Things thought during/after watching last night’s season premiere of Downton Abbey

Posted by Jason Diamond Last night was the season premiere of Downton Abbey.  Even if you don’t watch the show (especially if you’ve got Twitter) there’s a slight chance you already knew about the series’ return.  PBS offered two hours of the most acclaimed costume drama on television that included plenty of Dame Maggie Smith hot fire quotes like, “War makes early risers of us all.  I thought I’d help with the flowers,” and enough “oh snap!” moments to fill up your […]

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Vacation is all we ever wanted

Things are going to be a little slow around these parts until after the new year.  We will still be posting daily Bites along with other assorted things, but if any of the following happen, we will totally post something about it: 1.  If we find out that any of the following books are real and got book deals:  Zombie Huckleberry Finn, Salon Hack List Vs. Zombies, a book where people who tweeted, tumbled, blogged, or thought too much about the Marie […]

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Punks in Indonesia are punker than you and I

Posted by Jason Diamond When I was a kid, I thought I had it tough when a cop named Officer Woods wrote me a ticket for skateboarding in front of a Walgreens and told me to stop dying my hair red. If you get arrested at a punk show in Indonesia, they make you bathe in a lake, change your clothes, cut your hair, and force religion on you.   Follow Vol. 1 Brooklyn on Twitter, Facebook, and our Tumblr.

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The OWS-Inspired Gazette

Posted by Jason Diamond Created by n+1 editors, Occupy! is a forty-page history, both personal and documentary, and the beginning of an analysis of the first month of the occupation that began on Wall Street, and has now spread all over.  Copies have been picked up, and they’re looking for people to help distribute them to cities all over.  Take a second and check it out on Facebook, and let them know if you’re interested in helping out.

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Morning Bites: Philip Roth’s nonexistent Nobel, Truffaut’s Bradbury, vampire Jews, and more

Winter is coming (well, the holiday shopping season is, but winter nonetheless), and it’s getting everybody really psyched about the impending Kindle Fire vs. iPad wars.  Slate and The Daily Beast weigh in. At The Millions: Can we please just give Philip Roth a fricken Nobel Prize already?  Until then, he’s just gonna keep chilling. Taking a look at Truffaut’s adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. This week will see the release of Arthur Conan Doyle’s long lost first novel, […]

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Revenge of the Scientologists

Posted by Jason Diamond A couple of folks from the Church of Scientology stood outside the Conde Nast building yesterday, handing out copies of the magazine Freedom with a defaced Eustace Tilley on the cover.  The issue’s aim seemed to be about going on the offensive against the Lawrence Wright penned piece on Crash director, Paul Haggis, leaving the church.   Animal New York has the entire issue up on their site.

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