December 30, 2003
Reading Can Kill Ya
Bronx resident Patrice Moore was found after two days of being buried under all the magazines, newspapers, and books he's saved. Moore had been calling for his neighbors – "I was hollering for two days, 'Let me out! Let me out!' and nobody wanted to answer" – but many neighbors, who characterized Moore as "quirky," didn't think anything of it since he was in the habit of talking to himself. His landlord even heard Moore's cries but didn't think anything of them until he decided to stop by Moore's apartment to lend him some money. His 10' x 10' room was completely filled with so much printed media, except for a small space for a bedl the Fire Department evacuated the building, fearing the weight would collapse the building. Moore claims that he makes $300 a week selling the magazines back on the street, but there's no reason to have so many (50 garbage bags of magazines were taken out before he could be moved).
Let this be a warning to you, Jason Kottke, in your effort to read a different magazine each of the 52 weeks in 2004: Recycle your magazines when you're done with them. And be very friendly and outgoing with your neighbors – you never know when you'll need them. (Of course, these are good ideas for everyone, too.)
The comparisons to the Collyer Brothers case of 1947, where one brother was buried under mounds of newspapers, leaving the blind brother to starve to death, are inescapable. And it also seems like it could have been a parable for the movie Seven.
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And in keeping with the ripped from The Simpsons theme at Gothamist, Bart the Murderer features a possible mob hit on Principal Skinner. That is until Skinner shows up at the trial after freeing himself from under a pile of newspapers using baking soda, lemon juice, and a vacuum cleaner.
keep in mind that skinner also had his mother's dried fruits.
That's right; so, Jason, you're making yourself a Reading Magazines Go Pack of baking soda, lemon juice, a vacuum cleaner, and Mrs. Skinner's dried fruits?
Boy, a 10 inch by 10 inch room IS really small. I don't see how he could possibly have filled the room with so much stuff...much less a bed. ??
ha! jen doesn't know that 10" means 10 inches, not 10 feet!
I just carted 7 bags of magazines to my mom's house. I can totally relate to this poor man.
I've been in HK and Australia where they keep mentioning meters and litres and Celsius, but that's no excuse. I'm an idiot.
Here I thought the ( " ) stood for arc seconds of a degree . . .
Stop reading magazines and other printed matter, and stick to ephemeral blogs! :-)