December 2008
3 posts
November 2008
43 posts
The Criterion Collection →
They completely redesigned their site, and I must say it looks pretty cool. I’m most excited about their promise to make their films available online. Watch the video on their homepage to get a feel for all the new stuff.
“I couldn’t count the number of times I heard the words...”
– Joan Didion, “Obama: In the Irony-Free Zone”
How Failing at Exeter Made a Success of George... →
This isn’t exactly new, I know, but I just recently got around to reading it. It’s a speech given by George Plimpton, author and founder of the Paris Review, regarding his time at Phillips Exeter Academy, from which he was expelled during his senior year. As with anything else ever written by Plimpton, it’s fascinating.
The Black Album →
John Leonard, the recently departed American critic, on Joan Didion’s 2005 book The Year of Magical Thinking in the New York Review of Books.
“[Writing is] hostile in that you’re trying to make somebody see something...”
– Joan Didion, The Art of Fiction No. 71
WatchWhy? performing “These Few Presidents.” Their 2008 album, Alopecia, may very well end up being my favorite of the year. Great stuff.
Victory Speech →
James Wood of the New Yorker analyzes Obama’s historic speech on election night.
Obama and the Dawn of the Fourth Republic →
Even by Salon’s elevated standards, this article by Michael Lind is brilliant and illuminating. Lind argues that, contrary to the popular assumption that the United States has always lived under the same government, “there have been three American republics, each lasting 72 years (give or take a few years).” For him, the First Republic lasts roughly from 1788 to 1860, the Second...
Rouge →
There’s a new issue of Rouge, an Australian film journal edited, among others, by Adrian Martin.
What's Your Take on Cassavetes? →
Artforum has a short piece on two of John Cassavetes’ films—1974’s A Woman Under the Influence and 1976’s The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, both favorites of mine.
The Big Picture →
I came across this blog while browsing the Boston Globe’s website, and it looks like a nice idea. The Big Picture’s tagline (“News stories in photographs”) says it all.
William F. Buckley, Jr. and Kenneth Minogue on... →
A very interesting, if a tad ancient episode of Firing Line in which William F. Buckley, Jr. (who passed away earlier this year) and the LSE’s Kenneth Minogue discuss ideology, especially in regards to Marxist and feminist theories—they mention race issues here and there, but mostly in passing. I learned quite a bit from the dialogue, even though there really isn’t a voice from...
“If I should need to name, O Western World, your powerfulest scene and show,...”
– Walt Whitman, “Election Day, November, 1884”
Six Ways Obama Can Show He'll Be a Different Kind... →
John Dickerson at Slate on what Obama should do now that he’s the President-elect.
‘The Office’: Farewell, Amy Ryan →
Ten Foreign Policy Changes if Obama is Elected →
Michael Walzer, co-editor of Dissent and professor at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, explains what one might expect with regards to foreign policy should Obama become president. These include “the end to Bush’s unilateralism,” “a new position on global warming and the Kyoto protocols,” and “a greater willingness to work closely with European...
“My main point, though, is not to call attention to the bullying and demagogy of...”
– Christopher Hitchens, “McCain’s Shameful Slur”
Milton Friedman Institute at the University of... →
One of the latest topics of discussion over at the Becker-Posner blog was the recent controversy at the University of Chicago (where both are professors) regarding the initiative to name a new institute—a collaboration between the Economics Department, the Graduate School of Business, and the Law School—after Nobel-prize winning economist Milton Friedman, who spent the majority of his...
Like, Socialism →
Hendrik Herzberg of the New Yorker addresses the McCain campaign’s final, desperate attempt to do something about Obama’s all but certain victory come next Tuesday: to paint the Democratic nominee as a socialist. My favorite excerpt: “The Republican argument of the moment seems to be that the difference between capitalism and socialism corresponds to the difference between a top...
“I don’t like categories like religious and not religious. As soon as religion...”
– Marilynne Robinson, The Art of Fiction No. 198
“For need can blossom into all the compensation it requires. To crave and to have...”
– Marilynne Robinson, Housekeeping (p. 152)
’08-isms →
Brilliant as usual, William Safire writes about the many terms used in the 2008 campaign so far, including, but not limited to, hockey mom, class warfare, and heartbeat from the presidency.
WALL·E →
Michael Sicinski’s take on the film is just about the most insightful I’ve come across.
The Book Design Review →
I’ve been spending some time at this wonderful site lately, which takes a look at the cover designs of recent published material. Great fun.
“The chronicler, who recounts events without distinguishing between the great and...”
– Walter Benjamin, “Theses on the Philosophy of History”
Good Grief →
Slate Magazine’s film critic Dana Stevens writes about the melancholy and heartbreaking Peanuts holiday specials, of which my favorite is, of course, 1965’s A Charlie Brown Christmas.
“Franny took in her breath slightly but continued to hold the phone to her ear. A...”
– J.D. Salinger, Frannny and Zooey (p. 202)
Why I Blog →
I thought it would be a fitting introduction to this blog of sorts to mention an article by Andrew Sullivan from the latest issue of the Atlantic on the reasons he blogs. The piece, in addition to being remarkably informative, does a good job in laying out a comprehensive case for the co-existence of blogging and traditional journalism. Also, this being my first entry, I should just point out that...