Nabokov’s Synesthesia, Approximately
a – Weathered wood
g – Vulcanized rubber
r – A sooty rag being ripped
n – Oatmeal
l – Limp noodle
o – Ivory-backed hand mirror
x – Steely
z – Thundercloud
k – Huckleberry
q – Is browner than k
s – Is not the light blue of c, but a mixture of azure and mother-of-pearl
f – Alder leaf
p – Unripe apple
t – Pistachio
w – Dull green, somehow combined with violet
e – Yellow
i – Yellow
d – Creamy
y – Bright golden
u – Brassy with an olive sheen
j – Paler than a soft g
h – Drab shoelace
b – Burnt sienna
m – Fold of pink flannel
v – “Rose Quartz” from the Dictionary of Color
Selections from Novels in Three Lines, by Félix Fénéon
From Luc Sante’s translation of Félix Fénéon’s 1906 fait-divers for Le Matin:
“From the great rose window of the portal of the cathedral of Amiens, dear to Ruskin, a stone fell onto the steps.”
“While thundering for the Republic, a 300-year-old cannon exploaded in Chatou, but no one was hurt.”
“Sand and only that was the content of two suspect packages that yesterday morning alarmed Saint-Germane-en-Laye.”
“In the station at Emerainville, Seine-et-Marne, an empty train derailed, which delayed the Paris-Belfort connection for hours.”
“A young woman was sitting on the ground in Choisy-le-Roi. The only identifying word that amnesia allowed her was ‘model.’”
Twelve Headlines from the New York World
The day the central stacks of the New York Public Library opened after being closed for thirty days due to lead testing, there were about twenty people quietly searching through newspapers and periodicals in the microfilm room. Whilst spinning through issues of the 1916 New York World, I came upon these headlines, and wishing to proclaim each one to the studious patrons instead jotted them down. Among the highlights:
30 BOY SCOUTS FLEE RATHER THAN FIGHT
30,000 WORKMEN MEET DEATH YEARLY IN U.S.
182,273 ALIENS BARRED OUT BY LITERACY TEST
CUBISTS AND FUTURISTS REACH AMERICA
SWEDISH ARTIST STUDYING NEW YORK WOMEN SAYS THEY ARE FATTIES
THE WEARINESS OF WEALTH
SEIZE DAPPER CHAP AS “GENTLEMAN BURGLAR”
WOMEN IN MOBS ATTACKING CARS
MAFIA DEATH SIGN CUT IN THE FACE OF A SLAIN GAMBLER
KILL BIRDS THAT KILL SLEEP
EVERYONE SHOULD DRINK HOT WATER IN THE MORNING
SWORE HUSBAND PRAYED BY MEANS OF TYPEWRITER
Rubbernecking Democracy: Pepsi endorses president-elect
While watching an AP report from the war in Gaza on YouTube, an advertisement at the bottom of the screen invited me to contribute to America. I think the exact words, from the new Pepsi campaign, were “Dear Mr. President, Help us refresh the nation.” Everyone it seems has jumped on the Obama merchandising bandwagon. Yesterday in the New York Times, a briefly quoted DC lawyer astutely observed the recent Obama consumption mania thusly: “when Americans want to express their excitement, they turn to merchandising.”
With so many people having voted for Mr. Obama (or claiming to after the fact), it’s no surprise that everyone wants a piece of him. How many articles have been written about the president-elect and his choice of cell phone? A quick search on news.google.com listed over 1,000. In addition to the usual T-shirts, bobbleheads, bumper stickers, key chains, mugs, jewelry, and tote bags, collectors will be going mad for more obscure tchotchke such as DC Metro faircards and toilet paper. Is it that far off to predict that one day Obama memorabilia could outnumber that of Elvis’s? The younger set may even live to see thirty Obamas parachute from an airplane.
It’s nice to see a multinational corporation such as Pepsi contributing to the celebration of democracy. (According to the Center for Responsive Politics, out of the $279,561 PepsiCo contributed to federal candidates in 2008, 58% went to Republicans.) Perhaps after the inauguration Pepsi could turn its resources and attention to promoting peace in the Middle East. Now that’s change we need. But then again, that would require Pepsi to actually take a position on a live issue, not after the fact.
From the Archive
Appendix D, Artists Who Use Disco Balls
Seam Carving, by Harm van den Dorpel
Seam Carving, Harm van den Dorpel, PDF
The Names, by Charles Gute
Pages 77–83
THE THIRTEENTH ISSUE of Private Circulation marks the one-year anniversary of the bulletin and features “The Names” by Charles Gute.
ASDF Makes
From ASDF:
The Third E-flux Journal: Issue #2
