The mouth of a perfectly contented man is filled with beer
The genre of the term-paper book requires an author to pick a precise subject—often an edible one, like salt or chocolate or olive oil—and dig up as many relevant anecdotes and factoids as research will allow. It's a forced, gimmicky method of viewing the world through a thimble.
But Tom Standage's bright idea really is bright: A History of the World in 6 Glasses, a book that divides world history into beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea and Coca-Cola Ages. Far from being frivolous, the author has legitimate points to make. And his book is loaded with the kind of data that get talked about at the figurative water cooler. As the beverage of the moment, water gets an epilogue and becomes the seventh drink under discussion.
Mr. Standage moves chronologically through what he cannot resist calling "the flow of history." He begins with humanity's shift from hunting and gathering to agriculture. This transition led to the cultivation of grain, which led to storage and fermentation and, eventually, beer. Only one more major development—the creation of crockery—was necessary. By around 4000 B.C., according to a Mesopotamian pictogram included here, human beings had learned to stick straws into big, communally shared beer vessels.
Beer was a controversial substance right from the start. Mr. Standage digs up both a laudatory Egyptian proverb ("The mouth of a perfectly contented man is filled with beer.") and a warning ("Take not upon thyself to drink a jug of beer. Thou speakest, and an unintelligible utterance issueth from thy mouth."). And he points out that the workers who built Egypt's pyramids were paid in beer. Fortunately, the pyramids came out straight.
Moving on to his second substance, Mr. Standage quotes implicit praise from Aristophanes: "Quickly, bring me a beaker of wine, so that I may wet my mind and say something clever." Once the cultivation of grapes led to wine production, the new beverage took on connotations of privilege and sophistication. The book abounds in oenological exotica like this: King Scorpion I of Egypt was buried with 700 jars of wine, imported at great expense from the Levant around 3150 B.C.
The book cites assorted classical assessments of wine consumption, most notably Plutarch's: "The drunkard is insolent and rude ... On the other hand, the complete teetotaler is disagreeable and more fit for tending children than presiding over a drinking party." More seriously, it describes how wine had a strictly defined role in the Roman world, with different forms of the drink used to indicate social strata. Mr. Standage goes on to associate Islam's ban on wine consumption with the goal of separating the Muslim world from Christian influence. He links the differences between wine-drinking and beer-drinking habits of Europe (southern and northern, respectively) with the boundaries of the Roman Empire.
The history of spirits—most notably rum, whiskey and brandy—has particularly far-reaching implications. Mr. Standage traces the process of distillation back to Arab Andalusia and illustrates its influence on slavery, once sugar crops became central to alcohol-making. He then follows rum across the Atlantic, in the form of the citrus-flavored sailors' grog that warded off scurvy (and gave British sailors "limey" as a nickname). He explains why rum was more likely to be found on the coast of the American colonies, whereas whiskey flourished inland, where it bedeviled the native population.
The book's sober side is equally enveloping. "Western Europe began to emerge from an alcoholic haze that had lasted for centuries," Mr. Standage writes, by way of introducing coffee's contribution to the spirit of enlightenment. He follows the influence of coffee from Ethiopian goats (said to grow frisky after eating caffeinated berries) to London, where it had become deeply ingrained by the 17th century. "Thence to the coffee-house" was one of Samuel Pepys's favorite locutions.
The coffeehouse connection to the exchange of ideas is linked to the origins of Lloyds of London, the Stock Exchange and the French Revolution. ("It literally began at a café.") In this context, with the organizational fluidity that unifies this compendium, the conjunction of Seattle, Starbucks and innovative software becomes part of an understandable progression.
- JANET MASLIN, "The Happy Hour, Changing the Course of History," new york times may 30, 2005
posted May 30, 2005 in printonly those of us who ... loathe being manipulated
"Nobody has the magic wand, or there'd be movies like this done all the time," said Ted Chapin, president of the Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization, who estimates that anniversary-related activities surrounding "The Sound of Music" have occupied more than 90 percent of his time in the last two months. "In retrospect, it's a very good story, with very good tunes. The score doesn't really sound like a score written by 60-year-old men. There's a kind of youthfulness and honesty to the songs, about how to learn music, but also how to break down barriers. It doesn't sound like someone's trying to phony something up."
Even [Pauline] Kael implicitly acknowledged the movie's power.
"Whom could it offend?" she asked in her famous McCall's drubbing. "Only those of us who, despite the fact that we may respond, loathe being manipulated."
- TODD S. PURDUM, "The Hills Still Resonate,", new york times may 30, 2005
posted May 30, 2005 in printrelocating
in just a few days, dante woo will be coming to you from boston, not new york. for six months. freakin' out...
posted May 27, 2005 in deliveryfox news freudian slip
From the May 25 edition of Fox News Live:
ASMAN: You're the chairman of the rules committee. Did Senator [Bill] Frist [R-TN] have the votes to end the filibuster?- "Fox Freudian slip: Asman asked Lott why a compromise was needed when 'we' had the votes for the nuclear option," media matters for america may 25, 2005 posted May 27, 2005 in politics, speechLOTT: I believe that he did. It would have been very close. We would have probably gotten a 50-50 tie vote, with the vice president breaking the tie. Perhaps we'd have had 51 before it was over. I do think it's a rule that should be in place because what the Democrats have been doing is not, you know, protecting a rule, they have been causing something different. The filibusters on a serial basis, federal judicial nominees to the appellate courts, was unprecedented for 214 years. So, to put that rule in place saying that it only takes 51 votes to confirm these judges was something I thought we should do. Remember now --
ASMAN: So, Senator, if we should have done it and if we had the votes to do it in the Senate -- if you guys in the Republican Party did -- then why did you need a compromise?
LOTT: Well, you know, I would argue that we probably should have gone forward with the vote, all things considered.
from crazy old guy on the e train
i was reading about chuck close and lou reed on the subway (kew gardens to midtown), and a crazy old guy started reading over my shoulder. i'm remembering this from 4 weeks ago, so my memory is hazy except for the parts he said that i jotted down:
- "don't get stuck in the mud of old ideas"
- "if something tickles your brain, don't be afraid of new ideas"
the rest is illegible, but he was neat.
posted May 25, 2005 in deliverymore from that creepy spokane mayor
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) - New allegations of misconduct surfaced Tuesday against Mayor James West, who has rejected demands for his resignation amid allegations he offered city jobs to men he met in gay online chat rooms.
According to The Spokesman-Review, state Sen. Pam Roach said that when West served in the Legislature, he made an inappropriate sexual comment to her about her teenage son. The newspaper also said a man claimed that he was inappropriately touched during a pat-down search when West was a sheriff's deputy in the 1970s.
Through his attorney, Bill Etter, West denied the published reports.
"Mr. West denies each and every one of these allegations," Etter said.
The new allegations were part of a series of articles the newspaper has published about West, a conservative Republican and longtime opponent of gay rights. The Spokesman-Review has also reported allegations that West molested two boys in the 1970s when he was a Boy Scout leader, and that he offered gifts, favors and jobs at City Hall to young men he met online. [...]
Roach told the newspaper that West made the comment in the Senate chamber around 1990, when her then-18-year-old son was working as a tour guide in the state Capitol and West was a state senator.
"West told me, 'I want to do to your son what no mother would want to know,'" Roach said the former senator told her.
- Nicholas K. Geranios, "New Allegations Surface Against Spokane Mayor Accused of Sex Scandal," Associated Press May 24, 2005
posted May 24, 2005 in politicsharper lee briefly surfaces
Author Harper Lee, who has shunned publicity since the publication of her book To Kill A Mockingbird in 1960, has made a rare public appearance.
Lee, 79, stopped giving interviews after she won the Pulitzer Prize for her 1960 coming-of-age book, exploring racial prejudice in the American south.
The writer appeared in person to receive an award from the Los Angeles public library.
She was invited by Veronique Peck, the widow of actor Gregory Peck.
He won an Oscar for his starring role as lawyer Atticus Finch in the 1962 film version of the book and became a lifelong friend of Ms Lee.
The film's co-star Brock Peters, who played the black man falsely accused of rape, presented the award to her.
After receiving the award, Lee said: "I'll say it again. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart."
- "Harper Lee makes rare appearance," bbc news (via maud newton)
posted May 24, 2005 in printbaghdad photo
Unrelenting violence has gripped Iraq in recent weeks despite the formation of its government earlier this month, posing a challenge to the country's new leaders.
- Ceerwan Aziz/Reuters
posted May 24, 2005 in politicssome of his finest work in this film does
To be sure, some of the shortcomings of "Phantom Menace" (1999) and "Attack of the Clones" (2002) are still in evidence, and Mr. Lucas's indifference to two fairly important aspects of moviemaking - acting and writing - is remarkable. Hayden Christensen plays Anakin Skywalker's descent into evil as a series of petulant bad moods. Natalie Portman, as Senator (formerly Queen) Padmé Amidala, to whom Anakin is secretly married, does not have the range to reconcile the complicated and conflicting demands of love and political leadership. Even the more assured performers - Samuel L. Jackson as the Jedi master Mace Windu, Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jimmy Smits as Senator Bail Organa (note the surname) - are constrained by their obligation to speechify. Mr. Lucas, who wrote the script (reportedly with the uncredited assistance of Tom Stoppard), is not one to imply a theme if he can stuff it into a character's mouth. Ian McDiarmid, as Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, who transforms from a rancid political hack into a ruthless totalitarian before our eyes, gives the most powerful performance; Yoda, the spry green Jedi master voiced by Frank Oz, some of his finest work in this film does.
- a. o. scott, "Some Surprises in That Galaxy Far, Far Away," new york times may 16, 2005
posted May 22, 2005 in film, printhelp a bro out
if you have the full adobe acrobat and can help a bro out—i have a multi-page PDF and need to extract 2 of them.
posted May 19, 2005 in deliveryanalyzing news bias
Suppose, for instance, that the Bureau of Labor Statistics announces that the unemployment rate has risen to 6.3 percent from 6.1 percent.
In their article, the economists imagine two different takes on the story. One hypothetical version, with the headline "Recession Fears Grow," notes that 200,000 people have lost their jobs in the past quarter. It quotes a gloomy John Kenneth Galbraith comparing the president to Herbert Hoover and is illustrated with a photograph of a long line of people waiting for unemployment benefits.
The other, called "Turnaround in Sight," emphasizes the small magnitude of the increase - just 0.2 percent. It quotes the stock analyst Abby Joseph Cohen as saying the "softness in the labor market bodes well for corporate profitability," accompanied by a photo of a smiling Ms. Cohen.
"Each of these stories could easily have been written by a major U.S. newspaper," write Professors Mullainathan and Shleifer. "Neither story says anything false, yet they give radically different impressions."
But all the information is out there. Indeed, a wide-ranging reader would learn more from the two differently biased reports than from the raw unemployment figures.
- Virginia Postrel, "Another View of News Bias, as Selling Point," new york times may 19, 2005
posted May 19, 2005 in politics, printbest things about yesterday
1. got a master's degree from an ivy league skool
2. got pieces published in women's wear daily and the montreal gazette
3. naima won america's next top model
that's the last time i'll ever discuss #3, but i fuckin' love that bitch!
posted May 19, 2005 in deliveryIt's disgusting. Like their LSAT scores.
More than half of the summer associates started today. It's not quite fair to the rest, but I always think of the first wave as the ones who are more excited about the firm, more eager to get started, more useful to me when I'm looking for people desperate enough to impress that they'll happily do just about anything, including alphabetize my law books and get me a roll from the attorney lounge, but I don't like the sesame seeds, so they'll all have to be removed by hand first. Clean hands, though. Don't want any of the dirty summer associates touching my food. I can't believe how dirty some summer associates look. Mostly from the lower-tier schools. They don't know how to wash their hair. It's disgusting. Like their LSAT scores.
- anonymous lawyer may 16, 2005
posted May 17, 2005 in crap, printwhen friendster isn't enough
www.theassbook.net (via ypulse)
posted May 16, 2005 in crap, delivery, sexpass laws to stop their desires
Senator Rick Santorum, Republican of Pennsylvania, said Senate minorities had previously restrained themselves from using the filibuster to block nominees with majority support. "Senator Reid has refused to do that," Mr. Santorum said. "Now we are forced to do something that societies often do when people can't control their desires. We have to pass laws to stop their desires."
- DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK and CARL HULSE, "At Center of Senate Showdown, a Boxer Takes On a Surgeon," new york times april 14, 2005
posted May 14, 2005 in politics, print, speechonly policy we seem to have to revive our cities is to build another stadium
Consider that 90 percent of GDP comes out of metropolitan areas. And yet somehow some people think that we don't need cities. Not only do we have to open our borders, we have to strengthen our cities massively because they're the cornerstones of our ability to compete for talent. But for the past four years the Bush administration has done everything to prevent that, from huge decreases in infrastructure spending to drastic cuts in block grants.
And now most cities aren't equipped to compete anymore. The only policy we seem to have to revive our cities is to build another stadium. What does that have to do with attracting foreign talent? Who cares? No one cares. I've never met one foreign-born person that said "a new stadium" was an important factor when deciding where to live and work. The national government is clueless and our cities would rather be distracted by sports mania instead of paying attention to more serious issues.
My anecdotal evidence suggests that this is already starting to have a big impact. In terms of conversations and interviews I've had all over the world, it's quite clear that the competition for talent isn't just U.S. cities against other U.S. cities, it's the world. When I talk to people around the world, they might say, "Oh, New York is my favorite city." Or maybe they have one or two other U.S. cities -- "Ah, I like Chicago a lot, I like San Francisco a lot," or "I like Boston a lot and I like D.C. a lot." And then you start to hear a bunch of foreign cities. And now when you talk to young Americans graduating college, when you ask them where they want to move, after they get through their four or five top U.S. cities, it's quickly "I'll move to London or I'll move to Dublin or I'll move to Sydney or I'll move to Melbourne."
- Richard Florida, "The gay/hipster index," interviewed by Christopher Dreher, salon April 21, 2005 (via andy's chest: creativeclass.org: recent reviews)
posted May 14, 2005 in art, politics, print, speechtake away some of that glow
It seems like everyone these days is a press critic, but you take what we might call a more activist approach. The book contains your Wimblehack series from the New York Press, which attempted to determine who was the worst journalist on the campaign trail. [Elisabeth Bumiller of the New York Times, who recently filed a dispatch about the songs on Bush's iPod, was the eventual winner.] Did that make people angry?
There was one guy from the Times who actually asked me to step outside. He complained that I had insulted Jodi Wilgoren because I said she looked like Ernest Borgnine, and he sent me an e-mail basically saying, "Let's fight."
I think that normal press criticism is great: It makes people aware of the media to a degree that they never were before, but it doesn't have a whole lot of practical effect. FAIR will issue a press release pointing out an error, or some unethical practice, or some pattern in press coverage. So what? It's not going to change anything. My thinking, going back to the eXile, is that reporters are people too; they're sensitive and they're vain, and if you make it personally painful for them, it can have a bit of a prophylactic effect. That's not the reason I do it; mostly I do it because I'm just a little bit of an aggressive person.
Did you see any results with this approach?
I have to be honest, no. But when I was in Russia, we certainly had an effect on the American press corps in Moscow. When we threw a pie made of horse sperm into the face of the New York Times Moscow bureau chief, who had won our "Worst Journalist in Moscow" tournament, that was something that all the journalists in Moscow noticed.
There used to be different kinds of people who were journalists. There were real cynics, there were drunks, there were hardened smokers, and now there's this glamour and glow that goes along with being a part of the press corps. I guess what I'm trying to do is take away some of that glow and make it clear it's not quite as cool as they make it out to be. I don't know if that has an effect or not, but that's sort of the strategy.
- Jonathan Shainin, "Politics-a-palooza," salon may 12, 2005
posted May 12, 2005 in politics, print, speechIn the short run, because movies have sucked lately
So Hollywood is getting anxious about the fact that no one is coming to see its movies, according to Sharon Waxman in today's Times. But no one is quite sure why, or if the decline is real.
I suspect it is, and here's why.
In the short run, because movies have sucked lately. For example: "The Amityville Horror," "Sahara," "A Lot Like Love," "Fever Pitch," XXX: State of the Union...." (And as for "Kingdom of Heaven"—in this case, Chris Rock was right; Orlando Bloom is no leading man. He's an elf.)
No one's going to rush to the theaters for Miss Congeniality II. By contrast, television has actually gotten better in the last year or so. And if there's no good regular programming to watch, it's easy enough to order a movie on demand.
In the long run, more important is something I'll call customized entertainment. (And this pertains to yesterday's discussion of iPods as well.)
As the public entertainment experience gets increasingly expensive and unpleasant, and the private, customized experience gets better and cheaper, more people are, um, entertaining themselves. Here in New York City, tickets purchased online now cost about $12. (Rather than discounting your ticket for an online purchase, as even the airlines do, the movie theaters actually charge you about 15% more.) Concessions can easily add another $10. The same price will buy you two months of Netflix. Just like the record companies did, this is a business acting as if it has an endless monopoly.
True, there's an old-fashioned appeal to seeing a movie in a theater. But Hollywood shouldn't take this for granted; mass behavior can paradigm-shift. And the appeal has decreased as the experience has become more unpleasant—lousy seating, crying babies, fifteen minutes of ads before the movie starts....
Americans are currently paying more than they've ever paid for the price of their homes. With Hollywood and movie theaters treating consumers with contempt, is it any wonder that they're choosing to stay in them?
- Richard Bradley, "Why No One is Going to the Movies," huffington post may 10, 2005
posted May 10, 2005 in film, printi've grown sick and tired of you "politically incorrect" reporters
Q. Do you mean "F---ing Murderers" when you say "insurgents" and "fighters" in your STUPIDITY? I've grown sick and tired of you "politically incorrect" reporters. Why don't you have the gumption to call a spade a spade?
A. OK, you're an idiot. How's that?
- exchange between a questioner signed "Hoptacong, New Jersey" and Rod Nordland, Newsweek's Baghdad bureau chief, in an online chat last February, columbia journalism review may/june 2005
posted May 10, 2005 in politics, print1st day of the huffington post
it's day one of the huffington post, and sorta an exciting roster.
larry david: it's funny because he actually doesn't support john bolton. best post so far.
john corzine: buy an ad on my blog if you want to campaign (others have already done so). you've already got your corruption-addled governorship in the bag, anyway.
tina brown: you are intolerable. yakking incoherently about your newly cancelled show, which you tried to blame on an upcoming book even though the low viewership numbers were just released?
arthur schlesinger jr.: is 1945 the last time you thought about anything?
john cusack: i've been wondering where you've been since my favorite movie ever. but referencing jane austin [sic], Oscar Wilde, Khahlil Gibran [sic], George Sand and François Villion in your post about attending Hunter S. Thompson's funeral is kinda ... you know.
ellen degeneres: can't you see that all i wanna hear about is your hot, homewreckin' lesbian lover?
laurie david: a nice touch. she and her hubby are the ones that know what they're doing here.
posted May 09, 2005 in delivery, politics, printMissing white female alert
Your continual focus on, and reporting of, missing, young, attractive white women not only demeans your profession but is a televised slap in the face to minority mothers and parents the nation over who search for their own missing children with little or no assistance or notice from anyone.
The latest missing woman to dominate the airtime of the cable networks was Jennifer Wilbanks, from Duluth, Ga. Like Dru Sjodin, Chandra Levy and Elizabeth Smart all before her, Wilbanks is young, white and attractive. Wilbanks, as it turned out, ran away of her own volition from her impending marriage. As a Maryland police official told me after Wilbanks turned up in New Mexico, "the media's non-stop focus on the possible abduction of Wilbanks forced the local officials and police departments to spend thousands of dollars they would not otherwise have spent."
Define racism. One could certainly make the argument that the cable networks that continually focus on these missing white women, to the virtual exclusion of minority women, are practicing a form of racism. The racism in this case, however, while predicated on color, does not concern itself with the color of one's skin. Rather, it is based on the color of money, ratings points and competition. Would an African-American woman who went missing days before her wedding receive the same (or any) coverage as that of Wilbanks? Not likely.
- Douglas MacKinnon, "Missing white female alert: Why won't the media cover missing minority women?" chicago tribune may 8, 2005
posted May 09, 2005 in printkeywords: capital one, commercial, david spade, bright yellow shirt
who's the hunky guy yelling in the cell phone?
posted May 08, 2005 in delivery, sexcuriosity, confused, whatever, I don't know
Mayor James E. West of Spokane, a Republican opponent of gay rights, was accused in a newspaper on Thursday of molesting two boys decades ago and the paper also says it caught him using the trappings of his office to try to court a young man online.
Mr. West denied the accusations, but acknowledged he "had relations with adult men."
He admitted offering autographed sports memorabilia and a possible City Hall internship to what he thought was an 18-year-old man on the Web site Gay.com. The man was actually a computer expert hired by the newspaper, The Spokesman-Review, as part of a sting operation.
Mr. West, 54, a former Boy Scout leader and Army paratrooper who was married for five years in the 1990's, denied that the online offers constituted abuse of his office, and he said he would serve out the more than three years remaining in his term. [...]
Mr. West, a conservative, rose to become majority leader of the State Senate during a two-decade legislative career. He consistently opposed efforts to expand civil rights protections for gay men and lesbians and voted for the Defense of Marriage Act, a ban on same-sex marriage, in 1998.
The newspaper had hired a computer expert to create a fictitious identity as an 18-year-old boy to chat with Mr. West, whose online aliases included "RightBi-Guy."
Mr. West would not characterize himself as gay. As for the reason for his online visits to Gay.com, he said, "curiosity, confused, whatever, I don't know."
- ASSOCIATED PRESS, "The Mayor of Spokane Is Accused of Molesting," new york times May 5, 2005
posted May 06, 2005 in politics, printemerging artists will need to rethink how they bring their work to market and manage their careers
From alternative investment funds specializing in fine art, to corporations, to individual collectors around the country using the web to access gallery inventories and auction house catalogues, more people are buying contemporary art now than at any point in the past 15 years. This increased demand has significant market impact. Established galleries are selling out shows of mediocre work by well-known artists. Many of these middling pieces are flipped on the secondary market within two years, setting auction records. Prices are unsustainably high at the top end of the market right now.
Current levels of demand have implications lower on the food chain as well. Because non-established collectors are unable to get truly innovative work, they chase novelty. To meet this demand, smaller galleries snatch students from MFA and BFA programs and give them solo shows before they complete their degrees. Emerging artists today have more market opportunity than ever.
Art fairs have played a role too, as they have become a movable feast for celebrating collectors and their dealers. When listening to WPS1 Art Radio’s dispatches from Art Basel Miami Beach last fall, I was struck by the similarities to what I heard at stock investor conferences in the late '90s: the enthusiasm and excitement, the self-congratulatory tone, the continual talk about the market’s strength, the absence of any acknowledgement of a potential for downside correction. [...]
When the market starts to cool, we’ll see several changes. Newer, smaller dealers will face cash flow challenges and will close their doors. Larger dealers who represent established artists will cut back. They’ll present more conservative and saleable work while they pay their bills through profits generated from private back-room deals. If these predictions come true, emerging artists will need to rethink how they bring their work to market and manage their careers.
- Todd Gibson , "What Happens When the Bubble Bursts?" nyfa current may 5, 2005
posted May 06, 2005 in art, printi need to keep up better with my harper's subscription
from messages posted in february on the message board of a jihadist website. translated from the arabic by the site institute, a washington, d.c.-based group that monitors islamist websites and news organizations.
my brothers! god made it possible for me to go to iraq, but some people tell me: do not go, and prepare yourself for your own country. sometimes i read in the mujahedeen websites that they are not in need of men. i will be grateful to anyone who can give me good guidance.
member 1: by god, my heart is burning, too, living here with the infidels. i pray god to bless me with martyrdom for his sake, whether here or in the land of martyrdom, iraq. [...]
member 3: do not listen to those who say that iraq does not need men; if the jihad does not need us, we need the jihad, for it is a purification for the soul. remember that you are going to be judged if the jihad came to you and you let it go. show sincere intentions toward god, and do not follow the devil's whims. glory to god, and to the jihad.
member 2: first of all, the issue of going to the jihad must not be discussed in forums. we have repeatedly warned against it. second, the mujahedeen do not need men. third, those who want to go to the jihad must have experience. some go without even knowing how to carry a weapon. wouldn't that be a burden on the mujahedeen? certainly i respect the desire to defend the brothers and sisters. i and everyone wishes to go to the jihad, too. however, have we prepared ourselves religiously? have we prepared ourselves militarily? –your sister
- "[counsel] >:-{O" harper's april/may 2005
posted May 04, 2005 in printit's just brilliant
Even for Miss Outer Borough, the New Brooklyn is harder to love, not least because the dot-com boom turned her beloved Williamsburg into a monoculture. "It was so unprogrammed, so naturally surreal," she says. "Now there's nothing that will ever surprise you, because some entity, somewhere, took one Oberlin or Bard grad with a certain collection of books and music and a very exact, ironic, high-low culture taste and cloned that person with infinitesimally small variations, so that Williamsburg now has the narrowest demographic range in the universe, including tribes of people who are all related on the Pitcairn Islands. It's not that I don't like the culturati hipsters, but the last time I was in an environment where people only wanted to be with people exactly like themselves was in a fucking mall in Minnesota, which is why I left there twenty years ago."
- Jonathan Van Meter, "I Hate Brooklyn," new york may 9, 2005 (via tmftml)
news flashes
Newspapers Losing Circulation
Asians poorly represented on TV
Media studies traffick in the obvious
actually, maybe she did wanna play with dolls.
"Excuse me Dawn, we were just wondering, are you a lesbian?"
(via v-hold)
posted May 02, 2005 in printcopy-and-paste for u.s. war secret confessions
In March, U.S. troops in Iraq shot to death Nicola Calipari, the Italian intelligence agent that rescued the kidnapped journalist Giuliana Sgrena. U.S. commission on the incident produced a report which public version was censored for more than one third. Now Italian press is reporting that all confidential information in the report is available to the public, just by copying "hidden" text from the PDF and pasting it in a word processor (Italian). The uncensored report can now be directly downloaded.
- CmdrTaco, "Copy-and-Paste Reveals Classified U.S. Documents," slashdot May 1, 2005