The Mahatma - Blogging, Perhaps?

(Image Source: www.aicongallery.com, Artist: Debanjan Roy)

The rest of the series, titled "India Shining" (by Debanjan Roy) is worth a look.

Dressing Up To Save A Bird

A good story in the Times' Sunday magazine about the effort to save the whooping crane.

The best part of the piece? This one sentence:

Already, it has come to this on planet Earth: men dressed like birds, teaching birds to fly.

Now that's funny and scary.

So You Want To Be A Bookseller?

"But the real reason why I should not like to be in the book trade for life is that while I was in it I lost my love of books. A bookseller has to tell lies about books, and that gives him a distaste for them; still worse is the fact that he is constantly dusting them and hauling them to and fro."

George Orwell's tasty little rant about working in a bookshop. The essay contains a priceless quote: "If you don't see an ad. for Boswell's Decline and Fall you are pretty sure to see one for The Mill on the Floss by T. S. Eliot."

Well, long as I don't see Far from the madding crowd by the Hardy Boys...

The Crime, The Punishment

"The 31-year-old Iranian is demanding the ancient punishment of "an eye for an eye," and, in accordance with Islamic law, she wants to blind Majid Movahedi, the man who blinded her."

Just in case the Compassionate Liberal in you feels outraged after reading this story, take a look at the second image on that slideshow and then tell me "eye for an eye" is a barbaric concept.

It is not easy to discuss the implications of this violent story. Retribution seems equitable, even necessary. But how does that affect all that we have learned about forgiveness?

This, In New Jersey?

Overheard at a Barnes & Noble recently:

"I am looking for a Bruce Springsteen album...."something-something-run?"

I was a little surprised. Maybe the (old) man was not a rock fan. But the store clerk? He was a younger person and had to have known his "Born to Run" from his "Born in the USA". Instead, he led the old man to the CD rack, which seemed well-stocked with the something-something-run? album, and helpfully asked, "did you mean Springsteen's new album?"

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Speaking of B&N, they are now selling vinyl (with a "Vinyl is BACK!" sticker on top of the shelf). I rarely even stop at B&N's music section but on my last three visits to the store, I have found myself lingering in front of the vinyl rack. Oh, mama. CDs and MP3s can go screw themselves. 180 grams of vinyl is where it's at.

Robert Frank: "The Americans"

(Via All Things Considered on NPR yesterday)

One of the greatest pieces of documentation of America turns 50 this year: Robert Frank's collection of photographs, "The Americans". Some of the best-known images from the much-praised book can be seen in this slideshow.

Lens Culture, a photography site/blog says the book "redefined what a photo book could be".

Frank's pictures get you thinking about what it must have meant to be an American in the 1950s and what it means to be one in the 21st century. (Look at the one titled "Parade - Hoboken, New Jersey". It's a sad and chilling picture.)

That fifty years later, these photographs still move us (and not just fill us with nostalgia for the Gilded Nineteen-fifties) is proof of the timelessness of Robert Frank's work.

Note: If you live in the DC area, the National Gallery of Art is holding a retrospective of Frank's work.

Will A Matchbox Hold My Clothes?

Pictures of matchboxes from India. An eye-popping collection. (Via MetaFilter).

Yes, the iconic "Chavi" is there, along with several new ones I had never seen before: an image of Amitabh Bachchan from "Coolie", a Mickey Mouse (and a matchbox called "Super Miki" with a graphic of Donald Duck), a matchbox called "Priyanka" (and wouldn't you know, there's a "Chopra" too), one titled "Astrice" (with a picture of an ostrich) and a tribute to a classic film, "City Lights" (which must be popular with the arson crowd?)


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"Matchbox" also happens to be one of my favorite early rock 'n roll songs but if you didn't know about the song's history, you should read this amazing blog post. (Via Wiki)