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The Cultural Gutter

hey, there's something shiny down there...

"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars." -- Oscar Wilde

“Revenge, Ego and the Corruption of Wikipedia”

A novelist takes revenge on writers he doesn’t like via wikipedia. Slate has the story. “Qworty’s edits undermine our trust in this great project. Qworty’s edits prove that Wikipedia’s content can be shaped by people settling grudges and acting out of spite and envy. Qworty alone, by his own account, has made 13,000 edits to [...]

“¡Viva, Comics Alliance!”

At The Comics Journal, Joe McCulloch speaks to the legacy of Comics Alliance. The Beat‘s Steve Morris writes about what Comics Alliance meant to him. ” If Comics Alliance was known for anything – aside from the much-needed essays on prejudice and progression, aside from discussion of Batman punching people with car parts, aside from [...]

Satirizing China

The New York Times interviews Mr. R, mastermind behind the China Daily Show, “a ‘fake news’ Web site in a country that is crying out for satire, where reality is so skewed by propaganda and inadvertent humor that it can be hard to tell the difference[.]“

Interview with Kurt Busiek

In honor of Lois Lane’s first appearance 75 years ago, Kurt Busiek talks about Lois with DC Women Kicking Ass. “If you’re a ne’er-do-well, the last person you want trying to get the goods on you in Lois, because she just doesn’t quit.”

Update on Gordon Liu

Jayne Stars has an update on Gordon Liu’s condition and situation since his 2011 stroke and the subsequent rumors about financial struggles with his family and former assistant.

“My So-Called ‘Post-Feminist’ Life In Arts and Letters”

“There’s a reason J.K. Rowling’s publishers demanded that she use initials instead of “Joanne”: it’s the same reason Mary Anne Evans used the pen name George Eliot; the same reason Robert Southey, then England’s poet laureate, wrote to Charlotte Brontë: ‘Literature cannot be the business of a woman’s life, and it ought not to be.’” [...]

Remembering Roger Ebert

The Gutter’s own Carol writes about Roger Ebert, art and adapting: “I’ll miss Roger Ebert. He was complicated and messy and smart and talented and human.”

RIP, Roger Ebert

Film critic and screenwriter Roger Ebert has died.  Ebert wrote about death in 2011. His colleagues at The Chicago Sun-Times and The Chicago Tribune remember him in obituaries. This is Ebert’s final blog post, announcing, “A Leave of Presence.”  Here’s a collection of Ebert’s tweets, quotes and photos. At The Gutter, we considered Ebert one [...]

“Fact and Fiction in Criminal Case File 002″

Andrew Nette writes about the trial and death of Khmer Rouge foreign minister Ieng Sary.

“The Circus of Fashion”

As Popshifter has pointed out, Suzy Menkes’ article about fashion, could apply to so many other cultural pursuits now: “It is great to see the commentaries from smart bloggers — especially those in countries like China or Russia, where there was, in the past, little possibility of sharing fashion thoughts and dreams[.] But two things [...]

Superman vs. The Ku Klux Klan

Listen to Superman defend Tommy Lee and his family from the Ku Klux Klan in the 1946 Adventures of Superman storyline, “The Clan of the Fiery Cross” at the Internet Archive.

WJSV, Washington

“Thursday, September 21st, 1939, radio station WJSV in Washington, D.C., recorded their entire broadcast day — from sign on, to sign off.” You can listen at The Internet Archive. (via @SteveSilberman)

RIP, Donald Richie

Writer Donald Richie has died. Richie is best known for his writing on Japanese culture and film.  The Japan Times and The New York Times have obituaries. Fora.tv has a conversation with Donald Richie in 2009, “Life in Japanese Film: Donald Richie.”

Steve Coll on Zero Dark Thirty

Ghost Wars: The Secret Wars of the CIA author Steve Coll writes of Zero Dark Thirty: “Zero Dark Thirty was constructed to bring viewers to the edges of their seats, and judging by its critical reception, for many viewers it has succeeded in that respect. Its faults as journalism matter because they may well affect [...]

Apple, Nudity and e-Books

At The Globe and Mail, Michael Posner writes on Apple’s corporate censorship of Peter Ovig Knudsen’s books, Hippie 1 and 2. “The Hippie book controversy follows a series of similar attempts by Apple to censor–or deny market access–to artistic material it deems offensive.”

“But Do You Play Shooters?”

““Do you play PC games?” he asked, frowning. One of the publications on my media badge was listed as PC PowerPlay. It shouldn’t have been necessary for him to ask such a question, but I answered. “Yes.” “Well, OK.” I sensed a disbelief in the guy’s voice. “But do you play shooters?” At Kotaku Australia, [...]

Joe Sacco’s Journalism

At Slate, Campbell Roberston reviews Joe Sacco’s Journalism and discusses in comic form Sacco’s journalism in the medium of comics.

RIP, Nora Ephron

Writer and director Nora Ephron has died.  The New York Times has an overview of her life and career and Marsha McCreadie has a memoriam at Movieline.  “Ms. Ephron’s collection I Remember Nothing concludes with two lists, one of things she says she won’t miss and one of things she will. Among the ‘won’t miss’ [...]

Squad 7: Impressions of Murder

In 1978, Elmore Leonard followed Detroit Homicide’s murder felony unit, Squad 7 and wrote a story about it for The Detroit News Sunday Magazine.  (Thanks, @booksadventures)

Dear DC Comics

Lois Lane writes DC Comics a letter about being killed off again.

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  • Of Note Elsewhere

    This tumblr collects many bad jokes kids have invented.

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    “It’s easier to tell the same stories everyone else does. There’s no particular shame in it.

    It’s just that it’s lazy, which is just about the worst possible thing a spec fic writer can be.

    Oh, and it’s not true.”

    Kameron Hurley writes about lazy writing, cannibal llamas, female soldiers, and women here. (Thanks, James!)

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    Patton Oswalt’s multi-franchise super-movie described in his Star Wars filibuster from Parks and Recreation, animated.

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    Corrigan Vaughan writes an open letter to “Fans of Geek Things“: “I appreciate that you think I have a nice rack and that some of you even find my friends and I to be pretty. That’s very kind. I’m not, however, super in love with the fact that having a rack at all seems to preclude me from being considered a ‘real’ fan.”

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    The Black Girl Nerds Podcast discusses Black girls and women in the Heavy Metal industry with author and journalist Laina Dawes and Ursula “She-Wolf” Parson from Hear Evil News.

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    The Hollywood Reporter interviews director Takashi Miike about his new film, Shield of Straw: ” In Japan now, films are very safe. When I was young and went to old cinemas, they had a distinctive feel, an adult smell about them. As you got in your seat and the lights went down, there was a feeling of excitement: What if the film is scarier than I thought it’s going to be? You’re taken into that world. Nowadays, you can sit in the theater and know it’s going to be safe. That’s good for business, but not for filmmaking.”

    ~

  • The Book!

    From ETC Press

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