Words
The Shape of Stories
Some New Words
Beautiful Words
Love a bit of word play me. I would argue some and point out a fair few not mentioned. David Dalton asked Twitter and drew up a list 32.
See his selection on BuzzFeed>
Underground Update
Occasionally staff on the London Underground say more than usual to commuters in ways you would not expect.
A Man Out of Time
BS Johnson was an experimental author in the sixties who challenged the form of the novel in ways that the modern day digitally savvy authors would appreciate.
His most famous book ‘The Unfortunates’ was known as the book in a box consisting of loose leaf sections that could be read in any order – thus replicating the randomness of memory. He not only wrote novels, he also wrote plays and poems as well as being a film maker. I have often wondered how he would have embraced the digital era; without doubt I think he would have been one of its pioneers.
As a footnote I have a very personal connection with this book, because it is about my parents and I am actually a character in the book too.
Read Jonathan Coe’s article about BS Johnson’s work on The Spectator>
Mad Words
In honor of the finale, the New York Public Library is featuring its Mad Men reading list, a collection of 25 titles read by characters throughout the series. The list was inspired by Billy Parrott, a NYPL librarian who has tracked the book appearances since Season 1. It is part of a larger series of Mad Men events that AMC is hosting across the U.S. leading up to the finale.
See the Cast choices on Mashable>Poetic Reminders
Wall ‘O’ Type
Choose the Right Words
Author Aliya Whiteley asks, when many turns of phrase have become trite as a result of the constant bombardment of advertising, how do brands make words work for them?
Things We Don’t Want to Hear
Having been a judge for radio awards this strikes a chord with me. These are two short films made by Jim Elliott, the new global chief creative officer of Arnold Worldwide, and voiceover artist Paul Guyet catalogue all those annoying phrases, effects and tricks that the juries of 2015 Radio Mercury Award are just sick and tired of hearing. Quite a clever way of advertising an awards ceremony in its own right.
Things We Don't Want to Hear in a Radio Ad (Part 1) from Radio Mercury Awards on Vimeo.
Things We Don't Want to Hear in a Radio Ad (Part 2) from Radio Mercury Awards on Vimeo.
Humans & Stories
A really interesting Podcast by Dr Yuval Harari who chats about his new book,
Sapiens, which explores tens of thousands of years of history and offers fresh insights into subjects such as agriculture, war, empire, science and capitalism. Seemingly the heart of our success is our to co-ordinate, which is driven mainly by our ability to believe stories.
Cheeky But Effective
Pulls a bit of stunt at the end of the copy, but taps into a great insight into how we respond to animals and our resistance to charity ads pulling at your heart strings.
He Wants a Pony…
The New Yorker review of Fifty Shades. Love it, or hate it, people are writing about it.
Penguin Little Black Classics
For the 80th anniversary of Penguin books, the famed publisher is launching a new range of 80 classics, to be sold for 80p each.
Untranslatable Idoms Explained
It’s a piece of cake. You can’t put lipstick on a pig. Why add fuel to the fire? Idioms are those phrases that mean more than the sum of their words. Here some untranslatable idioms from around the world are explained by the Open Translation Project volunteers who translate TED Talks into 105 languages.
Post Secret
It’s been around for a long time and is still going strong. We’ve obviously got a lot to get off our chests.
It’s All In The Planning
How JK Rowling planned her Potter novels
Rarely Spoken Words Illustrated
“Among The Disrupted”
Haunting words about the state of culture in the post-humanist wilderness created by our lust for technology. Written by Leon Wieseltier contributing editor at The Atlantic and the author of “Kaddish.
Collection of Collectives
Nothing more enjoyable than a playful collective noun. This site is probably the ultimate gathering of collectives, because it not only lists them but it also allows people to put forward their own and if liked it gets posted with a credit.
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