June 2007
Washington Post Series on Cheney's Influence in... →
The last part of the series was posted, so here it is again. Excellent stuff.
Myspace, Facebook, and Class-Divisions Therein →
The article touches on class-centric issues in web design (minimalist restraint vs. bold, almost brash elements) in the midst of covering equally interesting material.
How Rupert Murdoch Cultivates Influence →
Especially note the passage about 3/4ths through the article where a former HarperCollins exec talks about how he doesn’t create a micro-managing, authoritarian atmosphere but instead creates strong incentives for his subordinates to please him in any way possible.
Angler: The Cheney Vice-Presidency →
Touted as “an in-depth investigation of the vice presidency of Dick Cheney, the most influential and powerful man ever to hold the office,” this series also is great for illuminating the mechanics of intra-branch political maneuvering. First two parts are up, with the final two coming in the next 48 hours or so.
Gordon Bell: The Man Who Remembers Everything →
Yet another article about Gordon Bell’s project to record everything he does in the infallible carpace of a computer. There have been several other recent articles on this project, such as one by Scientific American. Heck, I even wrote a piece for the college newspaper that dealt with this. It’s verging on overmined, although the linked article does bring an interesting twist to it in...
Republicans critique the Republican Party →
It includes the usual “we weren’t conservative enough!” excuse for the 2006 elections, but goes into more detail and pits several of their explanations and personalities against each other.
Height as an cultural indicator of health and... →
Yes, another New Yorker article. *sigh*
Angels and Ages →
Another New Yorker piece, this time on the contested deathbed pronouncement of Edwin Stanton on Lincoln’s passage: “now he belongs with the ages” or “now he belongs with the angels”? As with all great studies of rhetoric, the area of study quickly expands to include the quote’s subject, utterer, recipients, and pretty much everything necessary for a panoramic...
Final Destination →
A New Yorker piece on the guy who acquires stuff for the University of Texas archive of writers’ stuff. The guy is fascinating, and the article’s peeks at the material he acquires is incredible. The piece’s author non-explicitly but clearly insinuates that the guy’s in it for the thrill of the hunt far more than any sense of adding to the information available on these...
An American Type of Sadness →
A piece discussing what David Foster Wallace (hereforth known as DFW) and a few other authors try to pin down as some sort of deep sadness about modern America. Yeah, I’m on kind of a DFW kick lately.
“It seems to me that the intellectualization and aestheticizing of principles and...”
– Another giblet of brilliance from David Foster Wallace, this time in a Salon interview about his 1996 book Infinite Jest. He was born in 1962, to give you an idea of which generation he’s talking about. I didn’t come around until ‘86, but it rings true all the same.
“I guess a big part of serious fiction’s purpose is to give the reader, who like...”
– David Foster Wallace giving the best argument for writing fiction that I’ve seen in a long time. It covers a lot, but is vaguely focused around understanding the role of television in American fiction.
“The Pirahã, Everett wrote, have no numbers, no fixed color terms, no perfect...”
– An excellent and incredibly fascinating New Yorker article about the language (and thought-patterns) of the Pirahã.
Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair to hit DVD in... →
Finally, the long-awaited edition that concatenates the two volumes and, given the longer running time, appears to add some extra stuff too.
Alan Moore's Twilight of the Superheroes proposal →
Long, unrealized, and utterly brilliant.
“In some cases people do for their dogs what they don’t do for themselves. They...”
– Josh Schermer, a “dog runner,” in an NY Times article on the phenomenon.
“Freegans are scavengers of the developed world, living off consumer waste in an...”
– An NY Times article on the Freegan social movement.
“‘Crunked’ is like the cool way of saying ‘I got...”
– Local news discovers that 10% of online messages are about drugs or sex. They lead with the former, because local news is rhetorically retarded. And I mean that in the most literal sense. (p.s. this post is me quoting a news article quoting a person quoting an vague collective)
“The nation’s leading electronics retailer has embarked on a...”
– A BusinessWeek article. I wonder if this will tamp the incentive to promote people upwards until they reach a job where they’re not competent enough to continue rising. If they’re rewarded for output, it won’t be tempting to promote them to a harder job where more valuable output...
Things to look for in Ratatouille, according to... →
“Frank’s laugh: It’s a trickster’s sound, a jeer that cuts...”
– Superfly story referenced earlier. This is what I want The Dark Knight to be like.
Parking in New York City →
Yet another one of those regionalisms that are totally baroque to anyone not in the area, especially a kid like me in Kansas.
“With universal [health care], you’d get the same kind of mediocre shittiness...”
– A New York magazine panel-interview with several anonymous doctors. The quote comes near the end and isn’t really representative of the full piece, which is mainly great stories about different experiences on the job.
The Return of Superfly →
The story that inspired Ridley Scott’s upcoming film American Gangster.
WatchI love Japan so much.
“Given the daunting range of problems and opportunities that we face, I’d have...”
– David Brin, amongst wackier prognostications
Nancy Grace Pranked By Own Staff Video →
Elizabeth. Elizabeth. Elizabeth. It’s still up.
EVE Online Players to Elect Anti-Corruption... →
Eve Online is the most interesting online game around, easily besting the thoroughly-hyped Second Life. The political forces at work here are utterly fascinating, and are real-world dilemmas writ large.
WatchPlease don’t homeschool your kids.
Reactee →
Texting + Custom T-shirts -> Social Networking/Activism?
fortuitous →
Matthew Haughey, founder of mega-blog MetaFilter, is churning out well-written, insightful essays on a regular basis over on his new blog Fortuitous. It’s just raw quality, discussing the pitfalls of building online communities in a way that’s pretty plainspoken and not jargon-laden and hagiographic like so many HAY WEB 2.0 WOWZERS manifestos these days.
Busy with work, class, and extracurriculars. Posts will be extra-sparse until at least a week from now, with a 21st birthday coming up and all.
