MetaFilter posts tagged with villagevoice

The Sailor Man In New York by Steven Thrasher

jason's_planet — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 07:21:16 -0800

Long before Chelsea Piers was a sporting complex and the South Street Seaport a mall, the city was lined with active piers. The city's residents were amply employed by the shipping trade, but containerization needed more land than would ever be available in the city: Massive ports sprouted in Elizabeth and Newark, and ships disappeared from the city. Efficient cranes replaced longshoremen, and the time in port for ships shrank from about a week to about a day. "The technology changed the geography," says William Fensterer, a chaplain who has been with SIH almost since its new building opened in 1964. "It doesn't look like On the Waterfront anymore," he adds. When he started out, he says, he would wander on foot from pier to pier in Manhattan and Brooklyn and board ships, with nary a guard in site. But those piers have largely vanished. And along with them, the seafarer, once ubiquitous in New York, has become invisible.

We're gonna read DeLillo like it's your birthday.

geoff. — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:59:52 -0800

Nabokov, Meet 50 Cent: Zadie Smith's Changing My Mind. "Those who have been paying attention to Zadie Smith since her White Teeth debut likely already know about her affinities for E.M. Forster, Lil Wayne, George Eliot, Kafka, and Fawlty Towers. She's one of probably three working writers capable of smuggling a riff on the perils of "keeping it real" into The New York Review of Books."

2008: The Movie(s)

Weebot — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 00:21:08 -0800

The Village Voice and IndieWire have both put out their dueling film critic's polls this year, with Wall-E and Flight of the Red Balloon topping the lists, respectively. [Previously] Films that topped both lists: Wendy and Lucy, A Christmas Tale, Happy-Go-Lucky, Still Life, Waltz in Bashir, Synecdoche, New York, and the two halves of Gus Vant Sant, Milk and Paranoid Park. Served alongside these polls are assorted commentaries about the state of film culture and the film industry. Indiewire compiles all the critic's comments about the year into a single piece, while the Village Voice offers us a couple of essays: J. Hoberman writes about the poll, Robert Wilonsky comments on 3D film, and Jim Ridley talks about the future of indie film distribution. Indiewire is also good enough to post the ballots of every participating critic, including the ballot of MeFi's own Jürgen Fauth.

The Confederacy of Dunces

XQUZYPHYR — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 18:34:28 -0800

The Confederacy of Dunces. The Village Voice's comprehensive election-season guide to right-wing political bloggers, by Roy Edroso of alicublog.

Meta Meta Meta

Stynxno — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 10:41:23 -0800

Bert Stern took pictures of Marilyn Monroe over 3 sessions [nsfw] in 1962. They're called the Last Sitting as she died of an apparent overdose 6 weeks later. In February 2008, he recreates the shoot using Lindsay Lohan [nsfw]. Not willing to let a good opportunity to spoof celebrities fly by, Village Voice's Michael Musto recreates Lindsay Lohan's photo session [nsfw].

Today, yesterday's Olbermann, by... Tomorrow

XQUZYPHYR — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 14:01:25 -0800

Tom Tomorrow presents Bill O'Reilly's Very Useful Advice for Young People. Also available as read by Keith Olbermann.

Stand by your Man

Bizurke — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 14:16:17 -0800

In the grand Village Voice tradition of slagging off musicians for being white and/or harmless, VV scribe Chris Ott writes an irrationally antagonistic critique of Decemberists frontman Colin Meloy, in an ostensbile concert review. Oh snap! Meloy's girlfriend Carson Ellis sticks up for him in the comments section!

end of an era

sdn — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 22:23:05 -0800

the voice fires robert christgau the decimation of what was once the village voice continues apace.

Unfucking the Donkey

Postroad — Tue, 11 Apr 2006 07:20:25 -0800

Advice for weary, wandering Democrats Note to Democrats: "Barack Obama put it exquisitely in his victory speech: "Government can help provide us with the basic tools we need to live out the American dream." Here's a dirty little secret. The Republicans know this. Nothing scares them more than us returning to our simple answers. ..."

Cindy Sheehan for President

Postroad — Tue, 01 Nov 2005 10:46:44 -0800

Cindy Sheehan for President Or Senate. The anti-war left seeks a challenger for Hillary Clinton

Noir Exam

lilboo — Fri, 07 Jan 2005 14:33:03 -0800

Remember the Noir Genius Exam? Wanna know the the answers?

The Noir Genius Exam

lilboo — Wed, 24 Nov 2004 08:56:28 -0800

Take the Village Voice's Noir Genius Exam. Created to promote the "Essential Noir: Classics of American Film Noir 1941-1958" film fest at the FilmForum. Nov26th-Dec 23. Difficulty: essay questions - good luck...

Oh conservatism, thou art sick!

troutfishing — Fri, 22 Oct 2004 15:08:17 -0800

Becoming what you hate : Nathan Sproul, case study in moral relativism on the Religious Right "former head of the Arizona Republican Party and of the Arizona Christian Coalition....Sproul is connected with the Republican National Committee-funded voter registration organization, Voters' Outreach of America Inc." - Sproul's firm is accused of fraud and the destruction of voter registration forms. He also failed to pay his workers and his office rent. Rick Perlstein, in the Village Voice, comments on the Sproul scandal : "Both sides are not equally bad, and any reporters who don't recognize that conservatism's very core has become shot through with a culture of mendacity should turn in their press badge..... It used to be that we could count on the conscience of conservatives to protect our democratic institutions."

the love that dare not bark its name

archimago — Wed, 24 Mar 2004 10:06:39 -0800

The Great American Man-Dog Marriage Panic. Muttrimonial bliss could be yours, now that the gates of hell are opening!

2003 Pazz & Jop

boltman — Thu, 19 Feb 2004 21:57:18 -0800

The 2003 Pazz & Jop results are in! Apparently it was the year of hip hop (sort of), in both albums and singles. Country music gets kudos for being so "cocksure" in a world of uncertainty. Acoustic jazz scores a big win with The Bad Plus coming in at number 60!

White + Black = Grey

boost ventilator — Wed, 18 Feb 2004 10:05:24 -0800

DJ Danger Mouse has been making waves recently with his Grey Album that cross-pollinates the music of The Beatles' classic White Album with the lyrics and delivery of Jay-Z's recent swan song, the Black Album. The results? "One of the more interesting pirate mashups ever done." (Pitchfork). "Most ambitious remix." (Village Voice). "As fun as it is daring." (Boston Globe). "Ultimate remix record." (Rolling Stone). Not surprisingly, EMI is far from amused by the unsanctioned and unapproved project and the limited release will no longer be distributed. So, download it now (or check out these Real Player samples).

Al Sharpton... Republican stooge?

Slagman — Wed, 04 Feb 2004 08:59:39 -0800

Al Sharpton... Republican stooge? A Village Voice investigation finds that his presidential campaign is being financed and staffed by Roger Stone, "the longtime Republican dirty-tricks operative who led the mob that shut down the Miami-Dade County recount in 2000." Article details some interesting financing arrangements and reveals that Stone has bragged that he gave Sharpton the ax handle he waved at a NAACP meeting to denounce Democratic racism. Sharpton wants to teach the Democrats a lesson (as he did in helping to elect Republican Mike Bloomberg mayor of New York), and Republicans are anxious to help create a division with black voters. But black voters must have seen through him, refusing to give him the South Carolina victory he needed to speak for them at the convention.

Keep walking.

the fire you left me — Wed, 09 Jul 2003 14:55:11 -0800

The Future is Now. "It was terribly dangerous to let your thoughts wander when you were in any public place or within range of a telescreen. The smallest thing could give you away. A nervous tic, an unconscious look of anxiety, a habit of muttering to yourself—anything that carried with it the suggestion of abnormality, of having something to hide. In any case, to wear an improper expression on your face… was itself a punishable offense. There was even a word for it in Newspeak: facecrime…"

Booty Bumping and Disco Dumping

turbanhead — Thu, 13 Mar 2003 09:01:22 -0800

Booty Bumping and Disco Dumping It's not the newest dance craze, but I'd buy stock in the plastic straw and underwear industries if this fad takes off. (4th paragraph - scroll down for reference)

Village Voice's 2002 Pazz & Jop Poll

boost ventilator — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 19:53:30 -0800

Pazz & Jop 2002 - The Village Voice has tabulated the top albums and singles from 695 critics (and 10,2002 LPs). Some of the ballot-fillers even got a little personal. The usual essays are included. If your fav CD didn't make the cut, perhaps it made it onto the dean's list.

Path of a Pipeline: Oil, Empire, and Influence in the New Eurasia

Postroad — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 11:23:55 -0800

Path of a Pipeline: Oil, Empire, and Influence in the New Eurasia While so many of us talk about Iraq and war in terms of oil, it might prove useful to note what is going on close by. Not mentioned, however, in the article is the guess that China will have stupendous energy needs in the next decade, and what is taking place here will have an impact on their needs.

The Self-Healing Minefield

Armitage Shanks — Wed, 27 Nov 2002 14:33:45 -0800

The Self-Healing Minefield From the current Village Voice: "Utilizing commercial off-the-shelf computer chips and 'healing' software, the networked minefield detects rude attempts to clear it, deduces which parts of itself have been removed, and signals its remaining munitions to close the hole using best-fit mathematics."

Bonus ubertasteless Flash animation courtesy of DARPA here. Color me fascinated and repulsed in equal measure.

martk — Tue, 11 Jun 2002 08:44:40 -0800

Post-War Jazz: An Arbitrary Road Map In this two-part Village Voice piece, Gary Giddins presents a personal road map to post-war jazz, introducing 57 of his most cherished tracks from 1945 to 2001. Any glaring ommissions? I'd add Witchitai-To by Jim Pepper. In addition to being one of the first jazz-rock fusion proponents, Pepper, a Native American, also blended the music of his people into his compositions.

MiguelCardoso — Tue, 11 Jun 2002 08:41:59 -0800

One Defining Jazz Track Per Year, From 1945 To 2001? An Impossible Task! Well, not for Gary Giddins, arguably our greatest contemporary jazz critic. He's just spent five months going through his record collection to come up with a terrific and deliciously debatable list for The Village Voice. Yeah, how could he leave out...*insert your particular obsession here*...?[Here's a 74-page 1996 interview with him(in pdf format) that's practically a mini-history of jazz.]

magullo — Wed, 20 Mar 2002 09:12:22 -0800

New York post fires reporter for story on Disney ... but publishes no corrections ...