In case you were wondering, that whole “Tumblr-style blogging” idea didn’t work out — it turned out that Tumblr itself was a much easier way to do it. Here’s the new division: creative work here, “here’s a funny website I found” over there.
I plugged the text of every comedy script I’ve ever written into Wordle, and got this image back, based on word frequency:
It was gratifying to learn that, across all the scripts I’ve ever worked on, the words “time machine” top the list.
Photo series of a wedding portrait, interrupted by the Chinese earthquake — the photographer never stopped snapping. Here’s the entire series in order, to save you the effort of clicking through. (via)
♦Joan Acocella suggests that New Yorkers aren’t rude, so much as familiar — that our lives are so public, the city so overstimulating, the sense of being “in this together” so strong that we tend to treat each other as peers, rather than strangers for whom we have to put on a polite, public face. You’re honest with your peers — you can be short with them, and tell them when they’re pissing you off. By the same token, though, that exposure of New Yorker’s unvarnished, private selves allows us to consider each other as people to be respected, rather than as social obstacles to maneuver around. This is an idealistic theory, perhaps, but it fits my experience of the city. (And anyway, we all know that Bostonians are far worse. via Brian)
Things Younger Than John McCain. Among them: Alaska, Superman, and the Polio vaccine. [via]
♦Washington Phillips - Lift Him Up That’s All
From Goodbye, Babylon, a set I’ve only begun to dig into and already love. Recorded in 1927 on an instrument that Phillips may or may not have invented himself.
After seeing how much some of my friends have been getting out of their tumblelogs, I’ve decided to retire the del.icio.us-powered linkblog and adapt the format myself. (As much as I’d recommend Tumblr to those looking to start a painless, no-pressure blog, I’d rather keep it flexible and on my own turf.)
And with that said, let’s get to it!
I’m pretty proud of how this video turned out — it’s well-produced and funny, and Jesse’s music production is wonderfully catchy. But honestly, none of that matters to me as much as the fact that I look great in it.
I’m not one to cast aspersions, but this struck me as slightly odd:
(I should point out that I’m not the only one who’s curious, so expect this to be old news by the time you read it.)
[Update: Yep, Colbert had a joke about this the next day.]
Another in the occasional series “Sketches We Are Particularly Proud Of:” Akon Calls T-Pain.
Update: Looks like the piece is doing quite well — most notably, Sasha Frere-Jones, the New Yorker’s pop music critic, has taken a liking to it. He didn’t compare us to Bob Dylan or anything, but hey, I still consider that high praise.
