Sign of the Times

Sign of the Times

PC World has listed “100 Blogs We Love.” Under the misleading nomen “Arts & Culture,” not a single arts blog, litblog, or theatre blog is…

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RIP Joel Siegel

RIP Joel Siegel

The film critic Joel Siegel died on Friday. Roger Ebert has a valiant tribute to him, pointing out how Siegel persevered as a critic for…

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I Want to Come Together Like an Animal

I Want to Come Together Like an Animal

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That Lengthy Part About Being a Rich Writer Should Be the Tip Off

That Lengthy Part About Being a Rich Writer Should Be the Tip Off

How to tell when someone’s lying to you, or how to tell a convincing lie — depending upon your inclination. (via Bill Peschel)

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The Place Where Everyone's a Failure

The Place Where Everyone’s a Failure

Literary Rejections on Display. (via Bluestalking Reader)

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Personally, I'm Happy Enough to Be Booked on Public Access

Personally, I’m Happy Enough to Be Booked on Public Access

Chronicle of Higher Education: “But after a dozen years in the industry, the whining and whingeing of authors had worn me down: The conspiracy theories…

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Lev and Austin

Lev and Austin

From an interview with Austin Grossman: “Practically speaking my brother Lev helped see the thing to publication – he saw it in its early stages…

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Doug Frantz Resigns from the L.A. Times

Doug Frantz Resigns from the L.A. Times

Editor & Publisher: “Los Angeles Times Managing Editor Doug Frantz has quit the paper, the newspaper announced today. In a short Web story, the paper…

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Available in Stores Today: the iDildo!

Utilizing groundbreaking iTechnology, you too can get in touch with your inner narcissist with technological options that you don’t really need. The iDildo is now…

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Roundup

Roundup

The Bay Area Intellect, a website that I was regrettably unfamiliar with when fog-drenched weather was a regular part of my daily life (as opposed…

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Back in Action (Sort of)

Back in Action (Sort of)

After spending hours carefully going through my laptop hard drive through an enclosure and hacking files through a command prompt (since Windows did not want…

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Cablevision Pulls the Plug

Cablevision Pulls the Plug

It shouldn’t be a surprise, but it seems that Cablevision, perhaps because they didn’t take too kindly to me reporting their incompetence, have cut off…

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Physics Was Never Wes Craven's Specialty

Physics Was Never Wes Craven’s Specialty

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Riding Toward Everywhere

Riding Toward Everywhere

Mark Brawner alerts me to a pub date for Vollmann’s trade-hopping book. Riding Toward Everywhere is set to be issued by Ecco on January 1,…

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Ethical Transparency

Ethical Transparency

An author who I will not name sent me his book, along with a cash amount intended as a donation to this site. I’m happy…

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Yippie Kayee

Yippie Kayee

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The Big-Ass Roundup

The Big-Ass Roundup

Michael Cunningham talks with Boston Now about how books are adapted for the screen. Alas, Cunningham offers no answers on why music from Philip Glass…

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Dana Gioia, Poster Boy for Obsolescence

Dana Gioia, Poster Boy for Obsolescence

As can be expected of such predictable speeches, NEA Chairman Dana Gioia outlines the kind of death knell against cultural conversation that one would expect…

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When In Doubt, Cast Generalizations in the Name of Journalism

When In Doubt, Cast Generalizations in the Name of Journalism

Sometimes, in the course of feature journalism, it becomes necessary to write about a problem without pondering how truly disturbing it is or considering that…

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Broadband Update

Broadband Update

I cannot count the number of sleazeballs, both small-time and corporate, that I’ve talked with today. But I’m pleased to report that I’ve found a…

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Another Endorsement for City Jerk

Another Endorsement for City Jerk

As I’ve begun to settle into my delightful new neighborhood, I’ve become addicted to the PLG-based blog Across the Park. Some weeks ago, I conducted…

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Mini-Roundup

Mini-Roundup

Is Michael Chabon the first author to credit his writing software in the acknowledgments section? I’d like to thank WordPress and Firefox for permitting me…

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Do Not Under ANY Circumstances Order from Optimum/Cablevision

Do Not Under ANY Circumstances Order from Optimum/Cablevision

To: Doug ________ From: Edward Champion Re: Lies, Incompetence & Rudeness Doug: Never in my history of dealing with telecommunications companies have I lost more…

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Update on San Diego Union Tribune

Update on San Diego Union Tribune

Arthur Salm informs me that yesterday’s Books section was indeed the last one. The books coverage will now be “two pages inside Sunday Arts, plus…

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Roundup

Roundup

Rumors, put forth by San Diego literary agent Sandra Dijkstra, are now making the rounds that the San Diego Union-Tribune books section is dead. I…

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The Public Works Workers Will Appreciate Lukewarm Water After a Hard Day of Construction

The Public Works Workers Will Appreciate Lukewarm Water After a Hard Day of Construction

San Francisco Chronicle: “San Francisco city government will no longer be allowed to use city money to buy bottled water for its employees under an…

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It's Only a High-Five or Two Before the Kids Start Shooting Up the Cafeteria

It’s Only a High-Five or Two Before the Kids Start Shooting Up the Cafeteria

Washington Post: “‘You get into shades of gray,’ Hernandez said. ‘The kids say, “If he can high-five, then I can do this.”‘

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Katherine Taylor Disses Howard Junker!

Howard Junker reports: “Chapter Nine, ‘Traveling with Mother,’ appeared in ZYZZYVA Fall 2001, in somewhat different form; in fact, it was considered her ‘first nonfiction…

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Needless Quasi-Mandarin Acrobatics

Needless Quasi-Mandarin Acrobatics

Scott McLemee offers an excellent column in response to the Encyclopedia Brittanica brouhaha, pointing out: But no such ambiguity colors the scenario we find in…

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The Laryngitis Roundup

The Laryngitis Roundup

I have lost my voice. And while the coughing still irritates (but shows definite signs of abating), this has made me feel delightfully anonymous and…

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