Taking It All In

Taking It All In

Emily Gordon has found an avalanche of Pauline Kael reviews.

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RIP Glenn Ford

RIP Glenn Ford

Obit. Words from Carolyn.

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The Golden Gate Bridge: Where Would You Like to Leap to Your Death Today?

The Golden Gate Bridge: Where Would You Like to Leap to Your Death Today?

Bizarre location-based infograph. (via SF Metro)

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Well, At Least They Weren't Urged to Buy Pet Medications Or Click On a Fabricated PayPal Link

Well, At Least They Weren’t Urged to Buy Pet Medications Or Click On a Fabricated PayPal Link

New York Times: “The RadioShack Corporation, the electronics retailer, has followed through on plans to cut about 400 jobs, but it has been put on…

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Meeting of the Minds

Meeting of the Minds

If ever there was an interviewer more perfectly complemented to talk with Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie about Lost Girls, it’s Susie Bright. This interview,…

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Taking the Fun Out of Fundraiser

Taking the Fun Out of Fundraiser

An unfortunate event occurred at an n+1 fundraiser. The gang managed to raise $3,000, only to wake up the next morning with the loot gone….

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Maps

When I was five, there was a gigantic map of Santa Clara County that hung on my bedroom wall. I can’t recall the precise circumstances…

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Statement

It goes without saying that when an online punkass posts an extravagant claim about a major writer[1], he must be prepared to, in the parlance…

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It Took Three Days of Staring at an Inert Storefront Before Anything Exciting Happened

It Took Three Days of Staring at an Inert Storefront Before Anything Exciting Happened

The Register: “An attempted burglary of a Liverpool sports store was foiled after a vulture-eyed viewer of a Beatles-related webcam alerted police.”

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So Long and Thanks for Everything But the Fish?

So Long and Thanks for Everything But the Fish?

New York Times: “Far from being slow learners, manatees, it turns out, are as adept at experimental tasks as dolphins, though they are slower-moving and,…

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Blue Goes Blue for Chron

Blue Goes Blue for Chron

Violet Blue doesn’t like me very much, but I’m happy to learn that she’s landed a gig as the Chron‘s sex columnist. Kudos to Phil…

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Ad Hominem Fiesta!

Ad Hominem Fiesta!

Heya kids. It’s time to tear Edward Champion a new one! If you have any choice words that you’d like to offer me, I will…

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Fewer Readers or Shorter Hours?

Fewer Readers or Shorter Hours?

Mercury News: “The number of books threatened with removal from library shelves dropped last year to its lowest total on record, with 405 challenges reported…

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RIP Joseph Stefano

RIP Joseph Stefano

Joseph Stefano, the man behind some of the great episodes of the original Outer Limits and, of course, the script for Psycho, has passed away.

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Katrina: One Year Later

Katrina: One Year Later

Telling demographics.

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All-England Summarize Snicket

All-England Summarize Snicket

12 Lemony Snickets summarized in two minutes. Wonder if Handler (or the marketing people) got the idea from here. (via Magnificent Octopus)

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Screw the Hometown -- How About a URL, You Elitist Schmucks?

Screw the Hometown — How About a URL, You Elitist Schmucks?

New York Times Corrections: “An article in Weekend on Friday about free online audiobooks of works in the public domain referred incorrectly to Arlene Goldbard,…

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Dietrich Poem Found

Dietrich Poem Found

A long lost love poem from Marlene Dietrich to Ronald Reagan has been found. Even more interestingly, the poem was typed on Noel Coward’s typewriter….

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Roundup

Roundup

Arab Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz has died. He was 94. Laila promises to have more. Levi Asher serves up five comic books you may not…

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Milwaukee -- A Drunken Port In a Storm

Milwaukee — A Drunken Port In a Storm

Milwaukee has been named “America’s Drunken City” — by no less an eminence than Forbes. San Francisco isn’t on the list. Neither is Los Angeles…

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Harlan Ellison Responds

Harlan Ellison Responds

At the Harlan Ellison message board, Ellison has posted the following (which he gives permission to disseminate): Would you believe that, having left the Hugo…

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The Discomfort Zone

There’s a good deal of commotion over Michiko Kaukutani’s review of Jonathan Franzen’s The Discomfort Zone. Has Michiko gone too far? Having read most of…

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A Clockwork Temperament

A Clockwork Temperament

The Paris Review‘s DNA of Literature is now up to the 1970s. There appears to be no set schedule for when the good folks over…

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archy rocks

archy rocks

Holy frijole! An enormous Don Marquis resource online! (via MeFi)

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Hitch Curses Audience, Forgets to Order Drinks

Hitch Curses Audience, Forgets to Order Drinks

Crooks & Liars: “During a segment on Bill Maher’s show–he flipped the audience off and cursed them out. I’ve seen Maher ask the audience to…

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Stephen Thompson: Racist Reviewer?

Stephen Thompson: Racist Reviewer?

GalleyCat reports on this Stephen Thompson review of Vikram Chandra’s Sacred Games. The opening paragraph reads: There are certain books that are so similar to…

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Harlan Ellison: The Norman Mailer of Speculative Fiction

Harlan Ellison: The Norman Mailer of Speculative Fiction

[Photo removed at the request of Keith Stokes. Offending image available here.] [UPDATE: Keith Stokes continues to play a game of cultural revisionism, regularly changing…

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Harlan Ellison at WorldCon

Harlan Ellison at WorldCon

Rick Kleffel has Harlan Ellison’s one-man WorldCon panel on tape. Kleffel assures that it will offend everyone, but it seems rather tame and a bit…

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The Bat Segundo Show #60: Robert Birnbaum

Author: Robert Birnbaum Condition of Mr. Segundo: Detached but amused by the pair-up. Subjects Discussed: The value of conducting interviews at a cemetery, Ed Champion’s…

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The Bat Segundo Show #59: Jeff VanderMeer

Author: Jeff VanderMeer Condition of Mr. Segundo: Coming to terms with troubling generalizations. Subjects Discussed: Mushrooms as inspiration, writing “Dradin in Love” while suffering from…

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