Rob Wickings's Blog, page 28
November 27, 2020
The Cut
So the Cut Xmas deccoes are down from the loft and in a pile in a corner of the office, waiting for one of us to finally crack, declare ‘sod it,’ invoke the spirit of Noddy Holder and start spreading festive cheer around the joint like a dirty protest at all things Covid. It’s been a hard year and the early start to Christmas is a definite sign we’re ready for it all to be over. This week’s issue doesn’t have a whiff of holly but trust us, it’s coming, and soon. Instead, enjoy film longreads on Orson Welles and Jerry Lewis, considerations on time travel and AI and how the Wotsit came to be.
Now is the time. Here is the place. This is The Cut.
Not long ago, writer Bisha K. Ali was sofa-surfing and wondering where the next pay cheque was coming from. Now, she’s the show runner on a hotly-anticipated Marvel series and riding high as she brings the first Muslim superhero to a wider audience. This is a great, inspirational story, and we’re really looking forward to her take on Ms. Marvel.
The Magnificent Ambersons should have been the film which truly cemented Orson Welles’ reputation as a master of cinema. Instead, studio meddling tore it to pieces and led him into a downward spiral from which he never really recovered. Cinephilia Beyond digs into the story behind the making of the movie, and how it’s still well worth a look in whatever version you find…
It’s a rare person that won’t cheerfully get their fingers caked in salty yellow dust at the offer of a bag of Wotsits or Cheez-its. The airy texture, the way they fizz to mush in the mouth, oh boy, there are few finer culinary experiences. The creation of the cheese curl has a fascinating history. It’s one of those delightfully fortuitous accidents like penicillin or gravity. Only cheesier.
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/a-brief-history-of-the-cheese-curl-junk-foods-happiest-accident
When considering artificial intelligence, most writers tend to jam the gas hard towards lurid horror stories—the monster in the machine, considering its creators as obsolete and treating us as surplus to requirements. The fact is we don’t know how AI will look at the world. We simply don’t have the terms or reference points to form a relationship with a being which is building itself from the fragments we choose to feed it…
Some more on the reappearance in the SF news cycle of the great lost anthology, The Last Dangerous Visions. Author Jason Sanford looks into the way editor Harlan Ellison kept the book on a low simmer for decades and could never quite let it go.
http://www.patreon.com/posts/44148051
If you’re interested, Christoper Priest’s essay on the subject is also well worth a look. He makes a beautifully analytic case as to why the book could never be published in the form Ellison imagined…
It’s tough to know what to make of this rediscovered portrait of Jerry Lewis by O’Connell Driscoll, first published in 1973 while the comedian was working on his unseen magnum opus, The Clown That Cried. It almost feels like fiction, a horrorshow of unbound but desperately fragile ego and monstrous ambition wrapped in a twitchy, paranoid bundle of nerves. But Driscoll’s strength was in the way he slid into the background and let his subject do all the talking. From a Stacks Reader overview of his work—
Driscoll’s stories were all about access. He was a purist in the mold of Lillian Ross. He didn’t offer analysis or exposition or as much as a dollop of biography. He didn’t ask questions. He just wrote what he saw and heard.
This is a long read but totally, totally worth it.
http://www.thestacksreader.com/jerry-lewis-birthday-boy-the-day-the-clown-cried/
A recent interview with Michael J. Fox noted his agreement with the theory that Trump is a loosely fictionalised version of Biff Tannin, the boorish villain of the Back to The Future films. We offer further thoughts on the subject in another excellent piece from writer and pixie Laurie Penny. She looks at temporal paradox, dystopian fiction and darkest timelines in a winning piece of what we like to call speculative journalism.
http://www.wired.com/story/timelines-of-our-lives/
Fan theories on TV and film franchises often lurch wildly into implausibility or collapse at the first hint of examination. They’re always fun, though. Our new favourite comes courtesy of Mel Magazine, who pitch us on the notion of the Star Trek universe being more than a little influenced by three Jewish B-Boys from Brooklyn…
http://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/star-trek-beastie-boys-explanation
There are a few songs finding constant rotation on the office stereogram in 2020–tunes which seem to sum up The Situation while not explicitly being about it. We’re thinking of Frank Turner’s Recovery, This Year by The Mountain Goats—and this week’s Exit Music, Hands Of Time. Written and performed by the brilliant Margo Price, it matches a lush Jimmy Webb/Glen Campbell arrangement to simple, direct song craft. The result is, to our minds, utterly beguiling. ‘Turn back the clock on the cruel hands of time’? Hell, yeah.
See you in seven, buckaroos.
The Cut
So the Cut Xmas deccoes are down from the loft and in a pile in a corner of the office, waiting for one of us to finally crack, declare ‘sod it,’ invoke the spirit of Noddy Holder and start spreading festive cheer around the joint like a dirty protest at all things Covid. It’s been a hard year and the early start to Christmas is a definite sign we’re ready for it all to be over. This week’s issue doesn’t have a whiff of holly but trust us, it’s coming, and soon. Instead, enjoy film longreads on Orson Welles and Jerry Lewis, considerations on time travel and AI and how the Wotsit came to be.
Now is the time. Here is the place. This is The Cut.
Not long ago, writer Bisha K. Ali was sofa-surfing and wondering where the next pay cheque was coming from. Now, she’s the show runner on a hotly-anticipated Marvel series and riding high as she brings the first Muslim superhero to a wider audience. This is a great, inspirational story, and we’re really looking forward to her take on Ms. Marvel.
The Magnificent Ambersons should have been the film which truly cemented Orson Welles’ reputation as a master of cinema. Instead, studio meddling tore it to pieces and led him into a downward spiral from which he never really recovered. Cinephilia Beyond digs into the story behind the making of the movie, and how it’s still well worth a look in whatever version you find…
It’s a rare person that won’t cheerfully get their fingers caked in salty yellow dust at the offer of a bag of Wotsits or Cheez-its. The airy texture, the way they fizz to mush in the mouth, oh boy, there are few finer culinary experiences. The creation of the cheese curl has a fascinating history. It’s one of those delightfully fortuitous accidents like penicillin or gravity. Only cheesier.
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/a-brief-history-of-the-cheese-curl-junk-foods-happiest-accident
When considering artificial intelligence, most writers tend to jam the gas hard towards lurid horror stories—the monster in the machine, considering its creators as obsolete and treating us as surplus to requirements. The fact is we don’t know how AI will look at the world. We simply don’t have the terms or reference points to form a relationship with a being which is building itself from the fragments we choose to feed it…
Some more on the reappearance in the SF news cycle of the great lost anthology, The Last Dangerous Visions. Author Jason Sanford looks into the way editor Harlan Ellison kept the book on a low simmer for decades and could never quite let it go.
http://www.patreon.com/posts/44148051
If you’re interested, Christoper Priest’s essay on the subject is also well worth a look. He makes a beautifully analytic case as to why the book could never be published in the form Ellison imagined…
It’s tough to know what to make of this rediscovered portrait of Jerry Lewis by O’Connell Driscoll, first published in 1973 while the comedian was working on his unseen magnum opus, The Clown That Cried. It almost feels like fiction, a horrorshow of unbound but desperately fragile ego and monstrous ambition wrapped in a twitchy, paranoid bundle of nerves. But Driscoll’s strength was in the way he slid into the background and let his subject do all the talking. From a Stacks Reader overview of his work—
Driscoll’s stories were all about access. He was a purist in the mold of Lillian Ross. He didn’t offer analysis or exposition or as much as a dollop of biography. He didn’t ask questions. He just wrote what he saw and heard.
This is a long read but totally, totally worth it.
http://www.thestacksreader.com/jerry-lewis-birthday-boy-the-day-the-clown-cried/
A recent interview with Michael J. Fox noted his agreement with the theory that Trump is a loosely fictionalised version of Biff Tannin, the boorish villain of the Back to The Future films. We offer further thoughts on the subject in another excellent piece from writer and pixie Laurie Penny. She looks at temporal paradox, dystopian fiction and darkest timelines in a winning piece of what we like to call speculative journalism.
http://www.wired.com/story/timelines-of-our-lives/
Fan theories on TV and film franchises often lurch wildly into implausibility or collapse at the first hint of examination. They’re always fun, though. Our new favourite comes courtesy of Mel Magazine, who pitch us on the notion of the Star Trek universe being more than a little influenced by three Jewish B-Boys from Brooklyn…
http://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/star-trek-beastie-boys-explanation
There are a few songs finding constant rotation on the office stereogram in 2020–tunes which seem to sum up The Situation while not explicitly being about it. We’re thinking of Frank Turner’s Recovery, This Year by The Mountain Goats—and this week’s Exit Music, Hands Of Time. Written and performed by the brilliant Margo Price, it matches a lush Jimmy Webb/Glen Campbell arrangement to simple, direct song craft. The result is, to our minds, utterly beguiling. ‘Turn back the clock on the cruel hands of time’? Hell, yeah.
See you in seven, buckaroos.
The Cut
So the Cut Xmas deccoes are down from the loft and in a pile in a corner of the office, waiting for one of us to finally crack, declare ‘sod it,’ invoke the spirit of Noddy Holder and start spreading festive cheer around the joint like a dirty protest at all things Covid. It’s been a hard year and the early start to Christmas is a definite sign we’re ready for it all to be over. This week’s issue doesn’t have a whiff of holly but trust us, it’s coming, and soon. Instead, enjoy film longreads on Orson Welles and Jerry Lewis, considerations on time travel and AI and how the Wotsit came to be.
Now is the time. Here is the place. This is The Cut.
Not long ago, writer Bisha K. Ali was sofa-surfing and wondering where the next pay cheque was coming from. Now, she’s the show runner on a hotly-anticipated Marvel series and riding high as she brings the first Muslim superhero to a wider audience. This is a great, inspirational story, and we’re really looking forward to her take on Ms. Marvel.
The Magnificent Ambersons should have been the film which truly cemented Orson Welles’ reputation as a master of cinema. Instead, studio meddling tore it to pieces and led him into a downward spiral from which he never really recovered. Cinephilia Beyond digs into the story behind the making of the movie, and how it’s still well worth a look in whatever version you find…
It’s a rare person that won’t cheerfully get their fingers caked in salty yellow dust at the offer of a bag of Wotsits or Cheez-its. The airy texture, the way they fizz to mush in the mouth, oh boy, there are few finer culinary experiences. The creation of the cheese curl has a fascinating history. It’s one of those delightfully fortuitous accidents like penicillin or gravity. Only cheesier.
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/a-brief-history-of-the-cheese-curl-junk-foods-happiest-accident
When considering artificial intelligence, most writers tend to jam the gas hard towards lurid horror stories—the monster in the machine, considering its creators as obsolete and treating us as surplus to requirements. The fact is we don’t know how AI will look at the world. We simply don’t have the terms or reference points to form a relationship with a being which is building itself from the fragments we choose to feed it…
Some more on the reappearance in the SF news cycle of the great lost anthology, The Last Dangerous Visions. Author Jason Sanford looks into the way editor Harlan Ellison kept the book on a low simmer for decades and could never quite let it go.
http://www.patreon.com/posts/44148051
If you’re interested, Christoper Priest’s essay on the subject is also well worth a look. He makes a beautifully analytic case as to why the book could never be published in the form Ellison imagined…
It’s tough to know what to make of this rediscovered portrait of Jerry Lewis by O’Connell Driscoll, first published in 1973 while the comedian was working on his unseen magnum opus, The Clown That Cried. It almost feels like fiction, a horrorshow of unbound but desperately fragile ego and monstrous ambition wrapped in a twitchy, paranoid bundle of nerves. But Driscoll’s strength was in the way he slid into the background and let his subject do all the talking. From a Stacks Reader overview of his work—
Driscoll’s stories were all about access. He was a purist in the mold of Lillian Ross. He didn’t offer analysis or exposition or as much as a dollop of biography. He didn’t ask questions. He just wrote what he saw and heard.
This is a long read but totally, totally worth it.
http://www.thestacksreader.com/jerry-lewis-birthday-boy-the-day-the-clown-cried/
A recent interview with Michael J. Fox noted his agreement with the theory that Trump is a loosely fictionalised version of Biff Tannin, the boorish villain of the Back to The Future films. We offer further thoughts on the subject in another excellent piece from writer and pixie Laurie Penny. She looks at temporal paradox, dystopian fiction and darkest timelines in a winning piece of what we like to call speculative journalism.
http://www.wired.com/story/timelines-of-our-lives/
Fan theories on TV and film franchises often lurch wildly into implausibility or collapse at the first hint of examination. They’re always fun, though. Our new favourite comes courtesy of Mel Magazine, who pitch us on the notion of the Star Trek universe being more than a little influenced by three Jewish B-Boys from Brooklyn…
http://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/star-trek-beastie-boys-explanation
There are a few songs finding constant rotation on the office stereogram in 2020–tunes which seem to sum up The Situation while not explicitly being about it. We’re thinking of Frank Turner’s Recovery, This Year by The Mountain Goats—and this week’s Exit Music, Hands Of Time. Written and performed by the brilliant Margo Price, it matches a lush Jimmy Webb/Glen Campbell arrangement to simple, direct song craft. The result is, to our minds, utterly beguiling. ‘Turn back the clock on the cruel hands of time’? Hell, yeah.
See you in seven, buckaroos.
The Cut
So the Cut Xmas deccoes are down from the loft and in a pile in a corner of the office, waiting for one of us to finally crack, declare ‘sod it,’ invoke the spirit of Noddy Holder and start spreading festive cheer around the joint like a dirty protest at all things Covid. It’s been a hard year and the early start to Christmas is a definite sign we’re ready for it all to be over. This week’s issue doesn’t have a whiff of holly but trust us, it’s coming, and soon. Instead, enjoy film longreads on Orson Welles and Jerry Lewis, considerations on time travel and AI and how the Wotsit came to be.
Now is the time. Here is the place. This is The Cut.
Not long ago, writer Bisha K. Ali was sofa-surfing and wondering where the next pay cheque was coming from. Now, she’s the show runner on a hotly-anticipated Marvel series and riding high as she brings the first Muslim superhero to a wider audience. This is a great, inspirational story, and we’re really looking forward to her take on Ms. Marvel.
The Magnificent Ambersons should have been the film which truly cemented Orson Welles’ reputation as a master of cinema. Instead, studio meddling tore it to pieces and led him into a downward spiral from which he never really recovered. Cinephilia Beyond digs into the story behind the making of the movie, and how it’s still well worth a look in whatever version you find…
It’s a rare person that won’t cheerfully get their fingers caked in salty yellow dust at the offer of a bag of Wotsits or Cheez-its. The airy texture, the way they fizz to mush in the mouth, oh boy, there are few finer culinary experiences. The creation of the cheese curl has a fascinating history. It’s one of those delightfully fortuitous accidents like penicillin or gravity. Only cheesier.
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/a-brief-history-of-the-cheese-curl-junk-foods-happiest-accident
When considering artificial intelligence, most writers tend to jam the gas hard towards lurid horror stories—the monster in the machine, considering its creators as obsolete and treating us as surplus to requirements. The fact is we don’t know how AI will look at the world. We simply don’t have the terms or reference points to form a relationship with a being which is building itself from the fragments we choose to feed it…
Some more on the reappearance in the SF news cycle of the great lost anthology, The Last Dangerous Visions. Author Jason Sanford looks into the way editor Harlan Ellison kept the book on a low simmer for decades and could never quite let it go.
http://www.patreon.com/posts/44148051
If you’re interested, Christoper Priest’s essay on the subject is also well worth a look. He makes a beautifully analytic case as to why the book could never be published in the form Ellison imagined…
It’s tough to know what to make of this rediscovered portrait of Jerry Lewis by O’Connell Driscoll, first published in 1973 while the comedian was working on his unseen magnum opus, The Clown That Cried. It almost feels like fiction, a horrorshow of unbound but desperately fragile ego and monstrous ambition wrapped in a twitchy, paranoid bundle of nerves. But Driscoll’s strength was in the way he slid into the background and let his subject do all the talking. From a Stacks Reader overview of his work—
Driscoll’s stories were all about access. He was a purist in the mold of Lillian Ross. He didn’t offer analysis or exposition or as much as a dollop of biography. He didn’t ask questions. He just wrote what he saw and heard.
This is a long read but totally, totally worth it.
http://www.thestacksreader.com/jerry-lewis-birthday-boy-the-day-the-clown-cried/
A recent interview with Michael J. Fox noted his agreement with the theory that Trump is a loosely fictionalised version of Biff Tannin, the boorish villain of the Back to The Future films. We offer further thoughts on the subject in another excellent piece from writer and pixie Laurie Penny. She looks at temporal paradox, dystopian fiction and darkest timelines in a winning piece of what we like to call speculative journalism.
http://www.wired.com/story/timelines-of-our-lives/
Fan theories on TV and film franchises often lurch wildly into implausibility or collapse at the first hint of examination. They’re always fun, though. Our new favourite comes courtesy of Mel Magazine, who pitch us on the notion of the Star Trek universe being more than a little influenced by three Jewish B-Boys from Brooklyn…
http://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/star-trek-beastie-boys-explanation
There are a few songs finding constant rotation on the office stereogram in 2020–tunes which seem to sum up The Situation while not explicitly being about it. We’re thinking of Frank Turner’s Recovery, This Year by The Mountain Goats—and this week’s Exit Music, Hands Of Time. Written and performed by the brilliant Margo Price, it matches a lush Jimmy Webb/Glen Campbell arrangement to simple, direct song craft. The result is, to our minds, utterly beguiling. ‘Turn back the clock on the cruel hands of time’? Hell, yeah.
See you in seven, buckaroos.
November 20, 2020
The Cut 📌 Issue 28
The majority of The Cut staff are still embroiled in the annual writer’s assault course known as Nanowrimo (go here if you have no idea what we’re on about). For those of you joining us on this mad journey–we feel your pain, and we know you’ve got this. Enjoy the ride!
This does mean that today and probably next week’s issue will be shorter than usual. Look, we know you’re disappointed. Bear with us, please. The fact we’re able to do this as well as cope with all the other stuff in our bulging schedules shows how much we care about you.
Now is the time. Here is the place. This is The Cut.
Rob on the Ninth Art Desk reports:
Back in the heady days when I was dark of hair and fleet of limb, I chose the path of higher education. The dissertation I wrote to earn my degree was on The Representation Of War In Comics (see, a panel nerd even then). I was pleased to see this excellent piece on NeoTextCorp covering some of the same bases as my long-forgotten excursion into the academic analysis of the funny papers. Always good to see Captain America punching Hitler, too!
https://neotextcorp.com/culture/10-cent-heroes-an-abridged-evolution-of-american-war-comics/
We would cheerfully watch a triple bill of Con Air, Face/Off and The Rock any day, not just because we believe Nicolas Cage to be the greatest actor ever to grace the silver screen (he is, tho) but because all three have a smart blend of action, eccentricity and sheer silliness. The urge to watch Con Air was kindled in us again this week as AV Club released a seating plan for the unwilling passengers of the Jailbird. There’s even a listing for the bunny!
https://news.avclub.com/neat-somebody-mapped-out-the-seating-chart-from-con-ai-1845654300
It’s probably no secret that the demographic of The Cut’s staff skews older geeky lefty bloke. Imagine our discomfort, then, to see one of our crushes, the wonderful Gillian Anderson appearing in the new season of The Crown as Maragret Thatcher, one of our all time pet hates. It’s an odd experience, to put it mildly. Our Gillian is not the first person to play The Iron Lady, of course. The New York Times talks to some of the actors who have donned the wig and picked up the big handbag…
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/12/arts/television/margaret-thatcher-the-crown.html
With shows like The Crown and Downton Abbey defining Britishness across the globe, it’s important for a different perspective to get an airing. We wonder, for example, how the international audience consider Steve McQueen’s Small Axe (now screening on Sunday nights on BBC 1, we recommend strongly) as a portrait of our country at a particular point in time. Writer Laurie Penny takes a closer look at the way our nation’s image has become theme-parked for mass consumption–to the point where we almost believe it ourselves…
https://longreads.com/2020/06/18/the-long-con-of-britishness/
Harlan Ellison’s The Last Dangerous Visions has been a Great White Whale of science fiction for decades. The lost third part of a trilogy of short writing that helped redefine modern SF, it’s garnered mythological status for many keen skiffers. Following Ellison’s death last year, it seemed we would never see the anthology. Now, though, Babylon 5 writer J. Michael Straczynski has thrown his hat into the ring (and more importantly some cash on the table) in an effort to actually get the thing in reader’s hands. Some, notably author and contributor to TLDV, Christoper Priest, still don’t think it’ll happen. We’d like to hope it will.
It would be really easy to post an article from the Vittles newsletter every week. It’s the most vibrant and exciting outlet for food writing out there. We recommend you subscribe and perhaps even drop them a little Patreon cash.
We couldn’t resist sharing this piece on the remarkable chef, philosopher and pottymouth Kenny Shopsin, which gives you a path into the mind of a wayward culinary genius.
https://vittles.substack.com/p/iteration-3-feroz-gajia-cooks-kenny
An an extra treat, check out the 2004 documentary on Shopsin, I Like Killing Flies. Well worth an hour and a half of your time.
You know us, we like a bit of oral history, particularly on the creation of a favourite album. Belle And Sebastian’s Tigermilk is one of those records that snuck up on people, making itself at home in people’s heads before they quite realised what was going on. Even if you think you don’t like fey Scottish indie, we think you’d get on with this.
https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/belle-and-sebastian-tigermilk/
However, because we are awkward cusses, this week’s Exit Music is not from that album. Instead, we share the greatest song B&S ever recorded–the gigantic, epic Lazy Line Painter Jane. Normal rules regarding volume levels apply, thank you.
See you in seven, hepcats.
The Cut
The majority of The Cut staff are still embroiled in the annual writer’s assault course known as Nanowrimo (go here if you have no idea what we’re on about). For those of you joining us on this mad journey–we feel your pain, and we know you’ve got this. Enjoy the ride!
This does mean that today and probably next week’s issue will be shorter than usual. Look, we know you’re disappointed. Bear with us, please. The fact we’re able to do this as well as cope with all the other stuff in our bulging schedules shows how much we care about you.
Now is the time. Here is the place. This is The Cut.
Rob on the Ninth Art Desk reports:
Back in the heady days when I was dark of hair and fleet of limb, I chose the path of higher education. The dissertation I wrote to earn my degree was on The Representation Of War In Comics (see, a panel nerd even then). I was pleased to see this excellent piece on NeoTextCorp covering some of the same bases as my long-forgotten excursion into the academic analysis of the funny papers. Always good to see Captain America punching Hitler, too!
https://neotextcorp.com/culture/10-cent-heroes-an-abridged-evolution-of-american-war-comics/
We would cheerfully watch a triple bill of Con Air, Face/Off and The Rock any day, not just because we believe Nicolas Cage to be the greatest actor ever to grace the silver screen (he is, tho) but because all three have a smart blend of action, eccentricity and sheer silliness. The urge to watch Con Air was kindled in us again this week as AV Club released a seating plan for the unwilling passengers of the Jailbird. There’s even a listing for the bunny!
https://news.avclub.com/neat-somebody-mapped-out-the-seating-chart-from-con-ai-1845654300
It’s probably no secret that the demographic of The Cut’s staff skews older geeky lefty bloke. Imagine our discomfort, then, to see one of our crushes, the wonderful Gillian Anderson appearing in the new season of The Crown as Maragret Thatcher, one of our all time pet hates. It’s an odd experience, to put it mildly. Our Gillian is not the first person to play The Iron Lady, of course. The New York Times talks to some of the actors who have donned the wig and picked up the big handbag…
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/12/arts/television/margaret-thatcher-the-crown.html
With shows like The Crown and Downton Abbey defining Britishness across the globe, it’s important for a different perspective to get an airing. We wonder, for example, how the international audience consider Steve McQueen’s Small Axe (now screening on Sunday nights on BBC 1, we recommend strongly) as a portrait of our country at a particular point in time. Writer Laurie Penny takes a closer look at the way our nation’s image has become theme-parked for mass consumption–to the point where we almost believe it ourselves…
https://longreads.com/2020/06/18/the-long-con-of-britishness/
Harlan Ellison’s The Last Dangerous Visions has been a Great White Whale of science fiction for decades. The lost third part of a trilogy of short writing that helped redefine modern SF, it’s garnered mythological status for many keen skiffers. Following Ellison’s death last year, it seemed we would never see the anthology. Now, though, Babylon 5 writer J. Michael Straczynski has thrown his hat into the ring (and more importantly some cash on the table) in an effort to actually get the thing in reader’s hands. Some, notably author and contributor to TLDV, Christoper Priest, still don’t think it’ll happen. We’d like to hope it will.
It would be really easy to post an article from the Vittles newsletter every week. It’s the most vibrant and exciting outlet for food writing out there. We recommend you subscribe and perhaps even drop them a little Patreon cash.
We couldn’t resist sharing this piece on the remarkable chef, philosopher and pottymouth Kenny Shopsin, which gives you a path into the mind of a wayward culinary genius.
https://vittles.substack.com/p/iteration-3-feroz-gajia-cooks-kenny
An an extra treat, check out the 2004 documentary on Shopsin, I Like Killing Flies. Well worth an hour and a half of your time.
You know us, we like a bit of oral history, particularly on the creation of a favourite album. Belle And Sebastian’s Tigermilk is one of those records that snuck up on people, making itself at home in people’s heads before they quite realised what was going on. Even if you think you don’t like fey Scottish indie, we think you’d get on with this.
https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/belle-and-sebastian-tigermilk/
However, because we are awkward cusses, this week’s Exit Music is not from that album. Instead, we share the greatest song B&S ever recorded–the gigantic, epic Lazy Line Painter Jane. Normal rules regarding volume levels apply, thank you.
See you in seven, hepcats.
The Cut
The majority of The Cut staff are still embroiled in the annual writer’s assault course known as Nanowrimo (go here if you have no idea what we’re on about). For those of you joining us on this mad journey–we feel your pain, and we know you’ve got this. Enjoy the ride!
This does mean that today and probably next week’s issue will be shorter than usual. Look, we know you’re disappointed. Bear with us, please. The fact we’re able to do this as well as cope with all the other stuff in our bulging schedules shows how much we care about you.
Now is the time. Here is the place. This is The Cut.
Rob on the Ninth Art Desk reports:
Back in the heady days when I was dark of hair and fleet of limb, I chose the path of higher education. The dissertation I wrote to earn my degree was on The Representation Of War In Comics (see, a panel nerd even then). I was pleased to see this excellent piece on NeoTextCorp covering some of the same bases as my long-forgotten excursion into the academic analysis of the funny papers. Always good to see Captain America punching Hitler, too!
https://neotextcorp.com/culture/10-cent-heroes-an-abridged-evolution-of-american-war-comics/
We would cheerfully watch a triple bill of Con Air, Face/Off and The Rock any day, not just because we believe Nicolas Cage to be the greatest actor ever to grace the silver screen (he is, tho) but because all three have a smart blend of action, eccentricity and sheer silliness. The urge to watch Con Air was kindled in us again this week as AV Club released a seating plan for the unwilling passengers of the Jailbird. There’s even a listing for the bunny!
https://news.avclub.com/neat-somebody-mapped-out-the-seating-chart-from-con-ai-1845654300
It’s probably no secret that the demographic of The Cut’s staff skews older geeky lefty bloke. Imagine our discomfort, then, to see one of our crushes, the wonderful Gillian Anderson appearing in the new season of The Crown as Maragret Thatcher, one of our all time pet hates. It’s an odd experience, to put it mildly. Our Gillian is not the first person to play The Iron Lady, of course. The New York Times talks to some of the actors who have donned the wig and picked up the big handbag…
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/12/arts/television/margaret-thatcher-the-crown.html
With shows like The Crown and Downton Abbey defining Britishness across the globe, it’s important for a different perspective to get an airing. We wonder, for example, how the international audience consider Steve McQueen’s Small Axe (now screening on Sunday nights on BBC 1, we recommend strongly) as a portrait of our country at a particular point in time. Writer Laurie Penny takes a closer look at the way our nation’s image has become theme-parked for mass consumption–to the point where we almost believe it ourselves…
https://longreads.com/2020/06/18/the-long-con-of-britishness/
Harlan Ellison’s The Last Dangerous Visions has been a Great White Whale of science fiction for decades. The lost third part of a trilogy of short writing that helped redefine modern SF, it’s garnered mythological status for many keen skiffers. Following Ellison’s death last year, it seemed we would never see the anthology. Now, though, Babylon 5 writer J. Michael Straczynski has thrown his hat into the ring (and more importantly some cash on the table) in an effort to actually get the thing in reader’s hands. Some, notably author and contributor to TLDV, Christoper Priest, still don’t think it’ll happen. We’d like to hope it will.
It would be really easy to post an article from the Vittles newsletter every week. It’s the most vibrant and exciting outlet for food writing out there. We recommend you subscribe and perhaps even drop them a little Patreon cash.
We couldn’t resist sharing this piece on the remarkable chef, philosopher and pottymouth Kenny Shopsin, which gives you a path into the mind of a wayward culinary genius.
https://vittles.substack.com/p/iteration-3-feroz-gajia-cooks-kenny
An an extra treat, check out the 2004 documentary on Shopsin, I Like Killing Flies. Well worth an hour and a half of your time.
You know us, we like a bit of oral history, particularly on the creation of a favourite album. Belle And Sebastian’s Tigermilk is one of those records that snuck up on people, making itself at home in people’s heads before they quite realised what was going on. Even if you think you don’t like fey Scottish indie, we think you’d get on with this.
https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/belle-and-sebastian-tigermilk/
However, because we are awkward cusses, this week’s Exit Music is not from that album. Instead, we share the greatest song B&S ever recorded–the gigantic, epic Lazy Line Painter Jane. Normal rules regarding volume levels apply, thank you.
See you in seven, hepcats.
The Cut
The majority of The Cut staff are still embroiled in the annual writer’s assault course known as Nanowrimo (go here if you have no idea what we’re on about). For those of you joining us on this mad journey–we feel your pain, and we know you’ve got this. Enjoy the ride!
This does mean that today and probably next week’s issue will be shorter than usual. Look, we know you’re disappointed. Bear with us, please. The fact we’re able to do this as well as cope with all the other stuff in our bulging schedules shows how much we care about you.
Now is the time. Here is the place. This is The Cut.
Rob on the Ninth Art Desk reports:
Back in the heady days when I was dark of hair and fleet of limb, I chose the path of higher education. The dissertation I wrote to earn my degree was on The Representation Of War In Comics (see, a panel nerd even then). I was pleased to see this excellent piece on NeoTextCorp covering some of the same bases as my long-forgotten excursion into the academic analysis of the funny papers. Always good to see Captain America punching Hitler, too!
https://neotextcorp.com/culture/10-cent-heroes-an-abridged-evolution-of-american-war-comics/
We would cheerfully watch a triple bill of Con Air, Face/Off and The Rock any day, not just because we believe Nicolas Cage to be the greatest actor ever to grace the silver screen (he is, tho) but because all three have a smart blend of action, eccentricity and sheer silliness. The urge to watch Con Air was kindled in us again this week as AV Club released a seating plan for the unwilling passengers of the Jailbird. There’s even a listing for the bunny!
https://news.avclub.com/neat-somebody-mapped-out-the-seating-chart-from-con-ai-1845654300
It’s probably no secret that the demographic of The Cut’s staff skews older geeky lefty bloke. Imagine our discomfort, then, to see one of our crushes, the wonderful Gillian Anderson appearing in the new season of The Crown as Maragret Thatcher, one of our all time pet hates. It’s an odd experience, to put it mildly. Our Gillian is not the first person to play The Iron Lady, of course. The New York Times talks to some of the actors who have donned the wig and picked up the big handbag…
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/12/arts/television/margaret-thatcher-the-crown.html
With shows like The Crown and Downton Abbey defining Britishness across the globe, it’s important for a different perspective to get an airing. We wonder, for example, how the international audience consider Steve McQueen’s Small Axe (now screening on Sunday nights on BBC 1, we recommend strongly) as a portrait of our country at a particular point in time. Writer Laurie Penny takes a closer look at the way our nation’s image has become theme-parked for mass consumption–to the point where we almost believe it ourselves…
https://longreads.com/2020/06/18/the-long-con-of-britishness/
Harlan Ellison’s The Last Dangerous Visions has been a Great White Whale of science fiction for decades. The lost third part of a trilogy of short writing that helped redefine modern SF, it’s garnered mythological status for many keen skiffers. Following Ellison’s death last year, it seemed we would never see the anthology. Now, though, Babylon 5 writer J. Michael Straczynski has thrown his hat into the ring (and more importantly some cash on the table) in an effort to actually get the thing in reader’s hands. Some, notably author and contributor to TLDV, Christoper Priest, still don’t think it’ll happen. We’d like to hope it will.
It would be really easy to post an article from the Vittles newsletter every week. It’s the most vibrant and exciting outlet for food writing out there. We recommend you subscribe and perhaps even drop them a little Patreon cash.
We couldn’t resist sharing this piece on the remarkable chef, philosopher and pottymouth Kenny Shopsin, which gives you a path into the mind of a wayward culinary genius.
https://vittles.substack.com/p/iteration-3-feroz-gajia-cooks-kenny
An an extra treat, check out the 2004 documentary on Shopsin, I Like Killing Flies. Well worth an hour and a half of your time.
You know us, we like a bit of oral history, particularly on the creation of a favourite album. Belle And Sebastian’s Tigermilk is one of those records that snuck up on people, making itself at home in people’s heads before they quite realised what was going on. Even if you think you don’t like fey Scottish indie, we think you’d get on with this.
https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/belle-and-sebastian-tigermilk/
However, because we are awkward cusses, this week’s Exit Music is not from that album. Instead, we share the greatest song B&S ever recorded–the gigantic, epic Lazy Line Painter Jane. Normal rules regarding volume levels apply, thank you.
See you in seven, hepcats.
The Cut
The majority of The Cut staff are still embroiled in the annual writer’s assault course known as Nanowrimo (go here if you have no idea what we’re on about). For those of you joining us on this mad journey–we feel your pain, and we know you’ve got this. Enjoy the ride!
This does mean that today and probably next week’s issue will be shorter than usual. Look, we know you’re disappointed. Bear with us, please. The fact we’re able to do this as well as cope with all the other stuff in our bulging schedules shows how much we care about you.
Now is the time. Here is the place. This is The Cut.
Rob on the Ninth Art Desk reports:
Back in the heady days when I was dark of hair and fleet of limb, I chose the path of higher education. The dissertation I wrote to earn my degree was on The Representation Of War In Comics (see, a panel nerd even then). I was pleased to see this excellent piece on NeoTextCorp covering some of the same bases as my long-forgotten excursion into the academic analysis of the funny papers. Always good to see Captain America punching Hitler, too!
https://neotextcorp.com/culture/10-cent-heroes-an-abridged-evolution-of-american-war-comics/
We would cheerfully watch a triple bill of Con Air, Face/Off and The Rock any day, not just because we believe Nicolas Cage to be the greatest actor ever to grace the silver screen (he is, tho) but because all three have a smart blend of action, eccentricity and sheer silliness. The urge to watch Con Air was kindled in us again this week as AV Club released a seating plan for the unwilling passengers of the Jailbird. There’s even a listing for the bunny!
https://news.avclub.com/neat-somebody-mapped-out-the-seating-chart-from-con-ai-1845654300
It’s probably no secret that the demographic of The Cut’s staff skews older geeky lefty bloke. Imagine our discomfort, then, to see one of our crushes, the wonderful Gillian Anderson appearing in the new season of The Crown as Maragret Thatcher, one of our all time pet hates. It’s an odd experience, to put it mildly. Our Gillian is not the first person to play The Iron Lady, of course. The New York Times talks to some of the actors who have donned the wig and picked up the big handbag…
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/12/arts/television/margaret-thatcher-the-crown.html
With shows like The Crown and Downton Abbey defining Britishness across the globe, it’s important for a different perspective to get an airing. We wonder, for example, how the international audience consider Steve McQueen’s Small Axe (now screening on Sunday nights on BBC 1, we recommend strongly) as a portrait of our country at a particular point in time. Writer Laurie Penny takes a closer look at the way our nation’s image has become theme-parked for mass consumption–to the point where we almost believe it ourselves…
https://longreads.com/2020/06/18/the-long-con-of-britishness/
Harlan Ellison’s The Last Dangerous Visions has been a Great White Whale of science fiction for decades. The lost third part of a trilogy of short writing that helped redefine modern SF, it’s garnered mythological status for many keen skiffers. Following Ellison’s death last year, it seemed we would never see the anthology. Now, though, Babylon 5 writer J. Michael Straczynski has thrown his hat into the ring (and more importantly some cash on the table) in an effort to actually get the thing in reader’s hands. Some, notably author and contributor to TLDV, Christoper Priest, still don’t think it’ll happen. We’d like to hope it will.
It would be really easy to post an article from the Vittles newsletter every week. It’s the most vibrant and exciting outlet for food writing out there. We recommend you subscribe and perhaps even drop them a little Patreon cash.
We couldn’t resist sharing this piece on the remarkable chef, philosopher and pottymouth Kenny Shopsin, which gives you a path into the mind of a wayward culinary genius.
https://vittles.substack.com/p/iteration-3-feroz-gajia-cooks-kenny
An an extra treat, check out the 2004 documentary on Shopsin, I Like Killing Flies. Well worth an hour and a half of your time.
You know us, we like a bit of oral history, particularly on the creation of a favourite album. Belle And Sebastian’s Tigermilk is one of those records that snuck up on people, making itself at home in people’s heads before they quite realised what was going on. Even if you think you don’t like fey Scottish indie, we think you’d get on with this.
https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/belle-and-sebastian-tigermilk/
However, because we are awkward cusses, this week’s Exit Music is not from that album. Instead, we share the greatest song B&S ever recorded–the gigantic, epic Lazy Line Painter Jane. Normal rules regarding volume levels apply, thank you.
See you in seven, hepcats.
The Cut
The majority of The Cut staff are still embroiled in the annual writer’s assault course known as Nanowrimo (go here if you have no idea what we’re on about). For those of you joining us on this mad journey–we feel your pain, and we know you’ve got this. Enjoy the ride!
This does mean that today and probably next week’s issue will be shorter than usual. Look, we know you’re disappointed. Bear with us, please. The fact we’re able to do this as well as cope with all the other stuff in our bulging schedules shows how much we care about you.
Now is the time. Here is the place. This is The Cut.
Rob on the Ninth Art Desk reports:
Back in the heady days when I was dark of hair and fleet of limb, I chose the path of higher education. The dissertation I wrote to earn my degree was on The Representation Of War In Comics (see, a panel nerd even then). I was pleased to see this excellent piece on NeoTextCorp covering some of the same bases as my long-forgotten excursion into the academic analysis of the funny papers. Always good to see Captain America punching Hitler, too!
https://neotextcorp.com/culture/10-cent-heroes-an-abridged-evolution-of-american-war-comics/
We would cheerfully watch a triple bill of Con Air, Face/Off and The Rock any day, not just because we believe Nicolas Cage to be the greatest actor ever to grace the silver screen (he is, tho) but because all three have a smart blend of action, eccentricity and sheer silliness. The urge to watch Con Air was kindled in us again this week as AV Club released a seating plan for the unwilling passengers of the Jailbird. There’s even a listing for the bunny!
https://news.avclub.com/neat-somebody-mapped-out-the-seating-chart-from-con-ai-1845654300
It’s probably no secret that the demographic of The Cut’s staff skews older geeky lefty bloke. Imagine our discomfort, then, to see one of our crushes, the wonderful Gillian Anderson appearing in the new season of The Crown as Maragret Thatcher, one of our all time pet hates. It’s an odd experience, to put it mildly. Our Gillian is not the first person to play The Iron Lady, of course. The New York Times talks to some of the actors who have donned the wig and picked up the big handbag…
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/12/arts/television/margaret-thatcher-the-crown.html
With shows like The Crown and Downton Abbey defining Britishness across the globe, it’s important for a different perspective to get an airing. We wonder, for example, how the international audience consider Steve McQueen’s Small Axe (now screening on Sunday nights on BBC 1, we recommend strongly) as a portrait of our country at a particular point in time. Writer Laurie Penny takes a closer look at the way our nation’s image has become theme-parked for mass consumption–to the point where we almost believe it ourselves…
https://longreads.com/2020/06/18/the-long-con-of-britishness/
Harlan Ellison’s The Last Dangerous Visions has been a Great White Whale of science fiction for decades. The lost third part of a trilogy of short writing that helped redefine modern SF, it’s garnered mythological status for many keen skiffers. Following Ellison’s death last year, it seemed we would never see the anthology. Now, though, Babylon 5 writer J. Michael Straczynski has thrown his hat into the ring (and more importantly some cash on the table) in an effort to actually get the thing in reader’s hands. Some, notably author and contributor to TLDV, Christoper Priest, still don’t think it’ll happen. We’d like to hope it will.
It would be really easy to post an article from the Vittles newsletter every week. It’s the most vibrant and exciting outlet for food writing out there. We recommend you subscribe and perhaps even drop them a little Patreon cash.
We couldn’t resist sharing this piece on the remarkable chef, philosopher and pottymouth Kenny Shopsin, which gives you a path into the mind of a wayward culinary genius.
https://vittles.substack.com/p/iteration-3-feroz-gajia-cooks-kenny
An an extra treat, check out the 2004 documentary on Shopsin, I Like Killing Flies. Well worth an hour and a half of your time.
You know us, we like a bit of oral history, particularly on the creation of a favourite album. Belle And Sebastian’s Tigermilk is one of those records that snuck up on people, making itself at home in people’s heads before they quite realised what was going on. Even if you think you don’t like fey Scottish indie, we think you’d get on with this.
https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/belle-and-sebastian-tigermilk/
However, because we are awkward cusses, this week’s Exit Music is not from that album. Instead, we share the greatest song B&S ever recorded–the gigantic, epic Lazy Line Painter Jane. Normal rules regarding volume levels apply, thank you.
See you in seven, hepcats.
