Why couldn't the intelligent designer have made mucous to taste a little better? Like Crème brûlée or Krispy Kremes. I mean, if we're going to have to suffer through the agony of a cold, couldn't we at least get something out of it? Anyway, a few items to wrap up the week:
Congratulations to SoT favorite Barry Hannah who has been named Mississippi College Department of English Alumnus of the Year. Why did it take so long and who in the world of Mississippi College alumnus could have won this award over Hannah in past years? Hopefully this honor will inspire the release of something new from the man. We're hungry out here, Mr. Hannah.
Over at Slate, Jess Row takes a look at Ben Marcus's recent Harper's essay on the state of experimental fiction: "Profoundly nostalgic—as so many manifestoes turn out to be under close examination—it returns us to the pure spirit of modernism and the rhetoric of cultural crisis, of vanguards and reactionaries, of the Chosen and the Left Behind. As such, it's an unnecessary, and disingenuous, attempt to repolarize American literary culture."
Big news from Denmark: Hans Christian Anderson is the country's most translated author. Interestingly enough, Soeren Kierkegaard came in a distant but dreadful third.
The first item I found when I searched for it on eBay, which supposedly can help you find it: six tubes of superglue. Now it all makes sense.
The Parents Television Council has made their annual list of the ten best and ten worst family-friendly shows available. Arrested Development, my current favorite show on TV and one of the few I watch on a regular basis, comes in as a disappointing 9th worst. (I would have thought it at least third worst, but I've never seen a few on the list.) According to the PTC, "Arrested Development is designed to offend. Episodes regularly contain scripted bleeps. This enables the writers to use language, including "f**k" and "s**t," network censors would never allow. Arrested Development also employs some of the most outrageous double-entendres ever to find their way into prime-time. In one episode, for example, Tobias says he was an analyst and a therapist, making him the first "analrapist." Other episodes have delved into the bizarre sexual proclivities of the main characters, such as Lucille's revelation that she and George derive sexual pleasure from being strangled with a belt."
The Mountain Goats' John Darnelle writes that Scarlett Johansson's days as an emo love-crush are over and suggests a few new ones, including poet Ai.
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