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Books
Under the Dome
I don’t really like Stephen King that much, but the cover design for his new novel, Under the Dome, is amazing: About these ads
Stephen Fry in America
Review by Hugh Lilly In the television series Wild Weekends, Theroux reveals an obsessive, kooky America by seeking out its most zany, cult-like denizens. The historian Simon Schama, in his perplexingly-titled The American Future: A History, adapted from his book, looks to the States’ future through the prism of its past. Like his fellow Britons, … Continue reading
Glowing Young Ruffian
“Being Hal Ashby” by Nick Dawson Review by Hugh Lilly The director Hal Ashby was somewhat of an anomaly in Hollywood: someone who could make heartfelt, carefully crafted personal films within the confines of the studio system. Although Ashby frequently ignored box-office forecasts in favour of relentlessly pursuing an artistic vision, many of his films … Continue reading
Bites of Reality
“X Saves The World” by Jeff Gordinier “Charlie Kaufman and Hollywood’s Merry Band of Pranksters, Fabulists and Dreamers” by Derek Hill A few years ago Jeff Gordinier, a writer at Details and Entertainment Weekly magazines, was asked by his editor to look into what had become of his generation. The resulting book, subtitled “How Generation … Continue reading
Portland, OR
“Livability: Stories,” a collection of short stories by Jon Raymond Wendy and Lucy and Old Joy, two films by Kelly Reichardt The city of Portland, Oregon is home to a vast array of talent; among its many well-known residents are singer-songwriters M. Ward and the late Elliott Smith, the bands Blitzen Trapper, The Shins and … Continue reading
Reeeeeeeemix
This week’s To The Best of Our Knowledge programme discusses remix culture. Paul D. Miller, a.k.a. DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid, author of “Sound Unbound: Sampling Digital Music and Culture” talks about life “in our era of rip, mix and burn”. ‘The World Famous Audio Hacker‘ teaches us how a mash-up works. Lawrence Lessig talks … Continue reading
American Nerd: The Story of My People
American Nerd: The Story of My People By Benjamin Nugent Review by Hugh Lilly We’re all nerds. Most of you reading this will be university students of some description, meaning your interest in a particular subject is such that you’ve decided to pay a lot of money to have other people lecture you at great … Continue reading
Sound Unbound: Sampling Digital Music and Culture
Sound Unbound: Sampling Digital Music and Culture By Paul D. Miller (a.k.a. DJ Spooky ‘That Subliminal Kid’) Review by Hugh Lilly With a foreword by sci-fi writer, anti-censorship crusader and blogger extraordinaire Cory Doctorow, and an introduction by minimalist composer Steve Reich, this esoteric collection of essays and other writing on digital culture, sampling, music … Continue reading
A day in the afterlife of PKD
Found on YouTube, a neat 1994 BBC documentary entitled “A day in the afterlife of Philip K. Dick.” It has these fantastic little interstitial ‘advertisments’ for “PKD products” sold to you by Terry Gilliam, Elvis Costello and others — and readings by Greg Proops! Here’s part one: It’s also available as a 500MB .avi in … Continue reading
The Life and Times of Bret Easton Ellis
Via notanexit.net, the LA Times has a lengthy article examining the life, work and times of Bret Easton Ellis, author of, among others, Lunar Park, The Rules of Attraction and American Psycho. Times staff writer Scott Timberg sits down to dinner with Ellis to discuss his place in the word of books — he’s long … Continue reading
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