Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Other People's Writing

* A fascinating look at perhaps “the most restaurant in America” and one that also seems kind more than a bit of a put-out, as examined by the New Yorker’s Nick Paumgarten.  My friend Shannon pointed me in the direction of this article, and her theory is that Damon Baehrel is a modern-day Andy Kaufman with a restaurant devoted towards mocking the pretension of foodies.  I feel like Paumgarten could’ve discovered what was “really going on” with a hint more detective work, though he obviously feels like preserving the mystery for the sheer fun of it.

* “Batman: The Animated Series” is quite possibly the best non-Simpsons cartoon of all time, and almost certainly the best version of Batman in mass media history.  That said, I really didn’t know a thing about Paul Dini (the co-head writer/show-runner of that and many other outstanding) until this profile from Vice’s Mitchell Sunderland.  One can only sigh when thinking about how DC would’ve benefited by simply putting Dini and Bruce Timm in charge of their live-action films a few years ago, but c’est la vie.

* For anyone who has ever gone through their list of “happy birthday!” greetings to see how it differed from the previous year (uh, I mean, um, I don’t do this), this piece by The Ringer’s Molly McHugh about how Facebook has essentially taken over the concept of birthday wishes is for you.  I think the step beyond is posting something on FB to celebrate someone’s birthday when they’re not even on Facebook themselves.  My dad has missed out on several warm wishes from me since he doesn’t have an account.  What, does he expect me to call him or something? 

* The Ringer recently had a “Cleveland Week” devoted to a wide array of stories about the city, including Alyssa Bereznak’s story about how the leg lamp from ‘A Christmas Story’ inspired a museum devoted to the film located within the actual house in which the movie was shot.  Next time I’m in Cleveland, I’m wondering where I made a wrong turn absolutely visiting this place.

* More from Cleveland Week, from the Ringer’s Sean Fennessey, a story that begins about legendary Cleveland disc jockey Alan Freed (who everyone’s heard of) and morphs into a much more interesting read about Harvey Fuqua, who may be one of the most influential people in music history that few remember today.

* Kate McKinnon is the best, as I’ve been saying for years.  I love that we get only a glimpse of her in this interview with the New York Times’ Dave Itzkoff, seemingly because the answers read like Itzkoff probably thought he was getting great stuff in the moment, only to listen to his recorder afterwards and realize that she didn’t really give him a damn thing.  The enigma that is McKinnon!

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