The Progressive Bank: “When I see this strip, I think of that poor bunny, and then I feel bad about him, and then I look at Ziggy and feel bad for making fun of him. He’s just some poor guy who’s trying to make a cake! And he’s smiling and keeping a positive outlook on things, no matter how much dirt life kicks in his face! Maybe I’m a softy, but I weep as I type this. Softly. For Ziggy. May Tom Wilson get punched in the eye so hard that he dies, ending your mercilessly long march on the mouse wheel of life.”
Month / June 2006
The Bat Segundo Show #44
Authors: Derik Badman and Jordan Stump
Condition of Mr. Segundo: Gone, relieved not to be involved with Bolsheviks.
Subjects Discussed: French humor, Jacques Tati, how Stump translates, comic beats, auctorial tone and linguistics, the pros and cons of long sentences, the benefits of reading aloud, translating Verne vs. translating Touissaint, why translators get a bad rap, “Translator Awareness Month,” the influence of commercial interests on translated novels, forgotten French authors.
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Portrait of the Litblogger as a Young Man
Good Reading in Dem Magazines
Maud points to this interesting essay in Harper’s from Ben Metcalf on what one is permitted to say in public. I was greatly relieved that someone pointed this article out, as my Harper’s is currently lodged somewhere beneath a vertiginous stack of periodicals on the west side of my room. This particular situation, much less my magazine backlog, does not detract from what Metcalf has to say.
Also of note: Laila has an essay on what it means to be a Muslim woman today in the June 19, 2006 issue of The Nation.
Finally, if you pick up this week’s Penny Saver, you’ll find an essay penned by me detailing the disadvantages of sunglasses in a foggy urban environment. The essay is polemical and I even tie this into game theory. Really, it’s a must read.
But On the Upside, At Least It’s Good for Downloading Porn!
Charlie Brooker: “There’s no point debating anything online. You might as well hurl shoes in the air to knock clouds from the sky. The internet’s perfect for all manner of things, but productive discussion ain’t one of them. It provides scant room for debate and infinite opportunities for fruitless point-scoring: the heady combination of perceived anonymity, gestated responses, random heckling and a notional ‘live audience’ quickly conspire to create a ‘perfect storm’ of perpetual bickering.”