A recording of Tony Danza reading “The Barber’s Unhappiness,” a funny story from George Saunders‘ collection in Pastoralia. The book was quite good, but hearing a story like this makes it even better. [thanks, austin]
Business on the back of the napkin, a slideshow of basic doodling frameworks: portraits, charts, maps & timelines.
The Story of Stuff, a big-picture overview of consumption. The animation is surprisingly good at times and there’s some clever sound, too (shaky economics and eco-paranoia aside). “You cannot run a linear system on a finite planet indefinitely.”
Scott Rosenberg is giving away paperback editions of his book, Dreaming in Code. I liked it—no reason not to snag a copy.
“Email apnea is temporary absence or suspension of breathing, or shallow breathing, while doing email.” [via collision detection]
Bill Withers explains the origin of “Ain’t No Sunshine”:
Women can say stuff like, “I loved him, I really, really loved him. But he just left. Why’d he leave like that?”
Men, given the same situation, usually say something like, “I’m glad the old jive broad split, man,” knowing all the time that it’s really killing them […]
I rediscovered Chuck Klosterman this week. Even when I don’t buy a word he writes, it’s usually just plain fun to read. From a good review of his book I’m reading now, Chuck Klosterman IV:
Younger generations of Americans urgently need to learn to refuse their culture at face value, lest the stories sold by media […]
If you’ve ever worked in a library (I’ve put in a couple years), or if you just like libraries and spend inordinate amounts of time there (I’ve put in a couple dozen years), Don Borchert’s book may give you a bit of déjà vu. Somehow he got the same customers I got, even though he […]
Live performance in the age of supercomputing, a good essay on the past & present of electronic music, and how we make it happen:
The more operations that a computer in the bedroom studio was able to carry out, the more complex the musical output could be, and the less possible it was to re-create the […]
Each chapter of Faint Praise features a measured, workmanlike argument about topics like book selection, or matching reviewers and books, or the ethical minefields of the industry. Surprisingly thoughtful but not exciting. Gail Pool doesn’t work up much outrage or seem very enthusiastic about the status of the book reviewing trade. She doesn’t spend a […]
“The reality is that democracy is a very blunt instrument, and in today’s environment we are choosing between ways of muddling through. We may hear that the election is about different visions for America’s future, but the pitches may be more akin to selling different brands of soap.”
When characters in books get hit, they tend to get hit in the solar plexus. [via vqr]
Each chapter of The Party of the First Part: The Curious World of Legalese takes on a broad topic, like criminal law, tort, money, or sex. Author Adam Freedman brings up the main vocabulary (habeas corpus, misdemeanor, legal tender) and some of the more obscure ideas (per stirpes, res ipsa loquitur), exploring their roots along […]
Chigurh vs. Plainview. I like Javier Bardem’s comments about letting go of the backstory for his role:
Maybe the character’s mother didn’t feed him when he was 5 years old, or something like that…. I started to do that [imagining a “backstory” for Chigurh], but then I realized… in this case, it would be much more […]
A couple years ago, Alex Ross rounded up some literature on applause during concerts:
Up until the beginning of the twentieth century, applause between movements and even during movements was the sign of a knowledgeable, appreciative audience, not of an ignorant one. The biographies of major composers are full of happy reports of what would […]
An economic perspective on long-distance relationships. In addition to the financial side, economist Tyler Cowen says “There’s also the problem of pressure. You get on a flight or you drive for a few hours, and then it’s like, ‘Gee, we need to have a lot of fun right now.’ You don’t get to experience much […]
Why Mars & Venus Colllide is about stress and communication between men and women. Our modern lifestyle is breakneck-paced, relationship roles have changed, our responsibilities and stress levels grow as our time to deal with them decreases. Welcome to today, nothing new. So what do you do?
According to John Gray, the first step is to […]
Michael Pollan has condensed his writing into a little manifesto on eatin’ right.
I like these clothes hangers, simple leather balls tethered to the wall. They couldn’t be that hard to make on my own.
A strong critique of The King of Kong. Interesting bit of controversy there. I still loved it.
Stradivarius: legendary quality, mystery. It’s upper-crust and exotic. How did Stradivari make such wonderful instruments? What sort of alchemy was involved, and why haven’t we solved it yet? John Marchese’s book The Violin Maker: Finding a Centuries-Old Tradition in a Brooklyn Workshop talks about the mysteries and realities of violin-making. His book follows the work […]
The brown note is (supposedly) the ultra-low frequency at which humans lose control of their bowels.
Video mash-up of political candidates talking about “Change” (ugh) + David Bowie’s song, “Changes.”
“It is important to use your hands, this is what distinguishes you from a cow or a computer operator.” -Paul Rand
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