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5.5.05

Culturally Speaking #63

By Sarah Stodola

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I cannot believe that I have never come across this site, hosted by the Library of Congress, before now.  Tons of the library's collection have been loaded online, and you can search by topic for pics and documents, or you can just browse by topic.  I found the pic of the old New York City skyline below through this site.  It's fascinating.

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One time, a soceer game riot started an actual war:

After Honduras lost a soccer game against El Salvador [in 1969], rioting broke out in Honduras against Salvadorian migrant workers. Of the 300,000 Salvadorian workers in Honduras, tens of thousands were expelled, prompting the Salvadorian army to invade Honduras. The OAS eventually worked out a cease-fire.

...from this online timeline.

 

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I was outraged when I read this Times article about the City’s passing of rezoning laws to allow development along the waterfront of Williamsburg and Greenpoint.  Not only was I expecting the measure not to pass (perhaps because I have been out of the country for a few months?), but now that it has passed, the Times seems to be celebrating the whole thing.

Essentially, developers are now going to be authorized to build 40-story buildings along the waterfront, blocking everyone else’s views of Manhattan and completely altering the look and feel of what was once a charmingly industrial area, all low-rise buildings and converted warehouses.

As part of the plan, developers will be required to build a waterfront park and if they refuse to open up 20% of their housing to low- and middle-income people, they can only build 33-story buildings instead of 40-story ones. Woop-dee-doo. The city should build the park on its own. And I would have said that at least half the housing should be for the not-rich.

Basically, in ten years Williamsburg is going to look like Cheslea and I think it’s disgusting.

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A new South American discount airline may make travel around South America a more economical (and less time-consuming) endeavor. Click here for the airline’s website…

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A profile of Nick Laird in the Guardian (yes, Zadie Smith’s hubby), in which the author refreshingly balks at his the first-time novelist's denials of blatant truths.

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We keep hearing about how bad the industry is looking for literary publications in America. Well, that problem, as far as I can tell, applies only to “North” America. Here in Buenos Aires, where I’ve been for the past few months, bookstores abound. There are chains, independents, niche, you name it.

In addition, Buenos Aires is currently hosting an enormous international book fair, which I haven’t attended yet because the lines have consistently wrapped around the block and I have run out of patitence. In this city, not only do people stand in line for an hour to look at books, they stand in line for an hour to pay an entrance fee to look at books.

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Speaking of literature in Buenos Aires, it has become clear to me over the past couple of months that Paul Auster is the most popular living American author down here. I’ve been asked if I like him countless times by the locals. The most popular dead author is Edgar Allen Poe.

Click here for the last Culturally Speaking.

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Sarah Stodola is the Executive Editor of Me Three.  She can be contacted here.

© 2005 Me Three