the art-of-factwriting
-Spike Magazine interviews J G Ballard.
-On the Nature of Literary Friendship, A Web Del Sol series (last two via Rake's Progress)
-Alice Hoffman writes on fairy tales for the Washington Post
-The Boston Globe looks at the American Library Association's "Celebrity READ" poster series and suggests alternate book selections for the celebs. (last two via bookslut)
-Maud quotes from a great exchange between Vladimir Nabokov and Edmund Wilson.
-Slate's Jack Shafer, on the Pulitzers, asks "Who cares?" and Ed answers, "Who cares about Jack Shafer?"
-Meanwhile, Terry describes and comments on the runners-up for the Pulitzer drama prize. On Omnium Gatherum: "In an inept attempt at subtlety, each guest is made to say one or two things inconsistent with his or her caricature—though somebody ought to tell the authors that making the fey Brit a raving Israel-hater was more accurate than they might have guessed."
-remains of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's plane have been found (via TMFTML)
art
-a surprisingly serious conversation on art criticism at TMFTML
-art by J.S. Rossbach (via Mock Turtle Soup)
-art by Jean-Jacques Gaude (via Penny Dreadful)
-art by rabotando (?) (via neurastenia)
-photography by Petr Salek (via cipango)
web and tech
-play the Kinja music digest
-share your Netflix queue
-your phone can alert you when friends are nearby
other
-Gymnast's Skills Save Him in Fourth-Floor Fall
-The Kingdom of Loathing
-Totally Ick.
You can brave the weather, but you'd never try it out. You can eat your meal, but you'd never pursue it (unless of course it was wild game). Likewise, why would anyone "attempt a response?" One either responds or not.
Posted by: Ed on April 7, 2004 01:37 PMActually, I thought about the phrase for a while before I used it, and decided on it because of how ridiculous it is. It didn't occur to me that the phrasing wouldn't scan as humor, but I was worried that it might be taken as a slight ("he attempts a response, but doesn't make one"), which wasn't my intention. I'll just remove it.
Posted by: Nathalie Chicha on April 7, 2004 02:05 PMI'm rereading my comment and it sounds lame. I also chose to include "attempts" because I liked the sentence's rhythm better w/ it. And when I say, I thought about it for a while, I don't mean more than half a minute. I originally had "attempts a response," then thought that was sloppy, cut it to "responds," disliked the rhythm, and thought I'd reinclude the "attempts," hoping it would read as campy writing. So, I didn't really include it as a self-reflexive indictment of the phrase. I was just self-consciously lazy.
Ok. No more on that from me. Sorry.
Is Terry's knowledge of "fey Brits" so all-encompasing that he's qualified to make sweeping statements about "their" attitude towards individual nations? or is this a remark utterly consistent with the caricature of the level of US political discourse?
Posted by: qB on April 7, 2004 02:22 PMNathalie: I should have included a smiley face there. No worries. I didn't take it as a slight. Was just noting how it sounded on this end. :)
Posted by: Ed on April 7, 2004 04:01 PM