Wednesday, December 31, 2008

In Memoriam: 2008


Studs Terkel, William F. Buckley Jr.


Bobby Fischer, Arthur C. Clarke


Harold Pinter, Alexander Solzhenitsyn


Paul Newman

photos: Magnum via Slate

J.D Salinger Turns 90

Happy birthday Mr. Salinger. Wherever you are.


Thursday, December 25, 2008

A Christmas Miracle Of Science

An incredible breakthrough in science has just been announced: Gay scientists have isolated the "Christian" gene.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Friday, December 19, 2008

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Mercury Rising

Getting in just under the wire, the best line of 2008 goes to David Mamet.

Mamet's play "Speed-The-Plow" has been running on Broadway with Entourage star Jeremy Piven in the leading role. Piven just announced he will be dropping out completely after missing a few performances.
The actor said he hasn't been feeling well and attributed his condition to a high mercury count. When asked to comment, Mamet had this to say:
“I talked to Jeremy on the phone, and he told me that he discovered that he had a very high level of mercury. So my understanding is that he is leaving show business to pursue a career as a thermometer.”


(Photos: On the left, the star of HBO's Entourage; On the right, a transparent instrument for measuring temperature by insertion into the rectum)

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

The Spirit Of Giving

A thief who robbed the home of a UK couple, returned to the scene of his crime to give back a diary that was among their safe's contents. The diary was one of the few remaining mementos the grieving parents had of their only daughter who died while traveling on holiday.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Attention Holiday Shoppers


One Story is a literary magazine that contains, simply one story. Every three weeks subscribers are sent One Story in the mail.
"Our mission is to save the short story by publishing in a friendly format that allows readers to experience each story as a stand-alone work of art and a simple form of entertainment. One Story is designed to fit into your purse or pocket, and into your life."

"We believe that short stories are best read alone. They should not be sandwiched in between a review and an exposé on liposuction, or placed after another work of fiction that is so sad or funny or long that the reader is worn out by the time they turn to it."
One Story publishes each writer only once. Many of them have gone on to win various literary awards. The perfect Christmas gift. Visit their site here.

Bedtime Stories


Patricia Piccinini is an artist. A creator. Get familiar with her work here.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Getting Things Done


Daily Routines is a blog dedicated to examining how writers, artists and other interesting people organize their days. It gives insight into the difficult process of self-discipline required of all artists. A valuable resource of procrastination justification.

Sunday, December 07, 2008

Hard Times All Around


From the Wall Street Journal:
According to a new survey by Prince & Assoc., more than 80% of multimillionaires who had extra-marital lovers planned to cut back on their gifts and allowances. Still, only 12% of the multimillionaire cheaters said they plan to give up on their lovers altogether for financial reasons.

Of course, any study of millionaires and their mistresses should be taken with a large grain of salt. The survey–a subset of a larger wealth study–polled 191 individuals with a minimum net worth of $20 million who said they had lovers of at least a year or more (this to screen out the one-night stands, etc.). About two thirds of the respondents were men and one third women. All were married and all had personal control over their finances, meaning the women and men surveyed were the primary wealth holders in their homes.

....The most surprising stats in the study relate to gender and what might be termed “length of service.” Fully 82% of men in the study said they planned to lower the allowances to their mistresses, while more than three quarters planned to provide fewer gifts, less expensive gifts and fewer perks, like jet rides, resort vacations and top restaurant meals.

....The duration of the relationship also seems to play a role in the economics of high-end cavorting. The study found that more than two thirds of the millionaires who had been with their lovers for three or more years planned to cut back. That compares with less than half for those with a tenure of one to three years.

Here are a few of the public comments that followed the article online:

by Hardchoices:

Before September the 15th, I’d promised my mistress both a breast enhancement and a liposuction for the Holidays. Now I can only afford one or the other…so she’s going for the enhancement next month.
But, if things get much worse she’ll have to choose between enhancing just her right or just her left breast. Truth be told, I don’t really care. I love her just the way she is now.

by Mr. Contrarian:

If the wealthy are essentially “selling off” their mistresses, then it would seem that we may be on the verge of a buyer’s market. Thus, the middle class can afford to be happy again!

by Polyga-miss:

Mistresses???!!! Hell, I’m gonna have to “lay” off half my WIVES go!!! And boy will I miss them….but at least I get to keep my truck.

Atlas Shrugged Me Off (I'm so happy I get to finally use that in post heading)


The Atlasphere is a dating site for admirers of Ayn Rand. As we enter an unprecedented period of government bailouts and economic interventions, there seems to be a resurgence of interest in her work and philosophy of Objectivism. Here are a few excerpts of user profiles:

Zak, Long Island, New York:
I am rational, integrated, and efficacious. So far, I’ve never met a person who lives up to the standard I hold for myself (except online).

I take my relationships seriously. I am simply not attracted to many of the women in this world. I do not “hook-up” with girls. I only kiss those who deserve, and so far I have only encountered one who did. I would love to find someone I can learn something from; someone who challenges me to think; someone I can feel like I’ve won, rather than lowered myself to.
thustotyrants, Selden, New York:
[I am] short, stark, and mansome. (author's note: Mansom? Great word!!)

You should contact me if you are a skinny woman. If your words are a meaningful progression of concepts rather than a series of vocalizations induced by your spinal cord for the purpose of complementing my tone of voice. If you’ve seen the meatbot, the walking automaton, the pod-people, the dense, glazy-eyed substrate through which living organisms such as myself must escape to reach air and sunlight. If you’ve realized that if speech is to be regarded as a cognitive function, technically they aren’t speaking, and you don’t have to listen.
Found over at nymag.com