How Brittany Murphy's Menstruation Just Doesn't Make Sense @11:31 AM
There are a lot of women out there who have menstrual cycles. Generally, they talk about it amongst themselves. But sometimes menstruation becomes public! Like in Brittany Murphy's autopsy report, which, Us Weekly reports today, her husband has just read. (The magazine notes that he found reading it upsetting.) But women readers will note that there is some really intriguing menses-related information here. READ MORE 26
The Shadow Editors: Sally Quinn, Disinvited @2:32 PM
[CORRECTION APPENDED: Due to a totally reasonable inability to keep all of the Bradlee divorces straight, we did indeed get one of the Bradlee divorces slightly confused! A correction is inserted; a handy family tree of the Bradlee family will surely be published at a later date.]
Choire: We need to discuss DAVID PATERSON: THE TOLD UNTOLD STORY but my mind is so blown by Sally Quinn that I can barely think.
Tom: I KNOW RIGHT??
Choire: I mean, for starters, I've never gotten over them naming their son Quinn Bradlee? This naming speaks either of WASP customs I don't understand or narcissism. (If those aren't the same two things.) READ MORE 53
The Shadow Editors: Everyone Thinks He's Jill Abramson Now @1:15 PM
Tom: "Even with requisite journalistic care (including round-robin meetings with editors), it would seem that a [David] Paterson story should have been ready to be printed by Friday morning, especially since any yet-to-be confirmed charges against the governor could always run in a later article. Instead, the Times has yet to publish. While there may be extenuating factors, we have reached the point when the Times' care at being journalistically responsible has become irresponsible."
Choire: I mean. How do you even come to that conclusion?
Tom: It is crackers. READ MORE 10
A Conversation with Paul Ford, Web Editor of Harper's Magazine @5:29 PM
Paul Ford is an associate editor at Harper's Magazine. His duties include the full operation of the website. We requested that he join us for a conversation about the magazine, its website and the site's paywall choices and goals.
Choire: Hey Paul! Thank you for joining me. At the outset, let me disclaim that we are somewhat friendly, and in fact for one night shared a bedroom in Sag Harbor, though not in any way that calls your heterosexuality into question.
Paul: That was a beautiful weekend.
Choire: Ha, well you just made that sound a lot worse for you, but okay! Innuendo aside, I requested your attendance here because I wanted to know a bit about the Harper's website, which you designed and schemed up and built (as in coded!). READ MORE 41
Dined Out: This Little Piggy Had Roast Beef @2:45 PM
This Little Piggy Had Roast Beef, a new roast beef place from the folks behind the popular Artichoke's pizza operation, opened recently at 1st Avenue and 9th Street, which sharp-eyed readers will recognize as being remarkably convenient to the Awl offices. As a service to those of you who like roast beef, and because we were both really hungry, we grabbed a couple of sandwiches for lunch today. Our tasting notes follow. READ MORE 23
Waiting for Erykah Badu @5:08 PM
Seth Colter Walls: Do you have your stream-capture program of choice fired up and set to tap into Firefox for the new Erykah Badu track release? Update: Finally up!
Choire Sicha: Hello, Wire Tap Studio.
Seth: Pfft.
Choire: That shit WORKS, dog.
Seth: Audio Hijack all the way.
Choire: Sigh. Is she tardy? Is it 3:33p.m. yet? Or is she in another time zone? Seth, I have a question. Is there a Straight White Man Time? Is it like… the real time?
Seth: Huh? READ MORE 43
The Shadow Editors: Stolen Goods @11:40 AM
Tom Scocca: You are familiar with the "Free for All" page of the Saturday Washington Post?
Choire Sicha: Ha, vaguely.
Tom Scocca: In which serious complaints about the paper are mixed willy-nilly with letters from cranks, in a great condescending gesture of false responsiveness? READ MORE 5
The New Domino's Pizza Recipe: An Extended Taste Test Review From Both Coasts (And an Appreciation of Domino's Exquisite Online User Experience) @4:17 PM
Mary HK Choi: Really quick background question: were you prompted to eat Domino's because of their new ad campaign?
David Cho: Oh for sure, I'd been watching those commercials for the last couple of weeks.
Mary: Me too.
David: They make a really compelling argument!
Mary: Agreed. There's something about contrition that makes me want to throw money at it.
Mary: Was the line "When they said our sauce tasted like ketchup it broke my heart" what got you?
Mary: Because it definitely did me.
David: Not to mention the guarantee.
David: What percentage of people ever actually follow through with something like that, to go to the trouble of saying, "I'M NOT SATISFIED WITH THIS PIZZA, GIMME MY MONEY BACK"?
Mary: So from a business standpoint you respect their G also?
David: Yeah, I just like when brands prey on people's laziness by making promises that seem to mean more than they actually do. READ MORE 96
"People on the Internet Like to Argue About Music More Than They Like to Enjoy Music": Maura Johnston and Seth Colter Walls on Genre, 2009 and Pazz + Jop @4:20 PM
Seth Colter Walls: Maura! You have an excellent essay in the Voice this week, which accompanied this year's Pazz + Jop music critic's poll. Since you and I both submitted ballots for that—and since music critics like nothing more than to talk about what they've done and said—I naturally thought we should talk about what we've done and said! Let's start out by telling the people about your essay?
Maura Johnston: Well, ha. I don't like to start off with self-promotion, but let's give it a go…
Seth: It's called "Down With Music Racism," your piece. That's very provocative. READ MORE 38
Shift Memo: Some Notes From Today's Editorial Meeting @4:56 PM
David: "On whether Snooki would film a sex tape: 'I don’t want people to watch me doing that. It’s a private thing.' (Snooks did share that she’s taped some past encounters with guys, but long before Jersey Shore!)"
David: "On whether Ronnie’s taped any past hookups: 'I’m pretty sure I already deleted any sex tapes from my phone.'"
Choire: I love that we use the phrase "sex tapes" still. David, what do the kids really call "sex tapes" now?
Choire: Since they have never seen a tape!
David: Kids seem to be into sexting!
David: I've heard?
David: idk
David: :[
David: (idk = I don't know)
Choire: Yes, thanks.
David: ^__^
Meeting ends suddenly. 12
The End of the 00s: Hope You Enjoyed Your Brush With Rock 'n' Roll, by Leon Neyfakh @2:30 PM
I was in 10th grade when this decade started. I learned something that year, that spring specifically, that I'm glad to say I've never forgotten.
It started, as so many things did this decade, with an IM. The IM was from my friend Bennie, a guy who lived in Milwaukee that I knew from nerd camp the summer prior. Bennie was home-schooled and wore a floppy red knit hat all the time. Bennie and I kept in touch after camp via AIM and had taken the Amtrak to visit each other a couple of times at our respective homes. He was in a band called Road Reviews, and they were about to go on tour. READ MORE 18
Yes, They Stole The Auschwitz Sign @9:24 AM
A Jew: They stole the Auschwitz sign??
Me: Yup.
A Jew: Oh girl.
Me: For real.
A Jew: This feels like a Bloomberg plot to me.
Me: Wait. MIKE Bloomberg? You mean, like, he wanted to install it over New York City?
A Jew: Exactly!
Me: Um. Too soon. 17
Showed Up: 'Elektra' at the Metropolitan Opera @3:50 PM
Seth Colter Walls: Matthew, why is Elektra, currently at the Met, important? Like, The Awl basically never covers operas. Why are we doing this one?
Choire Sicha: Yeah, seriously, what the hell?
Seth: And why have you gone 3 times in the last week, weirdo?
Matthew Gallaway: Elektra is an opera written in 1909 by Richard Strauss, who is one of the most important composers of the 20th Century. In the manner of say, Picasso, he paved the way for the atonal dissonance and 12-tone scales that would come to define progressive music for the next 100 years or more. (Read Alex Ross for more accurate information!) READ MORE 37
The Shadow Editors: Clark Hoyt's Reign of Error Ends in June @1:30 PM
Much went awry in the handling of these two articles: a new freelancer was not properly vetted; e-mail in which she disclosed her personal relationship was overlooked; an editor wanted to accommodate a respected staff member even though she knew his essay was flawed. — New York Times public editor Clark Hoyt.
Tom: Whahuh, Clark Hoyt?
Tom: I don't….
Tom: Ha, wow.
Choire: Shall we turn first to the sad, sad story of the Times copy editor who wrote a Complaint Box column about Jet Blue, an airline that he'd sued after missing a flight because he couldn't find the gate?
Tom: Thirty minutes?
Tom: Dude showed up 30 minutes before a flight? READ MORE 17
Flicked Off, with Kia Matthews and Natasha Vargas-Cooper: 'Precious,' or, Can a Movie be a Social Act? @10:50 AM
'Precious' has been in theaters for a week now, but since it's Mo'Nique's birthday today, we feel it is now time to finally get to it!
Natasha: Girl, how did you feel about going into this movie?
Kia: Well. I didn't even want to see it. The trailer made me cry, so, I wasn't really looking forward to a full length version of that. It looked like that emotional porn? You know, downtrodden person going through trails, tribulations, strife, set to uplifting music and/or a gospel song, etc.
Natasha: I wanted to see it for two reasons 1. Oscars, natch. 2. I wanted to dislike it. BUT GURL I LOVED IT. READ MORE 44
Flicked Off, with Dan Kois: Tom Ford's 'A Single Man' @2:00 PM
You should know that this exchange on the topic of 'A Single Man' contains vague but vigorous discussions of the endings of both the film and the book on which it is based. This semi-spoilery stuff, if it can be called that, is noted below in bold, before it occurs. There are also vague discussions of some plot points. (If they can be called that.)
Choire: Dear Dan, I have asked you here to discuss with me the issue of the new Tom Ford movie, "A Single Man." Actually, I'm lying! You totally asked me here!
Dan: Nay, I DEMANDED it! This movie made me so angry that I needed to shout at someone! Now it is a week later, and I have calmed down a little.
Choire: That's a very strong reaction from a heterosexual man. Wherever do we begin to deal with your outrage? READ MORE 74
Flicked Off: Alex Pareene and Natasha Vargas-Cooper on 'The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans' @1:40 PM
Natasha: Pareene!
Alex: Natasha!
Natasha: Can we talk about the motherf'ing Bad Lieutenant??
Alex: Yes. Yes we can.
Natasha: Pareene, tell me why this is a great movie.
Alex: Well. I think, first of all, that it is indeed about a Bad Lieutenant. I think that while Abel Ferrara's original movie was about a bad person who happens to be a Lieutenant, Nic Cage, in this film, was just not ever very good at being a Lieutenant. And I admired that, making a police procedural where none of the policing is ever very competent. READ MORE 23
Mary HK Choi and Natasha Vargas-Cooper on 'New Moon': 'Teenage Female Desire Manifest' @2:01 PM
Mary: Yo. Did you see that mess last night?
Natasha: OMG I saw the shit out of it!
Mary: AND…
Mary: Break it down.
Natasha: Ok, first reaction:
Natasha: SWOOOOOON
Mary: Oh, seriously. Like, we MISSED him.
Natasha: And here's what I figured out. That shit is ABOUT RACE! Earthy hill people with their bare feet versus pale Europeans in robes. IT'S A CULTURE CLASH.
Mary: Dude, velvet robes that OPEN. It's an age-old culture clash. BUT the "cold ones" do have that one dude with dreads.
Natasha: Blacula! READ MORE 42
The Awl Voter Guide for November 3, 2009 @11:19 AM
Choire Sicha: The purpose of this morning's editorial meeting is to discuss our endorsements for tomorrow's election.
Alex Balk: Oh, is that tomorrow?
Choire Sicha: Yes, the world's quietest New York City election.
Alex Balk: It's weird, I haven't even been robo-called. What the fuck is Mike Bloomberg spending $35,000 an hour on?
Choire Sicha: I think I saw a TV ad this one time as I was fast-forwarding on my DVR? READ MORE 21
The Shadow Editors: Reading Mark Greif's Recent 'N+1' Piece In Real Time @3:00 PM
You weren't the only ones with lots of things to say on the topic of On Repressive Sentimentalism, in which, well….
Tom Scocca: Wow, this n+1 thing is PROFOUNDLY ARGUABLE.
Flicked Off: Two Things Not To Get Wrong About "Inglourious Basterds" @1:39 PM
Choire Sicha: I have a question. At where did you see the new film by Quentin Tarantino?
Seth Colter Walls: Battery Park City, which was very clean. And very weird.
Choire Sicha: Oh yes! Oddest theater ever. I saw "Soul Plane" there. Crowded?
Seth Colter Walls: Yeah, it appeared to be sold-out or nearly so. The theater may have been unprepared. At one point after the previous crowd finished exiting, the people waiting for our showtime just sort of made a mad dash for the theater!
Choire Sicha: This is where I would insert an offensive joke about Europe and World War II. READ MORE 33
Mike Bloomberg: The Richest Man in New York City @2:40 PM
I'm not really sure this was the time for an immense Michael Bloomberg profile, but I'm not un-convinced? (Have you heard? He is still mayor of New York.) In any event: it is here in the New Yorker, it is very long and it ate my afternoon. It seems a lot mushy around the edges? There are some great things? If you are looking for a leisurely read, this is it. There are two minor things that got my attention. READ MORE 4
The Shadow Editors: Five Ways Ben Affleck Interviews Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn! @4:26 PM
Tom Scocca: OK, so my September copy of Glamour arrived the other day.
Choire Sicha: You know what I'm going to ask you, right?
Tom Scocca: Are you going to ask me why I get Glamour magazine?
Choire Sicha: Okay yes that!
Tom Scocca: According to the sheet of paper enclosed with a previous copy, I am getting Glamour magazine to make up for the cancellation of my Domino subscription. This is a fine explanation except for the fact that I never had a subscription to Domino. READ MORE 10
The Shadow Editors: The Last Sad Gasps of the 'Baltimore Sun' @12:50 PM
Tom Scocca: Did you ever read that Baltimore Sun piece? About the hit-and-run?
Choire Sicha: About the 17-year-old boxer who was allegedly run down by the police, whilst on his dirtbike? Yes I did!
Tom Scocca: That was as bad as a newspaper story ever gets. There was no epistemological effort put into it at all. READ MORE 4
An Interview with Intern Thomas Kaplan, From Inside Vanity Fair's Closet @4:39 PM
Vanity Fair.com's summer intern Thomas Kaplan has been locked in a Conde Nast research closet to watch cable news from 9-5 for four days straight—while being broadcast on the internets. Today, while he alternately sat through CNBC, had lunch with a pretty, young fellow intern, and asked his viewers what celebrities he looks like, he also chatted with me—a former Vanity Fair intern myself—about his experiences at the forefront of modern journalism. READ MORE 5
Memoirs! Leer At Yer Crazy Memoirs! From A Circus of 'Times' Employees, A Thousand Magazine Excerpts Bloom @3:38 PM
Tom Scocca: Can we talk about the Coney Island Freakshow of Defective Timespersons?
Tom Scocca: See! The Ghastly Addict & His Frostbitten Tots!
Tom Scocca: Smell! The Uncontrollable Vomiting of the Food Expert!
Choire Sicha: And let's not forget: Marvel! At the Guy Who Can't Stop Doing Other Dudes! READ MORE 10
The Shadow Editors: Matt Taibbi Has A Bad Pottymouth @5:38 PM
Tom Scocca: Am I the only one who sort of wishes that nice Matt Taibbi wouldn't use all those swear words?
Choire Sicha: YES.
Choire Sicha: I FEEL THE SAME.
Choire Sicha: I was like, "You wrote a letter to the Wall Street Journal saying 'fellatio'? Ugh!"
Tom Scocca: Right? The letter needed not to say "fellatio."
Tom Scocca: (Why does iChat not recognize "fellatio" as a word? What is chat software FOR?) READ MORE 13
Ross Douthat, The Supreme Court, and Judicial Activism @1:20 PM
Today, New York Times op-ed columnist Ross Douthat weighs in on the "controversial power grabs" of the liberal Supreme Court, though he notes that "right-wingers, too, have grown accustomed to turning to the Court." The court overturns laws far too frequently, he says. "Prior to 1954, the Court had struck down just 77 federal statutes in a century-and-a-half of jurisprudence; in the 50-odd years since, it's overturned more than 80." He figures that a "super-majority" can't reasonably be enabled for court decisions, so what about the next best thing: term limits to curb all this activism! READ MORE 5
The Shadow Editors: Some Day The Op-Ed Page Will Be Edited @1:02 PM
Tom Scocca: I go away for a weekend and Maureen Dowd gets caught plagiarizing?
Choire Sicha: You went away for a weekend? That's so unlike you!
Tom Scocca: We can't all have a house on Fire Island.
Choire Sicha: That island is only so wide, after all. But yes! You turned your back and suddenly Maureen Dowd is in the Scandal Of The Century Of The Moment.
Tom Scocca: Albeit sort of a listless scandal, it seems, thanks to the we're-all-dead-who-cares cloud hanging over Romenesko these past many months. READ MORE 15
