April 2008
25 posts
Dispatches from Taipei
Evening had shabu shabu style food in a hip street area that 14-25s frequent. Clothing, music, makeup stores, scooters everywhere. Skinny kids look like messy anime characters too bored with life.
A text message from my mom.
Grand unified theory of Pacino
Sometimes you just have to cut him loose, let him chew up the scenery.
Fugitive
Attention: There seems to be a dashing fellow gallivanting around town impersonating me. To make matters worse, this gentleman seems to be under the impression that I am made of money, impervious to alcohol, and more or less invincible. Please be on the lookout.
UPDATE Langdo emails: doppelgänger or fetch is the ghostly double of a living person, a sinister form of bilocation.
CNN Discovers the Homicide Report →
For an entire year, Jill Leovy made it her mission to chronicle every murder in Los Angeles. She did so on the LAT’s Homicide Report blog. In January, Leovy handed over the reins to Ruben Vives. CNN takes a look.
Elevatoring With The New Yorker →
“The elevator, underrated and overlooked, is to the city what paper is to reading and gunpowder is to war. Without the elevator, there would be no verticality, no density, and, without these, none of the urban advantages of energy efficiency, economic productivity, and cultural ferment. The population of the earth would ooze out over its surface, like an oil slick, and we would spend even...
The Juice: 2nd Game Wrap-up →
Another tough loss for the Los Angeles Juice tonight. Pictures and more available at losjuice.tumblr.com.
“I love newspapers. When I stand back, though, I know it’s not important that the...”
– Former LAT editor John Carroll, in the May issue of L.A. Mag; via LAO. Can’t wait to read the whole thing.
The Rather Difficult Font Game →
Well, the name is accurate (25/34). Just remember: Trajan is the movie font, Univers is the cool kids’ Helvetica.
Regarding Last Night's Crystal Castles Show
Because I promised INFY: If you infected Ladytron with the rage virus from 28 Days Later, locked them in a warehouse with a few hundred disaffected youths and one slightly annoyed fire marshal, then blasted the whole thing with a strobe light, you’d have a reasonable approximation of last night’s festivities. In other words, it was great fun.
Three-dot notes
An $11 Costco burger is...
Crystal Castles, “Crimewave.”...
Murakami Slide Show →
From TNY. It’s a companion piece to this week’s Murakami profile.
Speaking of which: Warhol Factory x Levi’s x Damien Hirst is at Fred Segal Man through June 3.
Imagine That →
Wired blogs about the challenges facing public transportation in L.A. and the MTA’s Imagine campaign. The challenges are obvious: There’s a lot of people here, and they’re very spread out. Big construction projects are expensive and tend to get mired in logstics and red tape.
A few proposed ideas include more rail service (yes), more Metro Rapid Buses (OK) and some techniques...
Oh, MBLA—now you've done it →
A post about disliking hipsters is always good for some arguing in the comments (see also: LAist).
Yikes →
I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but the newspaper industry is experiencing some … interesting challenges, shall we say.“Word out of the Los Angeles Daily Journal newsroom is that the legal paper lopped off its copy desk last night—the whole thing.”How unfortunate. Bill Walsh made the case for copy editing a couple of months ago:“Readers of top-flight publications...
Introducing 'The Juice: A Softball Blog' →
As a side project, I’m now covering the Juice beat.
“Style is the answer to everything.”
– Charles Bukowski
“I have known the Bowditch for five years; I have been with the Bowditch for five...”
– Ertel’s toast at a very INFY birthday.
The Tumultuous Friendship of Truffaut and Godard →
From The New Yorker Out Loud; direct mp3 link. Don’t miss the slide show.
“Writing is the art of the second thought.”
– Rene J. Capon, The AP Guide to News Writing