Thanks to the good people at Open Culture, who uploaded this article, I am happy to continue the paper trail and write about this fantastic collection of pulp fiction from the 20th century. Fiction magazines are still well-read to this day, and with clique audiences who know what they like and get it every month or so, finding traditions and style techniques within the works is fairly easy.


When doing creative writing courses, and I've done a few, the tutor always has a lot to say about reading other people's work. Knowing how to structure the story for the publication in mind is actually as important as the plot and the character selection. Readers have habits and they are used to a similar work to the previous ones so authors try to put their original ideas and creations within the context of ready made structures.


So when we're presented with over 11,000 pieces of published literature, in a series of issues spanning decades, finding the particular key points to think about for story writing are there to see. And, if we need it, there of course are several volumes of ingenious story devices and plots which can be taken inspiration from. Seeding the mind with some perhaps forgotten ways of telling a good tale are lurking in the pages.


It's a fantasy and adventure wonderland of quality writing, and I imagine to go through each work would take an avid reader at least a year or more. The hosting site, archive.org is an Alternative Fruit favourite, as they provide free access to millions of media items. Fancy a marathon? Here you go.

Nothing better than swords, witchcraft, and ancient traditions? Learn to write historical fiction.

Of course we all want to see the film everyone else is watching, so we can be in on the fuss. It's only natural that we want to know what everyone is going to see and why, taking part is all part of the enjoyment. But films are not only there to be smash hits and blockbuster number crunching landmarks. There are other reasons to make films, and perhaps much more valuable ones as well. Producing for a massive audience leaves the windows wide open, and as Kurt Vonnegut once penned, “If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia”.


So film-makers with credibility perhaps choose to make films that serve a purpose other than to entertain. A film is always designed to be watched and enjoyed yet there can be more cerebral reasons for why it is such a good piece of work. Psychology is something that we need to draw on when creating believable characters, and in this way various aspects of our understanding of this complex subject can be focussed on with film.


The University of Indiana has uploaded an incredibly detailed list of films which are written to compliment the cognitive sciences. You may be surprised by some familiar titles in there, however it extends way beyond the scope of the popular eye. This is a serious web project with an aim to weave the world of media and art into the world of cognitive sciences. Everything is fully searchable and each film is linked to pages with detailed information about who made it, when, and where. Of course it also details why the film is relevant to the field, helping researchers to find media that helps them think in the ways that are being taught.


Also, from a media consumer's perspective, passive education is extremely worthwhile. It's a mark of quality media that aims to improve the knowledge and wisdom of its consumers in return for their focus and attention. We don't all watch movies for the explosions, sometimes they explore things about ourselves and the lives we lead that cause us to look again at how we go about our own ways.


Check out the awesome list here. And if you find anything you love, I'd be grateful if you went via these support links to

Amazon,

Amazon UK 

and YesAsia

Thanks!

Paris may be a world away from Palestine, however in L'Institut Du Monde Arabe there stands over one hundred artworks donated by European and Arabic artists. The art world clearly cares about a peaceful solution to the issues in this part of the world, and is prepared to invest culture in it.



Today, (10th March), the second unveiling of the sixty new items takes place in the IMA. The first showing took place last year and its main aim was to call for more donations. This year's event shows how quickly the cultural world can respond to a call to arms. Now with a wide ranging selection of pieces on display, the former French Culture Minister Elias Sanbar and the Institute's President, Jack Lang, can proudly stand by their efforts.



The pair jointly made plans for the museum in 2015 and work has been ongoing ever since. By establishing a museum of Palestine it is hoped that the nation will receive cultural recognition on an international scale. By investing in the people and their story, and giving them a voice that is separate and unique, the very notion of being Palestinian can be given more meaning.


The Institute have specifically said that items received from unknown names are just as welcome as those from famous artists. They hope to receive much more still, however their hoard already includes work by the late Egyptian painter Hamed Abdalla and Algerian polymath Rachid Koraichi. The art is not intended to illustrate a cause or push for emotional response in the immediate day, but to simply give the people a rich and diverse heritage which is inspired by their compelling story.

Regular readers may remember the beautiful clothing made from rays of light that Alternative Fruit reported a few days ago. The theme is catching, it seems, as another recent project from the Netherlands has shown us another way of using this ethereal and evanescent medium. Light as decoration has been used for a long time however using long exposure photography and moving lights is something artists of today are really beginning to experiment with.



The celebrated Mexican calligraphy and graffiti artist Said Dokins has teamed up with photography marvel Leonardo Luna to produce a stunning collection of images aptly named Heliographies of Memory. The phantasmagoric exposures depict lighting scripted into ornate passages and lines which float above attractive city architecture.



Each shot was taken during 2017 in various places of cultural interest and show an immortalisation of photons and flow within the momentary realm of a photograph. Have a look at a selection of their work.

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Billboard Magazine were told on reliable terms that the demos that Amy had recorded for her record label Universal had been destroyed for “moral” reasons. Releasing someone's work after their death seemed inappropriate at the time. However, during her former years as an unsigned artist, Amy did what every aspiring musician does and made lots of demos. It was in 1997 when she met up with Gil Cang. He told the Camden New Journal recently that he'd found one of Amy Winehouse's old demo tapes from some sessions he did ten years before she died. He's put a track on YouTube for the world to hear.



News like this travels fast and with over half a million views in just a few days, the trending track deserves an Alternative Fruit thumbs up. Take a listen to the video, enjoy the sounds of Amy Winehouse pre-fame, and tip the hat to the songwriters, Gil Cang and James McMillan, who gave her the fantastic material that helped lift her to the top.

Pretty cool huh! Which album is your favourite? America: here