Pitchfork Media has posted their list of top 100 songs of 2008. Pitchfork generally eschews the mainstream, so this is a great place to learn about new artists. What makes it doubly cool is that they have an embedded link that allows you to listen to each song, in its entirety.
The Good Thief tells the story of 12 year old Ren, a compulsive thief who is missing his left hand, for reasons unknown to him. He has been living in St. Anthony’s orphanage since being anonymously dropped off there soon after his birth. One day a stranger shows up, and after examining all the boys in the orphanage, singles out Ren, claiming to be his long lost brother. Ren is released into the custody of this man, Benjamin Nab, and into the world beyond. It does not take Ren long to figure out that Benjamin is not who he says he is, and the journey Ren takes with him leads to many discoveries about his past. The story is set in the 19th century, in what appears to be New England and is itself an homage to the stories of that era — The Deerslayer features prominently in the imagination of Ren, and Tinti herself has said that the book is in the style of Dickens and Twain. (I would say, thankfully, that there is much more Twain at work here than Dickens.)
I flew through this book in a weekend. A very engaging story, very well told. It also won Tinti the Sargent Prize for a first novel. I don’t know that it is a book that will distract your nights or haunt your thoughts in shower, but not every book has to do that. And it didn’t stop me from buying it for two people for Christmas, one of whom is my mother. Craft review, with spoilers, is at Gun on the Mantle.
Blogs.com has a list of the 10 best literature blogs, compiled by David Gutowski from Large Hearted Boy. A good list, for sure, but missing one of my favorites–Editorial Ass.
See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die
Finished a re-write of an older story, and I think it’s better now. Not going to post here, as I’m submitting for the Narrative fall fiction contest. But if you email me, I can send you a copy.
I don’t actually remember there being so much stuff given away to voters in elections past. Chick-fil a is giving away chicken, Ben and Jerry’s is giving away ice cream. Starbucks is giving away coffee. To some extent, I guess this makes sense– waiting in line for an hour or more pretty much makes for a captive audience for product placement. But piercings? Babeland is giving away sex toys. Maverick sex toys. Drill, baby drill.
Wired has an interesting article about how student activists in Egypt have used Facebook to help organize political action:Back in March, [Ahmed] Maher and a friend launched a Facebook group to promote a protest planned for April 6. It became an Internet phenomenon, quickly attracting more than 70,000 members. The April 6 youth movement — amorphous, lacking a clear mission, and yet a bull’s-eye to the zeitgeist — blossomed within days into something influential enough to arouse the ire of Egypt’s internal security forces. Maher is part of a new generation in the Middle East that, through blogs, YouTube, Flickr, Twitter, and now Facebook, is using virtual reality to combat corrupt and oppressive governments. Their nascent, tech-fired rebellion has triggered a government backlash and captured the world’s attention.
We’ve seen Facebook playing a prominent role in the U.S. election as well, as noted in this CNN International article:
Sites like MySpace, Bebo and Facebook give people a tool to interact online and extend their social lives beyond working hours. But what’s interesting campaign managers is that they’ve been seized with such enthusiasm by increasingly hard-to-target teens and young adults — even Britain’s Prince Harry is rumored to have a Facebook account.
Wired has an article discussing how the financial crisis might effect the development of Web 2.0 technologies:
In a widely read essay, Jason Calacanis, the chief executive of Web directory Mahalo, predicted that as many as 80 percent of internet start-ups will “shut down or go on life-support” during the next year and a half. Furthermore, investor Ron Conway last week cautioned his portfolio of internet companies to cut their spending because venture capital was expected to become less readily available for awhile. Similarly, Sequoia Capital held a meeting with its portfolio companies last week, warning them to brace for lean time ahead.
Over at Cnet Rafe Needleman points out some companies that may be at risk (thanks kittenwalker). Can we at least get a government bailout for Twitter and Pandora?
If:book has in interesting post on how Facebook functions (and doesn’t) as a substitute for old fashioned yearbooks.
