“Mary Ventura and the Ninth Kingdom” is a piece Plath wrote when she was 20 and submitted to Mademoiselle magazine, which rejected it (too dark!). Faber, which is publishing it in January, lets us have an advance look. — The Guardian
Tag: 12.29.18
A 4000-Year History Of New Year’s Resolutions
Turns out, it’s a time-honored tradition that started about 4,000 years ago with the ancient Babylonians. Beginning with a 12-day religious festival (are we seeing a modern equivalent here?) called Akitu, the Babylonians crowned a new king or re-upped their devotion to the sitting ruler. At this time they also pledged to pay debts and return borrowed goods to keep in good standing with their gods. – Fast Company
Could California Soon Have Its Own Internet?
A series of laws passed in California this year raise a new possibility: that individual US states will splinter off into their own versions of the internet. In July, California passed a privacy law, similar to the European Union’s policies, that will give users more control about the data companies collect about them. Governor Jerry Brown followed by signing a net neutrality law in late September meant to replace federal rules banning broadband internet providers from blocking or otherwise discriminating against lawful content, as well as a law that requires bots to identify themselves if they promote sales or try to influence an election. – Wired
“Bird Box” Has Taken Over Netflix (And The Internet, Apparently)
Netflix claimed on Friday that the movie had been watched by approximately 45 million accounts since its Dec. 21 debut — the best first seven days ever for a film released on the platform. – Washington Post
What We Can Learn About Ourselves By Studying Those Who Are Studying Us
Even the smallest action or fragment of speech, Emily Martin believes, can be a useful clue to the mostly invisible wider cultural assumptions that shape how research is done in any specialized field. She observes and collects these fragments, hoping that, later on, she’ll be able to find connections between them and make better sense of a scientific world view that is fascinatingly foreign to her. – The New Yorker
The Highest-Box-Office-Earning Actor Of 2018
The highest-earning actor of 2018 (George Clooney) didn’t even release a movie this year. But can you name the actor who earned the most at the box office with her films? (and no, she wasn’t even close to being highest paid)
Ringo Lam, Director Of ‘City Of Fire’ Who Changed Movies Forever, Has Died At 63
Lam’s 1987 movie inspired Quentin Tarnatino and helped usher in the 1980s Hong Kong New Wave. – The Hollywood Reporter
The BBC Has Filed Formal Complaints Against Russia About Staff Data Leaks
Wow, this isn’t scary at all: Forty-four journalists’ “full names and photographs were published on social media by the For Mother Russia group. … Many of the 44 are Russian citizens working for the BBC World Service.” – BBC
Norman Gimbel, Oscar-Winning Lyricist Of ‘Girl From Ipanema’ And ‘Killing Me Softly With His Song,’ Has Died At 91
Gimbel was “a Bronx-born songwriter who studied under Frank Loesser, the celebrated composer of Guys and Dolls” and who wrote the themes for Happy Days and Laverne and Shirley. – The Washington Post
Can We Still See Frida Kahlo’s Art Without The Scrim Of Kitsch In Between?
Honestly, everything from Frida Kahlo air fresheners to Frida Kahlo teacups are available. But “would an anticapitalist, whose 1932 painting Self-portrait on the Borderline between Mexico and the United States contrasts indigenous Mexican flowers and artefacts with the smoke-belching chimneys of a Ford factory, be pleased by the commodification of her image?” – The Guardian (UK)