Stream of Reading (Prepare to be Forwarded) – An Archive of What I'm Reading
The Place: The banks of the Gowanus Canal. The Cast: Hilda, 36, graphic designer. Fjord, 41, art handler. Ermine, 2, pre-K waitlistee at Packer Collegiate Institute (#3,402). Fitzsimmons, 4, Miniature Schnauzer, pro bono therapy dog. The Scene: Hilda nibbles a salmon canapé while Fjord savors a glass of ’07 Syrah. Ermine pushes aside her pesticide-free,…
China’s stock markets continued a seemingly uncontrolled drop on Monday, pulling everything from Asia stock exchanges to commodities down further with them. Despite a huge amount of government stimulus, investors have lost faith in China’s stocks and are now focused on an impossible to answer question: how bad will China’s economic slowdown be? The Shanghai…
David Wolkoff—the developer tore down Queens graffiti institution 5 Pointz to put up condos—and his wife are being sued by their child’s tutor, the New York Post reports. Lauren Lowenthal alleges that the couple stiffed her nearly $33,000.http://gawker.com/graffiti-mecca… In the suit, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, Lowenthal (an “academic and self-management coach”) invoiced the Wolkoffs…
In an essay for the New York Times, Edward Frame, a graduate student at the New School, writes eloquently of the ironic remove required to work as a waiter in one of New York City’s fanciest restaurants—and also bathroom sex. Frame writes: In a playground for the superrich, I was an overpaid chaperone wearing a…
Photo Credit Harry Campbell ACCIDENTS like the one that critically injured the comedian Tracy Morgan, killed his friend and fellow comedian James McNair, known as Jimmy Mack, and hurt eight others on the New Jersey Turnpike last year are going to continue to happen unless Congress stops coddling the trucking industry. More people will be…
I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a head coach be as openly hostile to a starting quarterback as Jay Gruden was toward Robert Griffin III in D.C. last year. In the final month of the season, it seemed like there was always another passive-aggressive shot being made. It was all pretty unprofessional, like a Coors Light commercial…
Because they cannot motivate themselves? Who knows! But according to Trending in China (via Tech in Asia), “programming cheerleaders” apparently exist. Here’s Trending in China explaining what’s going on: Internet companies across China are embracing programming cheerleaders, pretty, talented girls that help create a fun work environment. Their job includes buying programmers breakfast, chitchatting and…
Yesterday, Burning Man organizers revealed the truth: the annual desert arts festival is infested with bugs. Swarms of them. Piles of them. What are they? Why has nobody ever seen them before, in over two decades of building mega-party spaces in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert? We found out. We asked entomologist and insect photographer Alex…
Seventeen-year-old Malyk Bonnet says he doesn’t think of himself as a hero. But the woman who owes her life to his courage and good judgment would probably disagree. As CBC News reports, Bonnet was on his way home from work when he noticed a couple arguing by a bus stop. Persuaded that the man might…
Editor’s note: Salon’s original video report on the Outdoor Co-ed Topless Pulp Fiction Appreciation Society, which can be found at the end of this post, is not safe for work. In many ways this New York City book club is just like any other. Members discuss the books they are reading, but also sidetrack into…