Let’s Save J.G. Ballard’s House
J.G. Ballard’s house, where he lived and worked from 1960-2009, is up for sale. Let’s buy it and turn it into a museum or something.
Outside of those few universally offensive behaviors (the guy texting in the theater, the shrill laugher in the restaurant), we’re all case studies in the science of irritation, and nowhere is that more clear than in our reading tastes.
Yesterday we learned that fiction makes us better people. Today we would like to examine some of the things fiction doesn’t do: pay our bills, keep us warm at night, prevent us from doing stupid things, block out unfortunate memories, cure the sinus infection we have had for 7 weeks, absolve our sins, stop genocide.
Penguin Classic Skateboard Decks
Penguin Classics is holding a photo contest of people skating and reading, with the prize being these super-fucking-cool skateboard decks.
St. Louis is the Northwest Border of the Confederacy
Using imagery that was a mixture of Klu Klux Klan iconography, Mardi Gras themes and Irish poetry, a small and secret organization of St. Louisians hostile to African Americans and Unions held elaborate parades in order to intimidate those agitating for social and economic justice.
Fiction ‘improves social understanding’….YES!
While I’m not really sure why the phenomenon of fiction needs any scientific explanation, I’m more than willing to accept the notion that it somehow improves our ability to empathize with one another and transform steady readers into eyeglass-wearing social freaks.
The Full Stop Doomsday Clock: Jack and Jill
In the wake of the horrific announcement made last Friday regarding the release of Adam Sandler’s latest film Jack and Jill, the Full Stop Doomsday Clock has been set, for the first time, at 11:53PM.
The New York Times Has Opinions About Divorce
The New York Times is into divorce right now, guys.
Mac McClelland and the brouhaha
…critics have responded to the piece on the one hand by lambasting McClelland for being (as McClelland puts it) an “insane racist narcissist” for her portrayal of Haiti in the essay. One the other hand, they’ve also suggested that McClelland’s stated desire for violent sex will convince rapists that women want to be raped.
I am Thyrsis of Etna/blessed with a tuneful voice