The Casual Optimist

Books, Design & Culture

January 4, 2013
by Dan
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Something for the Weekend

Wondrous Horrors – Ariella Budick on the centenary of the 1913 Armory Show in New York, for the Financial Times: Critics did not reject every European innovation. They nodded at the impressionists, puzzled respectfully over Cézanne, and tolerated Gauguin. But cubism blew … Continue reading

April 15, 2009
by Dan
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Midweek Miscellany, April 15th, 2009

The #amazonfail shitstorm — from Amazon’s awful “ham-fisted”  glitch (a phrase so dirty it’s probably de-listed from their own searches) to the seething self-righteous indignation on Twitter — has been enough to make me want turn off the internet and … Continue reading