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Politics
October 8, 2007
Blogging for Condi
Dipnote, the new blog for the U.S. Department of State, has been criticized by bloggers, including Foreign Policy, for containing posts that read like they're written by a State Department spokesperson (because, of course, they are). It's also been mocked for its admittedly wonky, vaguely vulgar-sounding name, which makes us think of…a nice, curvy, b-flat covered in fondue. Maybe. But because we like the idea of the vast, opaque State Department communicating directly with the masses, we've come up with some ideas for a reader-friendly name change:
Sports
October 8, 2007
At Least They Weren't Playing the Nats
Because a baseball season is so long, covering the games can become an exercise in repetition. So when something truly extraordinary happens, many sportswriters and headline editors just can't stop themselves from making excited puns and metaphors. When New York Yankees pitcher Joba Chamberlain was swarmed by a freak infestation of insects and allowed the tying run against the Cleveland Indians, the sports press rushed to their keyboards like moths to a flame in order to record with the best bug line they could find. Here's what they came up with:
Politics
October 8, 2007
SUCCESS!
Your order is on its way... Now get back to reading the article....
Media
October 4, 2007
Bullet-Pointing Satire at CNN
A couple of weeks ago, Gelf noted that CNN.com seems to have decided that some of its readers are too busy to deal with its already pared-down articles. So they've started to provide bullet-point summaries at the top of their stories. If that seems like a ridiculous measure to take for a 100-word story about a bear mauling, it's even sillier when applied to stories from The Onion.
Media
October 3, 2007
Doing the Math
Of the many clichéd phrases that repeatedly pop up in articles, the saying "You do the math" is one of the lamest. That's because telling readers to "do the math" is often a lazy way for journalists to pretend that something's obvious—even if the numbers don't mean much. Even if they did, the writer often leaves out essential parts of whatever equation you're supposed to be setting up and solving. In the following recent examples, Gelf will attempt to solve for x:
Media
October 2, 2007
"SLUT." Commence Chuckling.
For all of their supposed high-minded devotion to the important stuff, reporters sure like their jollies cheap. Consider the national media coverage surrounding the unveiling of the South Lake Union Streetcar, a modestly important nostalgia project in downtown Seattle. At a price of $55 million dollars (by comparison, a recent upgrade on a NYC subway line cost $288 million), this otherwise not-extraordinary municipal work should hardly be of significance to the Oregonian newspaper in Portland, much less the Associated Press.
Full article » | by Adam Rosen
Arts
October 2, 2007
Radiohead Spreads the Word
The music industry may have just changed forever, triggered by a friendly message delivered on a band website. Radiohead announced the imminent release of their 7th studio album on October 7. In a message on the band's website, guitarist/organist/laptopist Jonny Greenwood writes, "Hello everyone. Well, the new album is finished, and it's coming out in 10 days; We've called it 'In Rainbows.' Love from us all. Jonny." The most shocking thing isn't the short run-up to one of the year's most anticipated albums, nor is it the band's decision to release it themselves. Instead, it's that the band is asking listeners to pay whatever price they want to download the album.
Sports
October 1, 2007
When the Mets Died With Their Boots On
With the Mets playoff drive imploding in spectacular, historic fashion, Gelf knew that there was only one man who could fittingly capture this dramatic—nay, epic turn of events. Mets.com beat writer Marty Noble has been featured in this space before for his over-the-top recaps of Mets games this season. He always brings a mix of enthusiasm and cliché to his writing so potent that Gelf wondered if he would be able to raise his game to match the current occasion. As always, Marty didn't disappoint.
Varsity Letters
October 1, 2007
Varsity Letters 10/3 Interviews
Authors of the three sports books featured on the front page will be speaking at a free Gelf event in New York on Wednesday, October 3, at 8 p.m. Come by the Happy Ending Lounge to hear writers John Bacon, Michael O'Keeffe, Teri Thompson, and Jon Wertheim read from and discuss their writing.
Politics
September 25, 2007
Stupid Senate Resolutions
This month, just an hour after President Bush denounced a MoveOn.org ad that criticized General David Petraeus, the Senate voted to condemn any "personal attacks" on Petraeus. And while some politicians voted against the resolution—Barack Obama called it "a stunt designed only to score cheap political points"—the reality is that symbolic bills are a staple of modern American politics. A quick glance at Gov Track, a Senate-resolution index site, finds no fewer than 150 bills this year that were simply meant to congratulate or recognize such groups as the Mount Union College Purple Raiders, "Memphis-originating soul music," and the entire city of New Milford, Connecticut.
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