Please, Not Another One

Irrelevant.

“The Environmental Problem of Phone Books”

“More than 500 million phone directories—nearly two books for every American—are printed and distributed every year in the U.S., taking with them some 19 million trees.” 

from Scientific American

 

Popeye Goes Free in Europe

I yam what I yam for nothing.

“Popeye the Sailor copyright free 70 years after Elzie Segar’s death”

“While the copyright is about to expire inside the EU, the character is protected in the US until 2024. US law protects a work for 95 years after its initial copyright.” Written by Adam Sherwin.

from Times Online

Iceland Is What…?

Can a nation declare bankruptcy?

“Iceland After the Fall”

“Iceland is, for many of us, the waist of the hourglass: the narrowest point in the flow of culture and commerce that buoys modern life, a place where the First World is winnowed and exposed. This is why we call its financial collapse a “crisis.” It’s the reason some of us with no clear stake are keen to learn what happened.” Written by Nathan Heller.

from Slate

Divine Comedy for the Xbox

Abandon all hope.

“Going to Hell”

“In an announcement that has shocked lovers of both videogames and medieval poetry, Electronic Arts have announced that they are in production on a ‘third-person action adventure adaptation’ of The Divine Comedy.” Written by Iain Simons.

from New Statesman

See more Gustave Dore drawings of The Divine Comedy.

Reissued: The Aquarian Revolution

12 million served.

“Doing It”

“With its discreet cover and its content divided into Starters, Main Courses, and Sauces & Pickles, the book was loosely modelled on “Joy of Cooking,” the culinary how-to book that had transformed the way its readers thought about food.” By Alex Levy.

from The New Yorker

A Trojan Horse?

From the Department of Be Concerned.

“Those Greek Riots”

“Greece has been torn apart by the worst riots in decades, now entering their third week. Bands of self-declared anarchist youths have rampaged through the streets of Athens and other major cities causing hundreds of millions of dollars in property damage, setting off a spiral of unrest in which the nation’s unions, among other groups, have taken part. Both shops and hotel lobbies have been ransacked, and hospitals, airports, and transport have been brought to a standstill.” Written by Robert D. Kaplan.

from The Atlantic Monthly

New Orleans of The Netherlands

The next great flood?

“Before the Levees Break: A Plan to Save the Netherlands”

“The coastline and river deltas of the Netherlands are arguably the best-protected lowlands in the world, and the Dutch are a little miffed at Al Gore for suggesting in An Inconvenient Truth that their homeland is as vulnerable to rising seas as far less protected places like Bangladesh and Florida.” Written by David Wolman.

from Wired

Jesus Is My Name

 You talking to me?

“Happy Birthday, Dear Yeshua, Happy Birthday to You!”

“On Thursday, Christians will celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Was the Christian Messiah the first to have that name, or were there a lot of Jesuses running around back then?” Written by Brian Palmer

Painting: “The Dance” (1925) by Pablo Picasso

from Slate

Poetic Adventure and Sexual Ecstasy

The Frenchman brings it home.

“Interview with  Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio”

2008 Nobel Laureate in Literature

“I don’t have any office, I can write everywhere. I put a piece of paper on the table and then I travel. Literally, writing for me is like travelling. It’s getting out of myself and living another life; maybe a better life.” Interviewed by Adam Smith.

Plus: Read the Nobel lecture by Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio.

from nobelprize.org

Inspiration pour la Maison

Live more fully.

“The Treasures of Yves”

“Yves Saint Laurent’s Paris duplex on the Rue de Babylone has long housed the trophies of a four-decade hunt for inspiration. In February, those treasures will be auctioned off.” Written by Amy Fine Collins

from Vanity Fair

Get Back to Work

Is there a better way?

“Diary of a Self-Help Dropout: Flirting with the 4-Hour Workweek”

“I am responsible for two cartoon voice-overs, three writing jobs, a movie soundtrack, my stand-up comedy act…and half of a musical-comedy duo…I’m grateful for the work. But without any kind of 9-to-5 structure, it’s a lot to keep track of.” Written by Chris Hardwick.

from Wired

Best Letter to the Editor…Ever

Yes, I’m that John Ashbery.

“Auden and Prizes”

” Sir, – Jascha Kessler’s letter (November 28) about W. H. Auden and the Yale Younger Poets Series is seriously delusional.” Written by John Ashbery

from Times Literary Supplement

Bublik, Baranki, Shuski

From the Department of Breakfast.

“A Short History of the Bagel”

“It is unclear when the first bagels made their way to the United States, but 70 bakeries existed on the Lower East side by 1900..” Written by Joan Nathan.

from Slate

Susan Sontag Rocks!

The smartest woman in the room.

“Under the Sign of Sontag”

“If anyone is under the impression that Susan Sontag was, beneath her intellectual brio, just like everyone else, a quick perusal of Reborn: Journals & Notebooks 1947-1963, edited by her son, David Rieff, should put that idea to rest.” Written by Katie Roiphe.

from Slate

Book Prizes Stink to High Heaven

More from the literary prize wars.

“The Art of Prizefighting“

“Prizes are a vital part of the modern market for serious literature, but they’re also increasingly flawed and compromised.” Written by Tom Chatfield.

from Prospect