Dave Brubeck’s set list, October 5, 2002. When I was in college, I played percussion about 5 feet behind and to Dave’s left in this concert. He left his notes sitting on the piano after the show. So I took it. What a guy.
Remains of the Day – Washingtonian
A wedding photographer sets out to learn what happened to the couples who hired him for their big day.
This is so great. (via)
Humor is almost always anger with its makeup on.
A line from Stephen King’s Bag of Bones (via), which continues…
but in little towns the makeup tends to be thin.
Filed under: anger
Bach’s Music, Back Then and Right Now
Beethoven specialists are known as great musicians, great interpreters, whereas Bach specialists tend to be viewed vatically, as mediums. I found myself connecting Casals’s moaning and Gould’s humming—for a composer who is supposed to be pure, we sure enjoy a lot of extraneous noise!—the musical equivalent of speaking in tongues, channeling, a kind of cultish signal, a sonic signature of being on the right occult frequency to communicate with the master.
This essay reminded me of this excerpt from Steppenwolf that I’ve tumbled before
It was at a concert of lovely old music. After two or three notes of the piano the door was opened of a sudden to the other world. I sped through heaven and saw God at work. I suffered holy pains. I dropped all my defenses and was afraid of nothing in the world. I accepted all things and to all things I gave up my heart. It did not last very long, a quarter of an hour perhaps; but it returned to me in a dream at night, and since, through all the barren days, I caught a glimpse of it now and then.
The Joy of the Single. A documentary about 7-inch 45s. Mostly nostalgic talking heads, but they cover some good stuff. Cf. The King of 78s. (via)
(Source: http://www.youtube.com/)
The Killing
The Killing. I’ve seen 2001: A Space Odyssey four or five times at least, and it’s fantastic, but watching The Shining a few years ago really killed my interest in Stanley Kubrick’s work. This one resurrects it. Awesome camera and soundtrack and a great set of characters. Multiple perspectives and time cuts. Also touches on some of the practical aspects of dealing with piles and piles of money.
Detour
Serpico
Serpico. I like how Pacino embodies the role here, and how you can pick up on the passage of time from the way his look and behavior changes. Also, 1970s hospitals are TERRIFYING.
Why I love Twitter and barely tolerate Facebook — I.M.H.O. — Medium
Melancholia
Melancholia. I like it even more on second viewing (the first), especially after reading Steven Shaviro’s essay.
The Myth of American Meritocracy | The American Conservative
How corrupt are Ivy League admissions?
It’s really long and really, really awesome. Definitely worth the time.
The Myth of American Meritocracy | The American Conservative
Supply of Per Capita Football Talent.
This chart comes from a paper presented by Theodore Goudge, an associate professor in the department of geography at Northwest Missouri State University, at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers. It pretty clearly shows what Goudge referred to as the “pigskin cult” of the south.
The paper in question is “The Geography of College Football Player Origins & Success: Football Championship Subdivision (FCS)”, here’s an abstract. Featured in On Urban Meyer’s Ohio State, Wisconsin, and the Big Ten expanding to include Maryland and Rutgers – Grantland.
Why We Shouldn’t Treat Rap As Poetry | The Awl
Consider this proposition in reverse to see how absurd it is: For my graduate thesis, I am going to give Calvin Trillin a bunch of half-assed instrumentals and have DJ Drama help him put together a Gangta Grillz mixtape, and then we’ll evaluate him alongside Gucci Mane and Cam’ron, and other rappers who have made Gangsta Grillz mixtapes. That would be awesome, but it would not provide any more insight into the how and why Calvin Trillin does what he does. It would simply provide me the opportunity to take someone else’s work, put it in a different context, and call it something different.
My Review of Tony Robbins Unleash the Power Within Seminar.
What was very interesting is that the words Tony writes are 90% illegible. He is expressing ideas and scribbling with the marker but does not have time for accuracy. For example, on one slide that I remembered, I saw that the word FINANCE was not even slightly legible, SUCCESS looked like a jumbled signature, then there were lots of swirly lines and arrows. Without the context of Tony, it would have made no sense. But the ideas were conveyed better with the aid of these notes.
I finally, finally, finally realized what the Thief poster reminds me of. Thanks, Austin!
Subcompact Publishing — by Craig Mod
Business skeuomorphism happens when we take business decisions explicitly tied to one medium, and bring them to another medium — no questions asked. Business skeuomorphism is rampant in the publishing industry. The simplest example is with magazines.
30 Things We Learned from the ‘Thief’ Commentary | Film School Rejects
Caan comments on Frank’s manner of speaking and how he never uses contractions. He and Mann determined Frank was a man who was trying to make up for lost time, and his way of speaking slowly, methodically, and clear makes it such that he never has to repeat himself. […] “You knew he didn’t say anything he didn’t mean”.
30 Things We Learned from the ‘Thief’ Commentary | Film School Rejects
Heat
Heat. Michael Mann, man. This still blows my mind on second viewing. (The first). I love (Pacino’s) Vincent Hanna so much in this one. He truly does not give a shit. And he drives like a cop. I also finally realized that Hanna’s sidekick Cassals (Wes Studi) is so familiar because he also plays Magua.
i don’t know, man: Only the Internet Could Compel Me to Feel Sorta Bad for Racist Teens
Los Angeles Review of Books – What Would DFW Do: Maria Bustillos, Eric Been, And Mike Goetzman On “Both Flesh And Not” And All Things Foster Wallace
Perhaps we ought to be a little more understanding of the compromises involved in creating art, and that getting bent out of shape once certain liberties are exposed (when just a minute ago we were so thoroughly enthralled!) seems a reaction based more on our uneasiness with our own vulnerability and credulousness than any serious authorial wrongdoing.
Mark Larson 