Emdashes—Modern Times Between the Lines
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Who First Said "Print Is Dead," Dr. Venkman?
Filed under: Looked Into Tagged: Bill Murray, comics, Ghostbusters, ghosts, Harold Ramis, magazines, Marshall McLuhan, movies, print is dead
Print is dead? I was watching Ghostbusters (1984) this weekend, and at one point the character Egon Spengler is asked a question, to which he responds: ‘Print is dead.” What is the earliest recorded use of this phrase?Among the satisfying replies:
I found a reference in the Antioch Review (1967) that uses “print is dead” as the characterization for Marshall McLuhan’s scholarship, which make a lot of sense to me in this context. This previously is also pertinent.And:
Someone else in that group also mentions that the “print is dead” line actually gained some popularity in the early 80s in tech circles as the personal computer gained prominence. It likely wasn’t the earliest recorded use, but Egon’s quote may have just been a result of the growing sentiment of the time.Meanwhile, a recent post on Movies.com answers the question I somehow didn’t think to ask, which is what the various Ghostbusters would look like if they were cartoon ghosts. Now you know. (continued)
Won't You Help Us Wish Happy Birthday to the Interrobang‽
Filed under: Little Words Tagged: celebrations, interrobang, interroverti, punctuation
It’s turning fifty this month. It’s much younger than the interroverti, which gives the tender interrobang a materteral pat on the points. By the way, the HTML is & #8253 ; (without the spaces).
—Emily Gordon (continued)
The Contested Number of Years That Bill Murray Is Stuck in Groundhog Day
Filed under: Looked Into Tagged: Bill Murray, Danny Rubin, film, Groundhog Day, Harold Ramis, math, movies, Punxsutawney Phil
Harold Ramis says ten. (The screenwriter, Danny Rubin, invites you to pony up to find out what he thinks.) These folks say eight years, eight months, and sixteen days. My favorite estimate comes from this brilliant breakdown, which gives it as 12,403 days of Sonny and Cher and sweet vermouth on the rocks with a twist, or almost 34 years. Poor Phil. He really earned that happy ending.
—Emily Gordon (continued)
Happy New Year, and Happy Seven Years of Emdashes
Filed under: Headline Shooter Tagged: 1970s, art, Box Office Boffo, cartoons, film, Jonathan Taylor, Martin Schneider, movies, painting, Paul Morris, Pollux, punctuation, sheep, The Washington Spectator, theater, Time Out Chicago
We haven’t been posting much, you say? We know it. We’ve all been busy doing other things, including Martin Schneider’s stylish new project, Box Office Boffo. In his words, he’s “blogging every #1 movie in America from 1970 to the present day.” Even better: “Every week there’s a #1 movie at the box office, and I’m going to watch them all.” Not only do you get close inspections of movies like The Owl and the Pussycat and Beneath the Planet of the Apes, and whole years in review, you get the original posters, which will make you nostalgic in all kinds of ways.
Meanwhile, Pollux, our favorite painter/cartoonist/New Yorker cover critic/Renaissance man, just had a show at Artlife South Bay. Jonathan Taylor went back to grad school, proving once again that he’s both a gentleman and a scholar, and I’ve been working on a relaunch of The Washington Spectator’s website and writing theater reviews for Time Out Chicago.
So our collective focus has been elsewhere. But speaking for myself, I’m feeling emdashy again. There’s work to be done and punctuation marks to be shepherded, shorn, and protected from the elements.
—Emily Gordon (continued)
Guest Review: Alan Rickman's Trenchant "Seminar"
Filed under: The Catbird Seat: Friends & Guests Tagged: Alan Rickman, Broadway, Hamish Linklater, Harry Potter, Lee Alexander, Lily Rabe, Sam Gold, Seminar, theater, Thersea Rebeck
![96241_Seminar_Image505x250_FINAL[1] (1).jpg](http://emdashes.com/96241_Seminar_Image505x250_FINAL%5B1%5D%20%281%29.jpg)
Lee Alexander writes:
It’s hard not to think of Alan Rickman as Severus Snape, curl-lipped and leering behind a smoking cauldron as Harry Potter’s ambiguously evil Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor. In Thersea Rebeck’s new comedy, Seminar (which opened on Sunday at the Golden Theatre), Rickman is once again in command of the classroom, abandoning his robe and wand for a somewhat more mundane task: instructing four twentysomethings on the craft of writing a novel.
Though Rickman’s character, the famous writer Leonard, snidely remarks (continued)
Synonym Buns: Happy 50th, Phantom Tollbooth
Filed under: Little Words Tagged: art, birthdays, books, design, fiction, Jules Feiffer, Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth
At Flavorpill, vintage covers of The Phantom Tollbooth from all over the world. The 2006 German edition is particularly gorgeous, as is the ethereal 2007 Chinese cover. But who in their right mind would junk Jules Feiffer’s illustrations?
—Emily Gordon (continued)
The Great Kate Beaton on Drawing for The New Yorker
Filed under: Seal Barks Tagged: Beans, Bob Mankoff, books, cartoons, comics, Kate Beaton, New Yorker, Roz Chast, Sam Means
AVC: How did you get involved with The New Yorker? Did they come to you, or did you go to them?
KB: No, you have to submit to them. You give them packages. The New Yorker doesn’t come to anybody, not even the people who’ve been published there for 20 years. You have to submit, and you just keep doing it until they buy one.
AVC: What’s it like doing comics for them? (continued)
92Y Audience Can't Curb Its Enthusiasm
Filed under: On the Spot Tagged: 92Y, Brian Williams, Cheryl Hines, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Jeff Garlin, Larry David, Susie Essman
Martin Schneider writes:
Seeing Larry David and the cast members of his show Curb Your Enthusiasm (Susie Essman, Cheryl Hines, and Jeff Garlin) as well as a sneak preview of the first episode of Season 8 (it airs on HBO this Sunday) at 92Y of all possible places felt a bit like seeing— the mind gropes for comparisons. The Pope in Rome? Prince in Paisley Park? Oprah in Oprahland?
In other words, the adoration from the audience was total. Indeed, the whole thing was even better because (no spoilers) the episode has a lot to do with Judaism, and this highly Jewish audience (I didn't say "self-loathing") lustily ate it up.
The surprise MC was Brian Williams, and he couldn't have been more perfect or more mock-awkward. His first words were, "Welcome to 'Let's Find a Catholic to Moderate This Event,'" (continued)
Shakespeare: For Mature Teens Only
Filed under: Looked Into Tagged: Apple, apps, Emily Gordon, Readdle, Shakespeare
Emily Gordon writes:
Readdle’s free Shakespeare app include’s Shakespeare’s complete works, “including doubtful works,” and a searchable concordance. It also has this advisory:
Rated 12+ for the following:
Infrequent/Mild Sexual Content or Nudity
Infrequent/Mild Alcohol, Tobacco, or Drug Use or References
Frequent/Intense Realistic Violence
Infrequent/Mild Mature/Suggestive Themes
Infrequent/Mild Horror/Fear Themes
Infrequent/Mild Profanity or Crude Humor
Frequent/Intense Cartoon or Fantasy Violence (continued)
Monroe College Student to Go Back in Time, Stop Hitler
Filed under: Little Words Tagged: advertising, Germany, Jonathan Taylor, Monroe College
Education for the Real World:
Look carefully at the map of the "city" (traversed by "I-494") in this subway ad.
--Jonathan Taylor (continued)
