Recent posts
Rumpus Articles
-

The Window of Possessive Titles
One of the new window displays at Red Hill. My first contribution: the window of Possessive titles, a trend I can’t stop ranting about. Especially with novels. But still, an admirable array of authors employ this sure-fire titling method. I,…
-

Morning Coffee
Scienceray on spectacular dams: mankind’s way of saying “take that, nature. Of course then you’ve got shipwrecks, nature’s way of giving it right back to us. Japanese street art: sticker hunting in Shibuya. Dan Harms gives a lecture on the…
-

Iran Links
“With the Marchers: A resident reports from the streets and the rooftops.” The BBC interviews Caspian Makan, the fiance of Neda Agha-Soltan whose murder at the hands of the Basij was witnessed by the world on YouTube (warning: this video…
-

Getting Everyone All Better
If you only read one article on health care this year, consider making it the same one as everyone else: Atul Gawande’s “The Cost Conundrum.” Gawande is great on paradoxes, mysteries and ethical conundrums in the practice of medicine, and…
-

Typing Fast and Sitting Still
Blogging and stillness seem to be contradictory activities: I, along with many others, think of blogging as the relentless and hasty documentation of modern life on the go, news-in-brief for busybusy people. And yet what bloggers are often attempting is…
-

Santa Muerte, aka La Flaca
Since death is a hot topic at the Rumpus lately, let me share some more quotes from David Lida’s fantastic book about Mexico City, these about Mexico’s newest saint: Saint Death, affectionately known as La Flaca (The Skinny Lady).
-

Iran’s Regime: Marching Toward a Cliff
A special comment by Tamim Ansary, author of Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes The Khomeinist regime in Iran is in terminal trouble; but that doesn’t mean Iran is about to repudiate Islam and become a…
-

Doyenne of the Death Mask
Silencieux is the mute heroine of The Worshipper of the Image, Richard La Galliene’s little known fairy-tale from 1900. She has no body, only a serene face, and as the narrator begins to tell his wife about this extraordinary beauty,…
-

90 Miles from Home
Cecilia Rodríguez Milanés’s stories about refugees from the Mariel Boatlift present the conflicts and loneliness of exile.
-

This Month in Music: A Roundup of Shit You May Have Missed
This Month in Music is exactly what it sounds like, only by this month I really mean a subjective span of recent time, and by music, I mean music I think you should care about.
-

The Sound of Passion
Yet another reason to park your child in front of classical music appreciation videos: she’ll be first responder for your next baby! The Sound of Passion.