Once upon a time, a bunch of writers and editors who found themselves working quite by accident for newspapers in a small town in Pennsylvania decided to have a party. A 20-something native of the town found himself among them, and as he listened to the conversation, about the news of the day, and books, and movies, and politics, and culture, his face grew more and more pinched, until finally he confided in the woman who had invited him, “Your friends sure do know a lot of words.”
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Archive for October, 2008
The Strange Words of Neal Stephenson
October 31, 2008Podcast Zeitgeist, Oct. 29
October 29, 2008Here are some impressions of the latest episodes from my current list of active podcasts. Topics covered included the election, the financial crisis, new Macs, Frank TV, your “Desert Island Sedaris,” Santa vs. Odin and a squid with a dog’s head that eats penguins at the South Pole.
In the order I listened this week:
Bumpy Election Day in N.Y.?
October 28, 2008
Nobody expects New York to be in play in the presidential race, but even so a large turnout and long lines are expected here next Tuesday. And that apparently means problems for the city’s elections operation.
Jim Dwyer of The Times has been documenting registration problems related to Rock the Vote. Read the rest of this entry »
Thoughtprints at the Crime College
October 25, 2008
“Supposin’ I did kill the Black Dahlia. They couldn’t prove it now. They can’t talk to my secretary anymore because she’s dead…”
– Dr. George Hodel
Some friends and I are going to see “Dahlia: A Very Nearly True Theatrical Fantasia” by P. Seth Bauer, performed at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, of all places. The gist:
The grisly murder of a young actress and the dumping of her body in a vacant lot in Los Angeles in 1947 is infamous as the Black Dahlia murder. Dahlia: A Very Nearly True Theatrical Fantasia is based on the 2003 best seller “The Black Dahlia Avenger” by retired Los Angeles Police Detective Steve Hodel in which he attempted to prove that his own father was guilty of the murder. P. Seth Bauer’s play is a veritable who’s who of Hollywood celebrity
Failure-to-File Syndrome
October 24, 2008The top aide to New York’s governor has quit in a scandal over his failure to file his taxes since 2001. His lawyer says he suffers from something called “late-filing syndrome.” A paper by a lawyer and a psychiatrist says people with the syndrome are perfectionists and workaholics, who have difficulty talking about their problems with others and cannot ask for help until their secret is exposed. Furthermore:
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Neveah Must Be Missing Some Angles
October 22, 2008City Room has posted a chart showing the most popular baby names in New York City in 2007. Most of the popular names have the whiff of daytime dramas (Madison? Justin?), even among those from non-European backgrounds. The No. 1 name for Asian boys? Ryan. For Hispanic girls? Ashley. But, I wondered, what happens when you dig deeper into the health department’s full list [pdf]?
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It’s a Hodgman Infestation
October 22, 2008
It’s a great week for John Hodgman fans. Hodgman — you know, “The Daily Show” expert, the guy who plays the PC in Mac ads. He is suddenly everywhere: back on Jon Stewart’s show last night, talking to “Rachel Maddow” on Monday night, guest blogging on BoingBoing, Twittering about the presidential race, showing up in some new Mac/PC ads out, making appearances in New York, various blogs and podcasts. It’s all about promoting his new book, “More Information Than You Require,” officially released Tuesday.
By the way, if we are heading for another Great Depression, we’re going to need more than 700 hobo names.
Rich People, New York. Any Questions?
October 20, 2008This week on City Room, John Steele Gordon, the author of “An Empire of Wealth: The Epic History of American Economic Power” will be answered readers’ questions about the history of wealth in New York. Post a question here. Index to answers here.
