Wait until next year

September 16, 2013

I remember when this was all fields

Jonathan Franzen is telling us what he thinks is wrong with the modern world. Rebecca Solnit sees the changes to our world post-internet as profound and troubling. These are two recent examples of the personal essay as a wail against life today, particularly life with technology, the internet, etc. Both these articles, at least to some extent, look back to supposedly halcyon days and see technology etc as the destroyers of an idyllic past.
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Video | September 13, 2013

Weekend

September 12, 2013

A probably unnecessary post about David Foster Wallace

Sign at a David Foster Wallace event

On the anniversary of David Foster Wallace’s death I expect there will be a glut of people sharing that This is Water video. It is a lovely piece of writing, but an odd one as it seems to have become this whole new creature, half self-help guide, half unintentional self-eulogy. Read the rest of this entry »

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September 11, 2013

“This just in. You are looking at obviously a very disturbing live shot there”

George W Bush turns away from a television set on 9/11

9/11 was, among many other things, the ultimate television event. Never before had genuine, world-altering history unfolded on live television. Perhaps the closest forerunner was the Zapruder footage, yet that was not shown on network television until 1975. The shooting of Lee Harvey Oswald was shown on live television but, while shocking, was more a footnote to a historic event than the whole event itself. Read the rest of this entry »

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September 10, 2013

Initial reflektions

So, as you’ve probably heard, Arcade Fire last night released onto the internet the first song from their new album. You’ve probably not only heard this fact, but have heard the song, and read a bunch of blogs and tweets debating it. And yet I still can’t resist adding my £0.02/$0.02. I like to add to the noise. Read the rest of this entry »

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