Other
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Morning Coffee
Caleb Charland’s photographs of scientific curiosity. Paraplegic man is bitten by a spider, regains the use of his legs, and is arrested for domestic abuse. Using Google Maps to determine the exact opposite side of the globe. (via deathwishthree) Executives…
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Poetic Lives Online: Links by Brian Spears
Harriet wants to know what stereotypes you associate with poets. This could get funny. Speaking of funny, the comment thread in this piece about Ugly Duckling Press is wonderful, especially the suggestion that the press is being funded by the…
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The Death of the Vodka Snob?
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…
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Detroit’s Beautiful Ruins
A haunting essay/slide show about Detroit. The day before I arrived, the frozen body of a man was found in the elevator shaft of an abandoned warehouse; only the feet were visible, the rest of the body being entirely encased…
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Saturday Morning Links
Rory McInnes, budding artist in search of attention from Google Earth. And as long as I’m acting like a twelve year old, a Florida eighth-grader gets kicked off the school bus for toxic farts. The Prime Minister of the Czech…
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The Last Book I Loved: Olive Kitteridge
I’m now reading Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout and I’m awe-struck. This is exquisite writing and masterful story-telling. She creates a community of characters, all revolving around Olive in odd ways, and each one gets his or her own story.…
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Staplerfahrer Klaus
If you’re heading out onto the job for the first time, you’d probably better wait a moment and watch Staplerfahrer Klaus, the most important safety-training video in any language. Matter of fact, it wouldn’t hurt to buy the DVD, either.
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Zoetrope: The Latin American Issue
Zoetrope: All-Story published their Latin American Issue this Spring, edited by Daniel Alarcón and Diego Trelles Paz. Read an interview with Alarcón on the arbitrary nature of anthologies and the “outdated lens of magical realism.”
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The Rumpus Oral History Project — Harry Ricker, Alaskan
It is -7º F outside. In his kitchen, Harry makes me tea. He is a broad-shouldered man with a prominent chin and a deep, smooth voice. He has been remodeling this house for the better part of a decade, after…
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The House of Wigs
“The diary of a copywriter, written on company time, billed to the client.” The House of Wigs is a small collection of sixty admirable short stories from the folks at Fireland. This collection renews my faith in what reading will…
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The Rumpus Original Combo: Paul Yoon’s Once the Shore
“One time I was reading Haruki Murakami and I thought: if I had the chance, would I ever ask him why his characters always vanish? I’m not sure I’d want to. Maybe he doesn’t know either.”