We Recommend: Your Friday Freebies

Each Friday, our contributors send in a bunch of (legally) free stuff they’ve come across this week, to help you waste your weekend. You’re welcome.

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Article: ‘I Was A Warehouse Wage Slave’, by Mac McClelland

Recommended by: Matt Roden (‘Mad Men Season Finale: There’s A Good Man In There Somewhere‘)

This article is over a year old, but in the wake of the tragic factory collapse in Bangladesh last week, it’s maybe time to look again at how workers are treated. This piece of ‘immersive reporting’ has Mac McClelland go and work in the kind of mega-warehouse facility that stores all the junk we buy off Amazon everyday. Books, toys, kitchen crap – if you buy it cheap online and you receive it free of shipping, it probably came from this warehouse, or another like it. By hiring staff on casual contracts these warehouses can hire and fire at will, provide no benefits to their workers and ignore health and safety codes. The really cool part is that it’s all happening in middle America. If we’re looking to be a little more responsible with our purchases maybe it’s worth spending the extra two minutes and dollars at the book store to ensure that we’re not supporting a horrific labour industry, that looks to just keep on growing. Just some fun weekend reading!

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Gallery: The Taksim Square Book Club – A Slideshow by Al Jazeera

Recommended by: Jess O’Callaghan (‘Rob Oakeshott And Tony Windsor: A Fond Farewell‘)

While the police and protestors continue to clash violently in Turkey, these awesome photographs by George Henton show the quieter side of the protest that’s been happening in Taksim Square. Did you ever read Kafka or Orwell on public transport to stick it to the person opposite you reading 50 Shades of Gray? This is like that, if you replace the person opposite you on the train with a pepper-spraying state thug.

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Interview: James Gandolfini on ‘Inside The Actors Studio’

Recommended by: Renée Crea (‘Cate Blanchett, Mia Wasikowska, Hugo Weaving And More Team Up For Tim Winton‘)

It was James Gandolfini’s funeral in New York today. If you’ve already paid tribute to the great actor by watching all of his best films, and finished your marathon of The Sopranos, then dry your tears and get ready to find out how the big guy did it all. Filmed in 2004 when Gandolfini was still making The Sopranos, this is for acting buffs and heartbroken fans alike.

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Movie: Titus (1999)

Recommended by: Nicholas Fonseca (‘Yes, You’re Buying A Fleetwood Mac Ticket. Here’s Why.‘)

While you’re waiting for Joss Whedon’s hip new version of Much Ado About Nothing to hit cinemas, try out Julie Taymor’s take on Titus — her directorial debut, and an unfairly ignored box-office flop when it released in 1999. Shakespeare’s revenge tragedy — all palace intrigue and gore and explosive family rows — was the Game of Thrones of its day, and with Taymor at the helm, it’s thrown onscreen in the most dazzling and unsubtle way.

Anthony Hopkins stars as Titus alongside Jessica Lange, Alan Cumming and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, so there’s lots of AAAACCCCTTTINNNNGGGGG. And the horrifying imagery when Titus’ shit-out-of-luck daughter Lavinia has her tongue sliced out and her severed forearms replaced with tree branches will stick with you forever.
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Article: ‘Exile In Guyville’ At Twenty, by Bill Wyman

Recommended by: Glenn Dunks (‘Was Goosebumps The Greatest Kids TV Show Ever?‘)

Did you know Liz Phair’s Exile in Guyville turned 20 recently? Did you know Liz Phair’s Exile in Guyville existed, period? It is undeniably one of the greatest records of the 1990s and a glowing indictment to Triple J’s seemingly endless ability to ignore incredible female musicians even if they fall into the network’s traditional we-don’t-give-a-fuck-cause-we’re-coooool attitude. Maybe it was because the album was a song-by-song response to The Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main Street that it never became a genre classic (people are protective of their male rock stars), but Bill Wyman’s New Yorker piece on the album is a must read — especially for the part on why Phair’s career never flourished in the ‘90s, as record labels fought to push indie rock stars into the mainstream.

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YouTube: 57 Minutes Of Jason Derulo Singing His Own Name

Recommended by: Alexander Tulett (‘You Need To Stop Playing Candy Crush Saga‘)

This week has been weird and heavy. Between local political instability, the intense Texan filibuster that had its presence felt internationally, the gravely ill Nelson Mandela and the countless other daily tragedies we hear of and experience, sometimes it’s hard to remember to observe the shining beacons of positivity that do exist. It’s truly essential that we embrace frivolity, or else all lose our god damn minds.

Enter this compilation video of all the times that Jason Derulo sings his own name. Please, enjoy.

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Game: Daymare Cat, by Mateusz Skutnik

Recommended by: Alasdair Duncan (‘Farewell Andrew Denton’s TV Career, It Was Nice Knowing You‘)

Daymare Cat is the latest creation of graphic artist and game developer Mateusz Skutnik, and it’s everything you could want out of a spooky platforming puzzle game. You use the arrow keys to guide the game’s slightly disheveled heroine through a creepy, crumbling town, hunting for a series of objects that will help her escape.

The game’s artwork has a beautiful hand-drawn style, like something from a children’s picture book, and the soundtrack is suitably unsettling.

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List: There Is A Staggering 374% Chance That Gary Cole Was In Your Favorite Movie Or Television Show

Recommended by: Cameron Tyeson (‘Six Reasons You Need To Watch Under The Dome‘)

Gary Cole has probably been in your favourite movie or TV show without you even realising it. You might remember him as Bill Lumbergh, the MVP of Office Space. But you definitely don’t remember him for his magnificently understated performances in just about every other film and show ever.

Here is a list that will prove it.

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Album: Run The Jewels, by Killer Mike and EL-P

Recommended by: Rob Moran (‘A Brief Interview With The World’s Most Hated Director‘)

Earlier this week, record label Fool’s Gold released an album from Run The Jewels, the new collabo project from funtime friends, Killer Mike and EL-P. True to form, it’s an unsettling listen, with EL-P’s typically apocalyptic production offering a nutso back-drop to their frenzied vocal trades (Prince Paul drops by for some necessary lols on ‘Twin Hype Back’). Still, it’s free. Just go to the label’s website, type in your email address, and you’ve got all the music you need to give you a paranoid headache this weekend.

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Article: ‘Two Steps From The Blues: The Gospel According To Bobby ‘Blue’ Bland’ by Barney Hoskyns

Recommended by: David Wild (‘How To Light Up A Sydney Harbour Bridge‘)

Last Sunday, one of the true soul greats passed away. Bobby ‘Blue’ Bland wasn’t often mentioned alongside genre originators Ray Charles and Sam Cooke, but he deserves to be. Apart from providing Kanye and Jigga with samples (‘Ain’t No Love In The Heart Of The City‘ was used on Jay-Z’s The Blueprint) and aficionados with the classic album Two Steps From The Blues, he also gave one Mr T his catchphrase: ‘I Pity The Fool’ was an R&B chart-topper in 1961. Find out more by registering for free and reading this article on the ever-excellent Rock’s Backpages.

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VFX: The Great Gatsby

Recommended by: Glenn Dunks (‘Was Goosebumps The Greatest Kids’ Show Ever?‘)

This visual effects reel for Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby landed online pretty quietly this past week, and it’s actually quite a fascinating little video (soundtracked to Lana Del Rey’s ‘Young and Beautiful’, naturally).

Whether you’re a fan of the film or not, it’s an interesting look at just what was what on the set of Luhrmann’s big budget adaptation. I found several surprises in there.

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Photo: THIS PHOTO

Recommended by: Steph Harmon (#’Spill: A Reading List‘)

Julia Gillard dancing at Joan Kirner’s 60th in 1998, posted to Facebook by Fay Pirotta.

Thankyou, Fay Pirotta. Thankyou, Julia Gillard.