http://www.edrants.com a blog in ever-shifting standing Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:42:46 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en http://www.edrants.com/disappearing/ Hal Niedzviecki most recently appeared on The Bat Segundo Show #294. Hal Niedzviecki is most recently the author of The Peep Diaries. He previously appeared on The Bat Segundo Show #47. [PROGRAM NOTE: At the 24:03 mark, a woman with a laptop demanded that Our Correspondent talk with less vivacity, suggesting that ... http://www.edrants.com/the-bat-segundo-show-hal-niedzviecki-ii/ (This is the second of an interconnected two part response involving Alain de Botton. In addition to answering my questions, Alain de Botton was very gracious to send along this essay.) Technology Many people are only just waking up to how blurred web technology has made the boundaries between public and ... http://www.edrants.com/alain-de-botton-on-responding-to-critics/ (This is the first of an interconnected two part response involving Alain de Botton. In addition to answering my questions, Alain de Botton was very gracious to send along this essay.) In last Sunday's New York Times Book Review, Caleb Crain reviewed Alain de Botton's The Pleasures and Sorrows of ... http://www.edrants.com/alain-de-botton-clarifies-the-caleb-crain-response/ "A careful observer can use a respect scale to find how many citizens get an even break. As a community moves towards despotism, respect is restricted to fewer people. A community is low on a respect scale, if common courtesy is withheld from large groups of people on ... http://www.edrants.com/despotism-1946/ In 2006, Kevin Smokler, the speaker and editor behind Bookmark Now, partnered with Chris Anderson, editor of Wired, and software developer Adam Goldstein to determine just how information about bookstore events and authors might be collected at an online hub. That central place turned out to be BookTour.com, which ... http://www.edrants.com/inside-booktour-com-a-qa-with-kevin-smokler/ On June 28, 2009, I attended The Flower Parade. I knew nothing about the parade, but learned very quickly that its intent was to celebrate Colombia. The above film, "Dia de los Vivos," presents the spirit that I observed and participated in. http://www.edrants.com/dia-de-los-vivos-flower-parade-2009/ I've seen wild narcissism from authors in reaction to a review, but Alice Hoffman's recent tweeting takes the cake. The Boston Globe's Roberta Silman reviewed Hoffman's latest book, The Story Sisters. Silman wrote that Hoffman's latest novel "lacks the spark of the earlier work." The main character ... http://www.edrants.com/alice-hoffman-the-most-immature-writer-of-her-generation/ [EDITOR'S NOTE: About a year ago, I began a comprehensive history about the expansion of Verizon. I don't know if I will ever finish the narrative, because the story is quite complicated. But here is the next installment in the series. Part One, which concerns itself with April ... http://www.edrants.com/the-history-of-verizon-part-three-september-to-october-2000/ An Australian television station fell for the Jeff Goldblum death rumor that circulated yesterday and even included a Jeff Goldbum montage in its report. (More here.) (via Metafilter) http://www.edrants.com/hoaxes-are-still-possible-in-the-internet-age/ 1. We didn't have a lot of money growing up. But the first (and one of the few) albums that I had was the picture disc of Michael Jackson's Thriller. Before that, I would nervously call the DJ at my FM radio station and ask him to ... http://www.edrants.com/what-michael-jackson-gave-me/ While TMZ and Gawker are reporting that Michael Jackson is dead, I wish to point out that there has been no official confirmation of his death. I spoke with Craig Harvey of the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office and he informed me that there was no official confirmation of ... http://www.edrants.com/michael-jackson-dead/ I received a tip that three producers at the American News Project had been fired. The American News Project is directed by Nick Penniman, who also serves as the Executive Director of the Huffington Post Investigative Fund. The Investigative Fund was only just announced by Arianna Huffington back ... http://www.edrants.com/three-producers-fired-from-american-news-project/ The above clip, from The Partridge Family, set a celebratory impulse into motion. Farrah Fawcett was 23. And even within the seemingly vanilla universe of the Partridges, she still wore a dress that revealed her tawny anatomy, which was always offset by her bubbly voice. Fawcett, of ... http://www.edrants.com/rip-farrah-fawcett/ You know that cultural journalism is in a sorry state when only four people show up for a screening, and not a single dead soul (save for myself, still chortling with pulse) has the courage to laugh at legendary comedy material or get excited by consummate performers tinkering with sketches ... http://www.edrants.com/review-pleasure-at-her-majestys-1976-and-the-secret-policemans-other-ball-1979/ The Virginia Quarterly Review's Waldo Jaquith has uncovered several instances of apparent plagiarism within Chris Anderson's forthcoming book, Free. Unfortunately, I have learned that the VQR's investigations only begin to scratch the surface. A cursory plunge into the book's contents reveals that Anderson has not only cribbed material from ... http://www.edrants.com/chris-anderson-plagiarist/ http://www.edrants.com/play-spock-off-keyboard-cat/ I was a bookish and uncertain young man bouncing around law firms when a playfully perverse paperback halted my calisthenics on the ontological trampoline. The book was The Fermata. Its titular notational symbol stretched across the soft pink cover like a giddy golden rainbow, resembling an Orwellian eye ... http://www.edrants.com/the-joys-of-nicholson-baker/ In response to developments at the Federal Trade Commission, I have established an editorial policy, an addendum to a post that I put up in June 2008, to address any and all ethical concerns. While I applaud the FTC for cracking down on "journalists" who serve mostly as odious ... http://www.edrants.com/editorial-policy/ Ladies and gentlemen, for those eagerly watching the skies, there has been a slight change in plans. Due to unforeseen circumstances, we will be discussing Ellen Ruppel Shell's Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture during the week of July 13th, not the previous week (as previously announced). ... http://www.edrants.com/new-roundtable-discussion-date/ I killed my dad. And then I killed Richard Farrell's dad.. And then I killed my mom. And then I killed Richard Farrell's mom. I didn't blow any of these people away with a gun. Instead, I let them die. I pulled a kitchen ... http://www.edrants.com/richard-farrell-saved-me/ http://www.edrants.com/this-door-was-intended-only-for-you/ Ladies and gentlemen, during the week of July 13th, 2009, an intrepid team of journalists, unusual voices, first wave bloggers, and second wave bloggers will congregate on these pages to discuss Ellen Ruppel Shell's Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture. We will be serializing our discussion over the ... http://www.edrants.com/our-july-roundtable-book-revealed/ The geeks in the upstairs apartment moved out. I called them the geeks because I always heard the guy drilling holes into the walls at odd hours -- the working theory being that he was constructing some homemade dungeon. I once heard the Nazi theme from Day of ... http://www.edrants.com/the-geeks/ To paraphrase Eleanor Roosevelt, nobody can make you feel inauthentic without your consent. And the phony who uttered the onerous words recorded by the good and kind Don Linn should be whacked in the kneecaps. Just so the phony can decide whether or not there is indeed a ... http://www.edrants.com/family-disgrace/ Guy Maddin appeared on The Bat Segundo Show #293. Guy Maddin is most recently the author of My Winnipeg, a book version of the film of the same name. For listeners who are fans of reading and watching films, this conversation accounts for all experiences and contains more than a ... http://www.edrants.com/the-bat-segundo-show-guy-maddin/ Earlier this year, numerous enthusiasts exploded in their pants over a movie that had not yet snagged American distribution. If you were among the throbbing throng to take in the trailer -- yet another eyeball-attracting rite encouraged by the Internet's discouragement of cultural apostasy -- you may very well ... http://www.edrants.com/review-dead-snow-2009/ On June 12, 2009, I attended a bubble battle in New York. But the event wasn't really a battle -- at least not in the traditional sense. Hundred of people who didn't know each other gathered in Times Square to blow bubbles. It seemed like such a ... http://www.edrants.com/bubbles-a-consideration/ At BookExpo America, Wet Asphalt's Eric Rosenfield entered into a lengthy conversation with Brian O'Leary of Magellan Media. And it became necessary to capture their quasi-caffeinated colloquy for reasons that will soon become apparent. I had seen O'Leary earlier in the year at the "Challenging Notions of Free" panel at ... http://www.edrants.com/bea-2009-the-truth-about-book-piracy/ The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10cEnd Timesthedailyshow.comDaily Show Full EpisodesPolitical HumorNewt Gingrich Unedited Interview http://www.edrants.com/the-gray-lady-just-grew-a-few-more-gray-hairs/