January 2012
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The Faux-Democratic Ideal of Plain-Spokenness
afleainthefurofthebeast:
Ye gods, I agree with Katie Roiphe. Uh, whiskey, please. “The faux-democratic ideal of plain-spokenness, the sense that a novelist should not write too beautifully or he sacrifices some vaguely articulated, semi-mystical claim to honesty, is not a million miles away from the Sarah Palin-ish suspicion of east coast liberals, or a Harvard education, or people who know the...
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“Klausterfukken.”
– Colbert.
Three films have left me with the same wonderful...
Those three are, chronologically: Midnight in Paris, Hugo, and The Artist. Runner-up: Moneyball.
I can name several entire Oscar years during which those four would all be more legitimate winners than any of the nominees of said year (see: the year Crash won).
Still must see: Melancholia, Drive, assorted others.
(And as I type, on my TV behind me during a Daily Show commercial break,...
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Southern Rep recently received one month’s notice...
wtul:
Southern Rep, the only year-round professional theatre company in New Orleans, recently received one month’s notice that it must vacate its venue of twenty years. At best, this will cause an unplanned increase in expenses and loss of income from canceled activities. At worst, Southern Rep will be forced to relocate to a venue that does not serve the needs of its audience or the community...
Works & Days Quarterly No. 1 →
works-and-days:
Winter 2012
Cool!
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In The Music Box, New Orleans Residents Hear Hope
defendneworleans:
Morgan Sasser/New Orleans Airlift
When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, it left behind a city full of destroyed homes. Despite ongoing rebuilding efforts, thousands of blighted properties remain. Now, a group of artists is creating a structure that is part home, part musical instrument and part inspiration of what can be made of these damaged properties.
...
Tumble with Muck Rack: we're hiring writers
muckrack:
We’re planning to expand Muck Rack’s coverage of the intersection of journalism and social media on this Tumblr-powered site with short, pithy articles. Muck Rack’s content reaches thousands of journalists and media professionals through our Tumblr, Twitter and Muck Rack Daily subscribers.
The new member of our editorial team should have a background covering media, especially social...
I was going to post the highlights of the fake...
Buddy Roemer's campaign staff is following me on...
Now I feel bad about my comment a few days ago about my only memory of Buddy Roemer from when I was little being a campaign commercial that opened with him apologizing for how terrible a governor he was the first time.
(Still, his comments on money in politics have been dead on.)
The Lens: Opinion: 500-year protection for under... →
thelensnola:
By Mark Moseley, The Lens opinion writer
Thursday, The Times-Picayune ran a front-page story on the state’s newly-released 50-year strategy to confront south Louisiana’s coastal loss crisis. Like many previous plans, Louisiana’s 2012 Coastal Master Plan for a Sustainable Coast…
“One in five men of prime working age did not go to work today.”
– Mitch Daniels • Speaking like a fictional character from a different era. (via shortformblog)
SOYLENT GREEN IS PEOPLE!
John Tyler's Grandsons Are Still Alive!
doree:
laphamsquarterly:
Shut UP, history! You are so crazy!
mentalflossr:
Born in 1790, John Tyler was our 10th President. He took office in 1841 after William Henry Harrison died. And he has two living grandchildren!
Not great-great-great-grandchildren. Their dad was Tyler’s son.
How is this possible? The Tyler men have a habit of having kids very late in life. Lyon Gardiner Tyler,...
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On Public Relations: Hierarchy of Book... →
paulbogaards:
Hierarchy of Book Publishing The Top 100 (circa 2012)
1). Brand-name authors (still)
Stephen King (since 1974)
John Grisham (1989)
Patricia Cornwell (1990)
Jodi Picoult (1992)
Nicholas Sparks (1996)
Jennifer Weiner (2001)
Etc.
2). Self-published authors with proven track…
Heh.
For real though...
shorterexcerpts:
fatmanatee:
These are the same people who decided Crash was the best movie one year. Life goes on.
And that American Beauty was better than Magnolia.
Or King’s Speech was better than The Social Network.
Rocky beat Taxi Driver, All the President’s Men, and Network. And Pulp Fiction lost to Forrest motherf’n Gump.
(To be fair, it’s not like there...
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Lots of chatter about how nobody's seen any of the...
I look at that list of movies and—without any extra effort—realize I’ve seen more than half of them already, will be seeing The Artist very soon, have been procrastinating on The Descendants and am just not really interested in War Horse or Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.
Point being: without any special effort, just by going and seeing movies because I love movies, I...
the pantry of an ironman champion
citizenkerry:
One of the most inspirational people I know is a professional triathlete named Hillary Biscay. I don’t encounter much sports in my life these days—pretty much the only cardio I get is when I wake up in the morning to check Rich and Chelsea’s blogs.
I am very skeptical of athletes as inspirational to the rest of us, because usually when athletes talk about how they “worked hard” ...
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“For myself, I wouldn’t go near that pool if you paid me—it is a breeding ground...”
– -Philip Roth Portnoy’s Complaint (via fancymethis)
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Evangelical political hypocrisy is both amusing...
From “Rational Irrationality” over at the New Yorker:
According to the CNN exit poll, twenty-seven per cent of those surveyed said that in deciding how to vote, the religious beliefs of the candidate mattered a great deal to them. In this group, Gingrich got forty-five per cent of the vote, and Romney got nine per cent—yes, nine. Another thirty-three per cent of those questioned said...
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“Writing is often called “news from elsewhere,” and speaking about one world to...”
– Zadie Smith’s “Mind the Gap” over at Guernica (via spectercollective)
Okay, okay. Vernon Davis, you're just as good as...
Seriously, Vernon. Ease up.
And Victor Cruz didn't get a Pro Bowl invite...
Yeah, uh, Giants, I could have told you all it...
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I'll tell you briefly what bothers me about Joe...
Joe Paterno is/was legendary in no small part because of his (rare, we are forced to believe) commitment to excellence both on and off the football field. Academics at Penn State were among his highest priorities—his players (like those, I’m proud to say, of my own alma mater, Southern Miss) consistently ranked among the highest academic achievers in college football, consistently...
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WTUL: ARE YOU CREATIVE?!
wtul:
Are you an aspiring journalist, writer, or visual artist? The Vox, WTUL’s quarterly music & culture magazine, is currently accepting submission for its Spring issue. The Vox is a publication dedicated to promoting forward-thinking musicians and music culture, priding itself on independent music criticism, savvy commentary, and an eye toward the underground, in New Orleans and beyond....
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Donald Barthelme's Reading List
essayist:
A reading list of 81 Books, chosen by the father of post-modern fiction
Flann O’Brien, At Swim Two-Birds
Flann O’Brien, The Third Policeman
Isaac Babel, Collected Short Stories
Borges, Labyrinths
Borges, Other Inquisitions
Garcia Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude
Thomas Bernhard, Correction
Rudy Wurlitzer, Nog
Isaac B Singer, Gimpel the Fool
Bernard Malamud, The...
Donald Barthelme's Syllabus →
essayist:
by Kevin Moffett
There was a time when I fought against an impatience with reading, concealing, with partisanship, the fissures in my education. I confused difficulty with duplicity, and that which didn’t come easily, I often scorned. Then, in my last year of college in Gainesville, Florida, I was given secondhand a list of eighty-one books, the recommendations of Donald Barthelme...
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An open letter to Washington from Artists and... →
neil-gaiman:
An open letter to Washington from Artists and Creators
We, the undersigned, are musicians, actors, directors, authors, and producers. We make our livelihoods with the artistic works we create. We are also Internet users.
We are writing to express our serious concerns regarding the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA).
As creative professionals, we...
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“‘We fucked it up. Everybody wanted to be king. No one wanted to follow. Someone...”
– Mensah Demary, “The Games We Play,” from fwriction : review’s anthology, Year One (via fwriction)