Unstressed » awesome

Ricky Jay interviewed

Johnathon Williams — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:43:39 +0000

Actor, writer, and illusionist Ricky Jay is interviewed about his many film projects at The A.V. Club, where he shares a charming anecdote about the time he almost put Pierce Brosnon’s eye out with a playing card.

The Museum of Online Museums, or, another great way to annihilate your personal productivity

Johnathon Williams — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:17:36 +0000

If you’re not already familiar with it, The Museum of Online Museums from Coudal Partners is a fascinating way to bypass your work day. The museum lists more than 180 online collections of artifacts such as B movie posters, stewardess uniforms, and Fanta bottlecaps, to name just a few of my favorites. It’s like a Pez Dispenser for the brain. And Pez is yummy.

Linebreak’s first year

Johnathon Williams — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 19:15:00 +0000

We didn’t make much of it at the time, what with the inauguration and all, but Tuesday was Linebreak’s first anniversary. Since our launch on Jan. 22, 2008, we’ve published a single poem each week. This week, M.C. Allan’s “Rube Goldberg Draws the Human Heart” became our 53rd poem. We’d like to thank all of our contributors, especially those who took a chance on us when all we had was a concept and a legal pad with a sketch of our design. Linebreak is what it is because so many poets have been so generous with their talents — both written and recorded — and we appreciate that generosity more than we can say.

Of course, there’d be little point to any of this without our audience. From all of us here at Linebreak, thanks for reading and listening. Here’s to another year.

Dead poets. On video.

Johnathon Williams — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 15:30:22 +0000

Once, I despaired that zombies and poetry would ever find their proper relationship. Today, I despair no more, thanks to this YouTube channel in which famous dead poets read their work. A few favorites: Wilfred Owen reading “Strange Meeting,” Gerard Manly Hopkins reading “The Leaden Echo,” and Anne Sexton reading “The Truth the Dead Know.” Computer animation or necromancy? You decide!

Here’s my vote for the creepiest of the bunch, Dylan Thomas reading “Poem in October:”

(via Kottke)