“Periodicals: The most frigid and judgmental part of the library. If you even think of talking or breathing above a whisper, you will be violently shushed (and maybe shanked).” –Caroline Brown, North by Northwestern, February 22, 2016
posted on September 4, 2020 by
“Dante’s Inferno has always been so funny to me…”
“Dante’s Inferno has always been so funny to me because its this really important classic that is constantly referenced, but at the same time it’s really just a burn book. Dante Alighieri is Regina George and he wrote an entire book about a bunch of people he hates and why he hates them. Dante took out his pink gel pen and wrote out in big cursive letters: Achilles is a slut.” —aphrodarling on tumblr (April 24, 2019)
Regina George is the antagonist of the 2004 film Mean Girls.
Contributed by Kate McKee (Bowdoin College ’22)
posted on February 23, 2020 by
“Super Bowl 2020 commercial for Dashlane drops you in terrifying password hell” – CNET
“In the minute-long spot, called ‘Password Paradise,’ a hooded mythological creature ferries a guy in a boat through swampy waters reminiscent of the River Styx in Dante’s Inferno. Ahead, there’s a bright, welcoming light and the sound of angelic voices. But to enter this paradise, the guy will need his password — which he’s naturally forgotten.
“The Charon-like creature prompts him to answer his security questions. No, it has be to the name of his first pet. You wanted to be a dolphin trainer when you grew up? Sorry, wrong answer dude!” [. . .] –Leslie Katz, CNET, January 31, 2020.
Contirbuted by Trey Turney (The Bolles School, ’22)
posted on January 6, 2020 by
Smokin’ Guns Hell
posted on December 18, 2019 by
Two-Minute Apocalypse
“Heavenly Legal had issued a Malfunction Recall and she was a fallen angel sent from below to ensure poor souls like mine found their way into the tenth circle of Hell in an orderly fashion. ‘I thought there were only nine circles down there,’ I objected. ‘We had to add one for all those who’ve lived their lives as if they were going to live forever.'” —Carlos Ruiz Zafón, Chipotle’s The Cultivating Thought Author Series
Photo courtesy of Crystal on Tumblr, who also provides a full transcript of Carlos’ story.
posted on October 24, 2019 by
Looney Tunes – Book Revue (1946)
“Stop that dancing up there! Ya sillies.”
The Big Bad Wolf was particularly bad in this 1946 Looney Tunes clip.
See more about the short, titled Book Revue, here.
posted on September 6, 2019 by
Nathan W. Pyle’s Comic
Nathan W. Pyle is an author and illustrator based in New York City. He is best known for his book NYC Basic Tips and Etiquette (2014), and his comic series Strange Planet.
You can check out more of Pyle’s work by following him on Instagram, Facebook, and by visiting his website. Additionally, Pyle is releasing a book of Strange Planet comics later this year, which you can check out on Amazon.
Contributed by Dariella Fonseca (Florida State University ’20).
posted on August 30, 2019 by
All That Man Is (2017) by David Szalay
David Szalay’s All That Man Is, published in 2017 by Vintage, tells the stories of nine different men at varying stages of life, and explores the issues and psych of the 21st century man. The book was a finalist for the 2016 Man Booker Prize, and the winner of the 2016 Paris Review Plimpton Prize for Fiction. The fourth story of the novel cites the first three lines of the Inferno, as the story’s protagonist, a medieval scholar in crisis, drives into a pine forest.
“Pine forests on hillsides start to envelop them on the east side of the Main. And fog.
Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita
Mi ritrovai per una selva oscura
Ché la diritta via era smarrita
“Well, here it is. Dark pine forests, hemming the motorway. Shapes of fog throw themselves at the windscreen.” [. . .] –David Szalay, All That Man Is (p. 146).
You can purchase Szalay’s book here.
posted on August 15, 2019 by
Stephen Colbert on Trump and heresy
Anderson Cooper: And the punishment for heretics is…?
Stephen Colbert: I think it’s red hot iron coffins in Dante’s Inferno.
(0:25 on) –CNN, Politics of the Day Video, August 15, 2019
Contributed by Nicolino Applauso
posted on July 25, 2019 by
Arthur Chu on Hell
“Hell has a gate with an inscription on it and everything, it’s famous” […] –Arthur Chu, Twitter, October 25, 2018
