• Although I tend to know way too much about celebrities as a result of LIVING ON THE INTERNET, I can assure you there’s nothing I hate more than reading gossip rags. That said, apparently I really love reading ABOUT gossip rags. For a great look at New York’s “golden gossip era” and how it lost its mojo, check this Village Voice piece from Foster Kamer and Joe Coscarelli. Then call me and we can discuss it in hushed, excited tones. -jc
• Honestly, what do you really know about Sarah Palin? The former Governor of Alaska and Vice-Presidential candidate is arguably a more ubiquitous politician these days despite not holding any official public service positions. In perhaps the best (meaning seriously investigative, not just sarcastic or ironic) profile I’ve read yet about Palin, Vanity Fair delves behind the glasses and pumps in a way — surprisingly — nobody has before. Palin is an incredibly opaque personality despite all her basking in the lime light. Writer Michael Joseph Gross does well to provide a little transparency about the future great Right hope. -sy
• The most interesting newspaper reads to me aren’t the breaking story type — although those certainly have their place. Rather, I’ve always been enamoured by stories that provide slice of life understanding. As such, this New York Times story about people with birthday’s on September 11 and how their lives have changed? Strangely fascinating. -sy
• Everyone loves an underdog story, so here’s a local treat: Two computer programmers stuck in dreary office jobs pour hours of free-time into a project related to one of their favourite hobbies — movies. They create a website called Tiffr, which is an online scheduling tool to help festival goers organize their viewing times. Hard work pays off, two dudes get noticed for their work on side-project and are hired by successful movie industry website. Not bad eh? Torontoist recently interviewed the makers of Tiffr about their story and their website. Bonus? The two dudes happen to be good friends of mine. So, you know, you have no reason not to read this plug interview. -sy

• Are New York Times book reviewers biased towards white dudes from Brooklyn? When was the last time you read a book by a female author? Do you get the hype around Jonathan Franzen? I’m crazy tired so sorry about the lazy rhetoricals. But yeah, Chris Jackson wrote something about some such and I dug it somewhat. I can’t totally relate (two of the last good books I read were by women), and I get the feeling this debate as it’s played out on the interwebs is a New York conversation, but dude makes a good point about looking at our reading patterns and asking ourselves what we’re missing out on.  -jc
• In 2009 Dave Eggers and co. launched their experimental one time newspaper, the San Francisco Panorama, and the things was massive. So massive in fact that I only got around to reading a long form feature on the annual Mr. Romance contest held each year to determine who will grace the cover of those oh so trashy romance novels yesterday. While the whole article isn’t online, you can get a good taste of it on the author’s blog, here. Then try to track down a Panorama for years of good reading.-jkg
• Not spending the last weekend of the summer outside in the sun? Hungover? Watch this Youtube-housed, totally engrossing BBC documentary about Nigeria, Welcome To Lagos. It’s in a bajillion parts and long as hell, but totally worth it, even if you’re not too sure about the message behind it. And what else are you going to watch? Another Friends marathon? -am
• Taken a gander at @kanyewest yet? The Village Voice thinks West’s continued personal media assault is killing music magazines. #justsayin -am
• It’s officially soon enough to host a 90′s party. Plaid is cool again, 20-somethings are angsty and Soundgarden are back together. Sure, their new single debuts in Guitar Hero 6 and Chris Cornell is on the wrong side of 40, but this Spin profile manages to remind us of one thing: grunge is for young people *and* geezers trying to reclaim their youth. Remind me again how our generation is nothing like the one before us?

• Wired magazine has a succinct story about Pitchfork’s newest feature, exclusive multi-camera online concert videos. The musical taste makers at p4k have built themselves from just-another-blog into a shepherd of hipster music fans worldwide. Wired delves into why the newest Pitchfork project — fully self funded by the Chicago site — is par for the course for indie-rock’s ivory tower; and a microcosm of the sites unerring success thusfar.
• Ever wondered what went on behind the scene in Canada’s newspaper war, and why Toronto now has four dailies? No. Hmm. How about how Chuck Palahniuk went from being a journalist, to a mechanic, to a writer, and how is grandpa shot his gramma and his dad was also murdered? Really? Nothing? How about how Bob Dylan really related to the Beat Generation, and how Allen Ginsberg was like a mentor to him? Still nothing? Wow, you’re just not interested in ANYTHING, are you? -jkg
• Frank Miller is undoubtedly one of the most influential comics artists of our time, but lately the man behind Sin City, 300 and The Dark Knight Returns gets easily dismissed as a crazy, woman-hating fascist. Such threads are found in his work, but is it possible that, post-9/11, comics fans just go for the easy read and disregard his nuances? Its one of the topics touched on by the blog Are You a Serious Comic Book Reader, which has been posting great Miller insights all week. -jc
• So have you read that New York Times article about how it’s getting harder every day to define what’s expected and what we often end up with? Oh, no, not that one. I mean the one where a reporter enters the secret world of counterfeit sneaker production in the heart of China’s industrial labour focused Putian province. If you’ve ever wondered why those Nike shoes you see on a picnic blanket in Times Square can be sold for $10 or how anybody can turn a profit on selling fakes for those prices, this is your answer. Conversely, if you’re into sneakers and are curious about insider tales concerning the businesses side of kicks, this article is a must read. -sy

The fanboys bring out the snark in Bret Easton Ellis

• I’m sorry, but Bret Easton Ellis is totally one of my favourite authors, even though he totally comes off as a pompous douche in real life and his latest, Imperial Bedrooms, so far isn’t that great even though I’m only half way through it. But every time I get a chance to read some sort of profile or Q&A with him I eat it up.-jkg
• Gary Shandling hasn’t been around much lately. Luckily, GQ profiled the reclusive comedian and catches us up with what the neurotic Larry Sanders has been up to. Often with comedians we take for granted the amount of intelligence required to properly contextualize the most simple observation in life — the axiomatic details that are so ingrained we overlook them. Shandling is a godfather to Hollywood’s comedic culture and this profile sheds some light on both the character and humanity of, arguably, the torch bearer of modern sitcoms. -sy
  
• Are you sick of reading about Scott Pilgrim yet? Well, fuck you because Dan Kois’s slideshow for Slate about the comic’s various charms is fantastic. -jc
• In other news related to  ‘things the kids like,’ The Guardian introduces the term “sodcasting.” Never heard of it? Well, I’m sure the proverbial lightbulb will go off when I provide you with the story’s fantastically British definition: “Sodcast [noun]: Music, on a crowded bus, coming from the speaker on a mobile phone. Sodcasters are terrified of not being noticed, so they spray their audio wee around the place like tomcats.” AUDIO WEE!-am

• Vote for Pedro Wyclef Jean! In a barely coherent open letter to the Huffington Post, former Fugees member Jean explains he’s running for the presidency of Haiti because, you know, he loves his daughter. My interpretation of all celebrity decision making is perpetually stuck on skeptical — but even I figure what could really be the harm of Jean winning this political race? Haiti is in shambles. I mean, it can’t get worse, right? Sure, Jean might have to take time away from promoting his soon-to-be-released seventh studio album, and yes he might not know how to speak like an actual Haitan, and ok, he might demand a daily appearance fee if he gets the gig — but as long as Haiti doesn’t need anything from Lauren Hill I think Jean’s going to do juuuust fine. -sy
• Woo, am I ever tired (and lazy) this morning. It hurts my brain to even write this, so I definitely don’t want to be reading anything like some sucker when I could be watching something instead, especially when it’s a bunch of clips from Arcade Fire’s recent Madison Square Garden show, directed by Terry Gilliam, that I didn’t catch the first time live (it’s that lazy thing getting in the way again). -jk-g
• Apparently there are people who study glaciers for a living. Double apparently, they now tell us a giant chunk of a Greenland glacier has broken off, paving the way for somebody to undoubtedly build an accurate reproduction of Superman’s fortress of solitude. FINALLY.
• Can Scott Dadich save the magazine industry? The New York Observer has a great article on how Daddich — creative impetus behind the Wired magazine iPad app and now tasked with leading Conde Nast at -large into the touchscreen era — has almost overnight become heralded as the new saviour of print institutions. Lofty expectations for a 34 year old who never grew up wanting to work in magazines. Having played with the Wired app, I can say it’s impressive but probably not going to revolutionize the floundering medium overnight. Still, it seems Dadich understands that in order to preserve magazines, he can’t be aiming to save them — he’s going to have to reinvent what they are entirely .

• Alright, this might be from February but it’s never been more pertinent as Starcraft 2 dropped this week: why are people in South Korea so completely obsessed with Starcraft? For those who don’t game, SC is one of the most popular pc games of all time; and its sequel, nearly a decade in the making, finally released this past Tuesday to absurdly high anticipation. In South Korea, playing Starcraft is a sport. There are Starcraft channels on television, the best players are sponsored and paid huge sums of money, matches are attended by thousands of fans and l337 kids get to have beautiful celebrity girl (or boy!) friends. Why? Well, just ask a Korean. The world is a funny place. -sy
• During Frosh week in my first year of university, and also the following year when I was a Frosh leader–we did it purely for the partying baby–this huge purple button emblazoned with the phrase “No Means No” was handed out to all participants. We wore it, sometimes laughing at it’s message, sometimes pointing at it while we blew our “rape whistles,” young and uninitiated idiots that we were. But, regardless of that, I still remember that message now, and remembered it when questionable things happened to me in those first couple of years. That’s why Sarah Nicole Prickett’s “Die Antwoord and the politics of ‘No Means Yes‘” from this week’s EYE struck a chord of real fucking respect (that and a healthy dose of Die Antwoord-disdain). Perhaps Morning Dump isn’t where you want to read about bad things that happen to naive, booze-happy, sexually excited young people (most often, girls) everywhere, but I’m too self-conscious to talk about my own troublesome past beyond refrencing it in removed passing, here. Instead, read SNP’s piece, and think really long and hard about what sexuality, feminism, misogyny and youth really stand for today. -am
• HiLobrow.com is currently curating a series of Charlie Jane Anders’s best posts for io9.com, which is ill because HiLobrow (art and ideas) and io9 (sci-fi) are two of my favourite blogs and it’s awesome when things you like team up to kick ass. Shout out to ice-cream sandwiches. -jc
• And if you’re dry for some long weekend reading, you can’t go wrong with The Best Magazine Articles Ever of all time. Unless you don’t like things that are the best, in which case you should log off this blog. Have a good one, kids! -jc

• The internet continues to find ways to be awesome this week with an entire website devoted to ?uestlove’s celebrity stories. His MANY celebrity stories. There’s the one about M.I.A. walking into a glass door, and the one about Will Smith’s disappearing mansion, oh and the one about Rosario Dawson getting uppity about an afro pick. (How many crushes just died?) Honestly, I could just choose one anecdote a week and let this thing feed my morning dumps for the next however many months. -jc
• If we’re going to be regaled with celebrity tales, the next best thing after ?uestlove and Charlie Murphy has to be veteran ghostbuster Bill Murray. GQ snagged a rare interview with the gracefully aging comedian and revealed what we already know but enjoy reminding ourselves of: Bill Murray is a funny, funny man. Double Rainbow bonus for Murray’s claiming he did Garfield because he thought it was a Coen brothers movie. That’s going to be my excuse for everything from now on. Oh, I stole your winter tires? Dude, sorry, I totally thought I was in a Coen brothers movie! -sy
• …. and continuing with the celebrity-obsessed tone of this dump, something that’s been on my list ever since I saw Knowing (awful!) and Bad Lieutenant: Port of call New Orleans (awesome!!) in the same week is trying to explain what the hell is up with Nic Cage. How do you go from Leaving Las Vegas and Adaptation, to say, National Treasure? I mean, it’s just baffling. And Raising Arizona? Come on, amazing movie. The guys is a genius, and then he does Face Off. Anyways, now I don’t need to explain it because Dana Stevens at Slate has already done so. Much better than I ever could.-jkg
• And since we’re talking about Bill Murray, why not a little dumpster diving? Like, literally diving in a dumpster on Letterman. When this guys comes out of the wood work, he has his game face on. The following, 10 minute interview isn’t bad either. -jkg

• BLDG BLOG has an amazing, surreal discovery: a board game from the 70s brought to you from the fine people at British Petroleum. Make your own fortune in the exciting world of offshore drilling! It looks so fun I want to cry. (Sadly, no Go Straight to Jail options.)  -jc
• Beards aren’t just the bastion of the hipster and hairy (or your dad), they’re also a genuine expression of follicle fancy. Kevin, BlogTO’s bearded fashion blogger, explores the lives and motivations behind chinwarmers and the fashionable and creative people that sport them in his series Bearded. If you ever considered growing a beard,  have a bear fetish (perhaps, a straight girl who’s into fur), or are just jealous of those who can sprout that much facial hair, Bearded is for you. My dad had a huge 70s one before he and my mom got hitched, and now he’s completely bald. Revel in your hairiness, men. You never know when your body will turn against you! Unless you’re dating me, then no beards for you.-am
• Speaking of beards, get to know Paul Vasquez, aka Yosemitebear, the guy whose video reaction to a double rainbow has gone Youtube viral. He’s been a firefighter and a cagefighter, and is now your average mountainman. I think he could be a new age evangelist–we all need to start enjoying the beauty of nature a lot more! Are we so blase that a double rainbow wouldn’t make you wanna cry, hyperventilate and wonder what it all means? I’m still wondering how they get the caramel in the Caramilk bar?!-am
• If you can get through this review (and it’s hyperlinks) of MIA’s single, ^^^?><>#$@^^, in just one weekend, then you are on a whole other level of a) speed reading, and b) a serious case of nothing else to do but spend all day in front of the computer. Basically, somebody at the blog Four Four took phrases from what looks like hundreds of different reviews, pasted them all together to make a coherent review, and then hyperlinked every single one of them. Kudos to whoever posted it, but did I mention something about having nothing else to do but spend all weekend in front of the computer? -jkg

• Is there anything more recognizable in pop culture than zombies dancing to Thriller? Following up on the one-year anniversary of Michael Jackson’s death, this month’s Vanity Fair features probably the best feature on Jackson and his iconic achievements I have ever read. Mixing interesting facts (did you know the U.S. Library of Congress made Thriller the first music video to be inducted into the National Film Registry?) with candid insight into Jackson’s life at the very apex of his success and cultural relevance, this long form feature flows and informs in the manner of VF’s very best arts and culture pieces. -sy
• And in more Michael news, Toronto writer Rea McNamara wrote and conceptualized a great compendium (which also serves as beautiful reminder of his better days) for This Recording titled, “In which Michael Jackson and Diana Ross become MiDiana.” SIGH. -am
• Let this be clear: I hate Chris Brown. I firmly believe in holding celebrities accountable for their actions (halloooo, like ALL of young Hollywood? and for the rec, Michael didn’t do it), mostly because we don’t and then people blame them for stupid things anyway. Anyway, I’m so not into Chris Brown because it makes me uncomfortable that a) he’s marketed toward very young girls and b) he broke Rihanna’s face. I mean, it’s not like these kids are standing by Brown because of his “remarkable talent” (Kellz comes to mind when I think of another redeemed celeb), but more because he’s hot and always takes his shirt off. Anyway: read this piece by Ann Powers at the L.A. Times if you thought his “LOVE ME, PLEASE” BET Awards cryfest was both horseshit, and troubling.-am
• Moses Znaimer’s ideaCity10 conference recently brought some cool women (and, notably, girls) to Toronto, and they uploaded everyone’s presentations to YouTube a couple of days ago. I recommend checking out Viet-Aussie vlogger Natalie Tran, who brings her lame-on-purpose shtick to a conversation about immigration and awkwardness, and fashion writer prodigy Tavi Gevinson, whom I previously knew only basic stuff about, but who is awesomely uncomfortable as she makes her case for a Sassy magazine revival. “Uhm, yeah, I’m totes a wunderkind, or whatever.” You are! -jc