papercuts
Saturday, March 15, 2003
Stupid pointless disclaimer #234,675,874
Don't add fiber to national landmarks.
My pee smells like ham!
Stories from the STD clinic.
I think I've eaten at some of these places.
Rejected comments from the Zagat survey.
¶ 9:08 PM 0 comments
Don't add fiber to national landmarks.
My pee smells like ham!
Stories from the STD clinic.
I think I've eaten at some of these places.
Rejected comments from the Zagat survey.
¶ 9:08 PM 0 comments
Friday, March 14, 2003
This week, I think that I finally started to pull myself out of the weather-induced funk that has been plaguing me for a while. While Central IL certainly did not get behemoth snowfall (my town received less than a foot of snow all season), this area sits right on the jet stream, meaning Monday barely scraped 20F, Tuesday and Wednesday shot up to 55F, Thursday was barely 30F, and today it will be in the 60s. This rapid change in weather fucks with your mind more than a snowfall, and certainly doesn't even look pretty. And since we only have two seasons here (freezing cold and broiling hot), I expect to be sweltering in my apartment instead of shivering.
Of course, the seemingly inevitable impending wargames don't help my mood.
XD #10 now available!
The new issue of the lovely and informative Xerography Debt (#10) was waiting for me in my PO Box yesterday. I've got the highlighter ready to note all the zines I want to order. Xerogaphy Debt is one of the most well written zine review zines on the scene today. You can get a copy of issue #10 by sending $3 to Davida Gypsy Brier, PO Box 963, Harve De Grace MD 21078.
Stan Brakhage, 1933-2003.
Avant-garde pioneer filmmaker Stan Brakhage died Sunday, March 9. He had directed more than 350 movies, ranging in length from several seconds to several hours. Brakhage experimented extensively with the actual film medium - that is, manipulating, layers, scratching, painting the film stock and celluloid, than with using a narrative structure. In other words, most of his work didn't have a "story." Like a painter with oils and acrylics, Brakhage viewed the film stock as his canvas. Until recently, it has been difficult to see Brakhage's work outside of film school classes, retrospectives at art museums, and screening rooms. Prior to his death, Criterion Collection had announced the release of the upcoming by Brakhage, a DVD anthology of a small representative sample (26 films) of his life's work.
Blog During Wartime
Independent war reporter Christopher Allbritton is planning a DIY reporting approach to the seemingly inevitable US-Iraq war. In the case of war, he'll be covering the conflict without the help of major media conglomerate backing on his Back To Iraq 2.0 blog. A rather ballsy undertaking, considering "approved" journalists will have an almost cushy ride compared to Allbritton. Please consider tossing him a few bucks for his undertaking.
$220 to hear her caterwaul like a cat in heat?
Do you realize how much further that $220 could go in Vegas? Think about the $8.95 steak dinner at the Gold Coast! Or the 99-cent shrimp cocktails at the Golden Gate! The all-you-can eat sushi buffet for $14 at Makino Todai! $1.99 Margarita slushees at the Frontier! The free people watching at The Western, endless 5-cent slots at Nickeltown at the Riveria, the Copper Mine at the Gold Spike!
A few of my favorite things as of late ...
Gawker.com, feeding my lust for NYC gossip.
Hissyfit.com, the more personal site of TV w/o P's Wing Chun.
TeeVee.org, more snarky commentary of the idiot box.
¶ 11:37 AM 0 comments
Of course, the seemingly inevitable impending wargames don't help my mood.
XD #10 now available!
The new issue of the lovely and informative Xerography Debt (#10) was waiting for me in my PO Box yesterday. I've got the highlighter ready to note all the zines I want to order. Xerogaphy Debt is one of the most well written zine review zines on the scene today. You can get a copy of issue #10 by sending $3 to Davida Gypsy Brier, PO Box 963, Harve De Grace MD 21078.
Stan Brakhage, 1933-2003.
Avant-garde pioneer filmmaker Stan Brakhage died Sunday, March 9. He had directed more than 350 movies, ranging in length from several seconds to several hours. Brakhage experimented extensively with the actual film medium - that is, manipulating, layers, scratching, painting the film stock and celluloid, than with using a narrative structure. In other words, most of his work didn't have a "story." Like a painter with oils and acrylics, Brakhage viewed the film stock as his canvas. Until recently, it has been difficult to see Brakhage's work outside of film school classes, retrospectives at art museums, and screening rooms. Prior to his death, Criterion Collection had announced the release of the upcoming by Brakhage, a DVD anthology of a small representative sample (26 films) of his life's work.
Blog During Wartime
Independent war reporter Christopher Allbritton is planning a DIY reporting approach to the seemingly inevitable US-Iraq war. In the case of war, he'll be covering the conflict without the help of major media conglomerate backing on his Back To Iraq 2.0 blog. A rather ballsy undertaking, considering "approved" journalists will have an almost cushy ride compared to Allbritton. Please consider tossing him a few bucks for his undertaking.
$220 to hear her caterwaul like a cat in heat?
Do you realize how much further that $220 could go in Vegas? Think about the $8.95 steak dinner at the Gold Coast! Or the 99-cent shrimp cocktails at the Golden Gate! The all-you-can eat sushi buffet for $14 at Makino Todai! $1.99 Margarita slushees at the Frontier! The free people watching at The Western, endless 5-cent slots at Nickeltown at the Riveria, the Copper Mine at the Gold Spike!
A few of my favorite things as of late ...
Gawker.com, feeding my lust for NYC gossip.
Hissyfit.com, the more personal site of TV w/o P's Wing Chun.
TeeVee.org, more snarky commentary of the idiot box.
¶ 11:37 AM 0 comments
Monday, March 10, 2003
Documenting the impact of video rental and retail
Joshua Greenberg, a PhD student in the Department of Science and Technology Studies at Cornell University is collecting information about video store usage from 1975 to 1990. If you owned, worked at, or shopped at (i.e., rented movies) at a video store between the years of 1975 and 1990, please visit his site - The Video Store Project - and fill out his short surveys. If you rented from more than one video store between 1975 and 1990, you can fill out a survey for each store. As a bonus, you are able to read what other people submitted.
¶ 10:21 AM 0 comments
Joshua Greenberg, a PhD student in the Department of Science and Technology Studies at Cornell University is collecting information about video store usage from 1975 to 1990. If you owned, worked at, or shopped at (i.e., rented movies) at a video store between the years of 1975 and 1990, please visit his site - The Video Store Project - and fill out his short surveys. If you rented from more than one video store between 1975 and 1990, you can fill out a survey for each store. As a bonus, you are able to read what other people submitted.
¶ 10:21 AM 0 comments
Sunday, March 09, 2003
... it's the most wonderful time of the year ...
It's National Frozen Food Month! ¶ 8:22 PM 0 comments
It's National Frozen Food Month! ¶ 8:22 PM 0 comments
Friday, March 07, 2003
"As We May Blog"
Some interesting observations on where Google's acquisition of Blogger could lead: the ability to easily create your own encyclopedic blog of your Web surfing. This is a tool I for one would find incredibly useful. I don't often set "bookmarks" and have "lost" many a useful site visited that I would have liked to recall for reference at a later point. If there was a tool that let you build an almost automatic page of personal links with a simple keyboard shortcut and not having to use HTML, it would help many Web users. Of course, this article cites the famous 1946 essay "As We May Think" by Vannevar Bush, required reading for every Library and Information Science student. This is the essay that proposed the concept of the "Memex," often considered a very rough prototype of the Web:
Some interesting observations on where Google's acquisition of Blogger could lead: the ability to easily create your own encyclopedic blog of your Web surfing. This is a tool I for one would find incredibly useful. I don't often set "bookmarks" and have "lost" many a useful site visited that I would have liked to recall for reference at a later point. If there was a tool that let you build an almost automatic page of personal links with a simple keyboard shortcut and not having to use HTML, it would help many Web users. Of course, this article cites the famous 1946 essay "As We May Think" by Vannevar Bush, required reading for every Library and Information Science student. This is the essay that proposed the concept of the "Memex," often considered a very rough prototype of the Web:
¶ 9:46 AM 0 comments
Consider a future device for individual use, which is a sort of mechanized private file and library. It needs a name, and, to coin one at random, "memex" will do. A memex is a device in which an individual stores all his books, records, and communications, and which is mechanized so that it may be consulted with exceeding speed and flexibility. It is an enlarged intimate supplement to his memory.
It consists of a desk, and while it can presumably be operated from a distance, it is primarily the piece of furniture at which he works. On the top are slanting translucent screens, on which material can be projected for convenient reading. There is a keyboard, and sets of buttons and levers. Otherwise it looks like an ordinary desk.
In one end is the stored material. The matter of bulk is well taken care of by improved microfilm. Only a small part of the interior of the memex is devoted to storage, the rest to mechanism. Yet if the user inserted 5000 pages of material a day it would take him hundreds of years to fill the repository, so he can be profligate and enter material freely.
Most of the memex contents are purchased on microfilm ready for insertion. Books of all sorts, pictures, current periodicals, newspapers, are thus obtained and dropped into place. Business correspondence takes the same path. And there is provision for direct entry. On the top of the memex is a transparent platen. On this are placed longhand notes, photographs, memoranda, all sorts of things. When one is in place, the depression of a lever causes it to be photographed onto the next blank space in a section of the memex film, dry photography being employed.
Thursday, March 06, 2003
Pulling off the Band-Aid
In the Slingshot Organizer for today, March 6, it notes that in on this day in 1857 the US Supreme Court declared that blacks were not citizens with the Dred Scott decision. The Court ruled that Scott, a slave, could not sue for his freedom in federal court. When I saw this notation for today, I started thinking about a hot discussion thread on a message board I read. The topic was "Are Band-Aids racist?" There were arguments that yes, indeed Band-Aids are racist because for the longest time, they only came in colors for "white" skin, and if you were white and didn't understand this, it was just proof of your white privilege. I have several major problems with arguments such as these, the largest being: aren't there more constructive ways to tackle racism in the United States than talking about Band-Aid colors? Only 146 years ago, blacks were not considered citizens. Only 49 years ago in the Brown vs. Board of Education ruling were public schools desegregated. Sitting around debating Band-Aid colors seems to be like spitting in the wind. It's like the snow penis debate of a few days ago. Now, I'm not saying "get over it," because that is not a constructive way to approach sexism/racism/classis or any -ism in society. And yes, small cultural steps built up over time do make a world of difference. But don't forget the big pictures - the ratio of blacks to whites in prison in the United States is 9.6:1. The Taliban still prohibits educational opportunities to women. And a very small percentage of the rich and privileged in the United States control a disproportionate amount of wealth. Complain about Band-Aids and snow penises all you want, but don't lose sight of the real problems.
¶ 11:30 AM 0 comments
In the Slingshot Organizer for today, March 6, it notes that in on this day in 1857 the US Supreme Court declared that blacks were not citizens with the Dred Scott decision. The Court ruled that Scott, a slave, could not sue for his freedom in federal court. When I saw this notation for today, I started thinking about a hot discussion thread on a message board I read. The topic was "Are Band-Aids racist?" There were arguments that yes, indeed Band-Aids are racist because for the longest time, they only came in colors for "white" skin, and if you were white and didn't understand this, it was just proof of your white privilege. I have several major problems with arguments such as these, the largest being: aren't there more constructive ways to tackle racism in the United States than talking about Band-Aid colors? Only 146 years ago, blacks were not considered citizens. Only 49 years ago in the Brown vs. Board of Education ruling were public schools desegregated. Sitting around debating Band-Aid colors seems to be like spitting in the wind. It's like the snow penis debate of a few days ago. Now, I'm not saying "get over it," because that is not a constructive way to approach sexism/racism/classis or any -ism in society. And yes, small cultural steps built up over time do make a world of difference. But don't forget the big pictures - the ratio of blacks to whites in prison in the United States is 9.6:1. The Taliban still prohibits educational opportunities to women. And a very small percentage of the rich and privileged in the United States control a disproportionate amount of wealth. Complain about Band-Aids and snow penises all you want, but don't lose sight of the real problems.
¶ 11:30 AM 0 comments
Monday, March 03, 2003
Shameless Self-Promotion
Last Friday (February 28), I was a guest on the Mediageek radio show, discussing upcoming zine events, zine review zines, and new stuff from my PO Box. The show is now available on-line, as is the contact information for all the zines and events mentioned.
¶ 8:48 PM 0 comments
Last Friday (February 28), I was a guest on the Mediageek radio show, discussing upcoming zine events, zine review zines, and new stuff from my PO Box. The show is now available on-line, as is the contact information for all the zines and events mentioned.
¶ 8:48 PM 0 comments
Lippy.
The Toronto Star features an expose on lip balm for the winter season. I'm a heavy user of the stuff, but I sincerely doubt the existance of Lip Balm Addiction. Yes, I usually have three or four tubes at hand, but I'm not addicted. For me, it has to be in a stick or a tube - those little pots of lip balm and lip gloss gross me out. Yeck, sticking your finger in there and then rubbing the product on your mouth? Yeck, germ central.
¶ 4:07 PM 0 comments
The Toronto Star features an expose on lip balm for the winter season. I'm a heavy user of the stuff, but I sincerely doubt the existance of Lip Balm Addiction. Yes, I usually have three or four tubes at hand, but I'm not addicted. For me, it has to be in a stick or a tube - those little pots of lip balm and lip gloss gross me out. Yeck, sticking your finger in there and then rubbing the product on your mouth? Yeck, germ central.
¶ 4:07 PM 0 comments
A joke about frigidity would be too easy
A few weeks ago, the men's crew team at Harvard - probably fed up and disgusted with the non-stop snow - built a nine-foot snow scuplture of a penis in a public place on campus. Shortly afterwards, two women took it upon themselves to destroy the snow penis, saying it was "A structure put up to assert male dominance." A debate is now raging on campus over the destruction of the sculpture.
I can't say I disagree with people who say that the destruction of the ice penis was not the best way to protest its construction. Plus, it was quite the impressive construction, and probably took many hours to complete. Oh, and let's not forget the funadmental fact here - it was a nine foot snow penis. I'm a feminist and I think it's more humorous in nature than an attack by the patriarchy. As a feminist, I'm a lot more concerned about issues such as the wage gap, lack of women's representation in medical trials, and about a hundred other topics, none of which are nine foot snow penises.
After all, I went to college on a campus that used to have the "Flame of Knowledge Fountain," which basically looked like a huge erect penis in a fountain. Every year on the first day of classes, the fountain would be soaped and large chunks of foam would drift around the quad. The Flame of Knowledge used to be called the "Drexel Shaft," a reference to the often unorganized infrastructure of the university (losing transcripts, forgetting to credit your accounts, etc). I don't remember any feminists on campus getting their panties in a bunch over it. No one really seemed to care that it looked like William Penn had a visible boner atop City Hall when viewed from the Ben Franklin Parkway, either. Then again we were all too busy, oh, I don't know, studying and working? Only at the Ivys do the students have time to debate nine foot snow penises.
Plus, wouldn't it have been amusing to watch it melt?
In keeping with the phallic spirit of this entry, you can now purchase your very own stripper pole for home use! (Work safe link, really.)
¶ 10:28 AM 0 comments
A few weeks ago, the men's crew team at Harvard - probably fed up and disgusted with the non-stop snow - built a nine-foot snow scuplture of a penis in a public place on campus. Shortly afterwards, two women took it upon themselves to destroy the snow penis, saying it was "A structure put up to assert male dominance." A debate is now raging on campus over the destruction of the sculpture.
I can't say I disagree with people who say that the destruction of the ice penis was not the best way to protest its construction. Plus, it was quite the impressive construction, and probably took many hours to complete. Oh, and let's not forget the funadmental fact here - it was a nine foot snow penis. I'm a feminist and I think it's more humorous in nature than an attack by the patriarchy. As a feminist, I'm a lot more concerned about issues such as the wage gap, lack of women's representation in medical trials, and about a hundred other topics, none of which are nine foot snow penises.
After all, I went to college on a campus that used to have the "Flame of Knowledge Fountain," which basically looked like a huge erect penis in a fountain. Every year on the first day of classes, the fountain would be soaped and large chunks of foam would drift around the quad. The Flame of Knowledge used to be called the "Drexel Shaft," a reference to the often unorganized infrastructure of the university (losing transcripts, forgetting to credit your accounts, etc). I don't remember any feminists on campus getting their panties in a bunch over it. No one really seemed to care that it looked like William Penn had a visible boner atop City Hall when viewed from the Ben Franklin Parkway, either. Then again we were all too busy, oh, I don't know, studying and working? Only at the Ivys do the students have time to debate nine foot snow penises.
Plus, wouldn't it have been amusing to watch it melt?
In keeping with the phallic spirit of this entry, you can now purchase your very own stripper pole for home use! (Work safe link, really.)
¶ 10:28 AM 0 comments
Saturday, March 01, 2003
From grooves to bits
I often have problems finding people to help me move because I have a sizeable LP collection. It's not out of control (yet), but a box of LPs is quite heavy. Still, I can't part with those vinyl slabs. I've been exploring the option of converting my LPs to CD-R. There are a few excellent tech pages on this subject including Transferring LPs to CD-R: Some Advice and Convert Vinyl and Tape to CD. I also highly recommend checking out the more general Andy McFadden's CD-Recordable FAQ.
However, it might be as easy as just plopping the records on my flatbed scanner, thanks to a computer science student who has been writing software that "reads" the grooves and valleys of a scanned vinyl record. Obviously, the technology isn't really "there" yet, but I must admit that it was a cool project for him to undertake, just to see if he could do it.
Ah, the glory of engineering.
¶ 10:07 PM 0 comments
I often have problems finding people to help me move because I have a sizeable LP collection. It's not out of control (yet), but a box of LPs is quite heavy. Still, I can't part with those vinyl slabs. I've been exploring the option of converting my LPs to CD-R. There are a few excellent tech pages on this subject including Transferring LPs to CD-R: Some Advice and Convert Vinyl and Tape to CD. I also highly recommend checking out the more general Andy McFadden's CD-Recordable FAQ.
However, it might be as easy as just plopping the records on my flatbed scanner, thanks to a computer science student who has been writing software that "reads" the grooves and valleys of a scanned vinyl record. Obviously, the technology isn't really "there" yet, but I must admit that it was a cool project for him to undertake, just to see if he could do it.
Ah, the glory of engineering.
¶ 10:07 PM 0 comments
Thursday, February 27, 2003
Photographers, know your rights
Last December, a photographer was arrested in Denver for taking pictures of Dick Cheney's hotel. Unfortunately, in these PATRIOT Act crazed times, this might be happening more often. The Philadelphia City Paper this week reports on several incidents involving non-lilly white student photographers being harrassed and detained by police officers. A photographer/lawyer from Portland, OR has written a one-page information sheet (here in PDF) that you can carry around in your camera bag entitled The Photographer's Right: Your Rights and Remedies when Stopped or Confronted for Photography. Well worth carrying around if you are a professional or dabbling photographer. Put it with your ACLU What to do if you're stopped by the police card.
CD Settlement Filing Deadline is 3/3/03
You might be able to get a few bucks back from all those overpriced CDs you've purchased over the years. Be sure to file at Music CD Settlement by 11:59PM 3/3/03.
¶ 4:25 PM 0 comments
Last December, a photographer was arrested in Denver for taking pictures of Dick Cheney's hotel. Unfortunately, in these PATRIOT Act crazed times, this might be happening more often. The Philadelphia City Paper this week reports on several incidents involving non-lilly white student photographers being harrassed and detained by police officers. A photographer/lawyer from Portland, OR has written a one-page information sheet (here in PDF) that you can carry around in your camera bag entitled The Photographer's Right: Your Rights and Remedies when Stopped or Confronted for Photography. Well worth carrying around if you are a professional or dabbling photographer. Put it with your ACLU What to do if you're stopped by the police card.
CD Settlement Filing Deadline is 3/3/03
You might be able to get a few bucks back from all those overpriced CDs you've purchased over the years. Be sure to file at Music CD Settlement by 11:59PM 3/3/03.
¶ 4:25 PM 0 comments
Wednesday, February 26, 2003
Maybe HoJo's in Times Square stands a chance after all
You can no longer smell what The Rock is cooking.
Now all that needs to go is the Fashion Cafe, the ESPN Zone, Rainforest Cafe, Medieval Times, the remains of Planet Hollywood ...
¶ 3:00 PM 0 comments
You can no longer smell what The Rock is cooking.
Now all that needs to go is the Fashion Cafe, the ESPN Zone, Rainforest Cafe, Medieval Times, the remains of Planet Hollywood ...
¶ 3:00 PM 0 comments
Shameless Plug: How to find my zines
A little update on how to obtain zines from the Low Hug Productions catalog. Of course, you can always order them directly from me through the mail or by using PayPal. If you're in Chicago, Baltimore or Portland OR, some of my zines are available at these cool bookstores, but I can't be sure of how many are left in stock.
Quimby's, Chicago IL: Low Hug 8, 12 Items or Less, Moving Images, Laundry Basket
Atomic Books, Baltimore MD: Low Hug 8, 12 Items or Less, Moving Images
Powells, in Portland OR: Low Hug 8, 12 Items or Less (note 12 Items sold out as of 2.21.03)
Some of the Low Hug Productions zines are also available through these fine mailorder distributors. The people who run these distros truly do it for the love of zines, and have poured much time and effort into their projects. You will find other zines you want to read at these distros, I'm sure. Again, I'm not sure about stock levels at these distros.
Loop Distro: Low Hug 7 and 8, 12 Items or Less, Moving Images, Speaking Phairly Revisited
Frida Loves Diego: Low Hug 7 and 8, 12 Items or Less, Moving Images, Speaking Phairly Revisited
Pander Zine Distro: Moving Images, Laundry Basket, Speaking Phairly Revisited
Microcosm: 12 Items or Less and Laundry Basket
Five Minute Romance: Moving Images
Burning the Letters: Moving Images
Grrrlstyle: Moving Images
¶ 2:41 PM 0 comments
A little update on how to obtain zines from the Low Hug Productions catalog. Of course, you can always order them directly from me through the mail or by using PayPal. If you're in Chicago, Baltimore or Portland OR, some of my zines are available at these cool bookstores, but I can't be sure of how many are left in stock.
Quimby's, Chicago IL: Low Hug 8, 12 Items or Less, Moving Images, Laundry Basket
Atomic Books, Baltimore MD: Low Hug 8, 12 Items or Less, Moving Images
Powells, in Portland OR: Low Hug 8, 12 Items or Less (note 12 Items sold out as of 2.21.03)
Some of the Low Hug Productions zines are also available through these fine mailorder distributors. The people who run these distros truly do it for the love of zines, and have poured much time and effort into their projects. You will find other zines you want to read at these distros, I'm sure. Again, I'm not sure about stock levels at these distros.
Loop Distro: Low Hug 7 and 8, 12 Items or Less, Moving Images, Speaking Phairly Revisited
Frida Loves Diego: Low Hug 7 and 8, 12 Items or Less, Moving Images, Speaking Phairly Revisited
Pander Zine Distro: Moving Images, Laundry Basket, Speaking Phairly Revisited
Microcosm: 12 Items or Less and Laundry Basket
Five Minute Romance: Moving Images
Burning the Letters: Moving Images
Grrrlstyle: Moving Images
¶ 2:41 PM 0 comments
Tuesday, February 25, 2003
Up for the challenge?
Received this call for entries in the mail from a local indie publisher, Spineless Books.
Fitzpatrick-O’Dinn Award for Best Book Length Work of Formally Constrained English Literature.
Write a novel without the letter E. Write a poem in alphabetic order. Never repeat a word. Write in the passive voice. Write six hundred sonnets with a total vocabulary of one thousands words without the word the. Write a pastoral novel with multiple reading paths. Write a prose poem with five stanzas each using only one vowel. Tell a story entirely in questions? Write a book in the future tense. Write a love letter without the letter L. Write a poem including all the letters of the alphabet in every line. Write without nouns. Write an epic palindrome. Write a novel without the third person.
¶ 10:13 AM 0 comments
Received this call for entries in the mail from a local indie publisher, Spineless Books.
Fitzpatrick-O’Dinn Award for Best Book Length Work of Formally Constrained English Literature.
Write a novel without the letter E. Write a poem in alphabetic order. Never repeat a word. Write in the passive voice. Write six hundred sonnets with a total vocabulary of one thousands words without the word the. Write a pastoral novel with multiple reading paths. Write a prose poem with five stanzas each using only one vowel. Tell a story entirely in questions? Write a book in the future tense. Write a love letter without the letter L. Write a poem including all the letters of the alphabet in every line. Write without nouns. Write an epic palindrome. Write a novel without the third person.
¶ 10:13 AM 0 comments
Monday, February 24, 2003
Award shows are lame, part infinity
Last night I didn't bother turning on the Grammy awards until past 10PM CST, because I thought by that time they would be over. No such luck. I got to witness the spectacle of Sheryl Crow and Kid Rock doing a duet. Full disclosure here: I like Sheryl Crow and her most recent album is a really excellent piece of work. However, every time I've seen her on TV, her performances have sucked. She was also really hagged out looking, unfortunately. Her hair should have been loose, not pulled into a weird top of the head contraption that made her forehead look huge and pulled her entire face back like cheap plastic surgery. In other coif news, Kid Rock is sporting a lovely new mullet.
When they had on the RIAA president Neil Portnow saying how "music isn't dead" and we should support new talent, you could almost hear the subliminal messages of "Stop downloading those MP3s!!" They then went into the yearly death reel, ending with Joe Strummer. While I at first was a bit concerned about the "tribute to the Clash," I have to admit that Elvis Costello, Bruce Springsteen, Little Steven Van Zant, and Dave Grohl really pulled off a barn-burning rendition of "London Calling." I'll have to look for the MP3 of it that is inevitably floating around the Web by this morning.
Um, is there anyone else but me who thinks that Norah Jones is just the next flavor of the week? Then again, the only two albums I own that were nominated in any and all of the catagories last night are Springsteen's The Rising and the Foo Fighters One by One. But nice to see that Jimmy Stur won the Polka award again. ¶ 11:32 AM 0 comments
Last night I didn't bother turning on the Grammy awards until past 10PM CST, because I thought by that time they would be over. No such luck. I got to witness the spectacle of Sheryl Crow and Kid Rock doing a duet. Full disclosure here: I like Sheryl Crow and her most recent album is a really excellent piece of work. However, every time I've seen her on TV, her performances have sucked. She was also really hagged out looking, unfortunately. Her hair should have been loose, not pulled into a weird top of the head contraption that made her forehead look huge and pulled her entire face back like cheap plastic surgery. In other coif news, Kid Rock is sporting a lovely new mullet.
When they had on the RIAA president Neil Portnow saying how "music isn't dead" and we should support new talent, you could almost hear the subliminal messages of "Stop downloading those MP3s!!" They then went into the yearly death reel, ending with Joe Strummer. While I at first was a bit concerned about the "tribute to the Clash," I have to admit that Elvis Costello, Bruce Springsteen, Little Steven Van Zant, and Dave Grohl really pulled off a barn-burning rendition of "London Calling." I'll have to look for the MP3 of it that is inevitably floating around the Web by this morning.
Um, is there anyone else but me who thinks that Norah Jones is just the next flavor of the week? Then again, the only two albums I own that were nominated in any and all of the catagories last night are Springsteen's The Rising and the Foo Fighters One by One. But nice to see that Jimmy Stur won the Polka award again. ¶ 11:32 AM 0 comments
Friday, February 21, 2003
A Python Weighs In
Terry Jones applies Bush's "logic" to his neighborhood.
See, they're just like the rest of us!
I don't know why Celebrities Eating makes me laugh, but it does.
Home to Mr. Richard Faber?
Village Voice's Neighborhood Profile of the Week.
Bandwidth intensive, but worth it.
Cartoonist and animator Mark Fiore's site. ¶ 9:49 PM 0 comments
Terry Jones applies Bush's "logic" to his neighborhood.
See, they're just like the rest of us!
I don't know why Celebrities Eating makes me laugh, but it does.
Home to Mr. Richard Faber?
Village Voice's Neighborhood Profile of the Week.
Bandwidth intensive, but worth it.
Cartoonist and animator Mark Fiore's site. ¶ 9:49 PM 0 comments
Thursday, February 20, 2003
The orange and blue fades into the sunset
It depresses me that the Howard Johnson's at 46th and Broadway in New York City will probably be closing soon. If they do, there will only be ten HoJo's left in the US. I'm sure the Times Square location will be replaced by some new chain or theme restaurant that doesn't feature an all you can eat Friday Fish Fry. It's just the further sanitation and family-friendly-ation of Times Square at work. ¶ 12:25 PM 0 comments
It depresses me that the Howard Johnson's at 46th and Broadway in New York City will probably be closing soon. If they do, there will only be ten HoJo's left in the US. I'm sure the Times Square location will be replaced by some new chain or theme restaurant that doesn't feature an all you can eat Friday Fish Fry. It's just the further sanitation and family-friendly-ation of Times Square at work. ¶ 12:25 PM 0 comments
Wednesday, February 19, 2003
Be prepared? Or be paranoid?
The US Department of Homeland Security has just released their version of Duck and Cover for the new millennium in the form of their new Web site entitled Ready.gov. A quick glance at the many checklists reveals that I have almost none of the items necessary to survive for three days. Sure, I’ve got the flashlight, radio, water, candles, blankets, trash bags and maybe even food, but not an optional mess kit, tube tent, or face masks. I am ready for a blizzard or a tornado, not a terrorist attack. And really, is any of this going to make a difference in case of another major terrorist attack? Or is it just making people more paranoid instead of more prepared?
¶ 3:24 PM 0 comments
The US Department of Homeland Security has just released their version of Duck and Cover for the new millennium in the form of their new Web site entitled Ready.gov. A quick glance at the many checklists reveals that I have almost none of the items necessary to survive for three days. Sure, I’ve got the flashlight, radio, water, candles, blankets, trash bags and maybe even food, but not an optional mess kit, tube tent, or face masks. I am ready for a blizzard or a tornado, not a terrorist attack. And really, is any of this going to make a difference in case of another major terrorist attack? Or is it just making people more paranoid instead of more prepared?
¶ 3:24 PM 0 comments
Tuesday, February 18, 2003
Bloogle?
Yesterday's big news (in the geek set) was that Google has purchased Pyra Labs, creators of Blogger. Obviously, I use Blogger to create Papercuts and Blogspot to host it. I feel somewhat secure in Google's purchase of Prya because of the quality and reliability of their search products beyond their basic search. The company has done an excellent job with the Usenet Archives aka Google Groups. Their little-publicized shopping tools - Google Catalogs and Froogle - work well. What is especially impressive is that Google Catalogs searches the actual text of catalog pages, not just descriptions in a database. Obviously, the developers put some thought into the design of this search tool. As mentioned a few days ago, Google News is one of my favorite news sources. So, I'm not as upset by Google's purchase of Pyra as I would be had Yahoo or Microsoft gobbled them up.
I only hope that Google helps to improve the Blogger software and especially the hosting. A few times I've tried to access Papercuts and instead landed on a completely different 'blog hosted on BlogSpot.
While Blogger doesn't have the cool factor of Moveable Type, I like it because it's easy to use, accessible from almost anywhere, and has provided me with a place to host the 'blog ad-free with little fuss. The truth is sometimes in order to get your projects done, you have to take the path of least resistance (Blogger, freemail like Yahoo mail, Microsoft products, free hosting sites, etc.). I don't think this lessens the importance of people's individual DIY projects. Does your zine really have more indie cred because it was produced on a 286 speed PC using WordPerfect 3.0 and printed on a dot-matrix printer?
Sometimes I just get too concerned about the hiearchy of DIY media production - e.g. the belief that Moveable Type is cooler than Blogger, handwritten zines are cooler than typeset zines, Linux is cooler than other operating systems, and heaven forbid you produce a clean, well-written, relatively error-free publication. I don't believe that DIY has to equal sloppy. (I also don't believe that doing a zine means you have to take a vow of poverty and give it away for free, but that's another issue completely.) The name dropping, inner circles, and infighting of the zine world are well known and best avoided if you want to keep your work free of subconscious influences. I've stopped reading certain zine groups for long periods of time when they begin to disgust me with both their stroking and cliques (how many times can a zine be called "cute"?), obsession over semiotic minutae (e.g., is the word 'flakey' insulting to the mentally ill), and concerns over violating the 'safe space' and 'triggering' bad memories (the truth is, there is no 'safe space' in this world and at some point you just have to get over yourself and concentrate on the big picture of life.)
Really, this wasn't supposed to turn into a rant about the so-called credibility of methods of DIY media production, but that's been on my mind for the past few weeks, and the buyout of Pyra just kicked it to the front of my mind. ¶ 10:22 AM 0 comments
Yesterday's big news (in the geek set) was that Google has purchased Pyra Labs, creators of Blogger. Obviously, I use Blogger to create Papercuts and Blogspot to host it. I feel somewhat secure in Google's purchase of Prya because of the quality and reliability of their search products beyond their basic search. The company has done an excellent job with the Usenet Archives aka Google Groups. Their little-publicized shopping tools - Google Catalogs and Froogle - work well. What is especially impressive is that Google Catalogs searches the actual text of catalog pages, not just descriptions in a database. Obviously, the developers put some thought into the design of this search tool. As mentioned a few days ago, Google News is one of my favorite news sources. So, I'm not as upset by Google's purchase of Pyra as I would be had Yahoo or Microsoft gobbled them up.
I only hope that Google helps to improve the Blogger software and especially the hosting. A few times I've tried to access Papercuts and instead landed on a completely different 'blog hosted on BlogSpot.
While Blogger doesn't have the cool factor of Moveable Type, I like it because it's easy to use, accessible from almost anywhere, and has provided me with a place to host the 'blog ad-free with little fuss. The truth is sometimes in order to get your projects done, you have to take the path of least resistance (Blogger, freemail like Yahoo mail, Microsoft products, free hosting sites, etc.). I don't think this lessens the importance of people's individual DIY projects. Does your zine really have more indie cred because it was produced on a 286 speed PC using WordPerfect 3.0 and printed on a dot-matrix printer?
Sometimes I just get too concerned about the hiearchy of DIY media production - e.g. the belief that Moveable Type is cooler than Blogger, handwritten zines are cooler than typeset zines, Linux is cooler than other operating systems, and heaven forbid you produce a clean, well-written, relatively error-free publication. I don't believe that DIY has to equal sloppy. (I also don't believe that doing a zine means you have to take a vow of poverty and give it away for free, but that's another issue completely.) The name dropping, inner circles, and infighting of the zine world are well known and best avoided if you want to keep your work free of subconscious influences. I've stopped reading certain zine groups for long periods of time when they begin to disgust me with both their stroking and cliques (how many times can a zine be called "cute"?), obsession over semiotic minutae (e.g., is the word 'flakey' insulting to the mentally ill), and concerns over violating the 'safe space' and 'triggering' bad memories (the truth is, there is no 'safe space' in this world and at some point you just have to get over yourself and concentrate on the big picture of life.)
Really, this wasn't supposed to turn into a rant about the so-called credibility of methods of DIY media production, but that's been on my mind for the past few weeks, and the buyout of Pyra just kicked it to the front of my mind. ¶ 10:22 AM 0 comments
Monday, February 17, 2003
More room for Mad Dog?
PA State Representative Steve Barrar thinks French people suck. ¶ 2:07 PM 0 comments
PA State Representative Steve Barrar thinks French people suck. ¶ 2:07 PM 0 comments
Aural Availability
Smithsonian Folkways Recordings has hit upon a great idea - be willing to burn CD-R's of catalog items that are out of print for customers. Technically, no recordings will ever be "out-of-print" this way. Those at Folkways understand that having the music available is what is important, not necessarily sales numbers. It is worth noting that since they started this "record-on-demand" service, sales are up 33 percent. Not like I ever expect the majors to start such a service, but this idea could be a boon for small indie labels that deal in re-issues and rarities.
Flaky white stuff
Well, Central IL didn't get hammered with snow as bad as the East Coast is as I write this. Yes, it's a bit of a mess here, but not 24 inches of mess as in Philadelphia (cute puppy!) or Washington, Baltimore, or NYC. The older I get, the more I dislike winter. Then again, I never liked it much in the first place.
Allied Media Conference 2003
Information has been posted for the Allied Media Conference 2003 (formerly the Underground Publishing Conference) in Bowling Green, OH in June. This is turning into quite an event and this year they are having a day-long media literacy seminar the Friday before the conference.
Enough.
Put the damn Michael Jackson interview to rest, already. Why is ABC devoting all of prime time tonight to an hour-long analysis and a rebroadcast of the original interview? Does NBC really have to have a 2-hour Dateline tonight that interviews his friends and co-workers? A 2-hour special on Fox later this week showing what was cut out of the final print of the interview? I didn't watch the original interview, and certainly won't be watching any of this additional material. Dali Lama on a cracker, the US is about to start a war, they're still investigating what caused Columbia to disintegrate, and 21 people were crushed at a Chicago nightclub last night.
Arron Barnhart has collected some of faux pas in the coverage of the Columbia disaster, culled from the TV Barn mailing list. ¶ 1:19 PM 0 comments
Smithsonian Folkways Recordings has hit upon a great idea - be willing to burn CD-R's of catalog items that are out of print for customers. Technically, no recordings will ever be "out-of-print" this way. Those at Folkways understand that having the music available is what is important, not necessarily sales numbers. It is worth noting that since they started this "record-on-demand" service, sales are up 33 percent. Not like I ever expect the majors to start such a service, but this idea could be a boon for small indie labels that deal in re-issues and rarities.
Flaky white stuff
Well, Central IL didn't get hammered with snow as bad as the East Coast is as I write this. Yes, it's a bit of a mess here, but not 24 inches of mess as in Philadelphia (cute puppy!) or Washington, Baltimore, or NYC. The older I get, the more I dislike winter. Then again, I never liked it much in the first place.
Allied Media Conference 2003
Information has been posted for the Allied Media Conference 2003 (formerly the Underground Publishing Conference) in Bowling Green, OH in June. This is turning into quite an event and this year they are having a day-long media literacy seminar the Friday before the conference.
Enough.
Put the damn Michael Jackson interview to rest, already. Why is ABC devoting all of prime time tonight to an hour-long analysis and a rebroadcast of the original interview? Does NBC really have to have a 2-hour Dateline tonight that interviews his friends and co-workers? A 2-hour special on Fox later this week showing what was cut out of the final print of the interview? I didn't watch the original interview, and certainly won't be watching any of this additional material. Dali Lama on a cracker, the US is about to start a war, they're still investigating what caused Columbia to disintegrate, and 21 people were crushed at a Chicago nightclub last night.
Arron Barnhart has collected some of faux pas in the coverage of the Columbia disaster, culled from the TV Barn mailing list. ¶ 1:19 PM 0 comments
