by Dan Erenberg

I last blogged about the Oscars for Slow Century two years ago. Re-reading it now, it seems to drip with vitriol. Now, the simple reason for my anger was that Slumdog Millionaire was the big front-runner that year and I totally hated that movie. Just be glad I didn’t write about the Oscars last year because my Avatar hatred actually managed to far outshine my Slumdog hatred. This year, my plan is to be a lot calmer and kinder. I actually like most of the nominees this year. I can’t remember a year in which I didn’t totally hate at least one of the Best Picture nominees. And this year is the second year with ten, so I’m feeling very impressed with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. So, feeling positive and happy, let’s get on with the show.

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March 1, 2011 at 12:35am

In the fourteen months since our last post, the members of our staff have been busy doing things like moving to faraway places and starting grad school and—as 20-somethings are wont to doing—finding ourselves. Attempting to, at least. 

In the coming weeks we will be making some changes to the site and producing new content. Hooray! 

Tags: slow century business
October 8, 2010 at 6:05pm

By Danielle Berg

EFAYW is cross-posted from my personal blog. (Almost) every Wednesday, I tell a story about something very embarrassing that I’ve done recently, or not so recently. Because I’m extremely unphotogenic, I prefer to post a story than a gratuitous photo of mysef, as many tumblrers do on Wendesdays. If you want to contribute your own EFAYW, send us an email: slowcenturymag@gmail.com. It would be nice to know I’m not alone in the making-a-fool-of-myself department.

In the summer of 2005, I received a letter with my college roommate-to-be’s name: Elizabeth Smith*. Because the University of Maryland paired roommates up by scholastic intelligence (we were both in the Scholors program) and focus (along with your major, you had to pick a focus; ours was Media & Society), I expected to have a lot in common with Elizabeth.

Quick aside - lest you think I’m bragging by pointing out that I was in the Scholars program, please note that this was only a step above regular. After Scholars there was Honors, and after that, Gemstone. Scholars kids, from what I remembered, were chosen for their “personality.” Gemstone kids were geniouses, and lived together near the dining hall. So when you saw people walk in and out of the building, you were able to say, “Yup, that kid’s a genious.” This system really took the guess work out of figuring out how much smarter people were than you…

FULL EMBARRASSING STORY

Tags: EFAYW
August 5, 2009 at 3:27pm

by President Barack Obama, special guest blogger, with help from Adam Hunter

My fellow Americans. I am writing to you today to talk about an important issue in our country, one that too often goes ignored in our society. For too long, our United States have been divided. While Americans in generation after generation did their part to end these divisions, the recent events involving a police officer and African-American professor in Massachusettshave shown that we still have a way to go. My hope is that tomorrow, we can continue to blur the lines that divide us. My hope is that tomorrow, we will all have a chance to enjoy the taste of America freely, and without prejudice. My hope is that tomorrow, we can finally stop fighting about which kind is best: Red Stripe, Blue Moon, Bud Light, or Mike’s Hard Cranberry Lemonade…

FULL ADDRESS

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July 30, 2009 at 11:03pm

by Danielle Berg

The other night, my boyfriend Matt, my friends Becky and Josh, and I went to a Brooklyn Cyclones game. Since I work two stops from Coney Island, I got there before them, and spent some time walking through the park. I’d been to the boardwalk, and to Surf Ave., but never in between.

Joe Sitt, the developer who bought up most of the central amusement area of Coney Island, belongs to the Syrian-Jewish community of New York (and New Jersey). Which means, in Syrian-Jewish tradition, he likely has handfuls of cousins with the same name, as first children are named for their paternal grandparents, second children are named for their maternal grandparents (unless they’re a different sex, in which case they’ll be named for the other paternal grandparent), and after that - I don’t know…

FULL STORY

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July 29, 2009 at 12:13pm

From what Google Analytics tells me, people are still checking out the site, even though it hasn’t been updated in a while.

A quick note, to shed some light on the Slow Century situation. I (Danielle) certainly overestimated how much time I had to devote to this. But I’m so used to making mistakes (I’d guess that 80% of my decisions are bad/wrong ones) that I’m happy to work through this overestimation. Dan’s been awesome, though I think my long lapse in posting has affected his frequency over here - and that’s a shame, because I think there are a lot of people who enjoy reading his thoughts.

Joe and Janna are over in Oregon, living a life that makes me consider my New York residency. Oh, and they’re engaged! They’re one of the greatest couples I know, and I’m so, so happy for them. Joe’s getting his MFA in fiction, and Janna, whatever she ends up doing during the hours of 9-5, is, as always, taking beautiful pictures. (And with a new cat, a new dog, and a new landscape to photograph, I’ve appreciated Janna’s tumblr even more than usual.)

I’ll be posting more often on here. I might have to cut out an hour of Doogie Howser time out of my nightly schedule to do it, but I think I can handle that.

We need to adjust the “about” section a bit - it was certainly ambitious, but rather than try to change or alter the face of online media, I think we’re better suited to just, you know, talk about things with the voices we have. And we’re still interested in contributing writers. If you already have a blog, we’d be happy to cross-post; and if you don’t blog already, and you’re a good writer, we’d love to add your thoughts here. Send an email to slowcenturymag@gmail.com if you’re interested, and feel free to include a sample or a link to your blog.

Thanks for sticking with us.

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July 29, 2009 at 11:39am

by Daniel Erenberg

My excitement for the summer movie season this year has been curiously subdued. I’ve been seeing pretty much everything that’s coming out, but I’m finding it difficult to care about any of them. The only film I’ve seen this summer that I’d consider seeing multiple times was Star Trek. And I probably only have one more viewing of that movie left in me. Meanwhile, looking ahead, I can only really muster up the energy to get psyched for Judd Apatow’s Funny People and Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds. Here’s a sampling of what I’ve seen the last two weeks:

READ THE REVIEWS

Tags: movie reviews drag me to hell up the hangover away we go land of the lost
June 15, 2009 at 6:30pm

by Daniel Erenberg

So, it seems that Slow Century Magazine has taken the entire month of May off. Co-founders Joe Ireland and Janna Washington have spent the month packing up their shit and shipping it out west, as they now reside in Eugene, Oregon. Danielle Berg has spent most of her time working on The Quilt Project, a wonderful Community-building non-profit, which hosted a very successful fundraiser on May 9 (which I couldn’t attend, due to Star Trek-related prior commitments). And my laptop has been broken, which has given me the excuse to ignore my journalistic commitments and, instead, sit in my Slanket and watch Gilmore Girls DVDs. But, of course, I have been keeping up on everything pop culture-related, so I have to play catch-up. I thought it might be a good idea to put together a collection of mini-reviews in case our many, many readers have been wondering what Slow Century’s official take on the happenings of early summer are. And I might even have collected my thoughts on the broadcast network upfronts in time for Summer Press Tour in July. Maybe.

READ THE REVIEWS HERE

Tags: capsule reviews may catch up comic books grizzly bear wolverine star trek caprica
June 2, 2009 at 1:36am

An interview with photographer Will Steacy

by Janna Washington

“The Forum, Philadelphia, 2008” from Down These Mean Streets

Will Steacy is an American photographer.  Born in Philadelphia, he received a B.F.A in Photography from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Steacy worked as Union Laborer before becoming a photographer.  His photographs have been exhibited in numerous galleries and museums across the country and are included in many private and public collections.  In 2008, Steacy was selected by powerHouse Books and The Center for Documentary Studies for 25 Under 25: Up-and-Coming American Photographers, and was awarded a prestigious Tierney Fellowship.  He lives and works in New York.

Steacy’s most recent project, Down These Mean Streets, which focuses on America’s crumbling cities, will be on view as part of the Tierney Fellowship Group Show at the New York Photo Festival (Tobacco Warehouse, 26 New Dock Street, Dumbo, Brooklyn, NY) from May 13 to May 17, and in New York University’s Gulf and Western Gallery (721 Broadway, first floor, New York, NY) beginning on June 4, 2009.

FULL INTERVIEW

Tags: Interviews photography travel
April 30, 2009 at 6:36pm

By Adam Hunter

[Editor’s note: This came into my inbox post-email-checking hours, so it’s a day late.]

Yoooo, duuuude. It’s four-twenty, man. Fore-twen-tee. 420!!! Haha. You guys know what I’m talking about. Well, maybe not you losers. You don’t know what I’m talking about. Or maybe you think you know what I’m talking about, but what I’m talking about isn’t what you think I’m talking about. Even though I’m not actually talking, I’m writing. But you cool people know what I’m talkin about. What was I talking about?

FULL ARTICLE

Tags: Pot What was I talking about? Illegal
April 21, 2009 at 10:19am