2009
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The Rumpus Interview with Lisandro Alonso
“If tomorrow I have to quit filmmaking, I will. I’m not going to sell my house for a project, that’s for sure. If I have to go back and work on my family’s farm, fine. I don’t have any problem…
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Double Issue: February 9 & 16
THAT BUZZING SOUND BY JEROME GROOPMAN Got a ringing in the old ear holes? Jerome Groopman writes about the somewhat elusive condition tinnitus, which causes phantom ringing in the ears. Scientists are conflicted as to whether tinnitus originates in the…
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Font Factor
Helvetica, a 2007 film, looks at the history of this now-ubiquitous font, from its classical modernist roots in 1957 Switzerland to contemporary American billboards. Originally designed to be neutral, fonts have taken on new weight. New designers follow font trends,…
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Everyone’s Talking About The GI Joe 2.0 Trailer
All thanks to Mark Allen, who showed me this collection of repurposed GI Joe PSAs years ago. Yes: before YouTube! The reggae one was always my favorite. I’m glad there is finally a reason to highlight it again for the…
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Beyond the Pleasure Principle
A review of Vienna Triangle, by Brenda Webster Vienna Triangle is much more than the construction of a fiction around historical facts and figures.
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In the Art Rags
The new issue of Bidoun has glitter on both covers, smells like a pack of baseball cards, and includes a stellar essay by Negar Azimi, “I Often Dream of Slavs.” The last issue of frieze celebrated FILE Magazine‘s idiosyncrasy; the…
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THE EYEBALL: The Thief of Baghdad
The Eyeball is currently teaching creative writing in a decommissioned military base on the Olympic Peninsula, which means late-night DVD watching in the officers quarters. Last night I watched The Thief of Baghdad, a 1940 film directed by a hodgepodge…
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Sugar Answers Your Questions
I know we’re in the midst of a recession and I’m sure we’re all feeling antsy about where our next pair of edible underwear is coming from.
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People Reading
This blog captures People Reading as an on-going testament to the fact that people still read. They read Focault, Michael Crichton, Emily Dickinson; they read in Spanish and in Russian; they read on the BART platform, at the laundromat, and…
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The Axis of Empathy
Much has been written recently about Pakistan, most of it having to do with George W. Bush’s War on Terror. Where exactly is bin Laden hiding? Is the Pakistani government doing enough to help find him? And what of A.Q.…
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An Interview with Lawrence Weschler (about how to interview, among other things)
“I generally don’t use tape recorders. I take notes and work from memory. You can use the tape recorder as an aide-memoire, but I can tell you that I have been doing this for thirty years, and I’ve never had…