This makes me want a cat

A little bit of eccentricity

A great interview of eccentric Italian novelist Umberto Eco about, among other things, lists.
As a lover of lists myself, it was nice to know this bordeline obsessive-compulsive habit is not uniquely mine.
He has a new exhibition at the Lourve, ipso facto, a photo of Paris (although who really needs an excuse?)
Enjoy.

Food for thought

An interesting article about journalism and philosophy.
I very much like the idea of the newspaper as a morning prayer; its the closest I come to worship!
I'm especially excited for the Saturday papers tomorrow.

Cool dress

Funny stuff my friend says

Greetings,
I am posting this from the bedroom of my friend Kate, who is in the shower. We went to see some cool bands last night, although we missed Valar, so I'm doing a catchup with itunes.
Good stuff.
 Also on the listening mix, Bon Iver. Classic Kate comment:

 Int. Morning, Bedroom.

K: Yeah I heard he had mononucleosis.

CS: What's that?

K: Let's google it.

Googles.

So, turns out mononucleosis is actually just glandular fever.

K (emphatically): Americans always fuck everything up!

I really think transcribing this removes the humour, but I'm laughing anyway.
And now, another personal joke for Kate.
Sorry

A little bit of Paris in Sydney

On anothe French related note, Sydney now has an absinthe salon! Comme c'est chic
One to try.

Pucker up

Great looking French comedy out on Boxing day The French Kissers
Yay!

Words

Mary Ellen Mark

A great article on the photographer Mary Ellen Mark.

Journeys

Travel writing is a genre I really enjoy (of course, when it is badly written it is a disaster, but when well written it is an absolute pleasure).

Don Watson's American Journeys sounds like a great read.

The Cardigans

Great song!

Food for Thought

Le Corbusier. This journalists unashamed (and justifiable) dislike is highly amusing. One such example: "Le Corbusier wanted to be to the city what pasteurization is to cheese."
or indeed, this little gem:

"When one recalls Le Corbusier’s remark about reinforced concrete—“my reliable, friendly concrete”—one wonders if he might have been suffering from a degree of Asperger’s syndrome: that he knew that people talked, walked, slept, and ate, but had no idea that anything went on in their heads, or what it might be, and consequently treated them as if they were mere things. Also, people with Asperger’s syndrome often have an obsession with some ordinary object or substance: reinforced concrete, say."

Delicious.

More truths from Zadie

"Like all great fiction writers he is hard for other writers to read because his natural ability is so evident it makes you nauseous by turn."

On David Foster Wallace, aka master of footnotes.

Love this.

Love this. Zadie Smith discusses the essay.

Enjoy

I went as Sarah Palin to a party to celebrate the final year of school, which is always a costume party.

Food for thought

I found this article by Richard King immensely interesting.

As a side note, while looking for a graphic to accompany this post, I googled "novel". The second result was Twilight...I may be being snobbish here, but that is horrifying.

I may want to be this woman...

Garance is right, she is way too cool.

Tumblr obession continues

Found a great tumblr I heard it at the movies I love stuff like this. Lame, I know. But true.

Another book I want to read

Generation A by Douglas CouplandDouglas Coupland might so easily have written his latest novel as an airport thriller, says Toby Litt

Bringing the Buzz Back to the Café
Once they plotted revolutions, now they're typing blogs. Today's cafe society is a weak decaf.
 
Your thoughts?

Literary Genius

Re-Entering the 'First Circle' A great article on a great authour, Alexander Solzhenitsyn.

Food for thought

TOWARDS the end of 2006, the academic Tony Judt found himself at the centre of, depending on your point of view, a political tempest or a storm in a teacup. Due to speak at the Polish consulate in New York, the event was cancelled following telephone calls from the Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish Committee, who reacted as if the Poles had invited a smashed Mel Gibson to speak on the subject of international Jewry. This, said some, was a straw in the wind - evidence of the power of the "Israel lobby" of which Judt was notoriously critical. Others, among them Christopher Hitchens, saw it as a fart in the wind - evidence of little more than the hysteria and self-pity of the anti-lobbyists.

Insincere?

I can't decide if this is insincere or the best idea ever. Probably not one to use for something really disastrous.

Lily Allen

I think Lily Allen is so beautiful, I hope I can see her in concert next year!

Advertising

I respect clever advertising, especially if it isn't intrusive.

Required Reading

Ode to coffee

Sunday

MASCulin femiNIN

Why yes, I did also nearly fall asleep, but enjoyed Masculin Feminin in all its francophone glory.

Gorbachev

One of the truly great leaders.

I'm cynical about most politicians, but I think Gorbachev genuinely wanted to serve his people more than he lusted after power. It was largely due to him that 1989 was a year of velvet revolutions.

And because I love a possible Russian political intrigue, even at its most mundane.

Just because

Happy 40th Sesame Street.

Sunday

Today is my last day of Sunday study for the foreseeable future.

I have a psychology exam tomorrow and my final exam on Friday, wish me luck!

I love this office, it looks so light filled and airy without being cold. For some reason though, I have never put a desk in the middle of a room (I know it depends on the room, of course) it seems like a nice idea.

Cross your eyes

Friends

I already miss my friend, who is away on holidays for a week.


We are always walking and talking, and I miss being able to rent* to her about my problems.


I'm sure we will be doing to same thing in 60 years time, even grumpier than we are now but hopefully with better wardrobes.



*Rent (n): to rant and vent simultaneously, to complain. i.e. "I need to rent to you about my horrible neighbours".

People of Walmart

I know I shouldn't laugh, but after the initial shock and disbelief I find this so funny. These are just the kind of scenes I could imagine David Sedaris, Bill Bryson or even Stephen Fry writing something intensely, side achingly funny about.

I'd love to be in bed right now

I'd love to be in bed napping right now. Especially if I had Daria Werbowry's Manhattan apartment and knew that what was waiting for me outside the door!

I have noticed this is one in a series of Daria-themed posts, strange how that happens sometimes.

Musing for Amusement

While looking for the Daria picture in my previous post, I stumbled across this most amusing blog Musing for Amusement. Lots of lovely, unpretentious commentary on books, music and movies.
Enjoy.

You go Daria!

French Vogue strikes me as much more fun then its American sister, which I find much more appealing. Daria Werbowry always reminds me of the Daria tv show I watched growing up...ah, the nostalgia.

Two words

Two words: Bedspread envy.

Clive James

I think I would quite like to be Clive James. Anyone who reads books for a living ticks one of the boxes for "best job ever".
Here's an interview of him with Andrew Denton. I found it on a new discovery in the information highway, Lustalit.
The tag line is "an essay a day", and read one more thing before you do anything - definitely my m.o.
Sadly, it hasn't been updated since July, but I'm hopeful for an end to the dry spell soon.

New York in the 70's

This is my most recent lusting-after coffee table book, New York in the 70's by photojournalist Allan Tannenbaum. A must have, I think.

This staircase is beautiful

I love old terrace houses. I used to live in one, and wouldn't mind doing so in the future. Friends have a beautiful one in Carlton in Melbourne and commissioned a graffiti artist to paint their courtyard, it looks spectacular.

Somehow the light is more beautiful in these houses.

Flight of the Conchords

Flight of the Conchords never fails to make me laugh, even when you know what's going to happen...somehow the execution is even better than you expect. Plus, I definitely prefer self deprecating humour to laughing at other people.
To some extent, I hope they don't make another series (although 3 does have a nice round ring to it) because then there's always the risk of becoming passe, and they are pretty perfect as they are.

The inherent merit of books and bookshops