Note: this has been updated, 5/17/2010. Lately I kept thinking of what I thought was a quote of Susan Sontag’s from a posthumous essay, and wrote a post about it. Here is the actual quote, supplied by Joshua Benton over at the Harvard Nieman Journalism Labs blog, who read the original post I put up. [...]
Entries Tagged as ‘what is wrong with us’
April 12, 2009
This Is Not The Superhero Film You Were Looking For
In retrospect, the sturm und drang over whether the Watchmen was any good or not (as a film based on the graphic novel) made us lose sight of what it actually was—a story that’s at least meant to satirize the spectacle that is the costumed hero and the superhuman, using superheroes to comment on the [...]
November 18, 2008
Some Stupid People Lose, A Few Good People Win, World Equally Unfair To All
E.D. Hill, who coined the term “terrorist fist jab” in describing something that happens on thousands of basketball courts across the country every day, has not been renewed by Fox. Nationally known adulterer Newt Gingrich wants to protect marriage, because of course after him it is in tough shape. Claims No on 8 proponents are [...]
March 17, 2008
America Discovers Middle Class Gone, Held Everything Together
I’m not an economist, but even I know that you can’t keep wages down, force people to pay outlandish medical, gas and home loan prices and gouge their financial services with late fees and surprise interest rates and still have anyone with any money to buy anything. Ben Stein of Ben Stein’s Money (and, who [...]
February 19, 2008
I Don’t Know What To Call This, Because I’m So Appalled.
Scene: Chevy Chase, MD. A small suburban neighborhood. My sister is moving to California. It’s June. The movers are packing and as I eat lunch, I speak with one of the movers, a young woman in charge of packing the delicate items, who’s told me she’s earning money while in college. Me: We lost power [...]
January 13, 2008
The Writers Guild Strike Explained, Even Better Than Ever
From Dana Goodyear’s blog at the New Yorker.
December 28, 2007
The Silent Majority Is Reading
The New York Times ran this piece Sunday about the pretentiousness of buying something like Herodotus for someone for Christmas. Let’s read along and translate it, shall we? Feel free to add your own translations in the comments. YOU would have to crack open “The Landmark Herodotus” and get as far as Page 41 to [...]
December 4, 2007
Ending Your Days Of Bachelor Loneliness With A Wild Husband
10:28 AM thiago: dude i need a BF 10:29 AM hooking up casually is exhausting haha me: it is why do you say that? 10:30 AM what happened? thiago: haha emotionally exhausting that is 10:31 AM nothing happened, im just bummed out that i liked the boy and i wont ever see him again me: [...]
November 11, 2007
If You Watch This On The Internet, Pay Us.
Some of my favorite people from the Office, talking about the Writer’s Guild Strike. I watch the show on the internet, for the record. via Fishbowl LA
October 2, 2007
All Review Conventions Apparently Destroyed In Fire, Free-For-All To Save Literature Ensues Via Internet
In addition to the old conventions of giving a pass on giving someone a bad review, previously covered here, it used to be that you didn’t try to destroy first-time writers. Carolyn See thought better of that in the case of Porochista Khakpour. There was also another old convention, of not responding to reviewers, but [...]
