An artist bio gets real:
She earned her MFA at a prestigious liberal arts school where she studied a bunch of Virginia Woolf alongside too many twenty-four-year-olds who were writing their first memoirs about their grandparents dying and their first jobs working at Dillard’s.
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Psssh, amateurs. I’ll cry reading the DESCRIPTIONS of these videos.
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Burt from Burt’s Bees is a weirdo, unsurprisingly, and bless ‘im for it.
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My daughter has carefully peeled all the weather-stripping off my mom’s front door, so we’re probably wearing out our welcome and should go home now.
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FOLLOW YOUR DEATH DIORAMA DREAMS
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On the afternoon of July 18, 1990, James Leeper, a newly minted homicide prosecutor in Brooklyn, had to make a challenging closing argument. The man he had charged with murder had mounted a substantial defense—offering plane tickets and video footage indicating he had been vacationing at Disney World when a man named Darryl Rush was shot dead in front of a Brooklyn housing project. Leeper acknowledged to the jury that it seemed like the “perfect alibi.”
Nonetheless, Leeper confronted the defense straight on: Yes, the defendant, a man named Jonathan Fleming, could have been in Florida around the time of the murder, Leeper conceded to the jury. But Fleming had ample opportunity to fly back to New York, kill Rush and return to his family vacation, Leeper argued. In fact, Leeper told the jury, there were 53 possible airline flights Fleming could have taken to do just that.
Leeper’s presentation won the day. The jury returned a guilty verdict. Fleming, 27, was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
It took 24 years, but eventually it became clear that there had been much more to Fleming’s alibi defense, and that Leeper had failed to disclose it to the jury.
The original case file from 1990 contained a time-stamped receipt showing that Fleming had paid an Orlando hotel phone bill just hours before Rush’s murder. The file also contained a letter from the Orlando Police Department informing Brooklyn detectives that Fleming had been seen at the hotel around the time of the killing. By law, Leeper was obligated to turn that material over to Fleming’s lawyer. But he had disclosed none of it.
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Life amomg the growers and trimmers of Humboldt County.
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Tags: feminism, link roundup, the internet
Ahhhh the Thai Life Insurance ad is so obviously emotionally manipulative and overblown and feels actually really exploitative, and yet I am bawling. BAWLING
I can’t watch those videos at work because I have no sound, but I bet $10 the Fresh Prince one is the “Why don’t he want me, man?” bit and I am weepy even thinking about it.
Although I have strong feelings about surprise-soldier-homecoming videos and they are mostly negative, THEY STILL MAKE ME CRY, WHAT IS THIS WITCHCRAFT.
Yup, that’s the one
I teared up just reading the description of the Fresh Prince clip. Sniff!
Does crying at just the description make us a certain type of person? Very empathetical? Very sensitive? Very smart? All three!?!
Very pathetic? (NB: I cry at everything all the time. My kids make fun of me for it.)
Oh man just THINKING about that scene makes me want to sob.
I didn’t even make it halfway through the Fresh Prince one because as soon as it started I KNEW it was the “he don’t want me” clip and I was already crying in… anticipation?
Thai life insurance ads as a category are my emotional drug. There’s just nothing else like them, and they’re so good. But terrible at the same time, of course.
I made it to Danny and Annie and I had to stop. I’m at work and I can only silently ugly-cry at my desk for so long before I feel the need to let out a howl, and that would startle the other peons.
Oh who am I kidding, I work alone. :/
Oh god, Danny and Annie. I watched most of it thinking “yeah, they seem kinda sweet, if a bit weird” and then the music started playing and I was gone. The cat has been listening to my sobs.
I get choked up just THINKING about Danny and Annie.
Stop saying Danny and Annie! It’s so dusty in here!
The one where the dad helps the man finish the Olympics, oh Jesus, its the perfect allegory for parenting and it really happened and now I need to go cry a flood of tears and hug my dad!
Can’t wait to go home and cry my face off tonight! (Seriously, I am excited.)
Yeah, I REALLY needed that. It’s good.
The little water boy one! When the older boy in the red hoodie broke down, I lost it.
Burt’s Bees lip shimmer is the only makeup I wear every day, and I love it truly and deeply even though it’s called “lip shimmer.”
why can’t I find watermelon lip shimmer anymore? nothing else will do!!!! SOMEONE FIND ME WATERMELON LIP SHIMMER!
You can get the watermelon one on the website! I don’t know what shipping is like, so it may not be worth it (although I suppose you could buy like 15 at a time).
the evil amazon comes through again
(edited to fix my link, because I am a fool)
It is THE BEST and I, too, wear it every day. Watermelon rocks, Fig is my jam, and Raisin is wacky fun times in Mel’s life.
I have never tried watermelon, but I may have to now! I like Cherry for every day and Fig for fancier occasions/every day after I run out of Cherry.
um….
“He was riveting, smelled like woodsmoke, and seemed entirely unconcerned with what anyone thought of him. ”
…d’you think he’d take an apprentice? less for the “smelled like woodsmoke”, more for the “riveting” and “unconcerned with what anyone” thinks of him.
I’m not at all trying to defend James Leeper, who sounds like human garbage, but why didn’t the lawyer for the defense find all that information himself? He didn’t think to contact the Orlando hotel on his own?
(disclaimer: I am a sleep-deprived cubicle drone who knows nothing about how investigations work)
That was my thought, too, but I guess there is more to it?
Ah, on further reading, it appears that this information was deliberately kept from the defense… pretty sinister stuff.
The prosecution has a duty to disclose anything that’s exculpatory or mitigating material to the defense. Irrespective of any investigation the defense does (and let’s be honest, most defendants have far fewer resources or investigators available than the prosecution, especially if they’re indigent). It’s called Brady material. (Sorry, criminal defense attorney here.)
If I learned anything from the Good Wife, the attorney general’s office is always trying to convict people with faulty evidence to keep the right political numbers.
But in seriousness, reading about this case makes me sick to my stomach.
I’m in Texas – there have been several cases like this here. This one led to them changing the law to mandate open-file discovery in every criminal case. The prosecutor in it, who had since become a judge, was disbarred. And did a whopping ten days jail.
That was a fascinating read–thanks for the link. Not to bum you out, but I looked up the Wikipedia article on Michael Morton to find out more about what happened to the prosecutor, since the article ends before the court of grand inquiry convened, and it said that Anderson was let out after 5 days for “good behavior.” Maddening.
Thanks for this! I’ll go to bed tonight slightly less stupid than when I woke up this morning.
It kinda sucks that they’re owned by Clorox now, but goddman do I love me some Burt’s Bees products. I am so excited to watch that documentary!!
Damn you The Toast, you linked to Thatz Not Okay yesterday morning and now I’m binge reading all of them. Finding a new advice column is like finding a chocolate bar that you forgot you stashed in the bottom of your purse last week. Except the chocolate bar is encrusted with diamonds.
Oh, you too? I’m carefully rationing it because I enjoy it TOO TOO TOO MUCH.
“Does a big brown river trout plop out?” I’M DEAD, CAITY WEAVER, HOPE YOU’RE HAPPY NOW
YES! The visual of Rihanna dumping a fish out of her handbag was too much. Anyone who would use that to illustrate a point about tipping for pizza delivery is a queen in my opinion.
Haha yes, this is also what I have been doing with all my break time at work.
I am so glad it’s not just me who’s been doing this.
I’m so glad I’m not alone here. I have been reading through them sporadically, going to whatever sounds good, but they are all EXCELLENT AND AMAZING.
Also been binge-reading Thatz Not Okay; my favourite is “Can I turn my office into a scented candle fire pit?” Awesome.
I’m having a good morning because I am reading this post about a greedy mommy-to-be sending people who didn’t give her a gift/attend her shower a horrible guilt-tripping poem, and the comments are full of great rebuttal poems that are HILARIOUS.
Also I’m trying not to devour all the posts at Thatz Not Okay but IT IS HARD.
The rebuttal poems are the best!
Those are unreasonably terrible poems. Which is fitting, as she seems like an unreasonably terrible person. But seriously, really really bad poetry.
That lady has lost her mind? Any way one of the commenters put together this little gem of a haiku:
Pay for your own kid
I owe you nothing because
You had intercourse
These have got to be fake. Right? RIGHT??? Or do I have to chuck out all my faith in humanity? Oh God.
ALWAYS here to read more about the Nutshell Studies. There’s a documentary, “Of Dolls and Murder,” that features John Waters. Because Baltimore.
One of my best birthdays was when I accidentally talked my way into the Maryland ME’s office to see the Nutshell Studies. I’d truly read that they were open by appointment and am in no way an artist or police detective. They really are stunning in person and quite beautiful in their own way.
Toasties! Important CODE NAME VERITY news!
Some group called SYNC has been offering 2 free YA-friendly audiobooks per week all summer (which is grand in & of itself) and this week you can get the audio of CODE NAME VERITY for free, baby, free
It is as amazing as you’d expect, the narration is truly stunning, and I beg y’all not to listen while driving because I care about your safety. You have to download Overdrive for it, but you should have done that already bc how else are you listening to your library downloads at all times and therefore not having to pay for your insane audiobook habit? (Is that just me? Huh.)
Here;s the link: http://www.audiobooksync.com/free-sync-downloads/…
(Though I must protest about the cover. I don’t like this new cover – where are my heart-wrenching clasped hands? Gone, in favor of a profile of a gal in a bun with a rose? I call bullshit.)
Oh, you had a different cover! I had a “girl’s face barbed wire” copy. http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41H9QndlHFL…
Nope, not as good as bound hands of friendship / pain http://dakimel.blogspot.com/2012/12/war-is-hell-o…
(I bet some dumbass at Amz flagged it bc of their new anti-erotica-covers stance and that’s why all these heads have taken over.) (Or not. I’m just deep into Amazon-conspiracy theory these days on all the romance self-publishing forums I frequent.)
Why does YA lit feel the need to put big faces on all their covers? The heart-wrenching clasped hands are miles better.
OMG BOOKMARKING FOR WHEN I GO HOME AUGH
Oooh, I have been hearing about this book, but am not near an English-language library, and can’t buy books right now. This is perfect! ALL THE THANKYOUS
Thanks for this, emailed myself to download it later!
YAY thank you! My boyfriend is super dyslexic and only reads audiobooks and there’s a hold list at the library and I need him to read it like yesterday and cry forever with me.
I downloaded this to my work computer and I am not even sorry. Also, is there anything better than being read to?
Sigh.
I AM SO TORN.
1) YES i need more CODE NAME VERITY it is one of my favorite books and it’s so heartbreaking and I haven’t been able to afford to buy my own copy so PERFECT
2) but I just started ROSE UNDER FIRE and it is ALSO even more heartbreaking and i don’t know if i can bear knowing that CNV is there to listen to. TOO MUCH emotional involvement
(also too i have an irrational annoyance with Wein right now for basically putting the kibosh on my theory that the CNV girls were madly in love. i mean, it’s not TOTALLY impossible still, but less and less likely and my heart has a big sad.)
I am so angry about them not officially being madly in love
SO I choose to ignore it, and have decided they were madly in love ANYWAY, and the whole brother thing was just an inferior substitute born out of grief
I haven’t heard that EW entirely squashed this theory (although I’ve read Rose Under Fire too), but I also choose to believe that the CN:V women were more than just friends.
I mean, there is a lot of subtext there without having to look for it. The two have matching dreams when they are apart, they share a bed on one occasion, they both speak emphatically about how much they love each other and hope each other are okay, and would do anything for each other. (Not to mention: people make fun of Maddy by speculating that she’s just not interested in men, the occasion of the duo’s first real meeting is very dramatic/they must immediately collaborate to do something heroic (after which, Julie hugs and kisses Maddy and tells her “we make a sensational team!” and Maddy watches Julie dash off into the chaos and remarks to herself: “It’s like being in love, discovering your best friend.”), the whole “Kiss me, Hardy” thing, etc.) I could go on, but I think there is a very good case to be made for the girls sharing something more than friendship. I don’t even think they know what it is, exactly, that they would have had the vocabulary to identify it… but I definitely think they were in love of sorts.
(Not that there weren’t lesbian/bisexual women involved in the war effort at that point in time, obviously, (“The Night Watch” is full of examples) but Maddy at very least I don’t think would have known about those labels… Julie seems to be willing to charm whoever she needs/know more about the world, so it’s more possible on her end.)
Also, ***super spoiler*** one member of an intense same-sex friendship deciding to get with the near-identical but heterosexually-appropriate sibling of their friend is a classic transference sort of move (“Brideshead Revisited” being the most glaring example).
(And like Brideshead Revisited, I don’t think anyone here was having sexytimes with each other, just very, very emotionally intense friendships/unexamined feelings)
AH sorry for the mini-essay. Somebody (maybe I?) should think about pitching a CN:V Femslash Friday article to the Powers That Be where we can hash out all of our feelings about this book.
Those are my exact thoughts and feelings, which you articulated much better and more clearly than I did. Thank you!
I want to go back in time and be friends with Frances Glessner Lee. This passage, man:
When Lee was 4 years old, her mother—also named Frances—recorded in her diary that her daughter had stated, “I have no company but my doll baby and God.”
Burt’s Bees is dead to me. This may not still be true, but they used to put peppermint oil in every freaking product, and as I was extremely allergic to mint in my early twenties, I could not use any of these supposedly magical lip balms. The first time I bought an overpriced stick of lip shimmer I had to throw it away, because I didn’t read the ingredients and it made my lips puff up like Lip Venom.
*fistbump*
I wouldn’t say they’re dead to me, but, yeah, I hate the taste of mint and peppermint oil makes my lips peel off my face. I don’t understand why they have such a huge following because…ew.
Here is an article by me which mentions the chemical reasons that this happens! http://thesmartset.com/article/article11121201.as…
I used to love mint before I developed that skin condition, too–would eat Smints and Altoids like candy, and always had a stick of Winterfresh for after a meal–but now I don’t even like the smell except in small doses.
Can I just say how much I love ProPublica? They do so much awesome work.
“The Mountain, some fifty miles from the Pacific, a summit among low peaks, is passable only via private back road. ”
Hahahahaha heeeeeeey hometown!!! Good to see that nothing has changed.
“one local expert calculated that some twenty million plants a year are grown within its borders. Conservatively, five million pounds of marijuana are produced annually in Humboldt—six times the total number of pounds seized nationally by the DEA in 2012.”
Yup.
Yup. Moved back in with my parents in Eureka and have been trying for six months to find a job that doesn’t involve weed. I HOPE YOU’RE HAPPY, HUMBOLDT.
It wasn’t any better in Mendocino. Now I’m in Sonoma. Soon I’ll have slid all the way to Baja and taken to the seeeeaa if I don’t find a gainful gig.
so who has an in with the MD CME and can get me in to see the death dioramas – i’ll bring you presents from DC and my undying gratitude!!
I just kind of…got in by accident a couple years ago? I wrote to the guy in charge of the collection and asked for an appointment. It took some pestering though.
Didn’t realize they were by appointment only to certain people which probably helped my brashness in even suggesting a visit. If you are a government worker or an academic it might help!
Did you guys see this video about feminist high school boys?
I now have death diorama dreams! If only I could follow them. Four g’s a pop? Dayum. And that was back then!
Also, goddamnit, someone tell me how Dorothy died. Who did it and why?
Latest update on the Mormon feminist movement: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/12/us/two-activist…
Those of us in the church who supported the movement are completely devastated (there is another prominent activist who is also being threatened with excommunication), as up until this, despite setbacks and retrenchment from the leaders, there were some very small signs of progress. It’s the September Six all over again (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_Six).
I saw this article this morning and immediately thought of The Toast’s pervious coverage. How completely heartbreaking and frustrating this must be for everyone who loves their LDS faith and is trying to create change from within.
I knew better but I still clicked on the tearjerker link.
NO I DON’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT I’M FINE.
Exactly. Tingling is one way your skin indicates irritation. Not just mint. Citrus and other additives are used to create tingle, which the retail industry has taught consumers to equate with efficacy. Scent is for sales, not for skin care.
Also been binge-reading Thatz Not Okay; my favourite is "Can I turn my office into a scented candle fire pit?" Awesome.
It wasn't any better in Mendocino. Now I'm in Sonoma. Soon I'll have slid all the way to Baja and taken to the seeeeaa if I don't find a gainful gig.
Yeah, I earned a BFA while pregnant, then went toxic and nearly died…so not as ironic, yet I still think I have the upper hand.