Ellie Wilkinson's Tumblr

by Mark Lamster

It sounds like something out of a dime novel, or maybe a Nicolas Cage film. Behind the mute facade of a largely windowless neo-Gothic tower lies an ingenious system of steel vaults traveling on rails. Within those armored containers, which have been in continuous use since the Jazz Age, are stored some of New York City’s most precious objects and, presumably, a good number of its darkest secrets.

It’s like Gringotts!

In North Korea, one pair of socks can cost up to $9 — the equivalent of 20 pounds of corn, which could feed a family for a week. But it’s terrible to have to brave the winter cold without socks.

This man is sending balloons carrying socks over the border, along with messages, to lift the spirits of the North Koreans trapped under Kim Jong-il’s thumb.

Small gestures like this can make a big difference.

On a gray morning that threatened rain, Lee demonstrated how he pulls off his weekly balloon trick. He filled the elongated balloons with helium, attaching them to a box of about 100 socks. A timer on each package is set to open the box three hours later and disperse the contents like precipitation from the skies.

Suddenly, a man from Somalia stepped forward. “My people back home are suffering -– I know how it is,” said 31-year-old Noah Roble. “I admire what you’re doing. It gives me hope that one person can do so much good, or at least try.”

My result: Penguin

Careers and Hobbies: Writer, Herbalist, Journalist, Actor, Designer, Waiter, Gambling, Board games, Reading, Family time

Famous Penguins: Oscar Wilde, Truman Capote, Danny Devito 

“Now you see it, now you don’t. Aggressive yet gentle, outgoing but shy, stable yet flighty - everyone sees the penguin in a different way. It’s that black and white thing: the penguin only reveals the side that it wants to you to see. So whether you like this darling-devil or not, you have to concede that it’s a fascinating and enigmatic individual.

“Penguins are birds condemned to live out their days on the ground. Unable to fly, their excess energy has no outlet save their creative talents and emotional outbursts. Penguins are poetic, artistic, and intellectually gifted, and as writers penguins have no equal.

“But, if unable to channel their impulses in a positive way, the resulting turmoil proves damaging to their relationships and careers.

“Penguins are deceptively intelligent and are particularly animated when intellectually challenged. They excel at word games and puzzles but are modest about their abilities and are generally underestimated by others.

“With their misunderstood personality, penguins find writing an ideal tool for expressing their true feelings. They have a natural aptitude for languages and penguin personalities dominate the world of publishing as writers, editors, and journalists.

“With a natural aptitude for languages, penguin personalities dominate the world of publishing as writers, editors and journalists. A strong sense of drama draws them to the theater and cinema, although unlike typical bird personalities they avoid the spotlight unless they’re able to hide behind the characters they play. Once on stage however, they prove to be excellent performers with their multifaceted personalities conveying the full gamut of emotions.

“However, a lack of confidence affects their work. Penguins tend to give up on tasks they were otherwise capable of and are often disappointed with their performance. Still, work never dominates their life and they always put their family first.

Oscar Wilde? At least I’m in good company.

This is great. Go find out what animal you are!

tetw:

Courtesy of the Future Journalism Project

We asked Tumblr’s Future Journalism Project to put together a selection of their all-time favourite magazine length journalism. Here’s what they came up with:

Consider the Lobster by David Foster Wallace - ”I could pick any number of DFW articles as my favorite but am going with this one. See too his magnificent tennis reportage such as Federer as a Religious Experience from 2006  or The String Theory from 1996.” You can find a comprehensive collection of DFW classics here.

While You Were Sleeping by Charles Bowden - “Back in the mid-90s, Bowden published a harrowing account of life in Juarez, Mexico along the US border. At the time, a number of femicides where being committed. Very much a precursor to what’s happening in the drug wars today.”

For the Love of Culture by Lawrence Lessig - ”This one’s less about storytelling and more about the legal, cultural and creative importance of open culture and the creative commons. A must primer for anyone interested in independent creativity and production in any field.”

The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved by Hunter S. Thompson - ”Thompson meets Steadman meets the madness of the Kentucky derby.” A whole load more from Dr. Gonzo here.

The Curious Case of Sidd Finch by George Plimpton - “For the April 1985 issue of Sports Illustrated, Plimpton “discovers” a pitching prospect who will change baseball history. To start, Sidd has a 168 mile per hour fastball that he developed through years spent in a Tibetan monastery perfecting mind-body balance. Even knowing it’s an elaborate April Fools doesn’t diminish the fun.”

The Paranoid Style in American Politics by Richard Hofstadter - “Because the more things change the more things stay the same. Great articles are timeless, right?”

Frank Sinatra Has a Cold by Gay Talese - “A J-School classic on how to report a story on a subject that never appears.”

The Electric Cough-Syrup Acid Test by Jim Hogshire - “Ever wonder what it feels like to be a reptile. Take two bottles of Robitussin DM and call us in the morning.”

The Future Journalism Project is “a documentary initiative exploring disruption and opportunity in journalism.” Get involved!

by Michael Kimmelman, NYT architecture critic:

We tend to underestimate the political power of physical places. Then Tahrir Square comes along. Now it’s Zuccotti Park, until four weeks ago an utterly obscure city-block-size downtown plaza with a few trees and concrete benches, around the corner from ground zero and two blocks north of Wall Street on Broadway. A few hundred people with ponchos and sleeping bags have put it on the map.

Kent State, Tiananmen Square, the Berlin Wall: we clearly use locales, edifices, architecture to house our memories and political energy. Politics troubles our consciences. But places haunt our imaginations.

Interesting contrast to my last post:

After nearly two weeks of living among the Occupy Wall Street protesters in downtown Manhattan, Ellis Roberts, 25, a Pennsylvania garbage collector laid off last year, looked scruffy and dazed.

He was not, however, hungry.

“I’ve been here for 12 days, and I’ve put on 5 pounds,” he said, sitting on the ground in front of a handmade sign that said “Class War Ahead.” “I’m eating better than I do at home.”

Like the rest of his anti-corporate comrades, Mr. Roberts learned soon after arriving in Zuccotti Park that his meals would be taken care of. All he had to do was amble toward a ramshackle cluster of tables and boxes in the middle of the park and, without paying a cent, grab a slice of pizza or a warm slab of homemade vegan casserole. Last Thursday he had encountered “a bunch of Katz’s Deli sandwiches,” he said. “That was good.”

“The next time you dip your spoon into the sugar bowl or grab a few free packets for your morning coffee, think about this: Untold numbers of people had to cross borders illegally, live in squalid conditions, and endure back-breaking and dangerous work for slave wages for your convenience.

“At What Cost, a public art project, investigates the ground-level labor abuses behind sugar, coffee, tomatoes and other commonplace commodities by showing the stories of 10 workers who have endured extreme conditions.

“‘Sugar doesn’t taste that sweet anymore,’ said Leslie Thomas, founding executive and creative director of Art Works Projects, which is behind the project.’Most people don’t look at their shirt and realize if they got a good deal on it, someone down the line has been seriously abused.’”