Posts by author
Sam Riley
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Times New Roman’s Dramatic Past
The 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…
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“The Happy Accident of the Cut-Out”
William S. Burroughs discusses how to construct (or rather deconstruct) Dadaist poetry in this video. Tristan Tzara’s influence guide on how to make Dadaist poetry was integral to his series of novels, The Nova Trilogy.
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The Elusive Shining
The first time The Shining was screened on national television, viewers were informed that the “film deals with the supernatural, as a possessed man attempts to destroy his family.” Is that a presumptuous interpretation of what happened in The Shining?…
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Savage Love, Sugar Love
Dan Savage, the renowned journalist behind the sex advice column, Savage Love, is surfing the Sugar wave! He links to Sugar’s last column, agreeing with her relationship advice: “…when I say that people should be realistic, and when I say…
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Berkeley in SF, This Saturday!
David Berkeley, who has graced us with his musical talents at Rumpus events of months past, is performing this Saturday at Café Du Nord in SF. He has been deemed a “musical poet,” by The San Francisco Chronicle, and his…
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On Writers’ Houses
Visiting writers’ houses does align with everyone’s preferences. This kind of literary tourism isn’t necessarily useful to understanding the artistic sensibilities of the writer who once inhabited it, or is it? April Bernard discusses the internal turmoil that these visits…
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Not Lost, then Lost and Found
Searching for the lost, but once published stories of Dr. Seuss, Charles Cohen unearthed a slew of magazine covers that Ted Geisel had created back in the 1920’s. With some sleuth-style hunting, he found old magazines containing these stories and…
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Patti Smith’s Movie Deal
After winning the National Book Award for her memoir, Just Kids, Patti Smith is venturing into new artistic territory. She is set to work with Tony award-winning playwright, John Logan, to adapt her memoir into a film. As per her…
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Everybody Dies But Me
Everybody Dies But Me is a Russian film documenting the harsh realities of adolescent life in a suburb of Moscow. The film is fortunately available in its entirety right here on Youtube. This is the perfect opportunity to dabble in…
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Shepard Fairey in Copenhagen
Street artist Shepard Fairey is perpetually towing the line between adoration/acceptance and hostility. Street art is anarchic and contentious in that way. He recently experienced the hostile side of this dichotomy in Copenhagen, when he was attacked following the after-party…
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Love for Bookstores that Love Small Presses
This massive Milwaukee bookstore is overflowing with small press publications—an awesome bookstore size-to-indie love ratio that doesn’t seem to happen as much as it should. Besides Woodland Pattern’s impressively diverse chapbook section, the bookstore is integral to the literature community…