Month: February 2011

Artists Go For Broke

by Zoe Pollock

Francis Ford Coppola on art and commerce, past, present and future:

Artists never got money. Artists had a patron, either the leader of the state or the duke of Weimar or somewhere, or the church, the pope. Or they had another job. I have another job. I make films. No one tells me what to do. But I make the money in the wine industry. You work another job and get up at five in the morning and write your script.

This idea of Metallica or some rock n' roll singer being rich, that's not necessarily going to happen anymore. Because, as we enter into a new age, maybe art will be free. Maybe the students are right. They should be able to download music and movies. I'm going to be shot for saying this. But who said art has to cost money? And therefore, who says artists have to make money?

(Hat tip: Kottke)

That Strange, Spectral Light

Woodman

by Zoe Pollock

Elizabeth Gumport tries to understand the resurgence of interest in Francesca Woodman, a photographer who committed suicide in 1981 at age 22:

Woodman reveals the injuries that occur in the time it takes to produce a single picture: hair turns wispy, flesh fades and stretches into smoke. The longer her shutter stays open, the blurrier and more transparent bodies will appear, until at last they disappear. Shortly before her death, she began experimenting with a particularly long development process that required her to spend several hours producing a single photograph. In the end, her camera captures not the girl but the long moment it looked at her.

(Photo: Francesca Woodman: From Angel series, Rome, 1977)

Pregnant Prom Queens

by Zoe Pollock

Gerry Garibaldi exposes the popularity of teen pregnancy in urban schools:

Here’s my prediction: the money, the reforms, the gleaming porcelain, the hopeful rhetoric about saving our children—all of it will have a limited impact, at best, on most city schoolchildren. Urban teachers face an intractable problem, one that we cannot spend or even teach our way out of: teen pregnancy. This year, all of my favorite girls are pregnant, four in all, future unwed mothers every one. There will be no innovation in this quarter, no race to the top. Personal moral accountability is the electrified rail that no politician wants to touch.

 

Chart Of The Day

Gopchart

by Patrick Appel

Nate Silver's guide to the GOP presidential nomination race:

[T]he area of each candidate’s circle is proportional to their perceived likelihood of winning the nomination, according to the Intrade betting market. Mitt Romney’s circle is drawn many times the size of the one for the relatively obscure talk-radio host Herman Cain because Intrade rates Mr. Romney many times as likely to be nominated. … the color of each circle reflects the region the candidate is from: blue for the Northeast, red for the South, green for the Midwest, and yellow for the West.

Film Nerd Solves Bad Movie, World Rejoices

by Zoe Pollock

Simon Gallagher does the math to figure out just how many days Phil Connor "spent trapped in the loop of Groundhog Day." I have to say I'm horrified, and utterly impressed. Or as he puts it:

For anyone who wants to check all of this, I really don’t suggest watching Groundhog Day in this manner. It’s not the best way to enjoy what is essentially a light-hearted comedy whose metaphysical concerns are supposed to be enjoyed in fun, and not worked out mathematically. Normal people should be happy to just watch, and accept that Phil Connors is stuck repeating his one day endlessly over and over until he finds himself- but then, I don’t think I’m normal.

The Weekly Wrap

Today on the Dish, Scott Lucas caught us up to speed on the Day of Departure, with a full recap of the day/ night here. Kristof captured the determination of the protesters, and Graeme Wood witnessed the same resolute spirit. Michael Scherer encapsulated the tough spot Obama finds himself in, Joshua Tucker sized up the Muslim Brotherhood's popularity, and Fareed Zakaria examined the economics of uprisings. Al Jazeera's traffic squared up to the New York Times' and its coverage increased identification as Muslim and Arab. Photojournalists donned helmets, protesters thanked Facebook, and Johann Hari shared harsh words for governments who supported Mubarak. Protests used poetry, Yglesias raised concerns over the connection between Mid-East politics and gas prices, and Larison disagreed that we're all Egyptians now. Last week's horrifying hit and run here, camel and catapult chaos here, Mubarak's monetary worth here or maybe not, revolution's origins hypothesis here, and singing in the square here.

Conor dared Limbaugh to an Internet debate, applauded the idea of a Huntsman nomination, and defended foreign reporting from indefensible attacks. Ed Glaeser explained cities to the left and right, NOM got rainbow-pranked, and the Redskins owner exhibited the ultimate stupidity. Conor questioned why it matters that women don't contribute as much to Wikipedia, Derek Thompson investigated progressive spending cuts, and Conor assessed academia and the press.

Football killed more people than raw milk, Michael Lewis mastered Ireland's crash, and crowds mostly made people act like idiots. Hollywood recycled plots, sports couldn't accomodate its oldest players, and DC couldn't sustain a mafia.

VFYW here, MHB here, FOTD here, skin gun here, and Andrew was set to return on Monday.

Face
By Miguel Medina/AFP/Getty Images.

Thursday on the Dish, we chronicled the chaos in Cairo as it unfolded, with more reports of bloodshed here, here, and here. The regime sent texts and thugs to target and harass, assaulted reporters. Graeme Wood praised the Mr. Cleavers of Cairo, and the army appeared to side with Mubarak. The regime accused protesters of being dangerous foreign elements and closed off any other political option, but secular solidarity prevailed. We sought to understand nations in transition, details on the dictator's son, and how the US measures up to Egypt's inequality. Yemen kept heating up, we kept tabs on the US response, and we considered Al Jazeera's coverage if protests spread throughout the Mid-East. Marc Lynch urged the US to send a loud and clear message to the army, and Scott Horton explained exile isn't what it used to be. Gladwell stuck to his guns, despite evidence to the contrary that Twitter did help. Michael Wahid Hanna feared for the Egypt after the cameras stop rolling, Thoreau had hope for democracy, and Gregory Djerejian pleaded for humility.

Conor expanded his attack on Andy McCarthy's sophistry, kept at the Fox's insinuation machine, and calculated traditional health care in a world where we could know when we'd die. One-armed citizens could carry switchblades, libertarians can't get by only on principles, and a high-functioning, meth-using Dish reader enlightened us.

Dissents of the day here and here, creepy ad watch here, chart of the day  here, cool ad watch here, the week in photos here, quote for the day here, FOTD here, VFYW here, and MHB here.

Wednesday on the Dish, clashes broke out in Egypt, even reporters were attacked, and we followed the chaos here, here, here, here, here, and video here. Steve Negus feared a culture of criminality, Andrew McGregor ran through future scenarios, and Patrick pointed out the Glenn Beck divide. Conor called out Thomas Friedman's nonsense, and deflated the National Review's shoddy logic on the Muslim Brotherhood.

Ambinder picked apart what the US wants, Larison had doubts about Egyptian democracy, and we explored what it meant for oil. Scott Horton considered Mubarak's fear: hate ratio, Graeme Wood offered perspective on Tahrir square, and Shadi Hamid charted the two routes to Arab democracy. Exum explained why the US is so close with Egypt's army, Egypt was more equal than the US, even though wellbeing was declining as its GDP went up, and a blogger explained how not to say stupid stuff about Egypt. Yemen appeared shaky, but Joshua Foust argued it didn't have to do with Egypt.

Conor mourned the fact that controversial blogging and careers don't mix, and annihilated the broken logic of torture advocates. Conor doled out advice for gender conferences, Yglesias seconded Conor on Beck's craziness, and outlawing Sudafed wasn't going to stop meth users. AOL explained how to make money on the web, Conor weighed in on the new governor of the Golden State, Boehner tried to redefine rape, and this is how to look smart. Houses sat empty, cooking could be easy, and a young man stood up for his two mothers.

Interactive global map of unrest here, chart of the day here, MHB here, FOTD here, VFYW here, poignant VFYW observation here, Palin's phrenology here, and Milbank fail here.

Egypt
Alexandria, Egypt, 8 am

Tuesday on the Dish, Chris blogged the path of the protests at dawn. Mubarak fans were laughed off, protesters ignored the Internet black out, and police cross-dressed in plainclothes. Many protesters congregated in Tahrir square, the march began, and deviated from the script. Peter Bouckaert covered the scene in Alexandria, protesters banded together, and we tried to keep track of the numbers. People wanted Mubarak to resign immediately, but he opted not to. Mubarak's speech didn't please the public or the US government, and we mulled his legacy as he followed Ben Ali's template, and apparently wasn't too big to fail. Conor read the right's spin on Obama's direction, Max Fisher relayed the latest on US opinions behind the scenes, and Islamists got shouted down. Hitchens advised despots on what not to do, Colum Lynch considered ElBaradei's role, and we tried to understand the Muslim Brotherhood.  We looked ahead to Friday, things almost turned violent, protests were wearing on the population, but there was a wisdom to the crowd.

Alan Jacobs refused to categorize the general effect of social media, Egypt's own media shifted, and Jeremy Scahill chronicled the Bush smear on Al-Jazeera. Alex Massie wondered if the world had peaked, and Larison remained pessimistic about the stability of change. The tsunamai reached Jordan, Israel feared for the future, and Evan Osnos fingered China as the next possible uprising. Dana Stuster weighed the options for Yemen, Ingrid Rowland searched Egypt's history, and Conor wondered if Roger Ailes and Glenn Beck ever had grandparents. Conor railed against a new bill that would give the President power over the Internet, and responded to readers complaints about the left's protest against the Koch brothers.

Egyptian protest signs here, army background here, tweets from the ground here, and a visual argument for democracy here. Quote for the day here, chart of the day here, FOTD here, VFYW here, VFYW contest winner #35 here.

Face
By Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images.

Monday on the Dish, Chris traced Egypt updates throughout the night, including poetry as protest, and the army officer who joined the protests. Al Jazeera reporters were arrested (and released), protests were planned for Tuesday, and Friday flagged as the "Friday of Departure" for the army. Protesters cleaned the streets and cheered Al Jazeera, and we dissected rumors of army orders to fire on protesters. Women manned the front lines, graffiti painted tanks, libraries were guarded, and late today a total Internet blackout fell over Egypt. Israel defended Mubarak, Syria's President vowed to reform, and we tracked how Egypt was playing in Iran. China censored the Egyptian upheaval, Osama bin Laden seemed irrelevant, and Egypt's economy teetered. Brian Ulrich gauged the military leaders' motives, Philip Giraldi examined our spending abroad, and the web assessed the Muslim Brotherhood. The US dispatched a former Ambassador to Egypt, but we remembered that it's the US that outsourced its torture to Egypt. Breitbart's Big Peace published all kinds of crazy, Palin was happy to not get blamed for Cairo, and Douthat took the long view: history makes fools of us all.

A new 2012 GOP contender baffled the blogosphere, Frum parsed the report on what caused the Financial Crisis, and Conor noted that the GOP isn't necessarily the party for liberty-minded individuals. Conor questioned the protesters outside the Koch brothers' retreat, a man tried to blow up a Detroit mosque with fireworks, readers ripped apart Rand Paul's budget cuts, and church abuse takes advantage of adults too. Harper's Magazine struggled, Afghanistan suffered a major blow to its image and stability, and marriage equality mattered. The clothing industry needed its own Michael Pollan, Herman Melville loved beard euphemisms, and Americans were obsessed with white meat. Life imitated Four Lions, cooking was for eating, and Andrew's still on the mend.

Quote for the day here, MHB here, FOTD here, VFYW here, chart of the day here, (with correction here).

–Z.P.

What Makes Wikipedia Special? Ctd

by Patrick Appel

A reader writes:

I am a Wikipedia administrator, a volunteer position to which I was elected by community members. I am also a woman. I think that Wikipedia's lack of female editors is a problem for two main reasons.

First, Wikipedia articles about topics that are typically "women's" topics is atrocious: these articles are often tiny stubs or are missing entirely. To give a trivial example, look at the Wikipedia article on blush. It was created by a user that I believe is male (though I'm not sure). The photo accompanying the article doesn't even look to be blush at all. Based on the texture of the product and the size of the accompanying brushes, it's almost certainly lip gloss. Would a woman have put that photo up? Probably not. The article is also insubstantial and lacks footnotes. (The "references" section consists of three unhelpful links of dubious accuracy.) This is a product that most Western women use every day, yet the article is an embarrassment. Just poking through other cosmetics articles, I can find moisturizer, lip liner, threading–all of similar quality. Fashion coverage is equally terrible. Look at Christian Lacroix or Hubert de Givenchy - towering figures in 20th-century fashion with biographies that are little more than recitations of random facts with no analysis or citations. Compare these with articles on "male" topics that are equally trivial: Dale Earnhardt, Jr., homebrewing, Xbox 360. When it comes to more serious topics, this disparity remains. Based on samples from one corpus of "important" figures, the male/female ratio of biographies missing from Wikipedia is worse than that of Encyclopedia Britannica.

To suggest that women aren't wimps and don't just edit "women's interest" articles – which many male Wikipedia editors do in discussions on this topic – is another form of sexism.

It evaluates women's contributions by whether they measure up to male expectations and interests. (Masculinity is cool, so it's great if everyone wants to participate. Femininity on the other hand…. Well, that's just unserious.) Certainly, many of the women editing Wikipedia don't precisely conform to gender stereotypes, but it is naive to think that men and women have entirely the same areas of interest.

Second, Wikipedia is increasingly the arbiter of important truths. These truths are shaped by negotiations on "talk pages," and the resulting "consensus" version will be accepted as fact (more or less) by thousands of readers passing by. For women to be absent in these negotiations means that women's perspectives are not accounted for, and that readers will be deprived of these perspectives. (And these perspectives are certainly somewhat different, considering that we live in a world where gender roles and gender inequality are a part of day-to-day life.) Would society want only men writing textbooks, or academic journals, or newspaper articles?

The problem of absent voices is not limited to the lack of participation by women. It also includes the lack of participation by those older than the Gen-Y and Gen-X crowd. It includes the lack of participation by the poor. It includes the lack of participation by those in the global south, or those who are not internet-connected. It includes the lack of participation by ethnic minorities. It includes the lack of participation by people who are not tech-savvy.

Wikipedia is beginning to try to remedy these problems by doing outreach and by simplifying the editing interface to attract a broader range of editors. Perhaps this will be enough. Wikipedia's culture, however, can at times be male-centric and insular. Thankfully, I have never been harassed (much) based on my gender. But, for example, an editor with whom I frequently collaborate used to maintain a gallery of hot chicks in bikinis as a subpage of his userpage. It was ultimately deleted after a deletion discussion, but he was totally oblivious to the fact that things like that create an environment where women do not feel welcome. I'm not sure if top-down initiatives at Wikipedia will be able to remedy the lack of female participation, considering broader issues of Wikipedia culture.