March 2011
51 posts
First Listen: The Mountain Goats, 'All Eternals... →
fastcompany:
Yeah yeah, cue your jokes about us being dads for linking to NPR, but the new Mountain Goats album is so freaking worth it. We like “Damn These Vampires” and “Birth of Serpents” a lot and have it on repeat while we eat carrots and parse John Darnielle’s consistently excellent lyricism. Ugh, it’s just good, check it out already.
This is a charming post that I would totally not...
February 2011
59 posts
Un commentaire (d'un) littéraire
perelaparis:
“In the early ’20s, the Parisian newspaper L’Intransigeant would pose interesting questions to a mix of people including politicians, actors, beggars, businesspeople, the housebound, etc. and see how they mix would react. One question was:
‘The End of the World is irrefutably predicted to occur in a matter of hours. What would be the effect of this prediction on people between...
“What killed the femme fatale? There are several likely suspects — Hollywood, the...”
– “Cherchez la femme fatale,” by Kevin Nance, Obit
“If I were talking to a young writer, I would recommend the cultivation of...”
– John Berryman (via theparisreview)
““China’s biggest strategic resource is not oil, not rare earths, not even...”
– Damien Ma for The Atlantic
capitalize on yellow fever! read the original too (美女税? hahah)
Pizza farm →
bestofwikipedia:
A pizza farm is an educational visitor attraction consisting of a small farm on a circular region of land partitioned into plots shaped like pizza wedges. The farm’s segments produce ingredients that can be used in pizza, such as wheat for the crust, tomatoes or herbs, pork for pepperoni, dairy cows for cheese, and even trees for pizza oven firewood. (via sleevia)
“Well, I mean, this past Saturday night I had a wedding at the Plaza, so I wore a...”
– An Observer interview with the Man Repeller, Leandra Medine.
Question was: You must occasionally find yourself in a situation where you have to dress conventionally.
“I have a tremendous amount of respect for Cassy and Megan and their...”
– “Iowa wrestler defaults rather than face girl,” AP
Disco Ruido - Mrs. Love (Remix ft. Milkman)
“We could tell by looking at her that she was not originally from this country. …...”
– Florida state Rep. Connie O’Brien, a Republican, at a hearing to repeal a law granting in-state tuition to the children of undocumented immigrants. (Submitted by therossbennett)
“The funny thing about all these frothy millions and billions piling up? Most of...”
– David Carr, New York Times, At Media Companies, a Nation of Serfs. A piece about the valuations of companies like HuffPo, Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr that rely on User Generated Content. (via futurejournalismproject)
I worked on a story at Newsweek this summer about how the “serfs” are...
“LOL … well you can take your share of the pie … just like us!!! We will all get...”
– Bell’s assistant city administrator Angela Spaccia, in an email discussing the $400,000 salary being offered to a police chief candidate. Spaccia and seven other current and former Bell officials have been accused of corruption and misuse of city funds. (via officialssay)
“You should—you must!—wink whenever the spirit moves you.”
– Distorted Sexuality; Winking Etiquette - Lorin Stein’s advice column this week (via theparisreview)
“You can just live in the ocean and not have to have anything,” she says.”
– “Why Do Girls Love Horses, Unicorns And Dolphins?,” NPR
The Fresh Air Interview: Church of Scientology,... →
newsweek:
cmonstah:
longreads:
GROSS: There was a meeting that you refer to in your article about Scientology, where people from the New Yorker staff met with representatives from Scientology. What was this meeting about?
Mr. WRIGHT: That was one of the most amazing days of my life. I had been out to Los Angeles to interview Tommy Davis over the Memorial Day weekend. And when he finally...
“On the sixth floor, pass the koi pond and circumvent the crowd weighing...”
– “Josh Tyrangiel, Businessweek’s Boy Wonder,” by Zeke Turner, WWD
Who invented the Single Ladies choreography?
( ) Beyoncé
(x) Will Smith (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air)
Ok, WHAT.
“He shows you his appreciation in different ways,” Mr. Chu added. “Yesterday he...”
– Anybody with even the vaguest appreciation for and/or morbid fascination with Justin Bieber should click here now. (via isiawashere)
Today my geosciences professor called Justin Bieber, “Owen Bieber.” It was excellent.
“Washington’s “with us or against us” mentality, regrettably, quickly demonized...”
– “Not Coming to America,” by Wadah Khanfar, Newsweek
“A South Sudanese girl is more likely to die in childbirth than to learn to read...”
– Last month’s referendum has confirmed that South Sudan will become a sovereign country. But it will struggle to prosper. (via theeconomist)
On iPhones
Will: it's like an abusive significant other
Me: yeah or stockholm syndrome
Will: it gets you into shitty situations that it then saves you from and you ascribe all your wellbeing to it
Me: that was for real my relationship with my OA leaders.
Will: "holy shit there's an open bar rap show in brooklyn right now! let's go!" maps -> get there -> get lost and mugged -> get back with maps again
Will: "oh my god i would have been dead if it weren't for my iphone."
Will: jesus i really need to work
Me: i need to get to the next level of angry birds. so... you go work
It May Be a Sputnik Moment, but Science Fairs Are... →
Rarely have school science fairs, a source of pride and panic for generations of American students, achieved such prominence on the national stage. President Obama held one at the White House last fall. And last week he said that America should celebrate its science fair winners like Sunday’s Super Bowl champions, or risk losing the nation’s competitive edge.
[snip]
In middle school,...
WatchAmazing video of an uncontacted tribe in the Amazon.
Sweater curse →
bestofwikipedia:
Knitters use the term “sweater curse” or “curse of the love sweater” to describe a situation in which a knitter gives a hand-knit sweater to a significant other, who quickly breaks up with the knitter. In an alternative formulation, the relationship will end before the sweater is even completed. The belief is widely discussed in knitting publications and some knitters claim to...
Evacuating Egypt →
Here’s a piece I wrote for Newsweek’s education site about the evacuation of American students in Egypt.
Saturday was a particularly scary night for students in Middlebury College’s Schools Abroad program:
As college staff at Middlebury frantically arranged the students’ exit, Joyce spent part of Saturday night wielding a broomstick on the street with the neighborhood watch...
