If Dr. Seuss Books Were Titled According to Their Subtexts
reblogged from waronidiocy
My Sister Paid Progressive Insurance to Defend Her Killer In Court
I’ve been sending out some impertinent tweets about Progressive Insurance lately, but I haven’t explained how they pissed me off. So I will do that here as succinctly as possible. There’s a general understanding that says, “insurance companies— oh they’re awful,” but since Progressive turned their shit hose on my late sister and my parents, I’ve learned some things that really surprised me.
I’ll try to cleave to the facts. On June 19, 2010, my sister was driving in Baltimore when her car was struck by another car and she was killed. The other driver had run a red light and hit my sister as she crossed the intersection on the green light.
reblogged from mattfisher
My latest article for The Atlantic - Everyone’s a Fact-Checker, explores how the power of the Web and social media exposes errors and outright lies in everything from politics to TV shows.
The book: Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
The first sentence: “I am seated in an office, surrounded by heads and bodies.”
The bikini: Hanalei Bikini by Mikoh. Top $70.
Ok - I rarely reblog stuff but this project - of matching bikinis to book covers - is absurd and awesome.
reblogged from matchbooknu
Comedian Louis CK is at the top of his game. His recently announced tour has already raked in over $4.5 million. But here’s the really amazing part: he’s selling tickets exclusively off his site, without Ticketmaster. Check out this longread for The Atlantic where I explore why CK’s been able to succeed taking on Ticketmaster when Pearl Jam failed back in the 90s, and more broadly, how his actions are the antidote to our impersonal corporatized culture.
Don’t you think it’s bullshit that when films and shows are shown on TV they aren’t available at the same time online or VOD? My article for The Atlantic explores why this is the case, and why this plan loses money for the studios and networks. I also talk a lot about Louis CK and his recent success with selling his standup special on his website.
Banksy on Advertising
“People are taking the piss out of you everyday. They butt into your life, take a cheap shot at you and then disappear. They leer at you from tall buildings and make you feel small. They make flippant comments from buses that imply you’re not sexy enough and that all the fun is happening somewhere else. They are on TV making your girlfriend feel inadequate. They have access to the most sophisticated technology the world has ever seen and they bully you with it. They are “The Advertisers” and they are laughing at you.
You, however, are forbidden to touch them. Trademarks, intellectual property rights and copyright law mean advertisers can say what they like wherever they like with total impunity.
Fuck that. Any advert in a public space that gives you no choice whether you see it or not is yours. It’s yours to take, re-arrange and re-use. You can do whatever you like with it. Asking for permission is like asking to keep a rock someone just threw at your head.
You owe the companies nothing. Less than nothing, you especially don’t owe them any courtesy. They owe you. They have re-arranged the world to put themselves in front of you. They never asked for your permission, don’t even start asking for theirs.”
~ Banksy
reblogged from elledark
DFW Always Got IT
I came across this great quote from David Foster Wallace’s The Pale King (which I own, but, alas, have yet to crack open. Now I’m really regretting not having done so sooner). This is a pretty tight distillation of the essence of The Invisibles.
The accountant in The Pale King who tells his students,
“Gentlemen, welcome to the world of reality – there is no audience. No one to applaud, to admire. No one to see you. Do you understand? Here is the truth – actual heroism receives no ovation, entertains no one. No one queues up to see it. No one is interested.”
