Esquire articles from February 2002

Esquire archives from February 2002

Out of the past. (Editor's Letter).(Editorial)
February 1, 2002... I ALWAYS FIGURED that George Santayana regretted writing the old chestnut that those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. I imagine the guy sitting around some saloon late one night, blowing hard, as he was wont to do, and at two or...

The marine. (The Sound & the Fury).(Letter to the Editor)
February 1, 2002... Mike Sager also went into the field with Lieutenant Colonel Robert Sinclair and the 1st Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, as it trained at Camp Pendleton in California ("The Marine," December). Sinclair and his men shipped out for possible action...

Bragging rights. (The Sound & the Fury).(Letter to the Editor)
February 1, 2002... Taking stock during a time of high anxiety, writer at large Charles P. Pierce wrote up a master list of the best things about being a man in America (December). Our readers were inspired to pass on some ideas of their own, adding some important...

Laura Elena Harring. (Man at His Best).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... What qualifies Laura Elena Harring as a Woman We Love? Consider this: She was a professional tango dancer, once married and divorced a German count (which still makes her a countess), was Miss U. S. A., toiled as a social worker in India,...

The best & worst of culture this month. (The Excerpts).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Best Drug Etymology "The word `hip'... may have derived from the classic, age-old, pelvic-centered, side-lying opium-smoking position, and may have been used originally as a sign of mutual recognition and reference by those who were in the...

A nasty little Oscar war. (Hollywood dispatch).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... IF YOU LIKED the first 20 minutes of Saving Private Ryan, you'll love Black Hawk Down, the new movie about the disastrous 1993 mission in Somalia that culminated with the bodies of U.S. servicemen being dragged through the streets. It may...

A sweet aphrodisiac. (Desire).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... A Sweet Aphrodisiac We recently came upon K Sensual, a new line of herbal chocolates that promises to "create heightened sensual awareness" in your girlfriend or wife. Sort of a confectionery Spanish fly, complete with dubious-sounding...

Scent of a man. (Desire).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Scent of a Man After that initial quick spray, the relationship between how good you smell and how much cologne you're wearing is pretty much inversely proportional. That said, there's nothing wrong with a fragrant man. Just follow this...

Newswomen we love. (Entertainment).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Newswomen We Love Yeah, there's Ashleigh Banfield--but she's just the flashy prom queen who gets all the attention. In these troubled, news-heavy times, we've fallen for several other enticing women with immovable helmets of hair. If there's...

Trend of two: projects about the dark underbelly of kiddie TV. (Entertainment).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... TREND OF TWO: Projects about the Dark Underbelly of Kiddie TV, Hey, kids, can you spell pasquinade? In next month's film Death to Smoochy, Ed Norton (near left) plays a beloved Barney-like rhinoceros character targeted for assassination. Then...

Maura, the better. (Entertainment).(Brief Article)(Interview)
February 1, 2002... WE KNOW WHAT YOU'RE THINKING: Alas, another updated Shakespeare movie. But don't you worry. Scotland, PA--which is blissfully low on WB teens-is a different animal, a darkly comic version of Macbeth (James LeGros plays the man himself) set in a...

For the man who doesn't want to rest in peace. (The Merchandise).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... FOR THE MAN WHO DOESN'T WANT TO REST IN PEACE Decorating is not your manliest of activities--ranks up there with baking Bundt cakes and listening to Edith Piaf records. Still, you can dabble and maintain your virile image, especially when you...

For the man who values punctuality. (The Merchandise).(newly designed watches)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... FOR THE MAN WHO VALUES PUNCTUALITY Can an inanimate object be considered witty? Oscar Wilde is probably cringing right now, but we're going to say yes, especially if the designer is Philippe Starck. The new watches he created in association...

For the man who likes his luxury homemade. (The Merchandise).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... FOR THE MAN WHO LIKES HIS LUXURY HOMEMADE My color-blind grandpa Tex bought a dandelion-yellow Cadillac DeVille back in 68, He thought it was white, It didn't matter, He had his four-wheeled part of the American dream. Tex passed away a few...

For the man who wants cold feet. (The Merchandise).
February 1, 2002... FOR THE MAN WHO WANTS COLD FEET Or, to be precise, cool feet, Adidas is introducing its remarkably comfortable ClimaCool sneaker, a ventilated mesh shoe--complete with airholes in the heel--that slashes the temperature below. Available in...

The best American food in the U.S. of A. (Food & Drink).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... As I sit contemplating a dish of grilled pigeon breast with artichoke moo shu in a blacksoybean-and-caramel sauce, I wonder, Whatever happened to the "New American Cuisine' movement of the 1980s, when young chefs used their talents to bring...

Some very cool wines. (Food & Drink).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... My first unpleasant brush with "ice wine"--a gossip colurnnist's request for ice cubes in her Pouilly-Fuisse back when I was just a baby sommelier--could never have prepared me for the grandeur of the real deal, which is miles from both ice...

Million-dollar ideas.
February 1, 2002... Million-Dollar Ideas Dick Cheney's Secure and Undisclosed Spa and Conference Center... Previously owned fine meat... TiVo for neighborhood security cameras... Earwax corkscrews... E-ZPass for airport security checkpoints... New Spice...

17 other ways contraction can make the world better. (Opinions).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... You've no doubt heard that basebakball commissioner Bud Selig plans to reduce the number of major league teams by two. But maybe Mr. Selig shouldn't stop there. The world just might be improved if we rid ourselves of the two worst things from...

The endorsement: [canned laughter]. (Opinions).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... THE ENDORSEMENT: [Canned Laughter] Imagine if life had a laugh track. How sweet would that be? Those wisecracks that you tossed out at the morning meeting about your failing golf game would have been met not with a few condescending chuckles...

Manly car paint adultery & Uncle Sam's meat. (The Answer Fella).(Letter to the Editor)
February 1, 2002... Esquire's Answer Fella believes that there are no stupid questions, just stupid people who don't ask questions, fearing they'll look stupid. So ask Answer Fella anything. If he doesn't know the answer, he'll find out who does, or who has a...

Be well dressed: this month's picks for what to buy, where to buy it, and how to make it your own. (The Essential).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... UNO! Sure, straight three-button suit became tile standard in booming 1998, when minimalism peaked, simple lines (read; boxiness) were the thing, and suits were about as stylized as an `86 volvo. But times have changed, and anything that...

The greatest: microsoft--despite the feds, the states, the competition, the democrats, the economy, and a risky fight plan--wins. (The portfolio: a man and his money).
February 1, 2002... MICROSOFT IS UP 30 percent since the World Trade Center disaster. And it's the best bargain there is, worthy of every spare $65 you have. It's not the products. It's not the economy. It's the politics. Until the high-tech industry emerged,...

Small comforts: the fall TV season was reassuring, wholesome even. But as the best new shows demonstrate, wholesomeness ain't what it used to be. (The Screen).(television programs)(Industry Overview)
February 1, 2002... AFTER SEPTEMBER 11, the Nielsen tea leaves told an industry anxiously wondering which way to jump that Americans wanted comfort TV--silly sitcoms and virtuous conventional dramas like JAG. Once upon a time--for most of the medium's existence,...

The mystic: after eighteen seasons in the NBA, John Stockton is still a sorcerer, as baffling to his opponents on the court as he is to his fans off it. (Sports).(Utah Jazz basketball player)
February 1, 2002... I'VE SEEN HIM once in public. It was in a hotel lobby downtown, middle of the day. There were a lot of people standing around, shoulder to shoulder, and, suddenly, there was John Stockton walking toward me, smiling as if he knew me. I was...

Anxiety is funny. Panic is hard: after years of writing for Seinfeld, how hard could life be? Well, there's the fear of swallowing tongue. An exploration of panic attacks. (The Body).(panic attacks)
February 1, 2002... IT SHOULD BE NOTED that the following account of a sudden onslaught of panic attacks should be told in the first person, but he can't face up. After all, this is galaxies outside his self-image. He'd always been so calm, his heart rate normally...

(Mel) Gibson: he has taken lives and Academy Awards in thirteen-century Scottish rebellions, the revolutionary war, and World War I, and is now headed into Vietnam. Sometimes we can be so deep into our war movies that we miss what's happening in the war we're living through. (Cover Story).(Cover Story)
February 1, 2002... PRICE'S FATHER was in the Army. Steve's was in the Navy, as mine had been, and we fought World War II endlessly in the `woods at the end of Richard Avenue, our battles bounded by the high school grounds, the power-company dump, and the yard of...

The pugilists.(men's clothing)
February 1, 2002... The Wall of Fame says it all. There are posters and photos of Muhammad Ali, Roberto Duran, Thomas Hearns, Michael Spinks, Larry Holmes, and more than a hundred champions who've ground sweat into the floorboards of Gleason's Gym. When you step...

Dick & Don go to war: a legendary political partnership forged more than thirty years ago in the Nixon White House, is now being put to the test. This is a story of power wielded power lost, and power regained of two tough guys at the center of the greatest crisis our country has faced since World War II.(Sec of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and VP Dick Cheney)
February 1, 2002... THERE'S ONE STORY that says the whole thing. It was 1995, in the summer. Dick Cheney and a couple guys were on horseback in Yellowstone, clomping down a trail toward the river, heading for a fishing hole. It was muggy, hot. Bugs thick in the...

How to be a better man: the lost arts: a guide to those things our grandfathers did so effortlessly, but about which we know slightly less than squat.(old social customs)
February 1, 2002... Assorted randomly, and illuminated by numerous diagrams, plans, sketches and proposals, where applicable The Lost Art of Oration By Mario Cuomo Orations don't occur much anymore because they take time, and people don't have the...

Bill O'Reilly: [Talk-show host, 52, New York City]. (What I've learned).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... There's no excuse for eating rice cakes at any time. It's like eating dust. What are they doing here? Never been with a hooker, never been on a blind date. My ego's too big. Yes, I get angry when the federal government spends $100,000...

The toughest woman on TV: God bless Jennifer Garner of Alias, a girl who fights like a man. (Women We Love).(Brief Article)(Interview)
February 1, 2002... Jennifer Garner admits that Sydney Bristow, the double agent she plays, on ABC's Alias, might lose a fight wire some of her peers in the ass-kicking-women genre. "Buffy has supernatural powers, the Dark Angel is genetically altered, and Lara...

Mr. Popular: Thad Pope was the most famous young man in my grade school. His princely status was no accident. Our fleeting frienship was.(Short Story)
February 1, 2002... EVERY NIGHT before going to bed, my boyfriend, Hugh, steps outside to consider the stars. His interest is not scientific--he doesn't pinpoint the constellations or make casual references to Canopus. Rather, he just regards the mass of them,...

However measured.(men's clothing)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Jim Caviezel, left and Elias Koteas, next page, are two of the most distinctive actors working. On the following pages, their Individuality is enhanced by an entirely new idea of made-to-measure clothing. If you're a regular peruser of the...

The secret lives of suburban stoners: you've got the mortgage, the mini-van the College fund, the problems of the world. Your neighbors may have a little something to help.
February 1, 2002... SHE'S IN THE ANTIQUE BUSINESS, so her house is stuffed with every kind of Queen Anne Stickley needlepoint Tiffany thing you could imagine. On the dining table, she's got the most elaborate place settings I've ever seen at the home of a peer....

19 list you'll never see in a major magazine. (This Way Out).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Travel + Leisure 8 Funniest Jokes to Play on Airport Security Audubon 6 Genuses We Could Probably Do Without ESPN 25 Greatest Moments of the Michael Jordan Comeback Catholic Digest 2 Most Powerful Members of the Holy Trinity ...