Dec. 13, 2009
The list is the origin of culture. It’s part of the history of art and literature. What does culture want? To make infinity comprehensible. It also wants to create order — not always, but often. And how, as a human being, does one face infinity? How does one attempt to grasp the incomprehensible? Through lists, through catalogs, through collections in museums and through encyclopedias and dictionaries. There is an allure to enumerating how many women Don Giovanni slept with: It was 2,063, at least according to Mozart’s librettist, Lorenzo da Ponte. We also have completely practical lists — the shopping list, the will, the menu — that are also cultural achievements in their own right.
Dec. 12, 2009
veraville:
So much better than the original.
In one year’s time, this boy will have eclipsed Lady Gaga as our finest pop star. Also, congratulations to his parents for letting him out of that closet.
Dec. 10, 2009
In truth, we built the Model-T Ford because we had changed; we wanted to remake the world to accommodate our restlessness. We might now say: Newspapers will be lost because technology will force us to acquire information in new ways. In that case, who will tell us what it means to live as citizens of Seattle or Denver or Ann Arbor? The truth is we no longer want to live in Seattle or Denver or Ann Arbor. Our inclination has led us to invent a digital cosmopolitanism that begins and ends with “I.” Careening down Geary Boulevard on the 38 bus, I can talk to my my dear Auntie in Delhi or I can view snapshots of my cousin’s wedding in Recife or I can listen to girl punk from Glasgow. The cost of my cyber-urban experience is disconnection from body, from presence, from city.
— Richard Rodriguez, in a lovely elegy for newspapers,
in Harper’s. “We no longer want to live in Seattle or Denver or Ann Arbor”: This seems to me to be very much the case.
Dec. 10, 2009
Here is not only the greatest Jason Mraz cover I’ve ever seen, but also what I believe to be the greatest Jason Mraz cover possible, because it replaces the lyrics with baby talk and features some of the finest baby-guitar strumming this reporter has ever seen. Whoops, your ovaries just blew up. (via)
Dec. 9, 2009
If the people that believed the moon landing was staged on a movie lot had access to unlimited money from large carbon polluters or some other special interest who wanted to confuse people into thinking that the moon landing didn’t take place, I’m sure we’d have a robust debate about it right now.
— Al Gore on the climate change “debate,”
in Slate. So true, so depressing.
Dec. 8, 2009
perpetua:
Grizzly Bear
“Two Weeks”
This animated video for “Two Weeks” by director Gabe Askew is so elaborate and elegantly crafted that it’s hard to imagine that it’s not actually the official clip for the song. Askew’s work is perfect for Grizzly Bear’s music, unfolding with fussy precision and grace while having the weight and texture of something sturdy and lived-in.
As iconic as the original video has become, this thing is is just jaw-droppingly gorgeous — a gay love story set inside the world’s most artfully designed Disneyland ride. I want it to go on forever. And I don’t even like music videos!
Dec. 8, 2009
Crazy Town, “Mambo No. 5,” “Chain Hang Low.” We are owed an apology.
