Dwight Macdonald on blogging, er, amateur journalism

November 2, 2003

At the library last Tuesday, I came across Dwight Macdonald‘s article Amateur Journalism; Notes of an American in London, published in November 1956 in Encounter magazine. I said I’d blog about this, because so much of Macdonald’s article resonated with blogging issues. Here are some excerpts (and keep in mind this is 1956): [American journalism […]

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Dinosaur watching

November 2, 2003

I haven’t seen Quentin Tarantino’s new film, Kill Bill, and if I did, I might really hate it since gory films creep me out. (Besides, I’m also not at all sure I can forgive Uma Thurman for her horrible re-creation of Emma Peel; man, Thurman stinks.) But I liked this review by Graham Barnfield in […]

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Would Furedi blog to further an “alternative web of meaning”?

November 1, 2003

Fascinating review, Hooked on self-esteem, by Jennie Bristow in Spiked online, a London-based site I just found via Arts & Letters Daily. The review is of a book by Frank Furedi, Therapy Culture: Cultivating Vulnerability in an Uncertain Age. More than just kicking therapy culture’s butt, Furedi (judging from this review) goes after the social […]

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Junk the junk

October 31, 2003

I don’t diet but I have to weigh in here (excuse the bad pun). Never have dieted and never will; what I used to do is called anorexia, and I don’t do it anymore because somehow the idea of keeping my internal organs intact began to seem like a good idea. However. I realize that […]

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Phallic woman war machine

October 30, 2003

With my apologies to the exceptions, this diatribe is for scary ladies everywhere. And I bet you know who you are, you iron fists in velvet gloves, you. You’re everywhere these days, and The Guess Who were right. It’s not only Barbara Bush with her “beautiful mind” who’s beyond the pale — meaning she’s dead […]

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Self-regulating abattoirs

October 30, 2003

[…wanted to post this last night, but couldn’t get to my blog:] Dave Pollard has a gut-wrenching post about J.M. Coetzee’s novel, Elizabeth Costello, our seemingly fast-track path to increased cruelty, questions which the internet can’t answer, and related disturbing matters. I commented at length on his blog — probably dragging the topic off-course (sorry […]

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Full spectrum mess

October 28, 2003

Heard part of a fascinating report on CBC Radio tonight, Anna Maria Tremonti interviewing Rahul Mahajan, author of Full Spectrum Dominance: Myths, Facts, and Lies, an analysis of U.S. military strategy abroad. The book has enthusiastic endorsements for the way it lays out the history surrounding 9/11, and positions the current Gulf War in the […]

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Pulling bylines for freedom

October 28, 2003

A Quebec labour tribunal just handed down what’s being called a landmark decision: “‘journalists have the right to withhold their byline as they see fit’ because our names belong to us, not the company,” as the Toronto Star’s Antonia Zerbesias writes in Bylines more than just a name. This is good news in an age […]

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3 rings, and an (inter)net

October 28, 2003

Haven’t you ever wondered why 42 is the answer to life, the universe, and everything? Haven’t you wondered what the question is? I know! I know the question! At the library tonight, I browsed around in the November 1956 issue of Encounter, the magazine funded by the CIA-controlled Congress for Cultural Freedom in a bid […]

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What are the chances?

October 27, 2003

In the past weeks and even months, I’ve often felt this creeping sense of dread. It hasn’t stayed around long enough to be disruptive, but now I feel as though it’s beginning to stake out a more permanent presence. I don’t think I’m feeling an ordinary Monday blues — and I did have a fabulous […]

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