Jessica Zafra's Blog, page 359

The winner of LitWit Challenge 3.11 iiiiisss. . .

Are! The Yucch-meter has decided to spare herself a headache and declare a tie. The winners of LitWit Challenge 3.11 are Cacs for The Remainders and Momelia for The Harlotte Champion Is At Stake. Congratulations, you two. You each get a copy of The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis, which I will present to you [...]

LitWit Challenge 3.11: Stabbed in the heart, the Yucch-meter's deliberations (Complete)

Our photo of a guy with a broadsword through the heart elicited stories from a variety of genres. Read all the entries here. 1. john dorian's tale of lost love and regret. Nice effort, but the characters were too generic and featureless. The author describes the squabbles rather than letting the characters fight. The romantic [...]

LitWit Challenge 3.11: Stabbed in the heart, the Yucch-meter's deliberations

Our photo of a guy with a broadsword through the heart elicited stories from a variety of genres. 1. john dorian's tale of lost love and regret. Nice effort, but the characters were too generic and featureless. The author describes the squabbles rather than letting the characters fight. The romantic element is restrained but still [...]

The Rugby Chronicles 2: One ball to bring them all

Patrice, Wolfie and David at the Sutera Harbour Magellan, Kota Kinabalu. Sport is war in microcosm, the civilized version. Send us your best warriors to do battle with our best warriors, and when the fighting's done we'll all have a drink and be friends. On the day of battle I find Harry Morris and Justin [...]

Finally: A hat that fits my head! Next: the Loch Ness monster will speak!

For too long I have bored you with the continuing saga of my quest for a hat that fits my head, specifically a bowler (see A Clockwork Orange). I have an extraordinarily large head. It is so big that when I was born, the doctor thought my mother had given birth to a head. It [...]

Driving from Patagonia to Alaska in a 1928 model car

Item on my to-do list: Visit Patagonia, the end of the world. Of course I don't drive so I'll have to bring company. Click on the invitation to enlarge.

Ask Jon #2: In which columnist Jon gets nostalgic about China and has a Hallmark moment

Here's the second column from our straight guy columnist, Jon Morales. polaris: Jon, have you ever seen any Richard Linklater films? Like Wong Kar-wai, Linklater doesn't seem to appeal to heterosexual men's cinematic taste. Maybe it's the talkies. Jon: I've seen Before Sunset, Waking Life, A Scanner Darkly, and The School of Rock. They're not [...]

The road to perdition is paved with good intentions: the Pilipinas Kay Ganda ad snafu

I have no business dealings with the advertising agency Campaigns & Grey but some of my favorite humans work there and I will vouch for their intelligence and personal integrity. Today when I read about the Department of Tourism and the Pilipinas Kay Ganda ad campaign fiasco, I asked my friends to explain what was [...]

The road to perdition is paved with good intentions: The Pilipinas Kay Ganda ad snafu

I have no business dealings with the advertising agency Campaigns & Grey but some of my favorite humans work there and I will vouch for their intelligence and personal integrity. Today when I read about the Department of Tourism and the Pilipinas Kay Ganda ad campaign fiasco, I asked my friends to explain what was [...]

You have 11 hours until deadline.

Photo: Harry Morris with the broadsword, Patrice Olivier with the katana. Very apt, since Harry grew up in Wales and Patrice spent several years in Japan. The clock is ticking on LitWit Challenge 3.11: Stabbed in the heart. For this we brought out the big guns. Swords. We already have some terrific stories, but we [...]