See also archives for the following subcategories:
Brief reviews of what we've been seeing, reading, and listening to. With apologies to Thorstein Veblen. (308) 
Books, magazines, newspapers, comics, graphic design -- whatever's on paper. (330) 
Entertainment on screens big and small -- movies, television, video games. (399) 
It's music to our ears. Mostly. (230) 
Theater, dance, and all that. (34) 
I knew there was less linguistic distinction between green and blue; this chart lays out the different color terms. See also: Basic Color Terms: Their Universality and Evolution on how languages develop color names, and in what order -- which is one explanation for why Homer's sea is always wine-dark. (More here)
posted this | this entry's link | 1 comment
| Color | Japan | Language
Including Gothabilly, Corp Goth, Perky Goth? For Ennis, who asked once. Via Rebecca Blood.
posted this | this entry's link | speak your mind | Lists
Transcription of the 2005 Kenyon Commencement Address by David Foster Wallace, 2005 Thanks to David for the link.
posted this | this entry's link | speak your mind | Philosophy | Speeches
Cynical-C is running a series called You Can't Please Everyone featuring the one-star Amazon reviews of classic works. So far they've done Catcher in the Rye, Catch-22, Casablanca, To Kill A Mockingbird, 1984, Zeppelin IV, Schindler's List, Pulp Fiction, and Sgt. Pepper. I think my favorite so far is this review of Are You Experienced :
Are you kidding me. Did Avril Lavigne ever use distortion in her songs? Or how about those wierd sound effect things? Mmhhm, that's whqat I thought. Keeping that in mind, how could anyone in their right mind say that this Hendrix guy is good. You lozerz obviously now nothing about muzik. Some idiots are calling him the best guitar player ever....? HELLO??? That's like saying MTV doesn't play good muzik!!! If you want good guitar, try Avril Lavigne, or, the masters of Metal, Limp Bizkit.
Does MTV even play music any more?
| Reviews
Alain Robbe-Grillet is dead at 85. Read the détails or the details. Can I award Ishpoints to the best comment making reference to the destruction of narrative chronology?
posted this | this entry's link | 2 comments | cult figures | death | film | literature | Nouveau roman
Cinematographer László Kovács is dead. Mr. Kovács shot some great pictures, as well as some lousy ones. But I'll most remember him for the reason I adopted his name, which was his name-only (but apparently coincidental) appearance in A Bout de souffle as Jean-Paul Belmondo’s nom de gangster.
Lloyd Alexander
I've only read the Chronicles of Prydain, but they were excellent. I believe Mike’s read more.
Charles Nelson Reilly
Yes, you know he was simply fabulous on Match Game, prefiguring Paul Lynde on Hollywood Squares, but have you ever seen Lidsville? From the demented duo Sid and Marty Krofft, Lidsville is straight out of the what-drugs-were-they-on childrens television school of the early ’70s. Butch “Eddie Munster” Patrick falls into a magic top hat while snooping around backstage at a magic show and ends up in a special land where all the inhabitants but one are hats. Yes, hats. Who's the non-hat character? Charles Nelson Reilly, playing Hoo Doo, who’s trying to, um, do something.
According to yesterday’s Wikipedia’s this day in history. May 29th 1453 was the day the Ottomans (Ottormen?) took over Constantinople. This was the end of the middle ages, meaning that today is the anniversary of the first day of the Renaissance, which of course led to the great civilization we live in today.
Take that Sister Olga!
Of course that assumes she doesn't commit any mortal sins in her life time. Do we still believe in those?
All Culture Will Be Remix Culture
Felix writes on guanxi, vegetarianism, environmentalism, eating wild animals, cultural relativism, and the perils of going out to eat with your boyfriend's business associates in China: Not eating wild snakes.
"And worst of all is the person who acts as exegete of The Word - whether it be from the Talmud, the Bible, the Koran, or any other book already written or yet to come. I am not fond of giving advice - no one can pound opinions into another's head - but here is a piece that costs you nothing: Never trust a man who reads only one book." -- Purity of Blood: The Adventures of Captain Alatriste. Arturo Perez-Reverte, trans. Margaret Sayers Peden.
Thanks, Felix!.
Racist art brings fame. "The Heathen Chinee" was once one of the most popular poems in America: "Its sensational popularity made Bret Harte the most celebrated literary man in America in 1870". It's a poem about the innate perfidy of the Chinese, with accompanying illustrations. The poem itself is both derivative and not very good, which argues that its appeal had to do with its subject matter and the accompanying illustrations. It's worth checking out.
Matt F-B sent this over: "Sometimes the disease will stop you enjoying things. I know designers who will walk out of a room because the colour upsets them."
Via the same blog, Poorly designed everyday objects. There seems to be a lot of blister-pack rage out there.
In the last book in the Series of Unfortunate Events (which I have entirely missed), one finds this:
"Call me Ish," commands the latest supporting villain in the final book, the leader of an island cult whose followers drink coconut cordial rather than Kool-Aid.
Hm!
A tag cloud of the 100 most frequent words in Hamlet -- the Project Gutenberg edition, with header stripped out and character abbreviations changed to full names (e.g., "Polon." to "Polonius"). Generated by TagCrowd.
Two long pieces worth reading. Hell and Back chronicles a New Orleans reporter's fight with post-Katrina depression. (Via Obscure Store.) And Doonesbury's War is a piece on Garry Trudeau's career, focusing on his handling of the War in Iraq.
3quarksdaily: The Poetry of Lists
Aranda, Arrernte, Bundjalung, Dharug, Gindavul, Galmahra, Githavul, Gunditjmara, Kukatja, Lardil, Malyangapa, Ngangiwumirri, Ngunawal, Noonucal, Nyulnyul, Pintupi, Pitjantjatjara, Thungutti, Walmajarri, Weerluval, Wiradjuri, Yankunyttjatjara, Yindjibarndi, Yorta Yorta, Yugambeh
According to legend, in Denmark during World War II, border guards would screen homecoming Danes by making them say aloud the name of the Danish dessert rødgrød med fløde—berry pudding with cream. (To approximate the sound of these words, say them while gargling and whistling.) Apparently, even the craftiest Danish-seeming German infiltrator could not pass this simple test. The Danish ear recognized its own. [Link]
I used to know a lot of Danes, now I know none. Next time I meet one, I'll have to ask them to say this phrase for me ...
