June 2010
Tuna's End →
One of the more frustrating parts of watching The Cove was how the filmmakers were distracted by dolphins and failed to get into the very clear inevitability that we’ll overfish the oceans in general, not just dolphins. I understand the reasons - dolphins are cute, Taiji is clearly horrifying in its secrecy and scope, and stopping dolphin fishing is a pretty achievable goal - but it’s...
WatchThe first teaser for The Social Network, a new film by David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin about the founding of Facebook. Calling it now: this will be a surprise movie that blindsides everyone on release in October, or becomes a cult film afterwards on DVD release.
(And before anyone scoffs at the premise, I’m almost certain that this film will be about Facebook in the same way that Zodiac was...
“Human beings are narrative animals: every culture countenances itself as culture...”
– David Foster Wallace, “Fictional Futures and the Conspicuously Young” in The Review of Contemporary Fiction, Vol. 8, No. 3 (Fall 1988).
, he typed into the Tumblr “Add a Quote” page.
If this is my legacy to the world, I will be...
Chewing gum on your shoes can suck, but the worst is when it migrates from your shoes to the carpet. There are a few different tricks to use, one of which is using an ice-cube to try and freeze the gum off. HOWEVER, thanks to the marvels of modern technology, there’s a better way: compressed air.
One of the long-running Stupid Male Tricks of Science has been that if you turn a compressed...
What Broke My Father's Heart →
In today’s NY Times Magazine, Katy Butler chronicles how her father’s pacemaker extended his life far beyond his capacity to live it. It’s incredibly sad and shows a side of the health care debate that doesn’t get discussed enough. If you read anything this week, read this.
She’s already listed some of the resources used to help her understand what her father was...
Bell Orchestre - Air Lines / Land Lines
Somehow,...
“Reading magazine fiction is a crapshoot. I think that’s why many New Yorker...”
– Frank Kovarik, writing in The Millions about The New Yorker’s new list of promising writers under 40.
This is pretty much why I don’t read the fiction (or poetry) in The New Yorker, despite reading the rest cover-to-cover on good weeks.
