles, and paint portraits in the starkest tones...
That may seem a bit presumptious for most coaches--considering the team does not start practicing until today--but if you were coming off an 11-1 season and had nine returning lettermen, you too might be tempted to be a bit smug about your chances...
Earth Gimble, the host, is a preternatural populist. Under a blond tuft of mustache, he sports the same smug smile for everyone, turning it off only when his sidekick, Jerry Hubbard, ventures beyond the bounds of propriety, Fern-wood-style. Gimble, played by Martin Mull, 33, is the best Lear character since Archie Bunker, and Hubbard (Fred Willard, 33), the dumber-than-dumb Edith Bunker of this most odd couple, is not far behind. Any comparison to Johnny Carson and Ed McMahon is, of course, purely intentional...
...corralled five maverick votes and was conducting an "underground" search for more to hammer together a minority government. The alternative was a coalition with the National Salvation Party (24 seats), which Demirel was forced to take into the current government. The N.S.P. leader is Necmettin Erbakan, 51, a smug hard-liner who insists that Turkey made a "concession" on Cyprus by not occupying the entire island. Commented Justice Party Deputy Nuri Bayar with a bitter smile: "We could wind up in a tug of war over a politician that neither side wants. That's the Oriental side of Turkish...
...booming cannon are heard, mingled curiously with birds singing. A red neon sign floats up from the stage, flashes on: SILENCE, it commands. The theatre-goers giggle nervously; Stoppard wants you to feel the tension. This is his show and you are the interloper here. The sign seems a smug reminder. The lights go up to reveal a harmless joke: the set is the public library in Zurich--I don't think you should talk during library hours, sir--especially if Mr. Joyce is over here up right center hard at work on Ulysses and Mr. Ulyanov is down left...