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From the Observer, thoughts on the wild new lingo that's taking the indiesphere by storm. Lynsey Hanley writes, "I've found myself scratching my head at some of the words and phrases used by bloggers to describe things that once would simply have been described as either 'good' or 'bad'. It's brilliant fun and completely baffling at the same time." Just "good" or "bad"? I think, say, Arthur Danto, Greil Marcus, Pauline Kael, John Lahr, et al. might have another point of view. Anyway, continues Hanley:
You could never get away with this level of obtuseness on such an august title as the New Yorker, which prides itself on bringing the same sort of acts championed by Pitchfork - Dizzee Rascal, MIA and Lady Sovereign, among others - to the attention of doughty Manhattan [what means this "other four boroughs"?] intellectuals. In print, the magazine's pop critic, Sasha Frere-Jones, can explain the cultural significance of East End rap collective Roll Deep in terms that your parents would understand, but uses his website, sashafrerejones.com, as an outlet for a style of writing which, though utterly infectious in its enthusiasm, is also often impossible to follow.
He drops street slang and music-insider references into his musings, calling, for instance, Burt Bacharach's new album 'dire bougie make-out piffle' and, later in the same entry, referring to a promotional video by 'smooth jazz footsoldier' Brian Cuthbertson, complains that 'dude is a turbochoad' who speaks in 'marketing pre-cum'. Come again?
'Nobody's paid to read my blog; nobody has to sit through it to get to The Sopranos,' says Frere-Jones of his idiosyncratic blogging style, 'so if I sometimes write in an unfiltered way, it isn't likely aimed at other critics, but is simply a reflection of how I think when no one is watching.'
Asked if he hopes one day to transfer some of that unfiltered quality into his print journalism, Frere-Jones quips: 'I hope to use the jaculation "Christ on a plastic dolphin!" in the New Yorker soon.' Don't we all, dude.
I don't think Frere-Jones' blog writing is like anything else I read online, or anywhere. I find it occasionally elusive (I skipped half a decade of pop music when I learned to lindy hop), but it's fun to see people in different writing modes—memo to co-Eyebeam panelists, there are different writing modes—and if you get really lost, there are pictures.
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Hello! We're a small band of culture writers, editors, and artists based in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Emdashes, which spent its formative years as a New Yorker blog, is our collection of conversations—mostly civilized—about magazines, movies, design, punctuation, and other things that stir us.
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Dashes, some say, “are particularly useful in a sentence that is long and complex.” Emdashes—like an em dash itself—provides a thoughtful pause amid the hubbub.
Emdashes, founded in 2004, is written and drawn by Emily Gordon, Martin Schneider, Pollux, Jonathan Taylor, and Benjamin Chambers, as well as occasional guest contributors. All posts before October 2008 are by Emily Gordon.
The site was designed by House of Pretty with illustrations by Jesse R. Ewing.
Additional drawings are by Carolita Johnson and Pollux (author of our web comic, "The Wavy Rule"). The Emdashes pencil logo is by Jennifer Hadley, based on a 1943 Dorothy Gray ad.
Other writing by Emily Gordon
- Reviews: theater writing (for Time Out Chicago)
- Profile: Valerie Casey, Designers Accord founder, is spearheading the design of sustainability (for SXSW World)
- Feature: Rea Irvin: visionary art director, bon vivant, New Yorker founding father (for Print)
- Slide show: the Coney Island Mermaid Parade (for NYCgo.com)
- Feature: Muslim immigration iconography in the Netherlands, and an interview with Ayaan Hirsi Ali (for Print)
- Review: King's Gambit: A Son, a Father, and the World's Most Dangerous Game by Paul Hoffman (for Newsday)
- Homage: Celebrating lindy-hop legend Frankie Manning (for NYCgo.com)
- Inquiry: Does a New Republic redesign mean a change of tune? (for Print)
- Interview: James Surowiecki on what's next for the wisdom of crowds (for Assignment Zero)
- Interviews: four up-and-coming designers under 30 (for Print)
- Profile: novelist and dance critic Laura Jacobs (for Newsday)
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Comments
Bush goes ballistic about other countries being evil and dangerous, because they have weapons of mass destruction. But, he insists on building up even a more deadly supply of nuclear arms right here in the US. What do you think? How does that work in a democracy again? How does being more threatening make us more likeable?Isn’t the country with
the most weapons the biggest threat to the rest of the world? When one country is the biggest threat to the rest of the world, isn’t that likely to be the most hated country?
Are we safer today than we were before?
We have lost friends and influenced no one. No wonder most of the world thinks we suck. Thanks to what george bush has done to our country during the past three years, we do!