2007
16 Publications, 37 Posts, 9 Links
Weekly Review: November 20, 2007
[Weekly Review] Weekly Review Adjust by Paul Ford , November 20, 2007 At the third OPEC summit in 47 years, held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said that the price of crude oil could reach $200 a barrel. “The basis of all aggression,” said Chavez, “is oil.
How to Say I Love You
Have a question? Need some advice?
Love Explosion
I came up with 100 Ways to Say I Love You at The Morning News.
Supreme Court Upholds Appeals Court Decision in Favor of Harper's Magazine
[Commentary] Supreme Court Upholds Appeals Court Decision in Favor of Harper’s Magazine Adjust by Paul Ford , October 1, 2007 New York, NY, October 1, 2007 — The United States Supreme Court today upheld the March 23, 2007 decision of the 10th U. S.
$5 Chocolate Bar
Scott Rahin told me, “the other day I was watching this video and I just started crying. ” “What was it?
Supreme Court Upholds Appeals Court Decision in Favor of Harper’s Magazine , by Paul Ford
Weekly Review, by Paul Ford
Weekly Review: September 25, 2007
[Weekly Review] Weekly Review Adjust by Paul Ford , September 25, 2007 Israel, a few days before Yom Kippur , declared that the Gaza Strip is now a “hostile entity,” and the office of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (who is under investigation for corruption) announced a collective-punishment plan that includes “limiting the transfer of goods to the Gaza Strip, cutting back fuel and electricity, and restricting the movement of people to and from the Strip. ” Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum condemned Israel’s “criminal, terrorist Zionist actions.
Big O
Word Rectangle Write a program to find the largest possible rectangle of letters such that every row forms a word (reading left to right) and every column forms a word (reading top to bottom). Words should appear in this dictionary: WORD.
The Guests
I put on a black suit with a blue shirt and orange tie and got married to Mo, who wore a burgundy dress. September 15, 2007, a few minutes after 6:00PM.
The Shock Doctrine: A Short Film by Alfonso Cuarón and Naomi Klein
[Commentary] The Shock Doctrine: A Short Film by Alfonso Cuarón and Naomi Klein Adjust by Paul Ford , September 11, 2007 Alfonso Cuarón, director of Children of Men, and Naomi Klein, author of No Logo , present a short film from Klein’s book The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism . An essay adapted from the book will appear in October’s Harper’s Magazine and is available on the web now .
The Shock Doctrine: A Short Film by Alfonso Cuarón and Naomi Klein , by Paul Ford
Upstate
I was upstate at a birthday party. A nice group of people.
Twitter RSS in XSLT FTW
I’ve decided to geek out on Wednesdays. Today, I want to include a Twitter RSS feed (which, inspired by Joshua Allen , I tentatively plan to fill not with news of my clever doings but rather with filth about a fictional evil family) on the front page here at Ftrain.
The Cloths of Heaven are Old Shirts and Dark Slacks
Often in novels the dreams of characters relate to the action of the main narrative. A man fights with his wife, goes to bed, and dreams his house burned down.
Telephone
In 1981 when I was seven or eight and on my way to visit my grandparents across town, I would always stop in the alley behind the phone company and jump up so that I could see across a fence and into an uncurtained window. What I’d see were banks of tangled colored wires.
I Am Making a Difference
Rather than purchasing goods made by overseas laborers —who are often forced to work in unsafe conditions for low wages—I have kidnapped and enslaved a group of neighborhood children and chained them to a bench in my garage, where they make my clothes and build my gadgets. ¶ I carpool or ride my bike to Klan rallies.
The CPU
I read a lot of computer language hermeneutics on various websites . It’s rare to see people talking about syntax but instead they discuss how the language will be interpreted and understood.
Empty Rooms
Walking uptown or through Brooklyn Heights I will see a window stuffed with papers and books, or catch a glimpse of an old woman in a fading housecoat stepping out to get her Times , and I will wonder which room in New York City has been empty the longest. Is there, for example, a bedroom in Brooklyn that was sealed up after a son didn’t return from Vietnam, and that has remained locked ever since, mustard paint peeling and a faded poster of Grace Slick on the wall?
The Interrogation Room
When a story of extraordinary hollowness--one of our Whore Laureates drunk and in jail--saturates the entire government-sold spectrum, sanctimonious purselips condemn the media for its banality, its P. H.
The Bike Store
Somewhere in Brooklyn or Manhattan. A bell rings when you enter.
The Reversal
After many years of focused self-loathing I have reversed the flow of hatred and entered into a lengthy phase of purifying misanthropy. I fear and hate other humans: their innate violence, apelike grins, and peculiar smells.
Weekly Review: July 24, 2007
[Weekly Review] Weekly Review Adjust by Paul Ford , July 24, 2007 Executive power was transferred to Vice President Dick Cheney for two hours and five minutes while President George W. Bush underwent a routine colonoscopy .
Weekly Review, by Paul Ford
Interview: Wyatt Mason on Leonard Michaels, by Paul Ford
Interview: Wyatt Mason on Leonard Michaels
[Sentences] Interview: Wyatt Mason on Leonard Michaels Adjust by Paul Ford , June 26, 2007 Contributing Editor Wyatt Mason wrote about the neglected works of author Leonard Michaels (1933–2003) in “The Irresponsibility of Feelings” in the July Harper’s. Subscribers can read his essay now ; non-subscribers can read it in late July.
Weekly Review, by Paul Ford
Weekly Review: May 22, 2007
[Weekly Review] Weekly Review Adjust by Paul Ford , May 22, 2007 Paul Wolfowitz announced that he would resign as president of the World Bank on June 30; the Bank in turn said that it accepted Wolfowitz’s assurances that he had acted “in good faith” when he oversaw a promotion for his girlfriend Shaha Riza. Fin24 MSNBC The Guardian James B.
Launch
It makes sense to associate the word “launch,” previously for boats and rocket ships, with the release of new websites. The word evokes the landing pad, crowds of onlookers, and the fact that the craft, from the moment the countdown ends, could suddenly explode, raining loose tiles and human remains over southern Florida.
Dear Internet
Dear Internet, I made you something.
Döh
The Simpsons in . .
The sounds children make in different languages
flat33.com Jan 30No pig noises in Saudi Arabia?
Snow day
Walking home from the train we were so happy to see the snow, because there has been so little of it. “God,” said Mo.
Wikipedia Explains R&B
Ne-Yo, “So Sick” Ne-Yo has said he got the idea for the song from an old girlfriend he used to have. He really did like her but he listened to the advice of his friends and wound up cheating on her.
Lawyering
Have a question? Need some advice?
Elsewhere: Lawyering
Read Lawyering , by Paul Ford, over at The Morning News.
Etc.
Yes, Scott, said Rebecca. We were at her place.
Night
My recent dreams have terrified me. “Push!
Sleeping Piece
It’s late and I can’t sleep for nerves, but I should. So I look at the cat to relax.
Office 2007
news.com.com Jan 21Gawker shuffles, Choire Sicha returns
mediabistro.com Jan 21It’s so good when people put their love back into pure web after being away. I like reading Choire because’s he’s a human being in an industry without any.
Night Visit
My friend Scott Rahin came over and offered to do the dishes if I spoke to him for a while. “Okay,” I said.
Supercar: Be
video.google.com Jan 15I’ve watched this video sixty times. Translated lyrics are here (out of order--read bottom to top).
TrackBack
Back to fiction!
Person or Stuff?
Sometimes we play a game called “person or stuff. ” It’s a dark night; we’re walking down 4th Avenue below Union Street, or through some other bleak-looking part of Brooklyn.
The Problems of Nomads
And they said, Go to, let us build us a city, and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
Trope
I occasionally read a web essay or a newspaper article where a man—so far, always a man—owns up to the “guilty pleasures” on his iPod. You’ve seen this too?
Dear LazyWeb
LazyWeb: The idea that if you wait long enough, someone will implement that wacky idea you had . . . (or already has!) —IAWiki
My Palace of Memory Crumbles
A version of this piece was originally broadcast by NPR on the 26 December 2006 edition of NPR’s All Things Considered. It can be heard on their web site via RealAudio or Windows Media Player.
Memory and the Virtual World
http://www. npr.
Moving Backwards
A few months ago I went to a panel discussion where several novelists and essayists discussed the modern novel, and modern book sales, and modern despair. They criticized the Internet, too, for destroying everything.
Jack Explains Money
rhetoricaldevice.com Jan 7Making sense of the Barley Standard.
Real Empires Ship
The quality of heaviness.
Will Durant writes to H.L. Mencken about Charlie Chaplin at Theodore Dreiser’s Funeral
willdurant.com Jan 7“Dreiser looked handsomer in death than in life; his face expressed a repose and an acceptance which his pugnacious idealism had seldom permitted him before.
Lefty Media: Influenced by Skull & Bones and Trilateral Commission?
questionsquestions.net Jan 7Finally—the Amy Goodman/CIA connection is made clear (scroll down for essential chart).
Centiara, a Semantic Wiki
centiare.com Jan 7Using the Semantic Web to prove the girl is a witch
dig.csail.mit.edu Jan 7“# :GIRL a :WITCH .
The End of Lazy Christmas
Not writing enough means that everything feels uncooked—like my stomach is filled with cake batter. I’ve been off the wagon for two years and now is the right time to get back on, if I can.
Rowing the Pool
A friend of mine, a brilliant woman whom I knew for six years, was a natural at confrontation. Discussions could feel like they were being held in a room filled with eggshells and spun glass.
The Weird Thing
“I just sat around,” I said. “It’s my least favorite holiday.
Spinning
The first thing I see biking to work are the casket trucks loading up, each with the same soothing and ambiguous sunset painted onto it. That’s right around the corner on Union Street.