New York Times’ Snow Fall may not be the future of journalism. But it’s for sure the future of storytelling .

Ever since the New York Times launched its interactive web project, Snow Fall (a 5 part story of skiers and snowboarders trapped by an avalanche in Washington State’s Cascade mountain range), hypotheses of its effects on journalism and publishing have been ping-ponging between online news outlets. The debates over whether or not Snow Fall’s storytelling model (that recently hit 3.5 million page views) is the future of journalism, in fact deliver something more: lessons in content integration and the opportunity for brand-publisher collaboration.

If you haven’t read the feature yet, do. It’s something like magic — a visceral adventure story about a deadly avalanche that feels more like an interactive documentary that happens to have paragraphs than a newspaper story that happens to have interactives. Particularly ingenious is a section where a map traces doomed skiers’ paths down the mountain face as you scroll down the corresponding paragraphs. Further along, an animated video follows the contours of the avalanche sweeping down the same glade, with a clicking sound whose frequency indicates the changing speed of the barreling snow pack. Not just clever. Utterly ingenious.

Shortest horror story ever.

I hate getting haircuts on the road but I was turning into Rapunzel, so I went to a place recommended by this person that I’m probably going to kill. It was blocks and blocks away – I passed five other hair salons on the walk. I’m presented to a middle-aged, Hulk-woman, who’s living the Romanian dream with a Russian accent. She has streaming black tresses to her shoulder, like d’Artagnan, and asks me what I want. A little trim, the smallest possible, I tell her. She nods. She throws a fierce look at my fingers curled around a Starbucks espresso tumbler. She grabs it out of my hand and places it right in between two fat bunches of curly hair from an old lady who smells like naphthalene meatballs cooked in Chanel No. 5. Her young assistant walks in. He’s the perfect cross between Kurt Cobain’s mesmerizing face and Tobey Maguire’s insanely mesmerizing eyes. “I am married, but he is my boyfriend”, she informs me, while I’m presumably staring at KurtTobey slack-jawed. Then, with a great flourish of scissors, she whacks into my hair, and I realize I’m going to get scalped. After that first cut, it’s inevitable. I think she must be anti-Starbucks. I now look like a Russian conscript.

O poveste.

Aleg inca o carte de pe un raft de la capatul scarii. O deschid si dau peste o vedere. La inceput ma gandesc sa inchid cartea pentru ca scrisul de mana pare sa ma faca partas la o poveste care nu mi-e destinata. N-am rezistat si am citit ceea ce veti citi si voi acum:

“My dearest Adrian, the relationship I have with you is the most extraordinary I’ve ever had. I wish we had one day a chance in our lifes to fall in love with each other without this constant necessity of saying goodbye…
I love the ideea of hiding letters like this in these old books.
If you find it, it means there is (quand meme) some fate in our relationship.
With love, Your Ioanna.”

Un soi de durere. Asta am simtit. Nu stiu de ce mi s-a parut cel mai autentic si sincer lucru pe care il auzisem in ultima vreme. Imi parea ca toata scrisoarea aia geme de iubire si ca in ciuda insiruirii simple a cuvintelor era mult mai mult de atat: parea un strigat de durere ca pentru ceva incomplet. Stateam cu cartea in mana si ma simteam vinovat, oarecum, ca nu eu eram cel vizat.
Simteam ca intervenisem fara voie in povestea superba si trista a iubirii dintre Adrian si Ioanna. M-am uitat la data: 7 iulie 2000. Zece ani. Zece ani pana cand marturisirea unei dorinte aprinse sa rezoneze in sufletul unui om perfect strain de resorturile interne care au facut-o pe Ioanna sa astearna acele randuri. Sau poate eram predispus la dramatism. Poate nevoia mea de poveste mi-a scos in cale acea scrisorica facuta in joaca de o frantuzoaica rasfatata, neimpacata cu ideea dragostei la distanta. Am inchis cartea si am pus scrisoarea la loc ca sa-i mai dau lui Adrian o sansa.

Continuarea o puteti citi aici. © Tudor Chirila

Game over! Steaua 1 – Chelsea 0

If you expected Chelsea to win Steaua, think again; this is Europa League, certain clubs rule this division. In short, Raul Rusescu’s 1st-half penalty gave Steaua a 1-0 win over Chelsea in our Europa League last-16 first leg tie. Besides this, Torres was brilliant again. He hardly put a foot wrong all night. He stopped every single one of Chelsea attacks. Best defender Steaua had! And I always knew Benitez had the potential to do this to the blues. All by all, Steaua looked ten times better than Chelsea with and without the ball. Good job, guys!