We’ve all been there: nodding along vaguely when someone brings up Ulysses in casual conversation. Everyone has those books that they repeatedly pick up and then repeatedly put down. These skeletons in our literary closet always seem to sink to the bottom of our summer reading list, destined never to be finished. Maria Popova’s recent post on University of Paris professor Pierre Bayard’s controversial book How to Talk About Books You Haven’t Readhas got us thinking about how fluency in classic works of literature acts as a marker of a well read, culturally developed person. So, in case you’re interested in impersonating a more educated reader, we have compiled a little cheat sheet to guide you through 10 important books you probably haven’t read but whose cultural importance you should definitely understand. This way, you can save face at your next cocktail party — without sacrificing quality time with that Stephen King novel at the beach. (But hey, promise us you’ll give at least one of these a try before the year is out?)
Today's Photo:
Rockets
Mumble (From Happy Feet)
The Pizzazle. Covered in glitter, the herpes of the crafting world.
by Sonya Chung on The Millions “I’ve been thinking about whether, on average, people are lonelier in real life than in novels,” Elizabeth Bachnerwrote recently in the opening to an essay about (among other things) the novel Malina by Ingeborg Bachmann. I don’t have an answer, but the question makes me think about how much of life is about loneliness and efforts to cure or soothe loneliness, and how much of art is about loneliness and efforts to cure or soothe loneliness; and how loneliness is a word — easily enough spoken or written, like death or love – but really it’s a deep sadness, which is also a force, driving so many of our desires and actions, and at the same time shameful and hidden and nearly impossible to live with, out in the open, in any authentic way.
Zombies Run by Michael Andersen on Wired A few weeks ago, I was given the opportunity to try a new iOS app by Six to Start called Zombies, Run!, a “running game and audio adventure” that transplants its participants into a zombie apocalypse. The story begins: you are Runner #5, a refugee of a supply helicopter crash, with no identification to prove you’re not from one of the other rival camps, trying to earn your keep in Abel Township by running on supply or rescue missions. Along the way, you collect items that will help the camp, and sometimes obtain information that might help explain who you are, how the world got in this state, and maybe even how to save it.
Friday June 1st 8:00 – 10:00 pm Monday July 2nd 8:00 – 10:00 pm Wednesday August 1st 8:00 – 10:00 pm
Wander through the trails of the arboretum by the light of the full moon. Paddle around a Native American burial site in the dark and get startled by a beaver warning you of whose territory you're paddling in. This tour begins and ends at Agua Verde Paddle Club.
You are a die-hard Seattle SuperSonics fan, the type who calls into 950 KJR to remind everyone about the time you watched Jack Sikma suit up for the first time in the green and gold. You attended every Save Our Sonics rally, wrote letters to Governor Christine Gregoire, and sent tithes to any effort designed to stop Clay Bennett and Aubrey McClendon from dragging your beloved team to Oklahoma City. Your twin sons are named Gary and Shawn. For the past four seasons, you've howled with rage as Kevin Durant — your Kevin Durant — has blossomed into the league's most likable superstar. It's the details that won't allow you to move on — you obsess daily over the leaked e-mails, the dismissive comments from David Stern, the carelessness of Starbucks tycoon and former owner Howard Schultz. Forty-one years of community-supported history were taken away by powerful men who did exactly what powerful men do. Just when things look their bleakest and the years of protest have slowed down into the stuff of drunken eulogy, a homegrown hedge-fund manager sweeps in and proposes an arena plan that could placate even the city's WTO-protesting anarchists who frown at "sport" and scream, "What about the children?" This arena, supported by the mayor and some of the Pacific Northwest's most prominent businessmen, could be ready as early as 2017.
So here's the sticky question: With lust in your eyes, do you look 750 miles down I-5 at Sacramento and think, Who are they to have a team?
Recently Emily White, an intern at NPR All Songs Considered and GM of what appears to be her college radio station, wrote a post on the NPR blog in which she acknowledged that while she had 11,000 songs in her music library, she’s only paid for 15 CDs in her life. Our intention is not to embarrass or shame her. We believe young people like Emily White who are fully engaged in the music scene are the artist’s biggest allies. We also believe–for reasons we’ll get into–that she has been been badly misinformed by the Free Culture movement. We only ask the opportunity to present a countervailing viewpoint.
Nobel laureate John Steinbeck was a prolific and eloquent letter-writer, as the magnificent Steinbeck: A Life in Letters reveals. Among his correspondence is this beautiful response to his eldest son Thom’s 1958 letter, in which the teenage boy confesses to have fallen desperately in love with a girl named Susan while at boarding school. Steinbeck’s words of wisdom — tender, optimistic, timeless, infinitely sagacious — should be etched onto the heart and mind of every living, breathing human being.
Dear Thom:
We had your letter this morning. I will answer it from my point of view and of course Elaine will from hers.
First — if you are in love — that’s a good thing — that’s about the best thing that can happen to anyone. Don’t let anyone make it small or light to you.
Second — There are several kinds of love. One is a selfish, mean, grasping, egotistical thing which uses love for self-importance. This is the ugly and crippling kind. The other is an outpouring of everything good in you — of kindness and consideration and respect — not only the social respect of manners but the greater respect which is recognition of another person as unique and valuable. The first kind can make you sick and small and weak but the second can release in you strength, and courage and goodness and even wisdom you didn’t know you had.
You say this is not puppy love. If you feel so deeply — of course it isn’t puppy love.
But I don’t think you were asking me what you feel. You know better than anyone. What you wanted me to help you with is what to do about it — and that I can tell you.
Glory in it for one thing and be very glad and grateful for it.
The object of love is the best and most beautiful. Try to live up to it.
If you love someone — there is no possible harm in saying so — only you must remember that some people are very shy and sometimes the saying must take that shyness into consideration.
Girls have a way of knowing or feeling what you feel, but they usually like to hear it also.
It sometimes happens that what you feel is not returned for one reason or another — but that does not make your feeling less valuable and good.
Lastly, I know your feeling because I have it and I’m glad you have it.
We will be glad to meet Susan. She will be very welcome. But Elaine will make all such arrangements because that is her province and she will be very glad to. She knows about love too and maybe she can give you more help than I can.
And don’t worry about losing. If it is right, it happens — The main thing is not to hurry. Nothing good gets away.
Craft beer drinkers who favor cans argue that they are easier to produce and
transport, and block out skunking agents like light and oxygen. But here’s
another argument in favor of canned beer: You can stack the empties on top of
one another and duct tape them together to form a wizard staff. The more you
drink, the longer your staff—and the more respect and admiration you demand from
your fellow drinkers.
Who would do something this unabashedly (and awesomely) dorky? Well, Über
Tavern for one. Apparently Saturday is International Wizard Staff
Day, and the Greenlake beer bar is ready to host a few rounds of this drinking
game. Uber will be at the ready with canned beer specials and—most
importantly—free duct tape. Most 12-ounce cans will go for $2, and tallboys for
$3, with the exception of a few higher-end brews.
This is the bar’s first foray into the game known as Wizard Staff, says
manager Charlie Wedbee. “According to one of my bartenders, this is an actual
thing.”
My wife and I love kids—we just don't want to have any of our own. That shouldn't be a big deal, but sometimes other people sure act like it is. There have been a few too many instances when my wife and I have been around other folks' babies and the inevitable question comes up: "When are you two going to have a baby?" We mention that we weren't planning on having kids and you can just see this ... look come over their face. To my knowledge, I've never responded to that question with: "Are you kidding? I hate kids. I hate humanity. In fact, I hate your child most of all." But from the look I get in return, I guess I might as well have. Choosing to be childless is not an easy decision, especially when you're surrounded by friends and family who have such adorable kids, but I find that our decision is sometimes met with disbelief and confusion. It's like not being on Facebook or owning a smartphone: You're supposed to want to have kids. What the hell's wrong with me?
This wasn't the main reason why I utterly despised What to Expect When You're Expecting, but it's probably in the top three. Sure, it's just a silly, stupid Hollywood chick-flick, but the movie's attitude is so repugnant that it deserves its own special warning: This movie may cause you to seek an immediate vasectomy.
(article from Withahope.org)Something that frequently frustrates me is the way poverty is often described purely in terms of money (or lack thereof) so when I saw the new computer game by Live 58 called ‘Survival 125′ and read the headline ‘Can you Survive on $1.25?’ I did initially worry a little. Very quickly I realised that the game actually explores the real crux of poverty, which to me is the lack of choice poverty results in. For example; do you pay for your child to get a measles vaccination knowing it means you will go hungry for the rest of the week? These dillemas are the real picture when it comes to poverty as they are the kind of choices that come as a result of not having enough money. So I settled down to have a go at playing the game taking on the role of Divya Patel, a mum living in India and living on a brickmaker’s wage.
How The Song "Seven Nation Army" Conquered The Sports World by Alan Siegel on Deadspin
The march toward musical empire began on Oct. 22, 2003, in a bar in Milan, Italy, 4,300 miles away from Detroit. Fans of Club Brugge K.V., in town for their team's group-stage UEFA Champions League clash against European giant A.C. Milan, gathered to knock back some pre-match beers. Over a stereo blared seven notes: Da...da-DA-da da DAAH DAAH, the signature riff of a minor American hit song.
By normal pop-music expectations, the White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army" had already passed its peak. Released in March of that year, the single reached No. 1 on Billboard's alternative rock chart in early July, stayed there for three weeks, then had begun to fade out. But the members of the Blue Army, a Brugge supporters group, liked what they were hearing and began to sing along. "It's a very catchy tune," Blue Army spokesman Geert De Cang wrote in an email.
Eight years later, the riff-turned-anthem is ubiquitous and seemingly inevitable, an organic part of global sports culture. On Thanksgiving night, 71,000 fans at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore chanted the riff in unison. Hello Giggles E3 Report Level Up by Michele Morrow New York, London, Milan and Paris: eat your hearts out. Video Games are art! And Los Angeles just dished up the latest, greatest gaming and related technology that the planet has to offer. When finding the right game for your style, you can always refer back to my very first article on HelloGiggles I want to congratulate all of the most fashionable games in advance. Without further ado, here are my awards: Alki Stand Up Paddleboarding Magical Moonlight Paddle Stand Up Paddleboarding (SUP) sounds super fun and, if the stories are true, it's pretty simple. I'm sure lessons are required before you can do it in the dark, but I do have some free time coming up.
Today's Photos: Class Celebration at the Family Fun Center!
Organizers called yesterday’s green-and-gold gathering in Occidental Park the Bring ‘em Back Rally, and they handed out thousands of mini-signs bearing that slogan to drive home the point. As aggressive as that message sounds, the Seattle hoops-heads who braved the October-like weather yesterday (estimates have run from 2,000 to 6,000) were surprisingly non-confrontational. I say “surprisingly” because, honestly, after all the mud that’s been slung (justifiably so) at Howard Schultz and Clay Bennett and David Stern in the four years since the Sonics slunk away to Oklahoma City, I anticipated more, I don’t know, angst —especially considering that what’s left of the Sonics was taking the court in OKC for Game Two of the NBA Finals. Like Sports Radio KJR host Mike Gastineau—who, by the way, gave one of the most heartfelt and rousing speeches at the rally—told me last fall, “It doesn’t take but a few knuckleheads to start something.”
A City Left Behind
Best of Seattle Party - August 1st Seattle Weekly is proud to present the Best Of Seattle® Party on Wednesday, August 1st at Pier 66. This party on the waterfront will showcase Seattle's best bites, libations, performance and installation art as well as live music of more than 30 past and present Best Of Seattle winners in celebration of Seattle Weekly's 27th Annual Best Of Seattle issue, on newsstands the same day.
General Admission tickets priced at $30 include all-you-can-eat bites from local favorite restaurants, confectioners and food trucks, open bar including samples from winning mixologists, beer and wine, as well as access to performances including fire-dancing, aerialists and Seattle Weekly's 2012 REVERB Local Music Festival preview lineup.
A Crash Course on Stephen Hawking Seattle Met In a way, Stephen Hawking is comforting. In an age when any idiot can become a “celebrity” (see: Shore, Jersey), it’s great to see that a guy can still be famous for just being waaaaaaaay smarter than any of us. Hawking is coming to town this weekend to speak at the Seattle Science Festival (unfortunately, tickets for his talk have been sold out for quite a while). So as a quick refresher before he swings into town, here’s what Hawking has been up to over the past few years.
Today's Photos: George Karl and Me. I'm on the left.
In a college bioethics class, my classmates and I were asked how we would feel if we found ourselves temporarily attached through tubes and wires to another person for almost a year, while he or she depended on us for food and protection. It's a parasitic relationship, we discussed. The host organism gets nothing out of the relationship and is in fact hindered by needing extra nutrients and energy to support the parasite. The lesson was to illustrate how a mother, maybe a rape victim, felt about her unborn and unwanted child.
That hypothetical scenario was the first time I was able to put into words how completely unnatural and abhorrent pregnancy seems to me. To have my body distorted beyond recognition for an alien-looking creature to live there for nine or 10 months and use up my food and energy storage? To have doctors poke and prod at my most private places because that's where it'll be born? Then, to be free of the creature on the inside, but to have to care for it for years and years, while it eats my food, lives in my house, and takes up my energy? A child is a proud role model for any parasite.
TBTL Songs of the Summer Always searching for that classic summer jam, TBTL put together a list of listener submissions. The Song of the Summer is supposed to be the song you hear bumping out of everyone's car, the song you hear at every barbeque, the song that comes on the radio that still brings a smile to your face.
If you click over to the TBTL blog, there's a Spotify playlist of all the songs.
Dean Karnazes (1962-) is an American ultramarathon runner, author and was named one of the world’s top 100 most influential people byTime magazine in 2006. When I first read about Dean I could instantly relate to his story. At the age of 30, he realised he hated his corporate job and quit to pursue his true passion of running. (I was 29 when I quit my job last year.) Karnazes hasn’t looked back since, becoming the world’s most recognised ultramarathon runner, raising money for charities through his races and inspiring others to overcome adversity.
Seattle Weekly is proud to present the Best Of Seattle® Party on Wednesday, August 1st at Pier 66. This party on the waterfront will showcase Seattle's best bites, libations, performance and installation art as well as live music of more than 30 past and present Best Of Seattle winners in celebration of Seattle Weekly's 27th Annual Best Of Seattle issue, on newsstands the same day.
General Admission tickets priced at $30 include all-you-can-eat bites from local favorite restaurants, confectioners and food trucks, open bar including samples from winning mixologists, beer and wine, as well as access to performances including fire-dancing, aerialists and Seattle Weekly's 2012 REVERB Local Music Festival preview lineup.
