Emdashes—Modern Times Between the Lines
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Best of Emdashes: Hit Parade
A Web Comic: The Wavy Rule
Features & Columns:
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On the Spot
Looked Into
Sempé Fi: Cover Art
The Wavy Rule, a Daily Comic by Pollux: Crunchy Sandwich
Filed under: The Wavy Rule Tagged: cartoons, comics, food, Pollux, restaurants, The Wavy Rule
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When You Bend It, You Can't Mend It
Filed under: Looked Into Tagged: Hendrik Hertzberg, in memoriam, Jonathan Schwartz, Kate McGarrigle, music
Emily Gordon writes:
I should have known Hendrik Hertzberg would be a Kate McGarrigle fan, and here is his heartfelt, ardent tribute to her. I heard about her death on Jonathan Schwartz’s timeless, dreamlike radio show last weekend and have had her songs caught in my head, even more than usual, since then. “And it’s only love, and it’s only love,/That can wreck a human being and turn him inside out.”
Hertzberg wrote this (and more—read all of it) as a Carnegie Hall program note for a McGarrigle Christmas show, and I think it’s just right:The songs and singing of the McGarrigles have turned out to be a font of consolation: a pool of sweetness, a well of sadness, a geyser of exaltation. They have music to suit every stage of love and life. And they are the muses and matriarchs of an extraordinary family circle—a raffish orchestra of parents, siblings, offspring, exes, friends, and collaborators. We, their fans, are part of this circle, too. There are enough of us to assure our uncompromising heroines of a livelihood, but not so many that we risk the loneliness of a crowd.Every stage of love and life—including this one, the unreal, suspended sadness of hearing one of your favorite voices on the radio and in your thoughts, and knowing the breath and mind behind that voice are gone. (continued)
Sempé Fi: The Life of the World to Come
Filed under: Sempé Fi Tagged: art, Bill Bollendorf, Blake Eskin, covers, Elizabeth McAlister, Frantz Zephirin, Frida Kahlo, Guédé, Haiti, Pollux
Pollux writes:
The cover for the January 25, 2010 issue of The New Yorker was created by a Haitian artist, Frantz Zephirin. Zephirin, according to the Contributors page, “lives on a mountain overlooking the village of Mariani, not far from the epicenter of the earthquake that struck the country on January 12th.”
From his mountaintop, Zephirin has a clearer, closer view of the tragedy that manifests itself in an abstract vision of the afterlife. On The New Yorker website, Blake Eskin has written a Cover Story on Zephirin’s piece. As Eskin points out, Zephirin’s cover was painted in 2007. Nevertheless, its symbolism and its associations with life and death are particularly appropriate for this 2010 cover, in view of the enormous losses and tragedy associated with the recent earthquake. (continued)
The Wavy Rule, a Daily Comic by Pollux: The Hoopwing
Filed under: The Wavy Rule Tagged: basketball, bird, birds, birdwatching, cartoons, comics, Pollux, The Wavy Rule
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The Wavy Rule, a Daily Comic by Pollux: The Minotaur at Work
Filed under: The Wavy Rule Tagged: cartoons, comics, Minotaur, Pollux, The Wavy Rule, work
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The Wavy Rule, a Daily Comic by Pollux: The Slush Pile Inc.
Filed under: The Wavy Rule Tagged: books, cartoons, comics, Martin Schneider, Pollux, publishing, The Wavy Rule
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True Index of Your Mind: Do-It-Yourself Candide
Filed under: Headline Shooter Tagged: books, exhibition, New York Public Library, The New York Public Library, Voltaire
Pollux writes:
“In the country of Westphalia… lived a youth whom Nature had endowed with a most sweet disposition. His face was the true index of his mind. He had a solid judgment joined to the most unaffected simplicity; and hence, I presume, he had his name of Candide.”
With these words, Voltaire pays tribute to his creation. The New York Public Library is now featuring an online exhibition for Voltaire’s Candide in which you can pay your own tribute to this 18th century work.
It’s not just any online gallery. This exhibition is calling all artists and readers to contribute their own visions, tributes, and adaptations of Candide. Here is the link for Do-It-Yourself-Candide. Have fun! (continued)
The Wavy Rule, a Daily Comic by Pollux: Don't Ever Leaf Me
Filed under: The Wavy Rule Tagged: botany, cartoons, comics, love, Pollux, The Wavy Rule
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Sempé Fi: The Long and Winding Road
Filed under: Sempé Fi Tagged: art, bicycles, Christmas, covers, Francis Viva, Frank Viva, Janus, Oliver Yaphe, Pollux, Valentine's Day
Pollux writes:
A young man glides eagerly through the dark streets of the city. He’s hunched forward for maximum speed. He speeds past an apartment building with largely darkened windows save one, and a closed store named “Minx.” Where will this road lead him?
Frank Viva’s cover for the January 18, 2010 issue of The New Yorker strikes me as being a cross between a Valentine’s Day cover and a Christmas cover. (continued)
The Wavy Rule, a Daily Comic by Pollux: Belief
Filed under: The Wavy Rule Tagged: cartoons, comics, Pollux, The Wavy Rule
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