o1. Clam Chowder
“My favorite chapter in Moby-Dick is chapter fifteen, “Chowder.” Ishmael and Queequeg arrive at an inn called the “Try Pots”, which serves two things: fish chowder and clam chowder. Most of the novel is about whaling, obsession, class struggle, deep theological contemplations—things I don’t encounter much in my daily life. But when Melville writes about clam chowder, he’s writing about something I know.” (McSweeneys).
02. A Thinker Finds His Funk
“Rhythm ruled the music of Atoms for Peace, the band Thom Yorke led at Roseland on Monday night. It’s a side project with unspecified goals for Mr. Yorke, who also leads Radiohead, but one effect was immediate: he danced through nearly the whole set. Twitching, strutting, pivoting, hopping, jittering and gesticulating, he let the music propel him in ways that were anything but cerebral, even in songs for which he sat at the piano. Where Radiohead’s music is the triumph of thinking much too hard, Mr. Yorke on his own got sweaty and physical.” (NYT)
03. Daniel Alfredsson [played] his 1000th game [last night] (above)
“Where would the Senators be without Daniel Alfredsson? It’s hard to imagine such a world, and perhaps it’s better not to. After all, the man is the NHL’s longest-serving captain for a reason: he’s been the heart and soul of this franchise for as long as most of us can remember, and has come incredibly far since being picked 133rd overall in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft.” (SilverSevensens).
04. Logorama’s Chaotic Critique of Corporate Rule
“When the French film Logorama won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, producer Nicolas Schmerkin remarked in his acceptance speech, “I’m the producer of the film, so I have to thank the 3,000 non-official sponsors that appear in the film. And I have to assure them that no logos were harmed in the making of the project.”1 It was a good joke, considering Schmerkin’s directors made use of fast food icon Ronald McDonald as the film’s antagonist, who sprays machine gun fire, curses, and takes hostages. The statement evoked laughs from the theater audience, made up of writers, producers, directors, actors, and dealmakers who themselves rely rather heavily on advertising, branding, and the commercial endeavors that Logorama apparently lampoons. Perhaps it was an uncomfortable laugh.” (Flowtv).
