Archives for the 'Asides' Category

WMMNA goes to freshfacedandwildeyed in London and finds Steve Schofield’s wonderful series of photographs of English Stars Wars and Star Trek cosplayers in their homes.

From WebUrbanist: “Guerrilla Art Versus Guerrilla Advertising: What’s the Difference?”

“I’ve never been 100 percent clear on why you’re not supposed to speak ill of the dead, but suffice it to say that while there were many more vile politicians in the world than the now-dead Jesse Helms they were pretty much all brutal dictators and the like.” - Matt Yglesias

Internet Etiquette Lesson #1: If someone says something mean about you online and you don’t like it, you should send him or her a friendly letter. They will likely backpeddle and say, “he’s a decent guy. I like him.” Malcolm Gladwell knows this. As does Keith Gessen, (who just blogged something pretty great about a different kind of writerly feud.) Well, you might have to be published someplace to throw that weight around, but still! (Previously.)

Martin Creed’s “Work No.850″ at the Tate Duveen sculpture gallery in London involves a runner in athletic attire sprinting through the gallery every 30 seconds. (via.)

Someone stole Ian Curtis’ memorial stone from Cheshire cemetery. It is inscribed “Ian Curtis 18 - 5 - 80″ and the words “Love Will Tear Us Apart”. (via.) BBC quotes a police officer reminding us, “There is no CCTV in the area,” because that totally would have resolved it.

Taxi Driver isn’t what Paul Schrader considers his best work. My favorite podcaster, Erin Donovan reviews Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters for GreenCine. It’s an awesome but little watched movie, with stylistic details I’m surprised no one’s ripped off since: “Schrader translates the four chapters of Mishima’s story (Beauty, Art, Action, Harmony of Pen & Sword) in three different styles: traditional black and white filmstock shot on locked-down cameras for memories, hyperreal theatrical productions for Mishima’s written works and the final day of Mishima’s life in loose, cinema-verite style.” Amazing poster art too.

Here’s the trailer for Julie Delpy’s movie about 16th century virgin blood drinking Hungarian Countess Erzebet Bathory, (the inspiration for many fairytale villainesses.) She produced, wrote, and directed The Countess. Found on Pretty/Scary, who interviewed Delpy last year, “The film is about a woman that has never had limits to what can be done, and she is very cruel. But she goes through a terrible story, the real story that happened, yes, she has the reputation that she killed 600 women and bathed in their blood, these young versions. But there’s also the other side of the coin, which is that the king owed her so much money that they had to get rid of her, which is why they created this mythical monster, and vampire, and witch, and blood, and bathing in blood. I tell both stories. I tell the myth of the monster, and that maybe there is something else behind it.”

“‘Bookslut,’ however, was only the tip of the iceberg. Some man, fancying himself a humorist, ran a site called Black Garterbelt, daring to impugn the moral fabric of books with an unspeakable reference to lingerie. I did not laugh. Instead, I took to wearing a burqa and urging the children in my community to do the same… I also understand from a friend that The Elegant Variation refers to the unholy act of premarital sex, and that Mark Sarvas’s blog is a place for unmarried pagans to hook up and commit foul and carnal acts. Enter the Octopus? Dear Lord, this is disgusting” - Ed Champion in reference to this.

An Extremely Brief History Of Blog Feuds. Oh, the memories…