Economics, Vin Scully, Zadie Smith, The Shining, Heavy Metal
Between Debt And The Devil
Lynn Parramore | Evonomics | 29th October 2016
Interview with British financial regulator Adair Turner. Interesting throughout. “Over the 20 years to 2007 nominal GDP grew at about 5 per cent per year in a reasonably steady fashion. Yet during that time the value of all credit grew at about 10 to 15 per cent per year. At the time, it seemed like we needed that pace of credit growth. But when you think about it, if your credit is going to grow at 10 to 15 per cent per year in order to get 5 per cent GDP growth per year, eventually you’re going to have a problem” (2,400 words)
The Heart Of Los Angeles
Joe Posnanski | 2nd October 2016
Remembering the late sports commentator Vin Scully. “His greatness comes from summer nights under a dimming sky when he kindly calls another game. It is 9.46pm in the City of Angels and traffic is stuck, and tourists mill around, and deals are being made, and people are sleeping, and actors are waiting tables, and, yes, after all this time Vin Scully did find the essence, the center, the heart of the city, even if he would never say it. The heart of Los Angeles is his voice” (4,100 words)
Dance Lessons For Writers
Zadie Smith | Guardian | 29th October 2016
“The connection between writing and dancing has been much on my mind recently: it’s a channel I want to keep open. It feels a little neglected – compared to, say, the relationship between music and prose – maybe because there is something counter-intuitive about it. What can an art of words take from the art that needs none? Yet I often think I’ve learned as much from watching dancers as I have from reading: lessons of position, attitude, rhythm and style, some of them obvious, some indirect” (3,600 words)
Come For The View, Stay For The Madness
H. Perry Horton | Film School Rejects | 27th October 2016
Appreciation of Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of The Shinining. Stephen King’s novel showed how “outside forces manipulate a man into madness”. Kubrick’s film turns this around, showing how “a man’s innate madness invites outside forces into his trauma”. King’s book is a “slow boil”. Kubrick’s film is “a tea kettle”. “You know what’s going to happen, this guy’s gonna whistle like crazy, you just don’t know when, so all you can do is watch him get hotter and hotter and wait for the inevitable” (670 words)
Heavy Metal In October
Kez Whelan | Quietus | 17th October 2016
I’m not suggesting we do this very often; but the vivacity of heavy-metal rock writing rewards the occasional visit. (PG-13 for language). “You can definitely hear elements of Triumvir Foul’s sickly churn in ‘Lacerated Spirit’, albeit painted in icier tones. The vocals have undergone a big change from Ash Borer’s previous records and may take some getting used to, now resembling Aaron Turner bellowing at you over a particularly bad phone line rather than the more traditional black metal shriek” (6,200 words)
Video of the day: Space Station Fisheye Fly-Through
What to expect:
Fly-through of the International Space Station using fisheye lens for extreme focus and depth of field (17’58”)
Thought for the day
Men cannot be pleased against their will
Dr Johnson