Grantland chronicles the rapid rise and fall of The National, an attempt at producing a national daily newspaper dedicated to sports that became infamous for spending money, shall we say, frivolously: [Editor-in-Cheief Frank] Deford: Oh, Christ. John [Feinstein] was overseas. The French Open ends. It’s another three weeks before Wimbledon. He calls me up and [...]
Ian Ranking overreacts, at The Quietus, about not receiving Radiohead’s deluxe newspaper album on time: Radiohead have tried to subvert the traditional system, to set themselves up as a cottage industry paid for by the fans and in tune with those fans. However, at a point in history when it has never seemed so important [...]
Chuck Klosterman — in his inaugural column for Grantland — on the most memorable sporting event he’s ever witnessed: Attending school at [United Tribes Technical College] is the polar opposite of idyllic. But that’s just how college life was (and still is) for so many Native American students — it’s just that nobody pays attention. [...]
John Jeremiah Sullivan on getting stoned at Disney World and so much more: Now we were truly at Disney World. A person didn’t come here every day! What is the scene here? Hello, primary colors; hello, quickly fading microdramas of passing human faces, incessantly deciding whether to make eye contact; hello, repeating stalls and gift [...]
Steve Jobs presents Apple’s plans for their new campus to the Cupertino City Council: An incredible vision of what a corporation can achieve when thought and care go into every decision. via macrumors
From Sarah Miller at The Awl: “You know I’ve never even seen any of the Harry Potter movies,” her roommate said. “I know,” Emma said, taking care to keep her tone light. “You mentioned that several times last night while you were sighing over how hard it was to get bit torrent to download Satyricon [...]
Settlers of Catan is going mainstream: After Settlers was first released in 1995, a small but passionate following emerged. It wasn’t until a decade later that the game’s popularity began to blossom. “The start of the tipping point was 2008,” said Bob Carty, a spokesman for Settlers manufacturer Mayfair Games. “Settlers is three to five [...]
The Top Five: My Kushy New Job by Wells Tower GQ Generation Why? by Zadie Smith The New York Review of Books How Elon Musk Turned Tesla Into the Car Company of the Future by Joshua Davis Wired Magazine Still Going Strong by Joe Posnanski Sports Illustrated The Empty Chamber by George Packer The New [...]
Cult of Mac interviews former Apple CEO John Sculley about Steve Jobs: The Apple logo was multicolor because the Apple II was the first color computer. No one else could do color, so that’s why they put the color blocks into the logo. If you wanted to print the logo in a magazine ad or [...]
“I need $20,000 in cash in a bag right now. We’re sending someone to Tijuana to buy a Smart car.” Wired chronicles the rising fortunes of Tesla’s electric car gamble. To prove the efficacy of their electric battery to top Daimler executives, Elon Musk instructed Tesla’s engineers to retrofit a Smart car with an electric [...]