The Daily Rumpus
Get Overly Personal Emails
From Stephen Elliott
Photographer Carlo Bevilacqua spent five years photographing hermits for a project he calls “Into the Silence.” Each of his subjects choose to live outside of society for different reasons – from the extremely religious, to the spiritual, to those who simply want to live alone.
...moreHere’s the bill text of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)
An explanation of the three major ways that SOPA could impact journalists.
An NY Times op-ed argues “while American intellectual property deserves protection, that protection must be won and defended in a manner that does not stifle innovation, erode due process under the law, and weaken the protection of political and civil rights on the Internet.”
Yesterday was declared American Censorship Day as hearings began in the House.
...moreA recent article in Sunday’s NY Times Book Review breaks down reading habits by gender, reporting that boys read less than girls. This revelation may be surprising given the plethora of YA fiction out there—one of the only booming genre of books out there right now.
...moreThere are many ways to appreciate the work of David Foster Wallace.
Michael Schur, the man who co-created the tv show, “Parks and Rec,” is reproducing a scene from Infinite Jest in music-video form. Schur’s directorial debut is the coexistence of both his favorite band (the Decemberists) and the novel that most profoundly altered his mind.
...moreThe history of the New Times Roman font involves the artistry of a yacht-maker (William Starling Burgess) plagiarism (by one Stanley Morison) and the truth’s delayed discovery by a Canadian printer (Gerald Giampa) almost seventy years later.
The font’s initial appeal was its ability to fit more words in a broadsheet of the Times, thus saving the paper money.
...moreThere’s been a couple articles as of late suggesting we change the way we deal with social inequity—by pointedly not participating in its fulfillment. Instead of setting our sights on the people actively promoting the problem, why don’t we all participate in correcting the imbalance?
...morePaul Trynka wrote a Bowie biography, titled David Bowie: Starman. It will combat all the David Bowie aggression you may have experienced as a result of the decisions he made in the 80’s.
Even if you’re one of those people who just “likes his early stuff,” this biography may help you revisit the pretty boy rocker who made it pop culturally relevant to not belong.
...moreThere are those writers that relinquish their private lives to the world, choosing to share the honesty of experience, which is often difficult for those family members and friends who were part of this experience.
Changed names and confrontation come up all the time for the memoirist, but what about protecting those family members that don’t exist yet?
...moreNews International’s phone hacking scandal has regenerated all over the web as the scandal continues to unfold, tracing back the hacking and subsequent bribery that’s been happening for years–more and more articles appear detailing the latest happenings in Parliament.
With the shutdown of The News of the World and News Corporation’s imploding BSkyB deal, both Rupert and James Murdoch are deeply implicated and garnering contempt from the public and political spheres.
...moreBill Keller is doling out more contentious opinions!
We already found out what he thought about twitter– its consequences on our cognitive abilities and its potentially deleterious effect on the well-being of his thirteen year-old daughter. But now he is taking a break from insulting ephemeral communication to critique good, old-fashioned books.
...moreTomi Ungerer, writer of over 150 books, illustrator, engineer and designer of a cat-shaped kindergarten, considers himself “basically an author,” amidst all his varying accomplishments. This NY Times article features an excerpt from an interview.
Recently, his career has been experiencing a resurgence of appreciation with some of his children’s books being republished and a documentary in the making, as well as a retrospective at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Art in Amherst, Massachusetts.
...moreAnybody who appreciates the community value of their local independent bookstore knows about the monetary pressure imposed by Amazon and internet-based competitors.
So if you really appreciate the value of independent booksellers and the literary community it supports, why shouldn’t you reciprocate?
...moreWhat are the cultural consequences of cell phone cameras, social media websites, and online photo hosts? The degradation of anonymity and an obscured understanding of privacy.
It’s shockingly simple to identify people on the web—whether to scorn them for an embarrassing moment or pinpoint the victim of political violence as an activist.
...moreNext time you’re basking in the glory of your ability to reason, thinking that you’re closer to arriving at some sort of ultimate truth, consider this first.
Apparently, our reasoning instincts come from a primordial impulse to win arguments, a “hard-wired compulsion to triumph in the debating arena,” or at least that’s the theory.
...moreDirector Aaron Sorkin’s conversation with NY Times columnist (and intrepid memoirist) David Carr for Interview Magazine delves into the territory of addiction, journalistic journeys and the state of news media. He uncovers much about the state of journalism in these aggregation-based and blog-heavy times, and sheds light on his own unconventional path to the NY Times.
...moreReykjavik just elected a comedian to be its mayor. Jon Gnarr is the head of the Best Party, which took just over a third of the vote in the recent elections, which means they control 6 of the City Council’s 15 seats.
...moreWith the year winding down, the book blogs have been ablaze with your typical speculations about the best of this and that.
But perhaps there are less obvious threads out there if we only knew where to look. . .
...moreThe First Amendment case that’s getting most of the attention this year involves Citizens United and political speech by corporations, in large part because most court watchers believe that the Court’s conservative majority is going to overturn almost a century’s worth of precedent when it returns its decision.
...moreIt’s Saturday night, the skies are cloudy, and the satellite reception keeps cutting in and out. Guess it’s time for some poetry links.
I don’t generally link to poetry reviews elsewhere, but the NY Times reviews poetry so rarely that I figured I ought to do it if only for the sake of novelty.
...moreTwo weeks in a row now I’m doing a blog post on the upcoming feature story in the NY Times Magazine. This won’t become a habit–they get plenty of attention on their own. But it’s such a good article on such a dry subject that most people know so little about that I just have to share.
...moreIt’s time to release my inner geek. Okay, not so inner.
Behold the cannibal galaxy! Triangulum, your day is coming!
The nonprofit Solar CITIES is installing solar power systems in the poorest parts of Cairo.
Global warming science is complex, and deniers are either co-opted by a dirty energy lobby or just stupid, and this news is going to make refuting them a little tougher.
...moreWelcome to Saturday everyone.
Warning: following this link might make you question humanity for the rest of the day. Hint–it involves Twilight and a dildo. Via Slog the Stranger. More Edward Cullen madness at Geekologie.
For crying out loud, some movies don’t need to be remade.
...more
Forget the herbal supplements, the diets, the hyperbaric oxygen chambers–a big circle of friends has a huge effect on your long-term health.
I’ve never understood the argument for super-premium vodka–vodka is supposed to be, by definition neutral (don’t get me started on flavored vodkas), so what, outside the stylishness of the bottle, can a super-premium vodka offer that Popov or Luksosowa or Smirnoff can’t?