Robert O'Connor

explore-blog: When Mark Twain’s cat, Bambino, disappeared, the...

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 17:07:18 -0500

When Mark Twain’s cat, Bambino, disappeared, the author posted the following lost cat flyer around the neighborhood:

Large and intensely black; thick, velvety fur; has a faint fringe of white hair across his chest; not easy to find in ordinary light.

… and other literary pets

buzzfeedmusic: College music departments doing it right.

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 17:47:25 -0500

buzzfeedmusic:

College music departments doing it right.

"Calling the overall human experience “poignant,” “thought-provoking,” and a “complete tour de..."

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 19:23:54 -0500

“Calling the overall human experience “poignant,” “thought-provoking,” and a “complete tour de force,” film critic Roger Ebert praised existence Thursday as “an audacious and thrilling triumph.” “While not without its flaws, life, from birth to death, is a masterwork, and an uplifting journey that both touches the heart and challenges the mind,” said Ebert, adding that while the totality of all humankind is sometimes “a mess in places,” it strives to be a magnum opus and, according to Ebert, largely succeeds at this goal. “At times brutally sad, yet surprisingly funny, and always completely honest, I wholeheartedly recommend existence. If you haven’t experienced it yet, then what are you waiting for? It is not to be missed.” Ebert later said that while human existence’s running time was “a little on the long side,” it could have gone on much, much longer and he would have been perfectly happy.”

- The Onion does it again. (via coketalk)

futurejournalismproject: How Do You Explain the Word...

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 23:01:30 -0600

futurejournalismproject:

How Do You Explain the Word “Reporter”

Sesame Street wants to know.

Meantime, and this boggles my mind, they’re five million views away from a billion on YouTube. — Michael

Images: Selected Tweets. Select to embiggen.

Ow!

This guy’s already on Wikipedia.

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 21:50:14 -0600

This guy’s already on Wikipedia.

"All three leave their marks. A lady asks Jake and Elwood, “Are you the police?” Elwood replies, “No,..."

Tue, 08 Jan 2013 18:47:43 -0600

“All three leave their marks. A lady asks Jake and Elwood, “Are you the police?” Elwood replies, “No, ma’am. We’re musicians.” Pure Aykroyd. Landis produces the movie’s signature line: “We’re on a mission from God.” And who but Belushi can turn to a family and ask, as Jake does, “How much for the little girl?””

- “all three” meaning John Landis, Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi, the director, writer/star and star of “The Blues Brothers,” from Vanity Fair’s piece about how the movie got made: That story is just as wild as the movie itself.

"He said over the next 60 days, The Blaze will open three foreign bureaus in cities that are..."

Tue, 08 Jan 2013 18:24:08 -0600

“He said over the next 60 days, The Blaze will open three foreign bureaus in cities that are “important to America.””

- From this article on Buzzfeed about Glenn Beck (the “he” in the quote) retooling his media empire. I’ll take a guess of London, Hong Kong and…what’s the third one?

"Let me tell you a story. The day after Columbine, I was interviewed for the Tom Brokaw news program...."

Fri, 14 Dec 2012 19:24:41 -0600

“

Let me tell you a story. The day after Columbine, I was interviewed for the Tom Brokaw news program. The reporter had been assigned a theory and was seeking sound bites to support it. “Wouldn’t you say,” she asked, “that killings like this are influenced by violent movies?” No, I said, I wouldn’t say that. “But what about ‘Basketball Diaries’?” she asked. “Doesn’t that have a scene of a boy walking into a school with a machine gun?” The obscure 1995 Leonardo Di Caprio movie did indeed have a brief fantasy scene of that nature, I said, but the movie failed at the box office (it grossed only $2.5 million), and it’s unlikely the Columbine killers saw it.

The reporter looked disappointed, so I offered her my theory. “Events like this,” I said, “if they are influenced by anything, are influenced by news programs like your own. When an unbalanced kid walks into a school and starts shooting, it becomes a major media event. Cable news drops ordinary programming and goes around the clock with it. The story is assigned a logo and a theme song; these two kids were packaged as the Trench Coat Mafia. The message is clear to other disturbed kids around the country: If I shoot up my school, I can be famous. The TV will talk about nothing else but me. Experts will try to figure out what I was thinking. The kids and teachers at school will see they shouldn’t have messed with me. I’ll go out in a blaze of glory.”

In short, I said, events like Columbine are influenced far less by violent movies than by CNN, the NBC Nightly News and all the other news media, who glorify the killers in the guise of “explaining” them. I commended the policy at the Sun-Times, where our editor said the paper would no longer feature school killings on Page 1. The reporter thanked me and turned off the camera. Of course the interview was never used. They found plenty of talking heads to condemn violent movies, and everybody was happy.

”

- Roger Ebert, from his review of the 2003 film “Elephant,” based on the Columbine shootings.

moneyisnotimportant: BOOM ROASTED. Caryl, right after sending...

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 22:44:24 -0600

moneyisnotimportant:

BOOM ROASTED.

Caryl, right after sending that tweet:

As Jon Stewart would say, BOOM!

Photo

Sun, 07 Oct 2012 20:58:48 -0500

laughingsquid: We Are the Introverts

Tue, 25 Sep 2012 10:39:51 -0500

laughingsquid:

We Are the Introverts

shortformblog: abaldwin360: The National Review ran a magazine...

Fri, 21 Sep 2012 21:32:30 -0500

shortformblog:

abaldwin360:

The National Review ran a magazine cover in which they Photoshopped signs at an Obama rally to read “ABORTION” instead of “FORWARD” as they originally did.

The top image shows the October 1, 2012 cover of “National Review” magazine.

The image at the bottom shows another photo taken at the same rally.

source

additional source

When Photoshop is used for evil.

The National Review’s got some explaining to do. I can’t wait to see it.

ryking: The Simpsons lampoons GOP-backed voter ID...

Thu, 20 Sep 2012 23:04:21 -0500

ryking:

The Simpsons lampoons GOP-backed voter ID laws

It’s four years old. It’s still good. It’s still good.

prairiehomecompanion: Just curious.

Wed, 19 Sep 2012 22:34:45 -0500

prairiehomecompanion:

Just curious.

mattchew03: Microsoft thanks you, Honey Boo Boo. Worst....

Wed, 19 Sep 2012 22:04:09 -0500

mattchew03:

Microsoft thanks you, Honey Boo Boo.

Worst. Endorsement. Ever!

reallyfoxnews: Truth = Fox News

Sun, 02 Sep 2012 22:29:54 -0500

reallyfoxnews:

Truth = Fox News

brooklynmutt: July 21, 1969 - The Onion

Sun, 26 Aug 2012 00:14:28 -0500

brooklynmutt:

July 21, 1969 - The Onion

"Christine: Look Dad, there’s a bear. Jerry: No, Christine, that’s a frog. Bears wear..."

Fri, 24 Aug 2012 17:07:00 -0500

“

Christine: Look Dad, there’s a bear.

Jerry: No, Christine, that’s a frog. Bears wear hats.

”

- Jerry Nelson, who created and voiced various Muppet characters and his real-life daughter Christine in a scene from “The Great Muppet Caper.” Christine died of cystic fibrosis in 1982 and Jerry died yesterday.

"you can come up with an original idea. You can figure out a story. You can pound out pages and end..."

Thu, 02 Aug 2012 11:03:03 -0500

“you can come up with an original idea. You can figure out a story. You can pound out pages and end up with script. And that means you are in control. That story is yours. You own it.”

- Max Millimeter in a blog post about why Hollywood hates screenwriters.

Roger Ebert, his wife Chaz, the late Gene Siskel, his wife...

Tue, 17 Jul 2012 23:48:19 -0500

Roger Ebert, his wife Chaz, the late Gene Siskel, his wife Marlene, their two daughters Kate and Callie (the flower girls at the wedding). At the wedding for the first two, which took place 20 years ago on July 18th.

Roger paid tribute to his wife on his blog and in his book Life Itself.