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Aug. 15th, 2012
Fifty Shades of Blah
Aug. 15th, 2012 06:00 amI don't think you will be seeing "Fifty Shades of Grey" in my hands, after all. I've heard more about it, and the reports are like a cold shower. The Daniel Flynn book review, in particular, has warned me off. A sample:
Encounters are often legalistic, reminiscent of the late Antioch College's infamous "May I kiss you here? May I poke you there?" Sexual Offense Prevention Policy. And too-conspicuous condoms kill the mood. "'Naughty, sweet girl,' he whispers, and then reaches over to the bedside table for a foil packet" (p. 120); "'Here, put this on.' He hands me a foil packet" (p. 266); "'You want it, you got it, baby,' he mutters, producing a foil packet from his pants pocket while he unzips his pants" (p. 371). It goes on joylessly like that for 500 pages. If fiction has the power to make the son of a "crack whore" a twentysomething billionaire, then surely it can forgo the rubber without dooming the lead characters to deterioration in an AIDS hospice.
That does not sound exactly like the wild and violent and politcally incorrect stuff that others have been bemoaning, does it? I'll take a pass.
Encounters are often legalistic, reminiscent of the late Antioch College's infamous "May I kiss you here? May I poke you there?" Sexual Offense Prevention Policy. And too-conspicuous condoms kill the mood. "'Naughty, sweet girl,' he whispers, and then reaches over to the bedside table for a foil packet" (p. 120); "'Here, put this on.' He hands me a foil packet" (p. 266); "'You want it, you got it, baby,' he mutters, producing a foil packet from his pants pocket while he unzips his pants" (p. 371). It goes on joylessly like that for 500 pages. If fiction has the power to make the son of a "crack whore" a twentysomething billionaire, then surely it can forgo the rubber without dooming the lead characters to deterioration in an AIDS hospice.
That does not sound exactly like the wild and violent and politcally incorrect stuff that others have been bemoaning, does it? I'll take a pass.
Fifty Shades of Blah
Aug. 15th, 2012 06:00 amI don't think you will be seeing "Fifty Shades of Grey" in my hands, after all. I've heard more about it, and the reports are like a cold shower. The Daniel Flynn book review, in particular, has warned me off. A sample:
Encounters are often legalistic, reminiscent of the late Antioch College's infamous "May I kiss you here? May I poke you there?" Sexual Offense Prevention Policy. And too-conspicuous condoms kill the mood. "'Naughty, sweet girl,' he whispers, and then reaches over to the bedside table for a foil packet" (p. 120); "'Here, put this on.' He hands me a foil packet" (p. 266); "'You want it, you got it, baby,' he mutters, producing a foil packet from his pants pocket while he unzips his pants" (p. 371). It goes on joylessly like that for 500 pages. If fiction has the power to make the son of a "crack whore" a twentysomething billionaire, then surely it can forgo the rubber without dooming the lead characters to deterioration in an AIDS hospice.
That does not sound exactly like the wild and violent and politcally incorrect stuff that others have been bemoaning, does it? I'll take a pass.
Encounters are often legalistic, reminiscent of the late Antioch College's infamous "May I kiss you here? May I poke you there?" Sexual Offense Prevention Policy. And too-conspicuous condoms kill the mood. "'Naughty, sweet girl,' he whispers, and then reaches over to the bedside table for a foil packet" (p. 120); "'Here, put this on.' He hands me a foil packet" (p. 266); "'You want it, you got it, baby,' he mutters, producing a foil packet from his pants pocket while he unzips his pants" (p. 371). It goes on joylessly like that for 500 pages. If fiction has the power to make the son of a "crack whore" a twentysomething billionaire, then surely it can forgo the rubber without dooming the lead characters to deterioration in an AIDS hospice.
That does not sound exactly like the wild and violent and politcally incorrect stuff that others have been bemoaning, does it? I'll take a pass.
"I don't really make records for people to listen and go, 'Wow, she's a genius!' I'd really like you to order another drink, maybe kiss the person you come with."
-- Lady Gaga
I'm sure she also wouldn't mind if you were moved to buy her CDs and tickets to her concerts. But she sounds pretty stable for a superstar.
-- Lady Gaga
I'm sure she also wouldn't mind if you were moved to buy her CDs and tickets to her concerts. But she sounds pretty stable for a superstar.
"I don't really make records for people to listen and go, 'Wow, she's a genius!' I'd really like you to order another drink, maybe kiss the person you come with."
-- Lady Gaga
I'm sure she also wouldn't mind if you were moved to buy her CDs and tickets to her concerts. But she sounds pretty stable for a superstar.
-- Lady Gaga
I'm sure she also wouldn't mind if you were moved to buy her CDs and tickets to her concerts. But she sounds pretty stable for a superstar.
We conclude our literary excavations from the “Rotting Apple Cores” entry, as lovely Sylvia fixes on her unique identity as against all the other billions in the world, and on the fateful play of accident and destiny.
_ _ _
As for free will, there is such a narrow crack in it for man to move in, crushed as he is from birth by environment, heredity, time and event and local convention. If I had been born of Italian parents in one of the caves in the hills I would be a prostitute at the age of twelve or so because I had to live (why?) and that was the only way open. If I were born into a wealthy New York family with pseudo-cultural leanings, I would have had my coming-out party along with the rest of them, and be equipped with fur coats, social contacts, and a blasé pout. How do I know? I don’t; I can only guess. I wouldn’t be I. But I am I now; and so many other millions are so irretrievably their own special variety of “I” that I can hardly bear to think of it. I: how firm a letter; how reassuring the three strokes: one vertical, proud and assertive, and then the two short horizontal lines in quick, smug succession. The pen scratches on the paper... I... I... I... I... I... I.
-- Sylvia Plath, The Journals
_ _ _
The pen scratches on the paper...
What is this she speaks of??
_ _ _
As for free will, there is such a narrow crack in it for man to move in, crushed as he is from birth by environment, heredity, time and event and local convention. If I had been born of Italian parents in one of the caves in the hills I would be a prostitute at the age of twelve or so because I had to live (why?) and that was the only way open. If I were born into a wealthy New York family with pseudo-cultural leanings, I would have had my coming-out party along with the rest of them, and be equipped with fur coats, social contacts, and a blasé pout. How do I know? I don’t; I can only guess. I wouldn’t be I. But I am I now; and so many other millions are so irretrievably their own special variety of “I” that I can hardly bear to think of it. I: how firm a letter; how reassuring the three strokes: one vertical, proud and assertive, and then the two short horizontal lines in quick, smug succession. The pen scratches on the paper... I... I... I... I... I... I.
-- Sylvia Plath, The Journals
_ _ _
The pen scratches on the paper...
What is this she speaks of??
We conclude our literary excavations from the “Rotting Apple Cores” entry, as lovely Sylvia fixes on her unique identity as against all the other billions in the world, and on the fateful play of accident and destiny.
_ _ _
As for free will, there is such a narrow crack in it for man to move in, crushed as he is from birth by environment, heredity, time and event and local convention. If I had been born of Italian parents in one of the caves in the hills I would be a prostitute at the age of twelve or so because I had to live (why?) and that was the only way open. If I were born into a wealthy New York family with pseudo-cultural leanings, I would have had my coming-out party along with the rest of them, and be equipped with fur coats, social contacts, and a blasé pout. How do I know? I don’t; I can only guess. I wouldn’t be I. But I am I now; and so many other millions are so irretrievably their own special variety of “I” that I can hardly bear to think of it. I: how firm a letter; how reassuring the three strokes: one vertical, proud and assertive, and then the two short horizontal lines in quick, smug succession. The pen scratches on the paper... I... I... I... I... I... I.
-- Sylvia Plath, The Journals
_ _ _
The pen scratches on the paper...
What is this she speaks of??
_ _ _
As for free will, there is such a narrow crack in it for man to move in, crushed as he is from birth by environment, heredity, time and event and local convention. If I had been born of Italian parents in one of the caves in the hills I would be a prostitute at the age of twelve or so because I had to live (why?) and that was the only way open. If I were born into a wealthy New York family with pseudo-cultural leanings, I would have had my coming-out party along with the rest of them, and be equipped with fur coats, social contacts, and a blasé pout. How do I know? I don’t; I can only guess. I wouldn’t be I. But I am I now; and so many other millions are so irretrievably their own special variety of “I” that I can hardly bear to think of it. I: how firm a letter; how reassuring the three strokes: one vertical, proud and assertive, and then the two short horizontal lines in quick, smug succession. The pen scratches on the paper... I... I... I... I... I... I.
-- Sylvia Plath, The Journals
_ _ _
The pen scratches on the paper...
What is this she speaks of??
Doggy Loneliness
Aug. 15th, 2012 03:00 pm"Over the course of the last year, I filmed the expressions of dogs that came to stay at a boarding kennel where I work. ... Every dog dealt with being temporarily separated from their home and family they loved in a different way. Some barked- sometimes non-stop, others waited patiently for their family to return. Some were happy, some were sad, some excited, and others depressed. But they all had one thing in common- no matter the breed, size, shape or color, if you looked into their eyes you could see the deep love for their family and how much they missed them while they were away."
-- Sully's Dish
Well, you'd be scared too if you suddently found yourself locked up in a tiny space, especially when you are used to dozing on the couch with the TV playing, or running around outside and whizzing the bushes and the mailbox. "Have the Nazis come back!? Where have you taken my humans, you bastards?!"
Doggy Loneliness
Aug. 15th, 2012 03:00 pm"Over the course of the last year, I filmed the expressions of dogs that came to stay at a boarding kennel where I work. ... Every dog dealt with being temporarily separated from their home and family they loved in a different way. Some barked- sometimes non-stop, others waited patiently for their family to return. Some were happy, some were sad, some excited, and others depressed. But they all had one thing in common- no matter the breed, size, shape or color, if you looked into their eyes you could see the deep love for their family and how much they missed them while they were away."
-- Sully's Dish
Well, you'd be scared too if you suddently found yourself locked up in a tiny space, especially when you are used to dozing on the couch with the TV playing, or running around outside and whizzing the bushes and the mailbox. "Have the Nazis come back!? Where have you taken my humans, you bastards?!"
‘Racism Against White Folks’
Aug. 15th, 2012 06:00 pmNew SuperPAC, FightBigotry.com, Smears President Obama For ‘Racism Against White Folks’
FightBigotry.com, a new Super PAC registered with the Federal Election Commission this week, makes no bones about its aim. It intends to run an attack ad that it says will hit President Barack Obama for “his disturbing, yet crystal-clear pattern of tacitly defending black racism against white folks before and since being elected president.”
-- News-LJ
I've been braced for this steel-cage match to get going. I'm surprised it is taking so long to see the kicks to the groin and the choke holds. But I suppose these things usually don't get cooking until after the conventions. This autumn is going to be good, especially if you are more into violence and cruelty than in democratic discussions and debate. I suppose it is better than when the Rome republic was falling, when armies would be battling in the streets.
FightBigotry.com, a new Super PAC registered with the Federal Election Commission this week, makes no bones about its aim. It intends to run an attack ad that it says will hit President Barack Obama for “his disturbing, yet crystal-clear pattern of tacitly defending black racism against white folks before and since being elected president.”
-- News-LJ
I've been braced for this steel-cage match to get going. I'm surprised it is taking so long to see the kicks to the groin and the choke holds. But I suppose these things usually don't get cooking until after the conventions. This autumn is going to be good, especially if you are more into violence and cruelty than in democratic discussions and debate. I suppose it is better than when the Rome republic was falling, when armies would be battling in the streets.
‘Racism Against White Folks’
Aug. 15th, 2012 06:00 pmNew SuperPAC, FightBigotry.com, Smears President Obama For ‘Racism Against White Folks’
FightBigotry.com, a new Super PAC registered with the Federal Election Commission this week, makes no bones about its aim. It intends to run an attack ad that it says will hit President Barack Obama for “his disturbing, yet crystal-clear pattern of tacitly defending black racism against white folks before and since being elected president.”
-- News-LJ
I've been braced for this steel-cage match to get going. I'm surprised it is taking so long to see the kicks to the groin and the choke holds. But I suppose these things usually don't get cooking until after the conventions. This autumn is going to be good, especially if you are more into violence and cruelty than in democratic discussions and debate. I suppose it is better than when the Rome republic was falling, when armies would be battling in the streets.
FightBigotry.com, a new Super PAC registered with the Federal Election Commission this week, makes no bones about its aim. It intends to run an attack ad that it says will hit President Barack Obama for “his disturbing, yet crystal-clear pattern of tacitly defending black racism against white folks before and since being elected president.”
-- News-LJ
I've been braced for this steel-cage match to get going. I'm surprised it is taking so long to see the kicks to the groin and the choke holds. But I suppose these things usually don't get cooking until after the conventions. This autumn is going to be good, especially if you are more into violence and cruelty than in democratic discussions and debate. I suppose it is better than when the Rome republic was falling, when armies would be battling in the streets.
The Passing of the Printing Press
Aug. 15th, 2012 09:00 pmWe are familiar with the decline of newspapers in the Internet Epoch, and although we probably should not be surprised that this applies to magazines as well, I thought I'd get down this latest jeremiad on the passing away of the Age of the Printing Press:
Ultimately, it doesn’t matter what you put on the cover of your magazine if no one will look at you. A few weeks ago, I was in a busy doctor’s office with a dozen others, absently paging through the magazines on the table. The table in front of us was stacked with the pride of American publishing, all manner of topics and fancy covers yelling for attention. Ever the intrepid media reporter, I looked up from scanning Bon Appétit to see what other people were interested in. A mother and a daughter were locked in conversation, but everyone else was busy reading — their phones.
Though, I am not sure I see the problem if we are simply talking about a change of medium. So what if people are now reading, say, "Newsweek" magazine on their phones and computers rather than the hardcopy magazine itself?
Maybe it is the proposition that Internet ads do not generate as much revenue as when readers had to buy their own hardcopy newspapers and magazines, and people do not expect to have to pay hard money to read e-news, and too many readers will happily turn to secondary outlets if the premium sites, such as the New York Times and such, put up paywalls. That could be a problem. Personally, I wouldn't mind paying for access to premium journalism, but who has money?
(Source: David Carr at The New York Times)
Ultimately, it doesn’t matter what you put on the cover of your magazine if no one will look at you. A few weeks ago, I was in a busy doctor’s office with a dozen others, absently paging through the magazines on the table. The table in front of us was stacked with the pride of American publishing, all manner of topics and fancy covers yelling for attention. Ever the intrepid media reporter, I looked up from scanning Bon Appétit to see what other people were interested in. A mother and a daughter were locked in conversation, but everyone else was busy reading — their phones.
Though, I am not sure I see the problem if we are simply talking about a change of medium. So what if people are now reading, say, "Newsweek" magazine on their phones and computers rather than the hardcopy magazine itself?
Maybe it is the proposition that Internet ads do not generate as much revenue as when readers had to buy their own hardcopy newspapers and magazines, and people do not expect to have to pay hard money to read e-news, and too many readers will happily turn to secondary outlets if the premium sites, such as the New York Times and such, put up paywalls. That could be a problem. Personally, I wouldn't mind paying for access to premium journalism, but who has money?
(Source: David Carr at The New York Times)
The Passing of the Printing Press
Aug. 15th, 2012 09:00 pmWe are familiar with the decline of newspapers in the Internet Epoch, and although we probably should not be surprised that this applies to magazines as well, I thought I'd get down this latest jeremiad on the passing away of the Age of the Printing Press:
Ultimately, it doesn’t matter what you put on the cover of your magazine if no one will look at you. A few weeks ago, I was in a busy doctor’s office with a dozen others, absently paging through the magazines on the table. The table in front of us was stacked with the pride of American publishing, all manner of topics and fancy covers yelling for attention. Ever the intrepid media reporter, I looked up from scanning Bon Appétit to see what other people were interested in. A mother and a daughter were locked in conversation, but everyone else was busy reading — their phones.
Though, I am not sure I see the problem if we are simply talking about a change of medium. So what if people are now reading, say, "Newsweek" magazine on their phones and computers rather than the hardcopy magazine itself?
Maybe it is the proposition that Internet ads do not generate as much revenue as when readers had to buy their own hardcopy newspapers and magazines, and people do not expect to have to pay hard money to read e-news, and too many readers will happily turn to secondary outlets if the premium sites, such as the New York Times and such, put up paywalls. That could be a problem. Personally, I wouldn't mind paying for access to premium journalism, but who has money?
(Source: David Carr at The New York Times)
Ultimately, it doesn’t matter what you put on the cover of your magazine if no one will look at you. A few weeks ago, I was in a busy doctor’s office with a dozen others, absently paging through the magazines on the table. The table in front of us was stacked with the pride of American publishing, all manner of topics and fancy covers yelling for attention. Ever the intrepid media reporter, I looked up from scanning Bon Appétit to see what other people were interested in. A mother and a daughter were locked in conversation, but everyone else was busy reading — their phones.
Though, I am not sure I see the problem if we are simply talking about a change of medium. So what if people are now reading, say, "Newsweek" magazine on their phones and computers rather than the hardcopy magazine itself?
Maybe it is the proposition that Internet ads do not generate as much revenue as when readers had to buy their own hardcopy newspapers and magazines, and people do not expect to have to pay hard money to read e-news, and too many readers will happily turn to secondary outlets if the premium sites, such as the New York Times and such, put up paywalls. That could be a problem. Personally, I wouldn't mind paying for access to premium journalism, but who has money?
(Source: David Carr at The New York Times)