Today at Flavorpill, we examined the last words of 25 geniuses. We argued over Nerve’s rankings of Terrence Malick’s limited filmography. We watched Neil Gaiman, Amanda Palmer, Moby, and Stephen Merritt sing “Science Fiction Double Feature” from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. We were amused by some of the horrible things that strangers have said to the readers of The Hairpin. We wanted the adorable tote bag pictured in Apple’s 1983 gift catalog. We wondered if someone at Chevy was inspired by Dear Photograph when creating this new ad. We couldn’t decide which of these pop culture Chuck Taylors would go with more of our wardrobe: the Breaking Bad ones or the pair inspired by The Walking Dead. We looked at some of the cartoon world’s most impressive facial hair. We learned an interesting new self-esteem technique from Jenny Slate. And finally, we found Anne Rice’s recent catty comments against Stephenie Meyer rather hilarious — but we’re also suddenly curious as to who would win in a Lestat vs. Edward showdown.
The American Library Association’s list of 2010′s most frequently challenged books came out this week, and so we decided to get Sarah Murphy and Joelen Pastva to weigh in on the controversy. Murphy is a school librarian and is a co-founder (with Maria Falgoust) of the Desk Set, “a social and philanthropic group for librarians and bibliophiles” here in New York, and Pastva has worked in both public and research libraries. Also, it’s the end of National Library Week, so what better way to celebrate contested books than to check out one about gay penguins at your local library? We’ve included their responses below, as well as the reasons the books were contested by parents, educators, and other “concerned individuals.”
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Forbes has published a list of the year’s highest-paid authors, and it’s a rather illuminating look at the way that the industry works. What do we mean? JK Rowling didn’t publish anything this year, and yet she still managed to rake in $10 million. James Patterson, who tops the list at $70 million, made $500 million for his publisher over the past two years. (One of every seven books sold in the US is his.) All of the highest-paid writers are white, and none of them are under the age of 36. Want to know more? Click through for the full list, and our breakdown of the numbers.
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1. ICANN has approved the creation of a .xxx domain for porn, which is great news for really dumb people searching for adult content online. [via The Daily Beast]
2. When you cut thousands of people waiting in line for the new iPhone 4 you will get booed — even if you are as cute as Jason Bateman. [via Vulture]
3. Watch Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy cover “Single Ladies” at a solo gig in Chicago earlier this year. [via 24Bit]
4. Welcome to the club: Stephenie Meyer says that she’s “really burned out on vampires.” [via SCI FI Wire]
5. If the company doesn’t get it shit together by August 16, American Apparel will be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange. [via Fashionista]
Bonus link: Indie darlings The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart take over @themusicslut’s Twitter today.
1. Roger Ebert didn’t like Kick-Ass for moral reasons. Here’s why you should still see it. [via AICN]
2. Stephenie Meyer‘s Twilight books rank among the most frequently requested to be banned from US libraries. [via Guardian]
3. Is Banksy‘s Mr. Brainwash an art-world Borat who was “created to dupe the art world and mock the burgeoning art-factory system”? [via Vulture]
4. The lineup for the 2010 Cannes Film Festival has been announced; among the recognizable films showing out of competition are Oliver Stone‘s Wall Street 2 and Woody Allen‘s You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger. [via THR]
5. Salon and McSweeney‘s have a new content partnership; the first piece is Elif Batuman’s “Missed Encounters With the Movies,” an excerpt from the Believer‘s Film Issue. [via Salon]
Today at Flavorpill, we decided that our company mascot should be the punk rock penguin. We were excited to hear that Gabourey Sidibe will be hosting an upcoming episode of Saturday Night Live. We found Shaq’s texts to his mistress much less entertaining than his tweets. We decided that if the options are Terry Richardson or Olivier Zahm, we wouldn’t rather. We loved this slideshow of the greatest writer villains in film. We worried about Avatar fans who are learning how to speak Na’vi. We got pumped for the new season of True Blood thanks to this racy poster, and in other vampire news, we were touched to hear that proceeds from Stephenie Meyer’s new novella will benefit charity. We cringed over this compilation of 160 Arnold Schwarzenegger quotes. We couldn’t wait to watch A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas in 3D. Stoned. And finally, we found this image from the Second Avenue Subway dig oddly reminiscent of the underground treasure cave from The Goonies. Does that make the MTA the Fratellis?
Yesterday, Obama visited Iowa City and stopped by the Prairie Lights bookstore, expressing to the public how the now-passed health care plan will help small businesses. He pretended he was there for Karl Rove’s memoir and owner Jan Weissmiller responded: “We believe in freedom of expression so we have to carry the book.” Instead of buying Rover and Mitt Romney’s latest, he went for the following:
1. The Secret of Zoom
by Lynne Jonell
2. Journey to the River Sea
by Eva Ibotson
3. Star Wars: A Pop-Up Guide to the Galaxy
by Matthew Reinhart
That’s right. Star Wars: A Pop Up Guide to the Galaxy. Sure, our geeky Commander-in-Chief claimed that he “purchased it for a friend.” He probably ordered the special edition hardcover on Amazon. We began thinking, “Well, what other books should he have picked up?” This is what we came up with.
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1. Roman Polanski has relocated from the clink to a cute snow-covered chalet in Gstaad. [via Vulture]
2. Sales for the science book photographed in Tiger Wood‘s wrecked car — Get a Grip on Physics by John Gribbin — have jumped in recent days. [via The Independent]
3. Do artists have the legal right to protect their public work from destruction? A court case in Chicago could have national repercussions. [via Chicago Reader]
4. Leonardo DiCaprio will voice “a twist on the Jack Frost character” in a new animated movie for DreamWorks. [via Variety]
5. Thanks in large part to her “very modern and fresh tone,” the plagiarism case against Stephenie Meyer has been dismissed. [via ArtsBeat]
Bonus link: 25 Most Under-rated Records of the Decade as Determined By Scientific Method
MTV News is reporting that the New Moon soundtrack is being pushed from its original release date, October 20, to this Friday, October 16. The movie still isn’t set for release until November 20, more than a month after the soundtrack comes out, but we’re guessing this in response to a track leak that occurred over the weekend.
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Otto Penzler’s new anthology The Vampire Archives is a collection of 86 of the scariest vampire tales of the past few hundred years; the book pulls pieces from an eclectic group of writers who range from Lord Byron to Stephen King. Inside you’ll find classic tales (Bram Stoker’s “Dracula’s Guest”) mixed in with lesser known works, and few contributions that might surprise you.
“I think one of the best stories in the book is a Gahan Wilson story, ‘The Sea Was West As Wet Could Be,’” Penzler explains. “But Gahan Wilson is famous for being a cartoonist. He does a cartoon for every issue of Playboy and just about every issue of the New Yorker. Wonderful, horrifying cartoons. And hilarious.”
More of what Penzler has to say — about everything from Neil Gaiman’s foreword to the reason why tweens love Robert Pattinson — after the jump. Read More »
