Pulling the Plug X
Jacque's Cabaret in Bay Village is in need of Media Dieticians' support. The club's neighbors are trying to get it closed down and have its license revoked. The neighbors do not want a drag club in their neighborhood -- it's been there since Stonewall -- and claim that crime and prostitution is associated with the club. This is something that has come up again and again since the '60s, and people haven't been able to shut it down yet -- let's work so it doesn't happen now. I don't live in Bay Village, but I've been to Jacque's several times, and I don't see a negative impact on the community. The bar's staff makes sure people leave right at closing, and the crowd Jacque's attracts isn't a rowdy lot. They're drag queens. And the people who like them.
Jacque's has also been hosting punk-rock shows for years. It's a great place to hang out, drink cheap beer, see the most talented drag queens in the Northeast, play pinball, and experience life outside mainstream culture. Given it's long-running history and subculture, it'd be a shame to see it shut down. Jacque's closing would be a loss for Boston.
There is a hearing Tuesday, Feb. 4 -- that's today, I'm afraid -- at 6 p.m. about Jacque's license. They could use some support. If you're interested and able, meet at Jacque's Cabaret at 5:30 tonight, or to to the Renaissance Charter School on Stuart Street two blocks from the Arlington T stop. For directions, call 617-426-8902.
Tuesday, February 04, 2003
Born to Run Away II
The Bruce Springsteen/DoubleTake benefit is back on! Tickets through Ticketmaster have been knocked down to $100 and $500, and DoubleTake is selling a limited number of tickets for $1,000. Those get you into a pre-show reception attended by Dr. Robert Coles, Springsteen, and other "prominent DoubleTake supporters."
The Bruce Springsteen/DoubleTake benefit is back on! Tickets through Ticketmaster have been knocked down to $100 and $500, and DoubleTake is selling a limited number of tickets for $1,000. Those get you into a pre-show reception attended by Dr. Robert Coles, Springsteen, and other "prominent DoubleTake supporters."
Music to My Ears XXV
Media Dietician Rob Upson is the first to take me up on my offer of a mix exchange. His CD-R of field recordings made in Suriname earns him a mix CD from yours truly. I hope to make a mix a month. If you send me a mix to the address in the left-hand column, you'll get a copy of the mix I send Rob, too. Let the exchange begin!
Media Dietician Rob Upson is the first to take me up on my offer of a mix exchange. His CD-R of field recordings made in Suriname earns him a mix CD from yours truly. I hope to make a mix a month. If you send me a mix to the address in the left-hand column, you'll get a copy of the mix I send Rob, too. Let the exchange begin!
Comics and Community VI
In a recent edition of Technology Review, MIT's Henry Jenkins compares Warren Ellis's comic book Global Frequency to Howard Rheingold's Smart Mobs. It's an impressive consideration of the relationship between dystopian science fiction and online communities.
In a recent edition of Technology Review, MIT's Henry Jenkins compares Warren Ellis's comic book Global Frequency to Howard Rheingold's Smart Mobs. It's an impressive consideration of the relationship between dystopian science fiction and online communities.
Anchormen, Aweigh! XVI
I just sent Jef the final draft of the liner notes to the Anchormen's forthcoming CD, Nation of Interns. The CD will hopefully be out in the next month or so, and you can expect some shows come spring! Here are the liners:
The Anchormen
Nation of Interns
Chris Braiotta: Accordion, bass, and vocals
Jef Czekaj: Drums, and vocals
Heath Row: Vocals
Tom Scanlon: Guitar and organ
Leslie Case: Background vocals on "Another Gentrification Song" and
"Unsung Heroes"
Another Gentrification Song Another storefront boarded up. Another homeless paper cup. Another U-Haul moving truck: Another family gone. Another big box starts to trade. Another student class turned slave. Another million dollars made, not saved: Another gentrification song. Why were we not invited? Why were the developers benighted? Why was the neighborhood so slighted? When will these wrongs be righted? Another street loses its life. Another sheltered suburban white. Another man picks up a knife.
"Central Square is the heart and soul of Cambridge." -- Chris Szabla
Audobon Park Walking down Magazine past the Abstract and Ms. Rae-Ann's grocery to le block du veterinary, the OK Shoe Shop's closed up like an oyster. Sitting on the roots of a tree, reading a book by a punk-rock nothing, writing a postcard to my family, and listening to the song sung by the pool swimming. We are going down to Audobon Park. We are house rotten at the Status Palace hanging out after dark because Alisa's on her mobile phone, and we are going home. Sitting down at the Kerry, feet are hurting, cracked just like Van Gogh. Three pints of Guinness times five minutes. Now we're late; who knows where we'll go? Going back to 316. Can't watch the movie we didn't PPV. Call room service, serving dervish. Fills our stomach; still we feel empty.
"The story might be tidier with a suicide, or a drug overdose, or a graffiti-covered tombstone in Paris. What actually happened isn't nearly as profitable for the record company, but more pleasant for his family." -- Abram Shalom Himelstein and Jamie Schweser, Tales of a Punk Rock Nothing
Celebrate Democracy In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue and proceeded to kill 3 million Arawaks. Their gold had made him woozy, but because of Amerigo Vespucci, we are not Columbians, we're Americans. Celebrate democracy with me. In 1776, we freed ourselves from the wily Brits to play out our Declaration of Independence. But despite our Constitution, there is still stark class division, and war is fought by the impoverished, not the rich. In 1983, the cover of Time magazine turned its annual man award upon its ear. And instead of a world leader, it gave laud to binary
readers and named the computer Machine of the Year.
"A country populated with shoppers is poorly prepared to assert, much less back up, its worldwide dominance." -- Herbert Schiller, Living in the Number One Country
Finger Lakes Should I take the train or should I rent a car? I would take an aeroplane, but I don't need to go that far to see you because we will meet halfway. I want to see you tomorrow. You wanted to see me yesterday. If you could see through my eyes and get a new perspective, and maybe even be surprised. If I were you and you were me, just think of all the things that we could see. I think that I could be happy. Take me to the edge. Take me to the pier. Tell me all the reasons why you wanted me to come here: to see you, to see the finger lakes. I am taking what you're giving. Now there's not much more for me to take. I haven't seen or heard from you in awhile. I wish that I could hear your voice. I wish that I could see you smile. Smile at me; smile at the things we say. Then I'd know what you are thinking. Then I'd know what kind of games we're playing.
"The ability to quote is a serviceable substitute for wit." -- W. Somerset Maugham
Idlewild You're spending the weekend in Michigan, debiting the balance sheet that our relationship is built on. I urinate in used car lots and then get in a van with poets from New York and without destination. I do not know where we are going. I hope we reap the seeds we're sowing. You say that I don't tell you how I feel, yet layer after layer of my heart's defenses you keep peeling. Your self-esteem and self-doubt make me sway. I love you; I'm not in love with you: At least that's how I feel right now, today. Idlewild, you make me feel like I've never ever felt before. Idlewild, is this love real? Are you an open door?
"In order to delay the onset of the dementia of affection I hugged foam cushions from the sofa while you were away." -- Todd Colby, "I Welcome You"
Indecision If you want to make a decision, you've got to make it with precision. You've got to make sure that you're in the right head. If you want to give an answer, you cannot be a second guesser. You've got to be correct again. I will never let you down again, my friend.
"The fish is never free to become an eagle." -- Theron Q. Dumont, The Master Mind
Unsung Heroes If history was written by the winners, then social studies textbooks were compiled by the sinners. Our social ills were not caused by the poor, and labor organizers don't lead choirs any more. The world was not created by the people who make the news. Society was built by working people: me and you. We've got to share our stories, our successes, and our loss if we want to break the iron chains forged by every boss. Unsung heroes are less than zeroes. We cannot afford to forget our past. There's a new day, a new way about to dawn. Yet we can't take steps forward without knowing where we've gone. We've lost ourselves in the language of the Left. We've got to learn a new tongue if we want to be heard by the deaf. Without collective memory we won't last.
"We are always in need of radicals who are also lovable." -- Howard Zinn, Howard Zinn on History
Basic tracks recorded starting January 2002 by the Anchormen, Paul Coleman, and Ken Kokubo at the Sound Museum in Boston. Overdubs recorded starting April 2002 at Drop-D Manor in Jamaica Plain. Technical assistance provided by Doug Vargas. Mixed starting November 2002 by Rafi Sofer and various interns at Q Division in Somerville. Mastered in January 2003 by Darron Burke at Makeshift Studio in Jamaica Plain.
Thank you: The Abbey Lounge; Emily Arkin; Katie Bryn; Darron Burke; Leslie Case; Paul Coleman; the Dilboy VFW; Mike Faloon; Dave Geissler; Jen Godfrey; Handstand Command; Hi-Fi Records; Ken Kokubo; Steven J. Lawrence; O'Brien's; Kimberly Pieters; Sarah Pikcilingis; Rafi Sofer, "Cyco" Dave Sakowski, and all of the interns at Q Division; Alisa Swindell; and Doug Vargas.
No hippies or pimps were involved in the making of this record.
I just sent Jef the final draft of the liner notes to the Anchormen's forthcoming CD, Nation of Interns. The CD will hopefully be out in the next month or so, and you can expect some shows come spring! Here are the liners:
The Anchormen
Nation of Interns
Chris Braiotta: Accordion, bass, and vocals
Jef Czekaj: Drums, and vocals
Heath Row: Vocals
Tom Scanlon: Guitar and organ
Leslie Case: Background vocals on "Another Gentrification Song" and
"Unsung Heroes"
Another Gentrification Song Another storefront boarded up. Another homeless paper cup. Another U-Haul moving truck: Another family gone. Another big box starts to trade. Another student class turned slave. Another million dollars made, not saved: Another gentrification song. Why were we not invited? Why were the developers benighted? Why was the neighborhood so slighted? When will these wrongs be righted? Another street loses its life. Another sheltered suburban white. Another man picks up a knife.
"Central Square is the heart and soul of Cambridge." -- Chris Szabla
Audobon Park Walking down Magazine past the Abstract and Ms. Rae-Ann's grocery to le block du veterinary, the OK Shoe Shop's closed up like an oyster. Sitting on the roots of a tree, reading a book by a punk-rock nothing, writing a postcard to my family, and listening to the song sung by the pool swimming. We are going down to Audobon Park. We are house rotten at the Status Palace hanging out after dark because Alisa's on her mobile phone, and we are going home. Sitting down at the Kerry, feet are hurting, cracked just like Van Gogh. Three pints of Guinness times five minutes. Now we're late; who knows where we'll go? Going back to 316. Can't watch the movie we didn't PPV. Call room service, serving dervish. Fills our stomach; still we feel empty.
"The story might be tidier with a suicide, or a drug overdose, or a graffiti-covered tombstone in Paris. What actually happened isn't nearly as profitable for the record company, but more pleasant for his family." -- Abram Shalom Himelstein and Jamie Schweser, Tales of a Punk Rock Nothing
Celebrate Democracy In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue and proceeded to kill 3 million Arawaks. Their gold had made him woozy, but because of Amerigo Vespucci, we are not Columbians, we're Americans. Celebrate democracy with me. In 1776, we freed ourselves from the wily Brits to play out our Declaration of Independence. But despite our Constitution, there is still stark class division, and war is fought by the impoverished, not the rich. In 1983, the cover of Time magazine turned its annual man award upon its ear. And instead of a world leader, it gave laud to binary
readers and named the computer Machine of the Year.
"A country populated with shoppers is poorly prepared to assert, much less back up, its worldwide dominance." -- Herbert Schiller, Living in the Number One Country
Finger Lakes Should I take the train or should I rent a car? I would take an aeroplane, but I don't need to go that far to see you because we will meet halfway. I want to see you tomorrow. You wanted to see me yesterday. If you could see through my eyes and get a new perspective, and maybe even be surprised. If I were you and you were me, just think of all the things that we could see. I think that I could be happy. Take me to the edge. Take me to the pier. Tell me all the reasons why you wanted me to come here: to see you, to see the finger lakes. I am taking what you're giving. Now there's not much more for me to take. I haven't seen or heard from you in awhile. I wish that I could hear your voice. I wish that I could see you smile. Smile at me; smile at the things we say. Then I'd know what you are thinking. Then I'd know what kind of games we're playing.
"The ability to quote is a serviceable substitute for wit." -- W. Somerset Maugham
Idlewild You're spending the weekend in Michigan, debiting the balance sheet that our relationship is built on. I urinate in used car lots and then get in a van with poets from New York and without destination. I do not know where we are going. I hope we reap the seeds we're sowing. You say that I don't tell you how I feel, yet layer after layer of my heart's defenses you keep peeling. Your self-esteem and self-doubt make me sway. I love you; I'm not in love with you: At least that's how I feel right now, today. Idlewild, you make me feel like I've never ever felt before. Idlewild, is this love real? Are you an open door?
"In order to delay the onset of the dementia of affection I hugged foam cushions from the sofa while you were away." -- Todd Colby, "I Welcome You"
Indecision If you want to make a decision, you've got to make it with precision. You've got to make sure that you're in the right head. If you want to give an answer, you cannot be a second guesser. You've got to be correct again. I will never let you down again, my friend.
"The fish is never free to become an eagle." -- Theron Q. Dumont, The Master Mind
Unsung Heroes If history was written by the winners, then social studies textbooks were compiled by the sinners. Our social ills were not caused by the poor, and labor organizers don't lead choirs any more. The world was not created by the people who make the news. Society was built by working people: me and you. We've got to share our stories, our successes, and our loss if we want to break the iron chains forged by every boss. Unsung heroes are less than zeroes. We cannot afford to forget our past. There's a new day, a new way about to dawn. Yet we can't take steps forward without knowing where we've gone. We've lost ourselves in the language of the Left. We've got to learn a new tongue if we want to be heard by the deaf. Without collective memory we won't last.
"We are always in need of radicals who are also lovable." -- Howard Zinn, Howard Zinn on History
Basic tracks recorded starting January 2002 by the Anchormen, Paul Coleman, and Ken Kokubo at the Sound Museum in Boston. Overdubs recorded starting April 2002 at Drop-D Manor in Jamaica Plain. Technical assistance provided by Doug Vargas. Mixed starting November 2002 by Rafi Sofer and various interns at Q Division in Somerville. Mastered in January 2003 by Darron Burke at Makeshift Studio in Jamaica Plain.
Thank you: The Abbey Lounge; Emily Arkin; Katie Bryn; Darron Burke; Leslie Case; Paul Coleman; the Dilboy VFW; Mike Faloon; Dave Geissler; Jen Godfrey; Handstand Command; Hi-Fi Records; Ken Kokubo; Steven J. Lawrence; O'Brien's; Kimberly Pieters; Sarah Pikcilingis; Rafi Sofer, "Cyco" Dave Sakowski, and all of the interns at Q Division; Alisa Swindell; and Doug Vargas.
No hippies or pimps were involved in the making of this record.
Event-O-Dex XXXVI
Friday, Feb. 7: Godsmacked, Armstrong, the Teen Idols, and the Queers at TT the Bear's Place in Cambridge.
Saturday, Feb. 8: 71 Sunbeam, Sally Crewe, Laguardia, and the Lincoln Conspiracy at TT the Bear's Place in Cambridge.
Friday, Feb. 7: Godsmacked, Armstrong, the Teen Idols, and the Queers at TT the Bear's Place in Cambridge.
Saturday, Feb. 8: 71 Sunbeam, Sally Crewe, Laguardia, and the Lincoln Conspiracy at TT the Bear's Place in Cambridge.
Monday, February 03, 2003
Event-O-Dex XXXV
Thursday, Feb. 6: Plunge into Death (featuring Jef of the Anchormen and Dave of Scrapple), Common Cold, and Shark Mountain at the Choppin' Block, 724 Huntington Ave., Boston. It's a Mister Records CD release party!
Thursday, Feb. 6: Plunge into Death (featuring Jef of the Anchormen and Dave of Scrapple), Common Cold, and Shark Mountain at the Choppin' Block, 724 Huntington Ave., Boston. It's a Mister Records CD release party!
The Movie I Watched Last Night LVII
Two cross-country flights, two in-flight movies.
Wednesday: The Tuxedo
This Mask-like plotline is really just an excuse for Jackie Chan to show off his martial arts mastery. The gist is this: There's this tuxedo, see? It's been augmented to give you highly skilled martial arts -- and dancing -- abilities. Chan plays a cabbie who gets recruited as the driver for a James Bond-like secret agent. After the agent is injured, Chan dons the tux and takes the agent's place. And the mission continues! The interplay between Chan and Jennifer Love Hewitt's character -- the agent's partner -- is relatively weak, and outside of the martial arts eye candy, this movie has little going for it. Fun for Chan completists, perhaps.
Sunday: Solaris
This is more like it. Directed by Steven Soderbergh, this 2002 s-f movie done in the style of '70s stalwarts such as 2001 (which isn't surprising given the novel's 1972 Russian remake) is based on the novel by Stanislaw Lem. George Clooney plays a psychologist who's sent to a space station in orbit around Solaris, a star that has intriguing psychological effects on the station's crew. Clooney's character, after a series of emotional flashbacks, falls prey to the star's power, and the movie addresses the nature of humanity, the reality of memory, and ethics. A slow-paced yet powerful film, Solaris is a sleeper hit. I'm almost surprised it was made, but I'm glad it was, and it makes me want to read the book. It also makes me hopeful that other classic s-f novels, stateside and otherwise, will be made into films as impressive as this. Soderbergh's portrayal of the future is stark and not too far from the present, and the cast, largely of unknowns -- Jeremy Davies plays a wonderfully distracted man on the edge of sanity -- performs well.
Two cross-country flights, two in-flight movies.
Wednesday: The Tuxedo
This Mask-like plotline is really just an excuse for Jackie Chan to show off his martial arts mastery. The gist is this: There's this tuxedo, see? It's been augmented to give you highly skilled martial arts -- and dancing -- abilities. Chan plays a cabbie who gets recruited as the driver for a James Bond-like secret agent. After the agent is injured, Chan dons the tux and takes the agent's place. And the mission continues! The interplay between Chan and Jennifer Love Hewitt's character -- the agent's partner -- is relatively weak, and outside of the martial arts eye candy, this movie has little going for it. Fun for Chan completists, perhaps.
Sunday: Solaris
This is more like it. Directed by Steven Soderbergh, this 2002 s-f movie done in the style of '70s stalwarts such as 2001 (which isn't surprising given the novel's 1972 Russian remake) is based on the novel by Stanislaw Lem. George Clooney plays a psychologist who's sent to a space station in orbit around Solaris, a star that has intriguing psychological effects on the station's crew. Clooney's character, after a series of emotional flashbacks, falls prey to the star's power, and the movie addresses the nature of humanity, the reality of memory, and ethics. A slow-paced yet powerful film, Solaris is a sleeper hit. I'm almost surprised it was made, but I'm glad it was, and it makes me want to read the book. It also makes me hopeful that other classic s-f novels, stateside and otherwise, will be made into films as impressive as this. Soderbergh's portrayal of the future is stark and not too far from the present, and the cast, largely of unknowns -- Jeremy Davies plays a wonderfully distracted man on the edge of sanity -- performs well.
Comics and Community V
So I went to APE in San Francisco this weekend -- for the first time since the very first APE ever down in San Jose when Dave Sim and David Moodie (ex-Might) shared the same space, almost. I admit that I didn't really do APE well this year. I stayed up pretty late Friday night after hanging out at Zeitgeist, a wonderful bicycle courier bar, with Cory, Becca and Alex. So I was pretty tired and kept behind the Highwater Books table with Tom and TD for much of the day.
We had a great space. With four tables of Highwater display right next to Jordan Crane and a lot of other Los Angeles-area comics makers, including Souther Salazar, Saelee Oh, and Sammy Harkham, as well as others, we had a fun, lively, and motley crew. And while I perched behind the table, a lot of neat people came to me. It's been ages since I've seen Seth Friedman, formerly of Factsheet 5; Larry-Bob and Nick, of Holy Titclamps; Andy Hunter, formerly of Mommy and I Are One; and some of the folks behind Cardhouse.
I didn't spend a lot of time with them, but I also chatted briefly with Charles Brownstein of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, who recently self-published a Valentines-themed zine; Bill from Giant Robot; Chris and Brett from Top Shelf; and Jeff from Alternative Comics (he corrected me when I mistakenly said Alternative Press; ouch!); Leela Corman and Tom Hart; and select other fine folks.
When I finally got some caffeine in me and decided to brave the floor, I wish I'd left the comforting confines of our table earlier in the day. I ran into John Held, Jr., a long-time mail artist and small-press archivist; V. Vale of Re/Search; David Rees and Tom Hopkins, who were working the Soft Skull/AK Press half-table; Jon and Craig from Spoilsport and Go-Go Girl. I even bought the second anthology comic from Ben, the guy in Austin who does the wonderful daily autobio punk strip Snake Pit. Didn't say hi, though.
Because I'm that lame. It felt super weird heading back to Boston early Sunday having not been in town for the con, really; not having had much quality time with my friends who were there; knowing so many local and non-local comics and zine people at the con; and not having taken the opportunity to really explore APE, much less spend the second day.
So San Diego it is. And SPX. Andcetera. I need to get back into the swing of things.
(Oh, I also didn't pick up that many new minis and stuff to review here. Because I'm that lame. I picked up some neat new stuff -- like the new tabloid paper Arthur [Jordan and Sammy as comics editors, hooray!] -- and I'll eventually get to it all here. People should just send me everything. Really, they should.)
So I went to APE in San Francisco this weekend -- for the first time since the very first APE ever down in San Jose when Dave Sim and David Moodie (ex-Might) shared the same space, almost. I admit that I didn't really do APE well this year. I stayed up pretty late Friday night after hanging out at Zeitgeist, a wonderful bicycle courier bar, with Cory, Becca and Alex. So I was pretty tired and kept behind the Highwater Books table with Tom and TD for much of the day.
We had a great space. With four tables of Highwater display right next to Jordan Crane and a lot of other Los Angeles-area comics makers, including Souther Salazar, Saelee Oh, and Sammy Harkham, as well as others, we had a fun, lively, and motley crew. And while I perched behind the table, a lot of neat people came to me. It's been ages since I've seen Seth Friedman, formerly of Factsheet 5; Larry-Bob and Nick, of Holy Titclamps; Andy Hunter, formerly of Mommy and I Are One; and some of the folks behind Cardhouse.
I didn't spend a lot of time with them, but I also chatted briefly with Charles Brownstein of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, who recently self-published a Valentines-themed zine; Bill from Giant Robot; Chris and Brett from Top Shelf; and Jeff from Alternative Comics (he corrected me when I mistakenly said Alternative Press; ouch!); Leela Corman and Tom Hart; and select other fine folks.
When I finally got some caffeine in me and decided to brave the floor, I wish I'd left the comforting confines of our table earlier in the day. I ran into John Held, Jr., a long-time mail artist and small-press archivist; V. Vale of Re/Search; David Rees and Tom Hopkins, who were working the Soft Skull/AK Press half-table; Jon and Craig from Spoilsport and Go-Go Girl. I even bought the second anthology comic from Ben, the guy in Austin who does the wonderful daily autobio punk strip Snake Pit. Didn't say hi, though.
Because I'm that lame. It felt super weird heading back to Boston early Sunday having not been in town for the con, really; not having had much quality time with my friends who were there; knowing so many local and non-local comics and zine people at the con; and not having taken the opportunity to really explore APE, much less spend the second day.
So San Diego it is. And SPX. Andcetera. I need to get back into the swing of things.
(Oh, I also didn't pick up that many new minis and stuff to review here. Because I'm that lame. I picked up some neat new stuff -- like the new tabloid paper Arthur [Jordan and Sammy as comics editors, hooray!] -- and I'll eventually get to it all here. People should just send me everything. Really, they should.)
Corollary: Everything's Coming Out, Rosie II
And the drama don't stop.
And the drama don't stop.
Workaday World XVI
You know how some days you feel like your life is as stable as a house of cards or a cabin made of popsicle sticks? I've had a lot of days like that lately.
You know how some days you feel like your life is as stable as a house of cards or a cabin made of popsicle sticks? I've had a lot of days like that lately.
Friday, January 31, 2003
No Media Res(t) for the Weary Traveler III
While I neglected to read any newspapers yesterday, I just finished flipping through today's San Francisco Chronicle and this week's SF Weekly and San Francisco Bay Guardian. The Guardian yielded some interesting tidbits.
Former publisher of Factsheet 5, Seth Friedman, now works as the Guardian's IT manager. Also from the masthead, Bay Area improv guitarist John Shiurba works as the paper's office manager. I first encountered Shiurba through the Boss Improv mailing list that I founded. Small world.
The Guardian includes several interesting media-related pieces this week. Savannah Blackwell's article on the recent antitrust case filed against New Times Media -- the parent company of the Guardian's closest competitor SF Weekly -- and Village Voice Media, is a clear exposure of the companies' attempts to collude and avoid regional competition.
Jeff Chang looks at Clear Channel's purchase of KMEL -- and former listeners' attempts to take back the urban radio station. And Camille Taiara's consideration of corporate media organizations' contributions to politicians -- and FCC chair Michael Powell's openness to big business -- offers a nice companion read addressing the evils of conglomerization.
All in all, an impressively solid edition of the Guardian. Right on, Bruce Brugmann. Alt.weeklies everywhere could learn from you.
While I neglected to read any newspapers yesterday, I just finished flipping through today's San Francisco Chronicle and this week's SF Weekly and San Francisco Bay Guardian. The Guardian yielded some interesting tidbits.
Former publisher of Factsheet 5, Seth Friedman, now works as the Guardian's IT manager. Also from the masthead, Bay Area improv guitarist John Shiurba works as the paper's office manager. I first encountered Shiurba through the Boss Improv mailing list that I founded. Small world.
The Guardian includes several interesting media-related pieces this week. Savannah Blackwell's article on the recent antitrust case filed against New Times Media -- the parent company of the Guardian's closest competitor SF Weekly -- and Village Voice Media, is a clear exposure of the companies' attempts to collude and avoid regional competition.
Jeff Chang looks at Clear Channel's purchase of KMEL -- and former listeners' attempts to take back the urban radio station. And Camille Taiara's consideration of corporate media organizations' contributions to politicians -- and FCC chair Michael Powell's openness to big business -- offers a nice companion read addressing the evils of conglomerization.
All in all, an impressively solid edition of the Guardian. Right on, Bruce Brugmann. Alt.weeklies everywhere could learn from you.
Among the Literati XXV
In the Jan. 29 edition of the SF Weekly, Tommy Craggs takes the San Francisco Chronicle to task for publishing a thinly veiled news release for 826 Valencia's October 2002 teacher of the month -- penned by Dave Eggers.
What starts as a query why Eggers would contribute to the Chronic ends up as criticism that the paper gave 826 Valencia -- quite a worthy learning center -- any ink and a snarky dismissal of Eggers as "stumbling." Give the guy a break.
In the Jan. 29 edition of the SF Weekly, Tommy Craggs takes the San Francisco Chronicle to task for publishing a thinly veiled news release for 826 Valencia's October 2002 teacher of the month -- penned by Dave Eggers.
What starts as a query why Eggers would contribute to the Chronic ends up as criticism that the paper gave 826 Valencia -- quite a worthy learning center -- any ink and a snarky dismissal of Eggers as "stumbling." Give the guy a break.
Corollary: Signs of the Times
Just talked some more with the security guard at 601 Montgomery. He says he's been changing the sign near the security desk for six or seven years. "I have three sets of letters now," he says. "I used to be restricted."
Word is that a friend interviewed him and wrote an article for a class she took. If she gives the OK, I hope to publish her piece here.
Just talked some more with the security guard at 601 Montgomery. He says he's been changing the sign near the security desk for six or seven years. "I have three sets of letters now," he says. "I used to be restricted."
Word is that a friend interviewed him and wrote an article for a class she took. If she gives the OK, I hope to publish her piece here.
Event-O-Dex XXXIV
Sunday, Feb. 2: The Tardy, the Pee Wee Fist, and Rachel McCartney at the Washington Street Arts Center, 321 Washington St., Somerville. The action starts at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 2: The Tardy, the Pee Wee Fist, and Rachel McCartney at the Washington Street Arts Center, 321 Washington St., Somerville. The action starts at 7:30 p.m.
Signs of the Times
Every day, the security guard at 601 Montgomery St. in San Francisco changes this sign.
He says that as long as it makes people laugh, he can "keep his laugh on the job."
Every day, the security guard at 601 Montgomery St. in San Francisco changes this sign.
He says that as long as it makes people laugh, he can "keep his laugh on the job."
Media Diet Eat Up
I'm meeting some friends for dinner tonight at 7:30 at Zeitgeist, 199 Valencia, in San Francisco. If you're a Media Dietician and want to join us, consider the invitation open. I've got messy hair and small glasses, and I'll be wearing a blue workshirt. Cory Doctorow from Boing Boing will be there, too, but Dr. Frank of the Mr. T Experience is on his way to LA for a solo show. He sends his regards.
I'm meeting some friends for dinner tonight at 7:30 at Zeitgeist, 199 Valencia, in San Francisco. If you're a Media Dietician and want to join us, consider the invitation open. I've got messy hair and small glasses, and I'll be wearing a blue workshirt. Cory Doctorow from Boing Boing will be there, too, but Dr. Frank of the Mr. T Experience is on his way to LA for a solo show. He sends his regards.
Corollary: Comics and Community IV
Christopher Baldwin, creator of the Bruno Daily Times is going to be at APE. I read Bruno every day!
Christopher Baldwin, creator of the Bruno Daily Times is going to be at APE. I read Bruno every day!
Dead Technology
You know how folks say that Betamax was vastly superior to VHS but VHS won out because of better distribution? Might be a myth.
Thanks to Through the Wire.
You know how folks say that Betamax was vastly superior to VHS but VHS won out because of better distribution? Might be a myth.
Thanks to Through the Wire.
Among the Literati XXIV
Charlie Stross and Cory Doctorow are kicking up some dust in the Well's Inkwell forum.
Thanks to Weblogsky.
Charlie Stross and Cory Doctorow are kicking up some dust in the Well's Inkwell forum.
Thanks to Weblogsky.
Blogging About Blogging XLVIII
Ross Mayfield's Blogmap project is now online. Looks like he's upping the ante on the social network map he created of the Ryze Blog tribe. Neat stuff.
And Corante's got a new blog rolling. Amateur Hour looks at the democratization of media, digital tools, and media making. It's the "me" in "media." Jan. 24's entry touches on how cable TV and the net are changing traditional journalism.
Ross Mayfield's Blogmap project is now online. Looks like he's upping the ante on the social network map he created of the Ryze Blog tribe. Neat stuff.
And Corante's got a new blog rolling. Amateur Hour looks at the democratization of media, digital tools, and media making. It's the "me" in "media." Jan. 24's entry touches on how cable TV and the net are changing traditional journalism.
Everything's Coming Out, Rosie II
The Rosie end-of-days drama continues.
The Rosie end-of-days drama continues.
Born to Run Away
Bruce Springsteen was slated to play a benefit performance for DoubleTake magazine at the Somerville Theater in Somerville near the end of February. The deal was that for something like a $1,000 ticket, you could see the small, intimate, acoustic performance. And for $5,000 you could share time and table with the Boss and his wife at a special dinner. The whole idea was to raise money for the ever-struggling Davis Square-based magazine.
Now Springsteen has pulled away from the deal, and the concert is canceled. Why? The Boss was upset at the steep ticket prices despite the benefit gig. And he was miffed that the magazine leaked news of the performance early to fuel ticket sales. Just goes to show: What DoubleTake can give, DoubleTake can take away.
Bruce Springsteen was slated to play a benefit performance for DoubleTake magazine at the Somerville Theater in Somerville near the end of February. The deal was that for something like a $1,000 ticket, you could see the small, intimate, acoustic performance. And for $5,000 you could share time and table with the Boss and his wife at a special dinner. The whole idea was to raise money for the ever-struggling Davis Square-based magazine.
Now Springsteen has pulled away from the deal, and the concert is canceled. Why? The Boss was upset at the steep ticket prices despite the benefit gig. And he was miffed that the magazine leaked news of the performance early to fuel ticket sales. Just goes to show: What DoubleTake can give, DoubleTake can take away.
Workaday World XV
On my way to Fast Company's Montgomery Street offices in San Francisco I saw what might very well be one of the best buskers I've ever seen. The fellow at the Montgomery Street Bart station has an extremely clear and impressive singing voice. If you come across him, give him some money.
Upon reaching the top of the exit escalator, I saw a forlorn-looking older man in a suit standing resolutely behind a sandwich board that said, "Please take my resume. I've done it all." Welcome back to San Francisco.
On my way to Fast Company's Montgomery Street offices in San Francisco I saw what might very well be one of the best buskers I've ever seen. The fellow at the Montgomery Street Bart station has an extremely clear and impressive singing voice. If you come across him, give him some money.
Upon reaching the top of the exit escalator, I saw a forlorn-looking older man in a suit standing resolutely behind a sandwich board that said, "Please take my resume. I've done it all." Welcome back to San Francisco.
Thursday, January 30, 2003
Anchormen, Aweigh! XV
Half the band mastered the final mixes of the songs we're including in our forthcoming CD, Nation of Interns, Tuesday, and the final songs are available online. Hopefully, the CD itself will be available in the next month or so!
Half the band mastered the final mixes of the songs we're including in our forthcoming CD, Nation of Interns, Tuesday, and the final songs are available online. Hopefully, the CD itself will be available in the next month or so!
Workaday World XIV
I'm in San Francisco today, camping out in Fast Company's Montgomery Street offices to catch up with the Company of Friends before the San Francisco group's event this evening.
So far today, I've had two delightful Bay Area experiences. I saw a woman on the Bart reading Cory Doctorow's Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, and I heard a custodian whistle "Do You Know the Way to San Jose." Welcome back to San Francisco!
I'm in San Francisco today, camping out in Fast Company's Montgomery Street offices to catch up with the Company of Friends before the San Francisco group's event this evening.
So far today, I've had two delightful Bay Area experiences. I saw a woman on the Bart reading Cory Doctorow's Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, and I heard a custodian whistle "Do You Know the Way to San Jose." Welcome back to San Francisco!
Tuesday, January 28, 2003
Corollary: Comics and Community IV
In another fit of good fortune -- to start balancing out all of today's bad -- Highwater Books will be tabling at APE this weekend. That's where I'll be spending much of my time, so if any Media Dieticians go to APE, look me up.
In another fit of good fortune -- to start balancing out all of today's bad -- Highwater Books will be tabling at APE this weekend. That's where I'll be spending much of my time, so if any Media Dieticians go to APE, look me up.
Anchormen, Aweigh! XIV
Half the band is mastering the forthcoming Anchormen CD, Nation of Interns, tonight. And we're trying to figure out what order the songs should go in. Do you like
Audubon Park
Peel Away
Celebrate Democracy
Idlewild
Another Gentrification Song
Finger Lakes
Unsung Heroes
Indecision
or
Celebrate Democracy
Unsung Heroes
Peel Away
Finger Lakes
Indecision
Idlewild
Another Gentrification Song
Audobon Park
or
Celebrate Democracy
Idlewild
Audobon Park
Another Gentrification Song
Finger Lakes
Unsung Heroes
Peel Away
Indecision
better? You can download the rough mixes. Determining song order is much more challenging than you'd think.
Half the band is mastering the forthcoming Anchormen CD, Nation of Interns, tonight. And we're trying to figure out what order the songs should go in. Do you like
or
or
better? You can download the rough mixes. Determining song order is much more challenging than you'd think.
Games People Play IV
A co-worker of mine made a board game! Lights... Camera... Action! is a Trivial Pursuit-like game in which players try to identify the name of a movie based on quote, actor, and scene clues. It's extremely well produced and looks like a lot of fun -- 800 movie moments to consider! Fun stuff. I had no idea you could just make a board game.
A co-worker of mine made a board game! Lights... Camera... Action! is a Trivial Pursuit-like game in which players try to identify the name of a movie based on quote, actor, and scene clues. It's extremely well produced and looks like a lot of fun -- 800 movie moments to consider! Fun stuff. I had no idea you could just make a board game.
Corollary: Workaday World XIII
Murphy's Law is in full effect. Let's just say that the relaunch isn't going exactly as planned. We'll get there, though. I'm just not very good at being ineffectual. I'm also not very good at being nostalgic. Last night, with all of the anticipation and excitement about the relaunch, I waxed romantic about a former girlfriend, even emailing her a thank-you message for her long-ago support and interest. I should not do things like that. Stupid, stupid Heath. That'll work itself out, too, I guess. All this shall pass.
Murphy's Law is in full effect. Let's just say that the relaunch isn't going exactly as planned. We'll get there, though. I'm just not very good at being ineffectual. I'm also not very good at being nostalgic. Last night, with all of the anticipation and excitement about the relaunch, I waxed romantic about a former girlfriend, even emailing her a thank-you message for her long-ago support and interest. I should not do things like that. Stupid, stupid Heath. That'll work itself out, too, I guess. All this shall pass.
Monday, January 27, 2003
Mention Me! XXXIII
Adam Gaffin highlights the Boston World Explorers' Foundation's inaugural outing today in Boston Common. This is a solid site I'll have to return to.
What is Boston Common? "Boston Weblogs are cool, interesting, funny, thought-provoking and sometimes maddening. Couple Boston Weblogs with Boston forums and Usenet newsgroups and you've got the makings of a great online magazine. This Weblog is an attempt to sift through all those postings to find stuff you might also find interesting."
Welcome, Boston Commoners! Now you're Media Dieticians, too.
Adam Gaffin highlights the Boston World Explorers' Foundation's inaugural outing today in Boston Common. This is a solid site I'll have to return to.
What is Boston Common? "Boston Weblogs are cool, interesting, funny, thought-provoking and sometimes maddening. Couple Boston Weblogs with Boston forums and Usenet newsgroups and you've got the makings of a great online magazine. This Weblog is an attempt to sift through all those postings to find stuff you might also find interesting."
Welcome, Boston Commoners! Now you're Media Dieticians, too.
Workaday World XIII
Tomorrow, we launch the new online community platform for the Company of Friends, Fast Company magazine's readers' network. I founded the network back in 1997 and have spent the last five-plus years coordinating and managing it.
Normally, when I email the 42,000 members, I get a little nervous. That's a lot of people. But tonight, having just queued up the relaunch and redesign announcement for emailing, I'm more than a little nervous. This is a good step for the network, but it's a big step. Excited, nervous, hopeful, curious.
I hope people like what we've done.
Tomorrow, we launch the new online community platform for the Company of Friends, Fast Company magazine's readers' network. I founded the network back in 1997 and have spent the last five-plus years coordinating and managing it.
Normally, when I email the 42,000 members, I get a little nervous. That's a lot of people. But tonight, having just queued up the relaunch and redesign announcement for emailing, I'm more than a little nervous. This is a good step for the network, but it's a big step. Excited, nervous, hopeful, curious.
I hope people like what we've done.
Hiking History III
The Boston World Explorers' Foundation held its inaugural meeting Sunday afternoon, with four founding members gathering at the statue of Captain Farragut at City Point in South Boston to explore the environs of Castle Island and Fort Independence.
Walking from Broadway station on the Red Line, Hiromi and I made our way along South Boston's main commercial street and through a decidedly industrial section before reaching City point and meeting up with Brad and Jennifer. One of the old buildings we passed on the way, just before we walked past the Edison power plant, had cryptic letters, numbers, and arrows stenciled on the building's brick corners. What are these codes for? Near Independence Square, we also passed an old factory building that's been closed down for asbestos removal.
The island is now connected to the mainland with a walkway winding around Pleasure Bay, but the fort is still largely as it was way back when. During the tourist season, the fort is open for guided tours, but in the off season -- which is now -- the fort is closed. So are the snack bar and the public restrooms. "Seasonal!" quickly became a popular cry in response to a suggestion that was difficult or impossible.
One of the highlights of the day was finding a Bruce Lee stencil spray painted on a corner of the fort building. Another highlight was finding an arrangement of broken shell pieces spelling out the word "love" -- using a concrete round set into the soil as the "o."
In addition to its history as a military outpost and the numerous war memorials -- and thin spire to honor a local boatmaker -- that line its perimeter, Castle Island comes complete with a fascinating story. Rumor is that Edgar Allen Poe, who was born in Boston and served briefly as a soldier on the island, wrote "The Cask of Amontillado" based on a legend he heard while serving in the armed forces there.
My memory may be faulty, but the general sense of the story is that an officer on the island took offense at the actions of a younger soldier. I don't recall what the action was, but it may have involved a young woman or a night watch the soldier accidentally missed. The officer challenged the soldier to a duel, and even though other people in the company protested that the young soldier's actions didn't warrant a duel, the officer insisted. The duel occurred, and the officer killed the young, innocent soldier. Some of the soldier's friends inquired about the officer's previous tours of duty and learned that in every instance, in every location, the officer had found cause to challenge someone to a duel -- killing them in that duel. The officer had found a form of officially sanctioned murder within the armed forces. The young soldier's friends ganged up on the murderous officer and sealed him into a section of brick wall, either in the fort itself or in an installation once outside the fort.
After walking around the fort, we headed around the bay along the walkway. On the far side of the walkway was a fascinating circular concrete structure that reminded us of '70s or '50s motel design. With a ladder, you could easily carry a bicycle up top to ride around the platform. We watched the geese and seagulls and enjoyed the panoramic views of the Boston skyline -- as well as the sound of sea water lapping against the rocks.
The walkway also afforded good views of the outer harbor, including an island that now houses globular sewage treatment facilities, an island that was once a dumping ground for dead horses and cattle -- and then an illegal casino and bar complex during the prohibition -- and an island once used to house an insane asylum, part of which is now ruins.
Then it was back to the car, Broadway station, and home. Thanks to Hiromi, Brad, and Jennifer for their role as founding members of the Boston World Explorers' Foundation. I think we may have even decided on a slogan for the group: "I may not know where we're going, but I've read a lot about it." The adventures will continue.
The Boston World Explorers' Foundation held its inaugural meeting Sunday afternoon, with four founding members gathering at the statue of Captain Farragut at City Point in South Boston to explore the environs of Castle Island and Fort Independence.
Walking from Broadway station on the Red Line, Hiromi and I made our way along South Boston's main commercial street and through a decidedly industrial section before reaching City point and meeting up with Brad and Jennifer. One of the old buildings we passed on the way, just before we walked past the Edison power plant, had cryptic letters, numbers, and arrows stenciled on the building's brick corners. What are these codes for? Near Independence Square, we also passed an old factory building that's been closed down for asbestos removal.
The island is now connected to the mainland with a walkway winding around Pleasure Bay, but the fort is still largely as it was way back when. During the tourist season, the fort is open for guided tours, but in the off season -- which is now -- the fort is closed. So are the snack bar and the public restrooms. "Seasonal!" quickly became a popular cry in response to a suggestion that was difficult or impossible.
One of the highlights of the day was finding a Bruce Lee stencil spray painted on a corner of the fort building. Another highlight was finding an arrangement of broken shell pieces spelling out the word "love" -- using a concrete round set into the soil as the "o."
In addition to its history as a military outpost and the numerous war memorials -- and thin spire to honor a local boatmaker -- that line its perimeter, Castle Island comes complete with a fascinating story. Rumor is that Edgar Allen Poe, who was born in Boston and served briefly as a soldier on the island, wrote "The Cask of Amontillado" based on a legend he heard while serving in the armed forces there.
My memory may be faulty, but the general sense of the story is that an officer on the island took offense at the actions of a younger soldier. I don't recall what the action was, but it may have involved a young woman or a night watch the soldier accidentally missed. The officer challenged the soldier to a duel, and even though other people in the company protested that the young soldier's actions didn't warrant a duel, the officer insisted. The duel occurred, and the officer killed the young, innocent soldier. Some of the soldier's friends inquired about the officer's previous tours of duty and learned that in every instance, in every location, the officer had found cause to challenge someone to a duel -- killing them in that duel. The officer had found a form of officially sanctioned murder within the armed forces. The young soldier's friends ganged up on the murderous officer and sealed him into a section of brick wall, either in the fort itself or in an installation once outside the fort.
After walking around the fort, we headed around the bay along the walkway. On the far side of the walkway was a fascinating circular concrete structure that reminded us of '70s or '50s motel design. With a ladder, you could easily carry a bicycle up top to ride around the platform. We watched the geese and seagulls and enjoyed the panoramic views of the Boston skyline -- as well as the sound of sea water lapping against the rocks.
The walkway also afforded good views of the outer harbor, including an island that now houses globular sewage treatment facilities, an island that was once a dumping ground for dead horses and cattle -- and then an illegal casino and bar complex during the prohibition -- and an island once used to house an insane asylum, part of which is now ruins.
Then it was back to the car, Broadway station, and home. Thanks to Hiromi, Brad, and Jennifer for their role as founding members of the Boston World Explorers' Foundation. I think we may have even decided on a slogan for the group: "I may not know where we're going, but I've read a lot about it." The adventures will continue.
The Movie I Watched Last Night LVI
The Blair Witch Project
To help pass time while reading magazines on the Big Blue Couch on Friday night, I popped in The Blair Witch Project. While I wish I'd originally seen it back in 1999 without having read so much about the movie, the film holds up well to my first viewing in the theaters. Several aspects of the film resonate with me: the need to document experiences; a fascination with lost, bizarre local history; and stomping around in the woods -- or city, for that matter -- looking for things you've read about. This viewing, I felt like they gave the interview segments with locals short shrift and that, outside of the scene at coffin rock, the history was poorly presented. I also didn't connect as much with the decay of the filmmaking trio's friendships as they got lost deeper and deeper into the woods. So I was pleasantly surprised when they finally started discovering the totems, they stumbled across the abandoned house in the night, and the movie proceeded to accelerate to its relatively anticlimactic, though satisying, end. As a faux documentary, this was done pretty well. As a horror movie, I'm not so sure. Has anyone seen the sequel? Is it a waste of time, or does it build on the witch mythos and back story?
Between the Lines
A surprisingly solid all-star cast populates this little-known 1977 movie that tells the tale of a small, scrappy alternative newspaper in Boston -- the Back Bay Mainline -- that's on the brink of being bought out by a larger, corporate publisher. Riffing on the evolution of the once-proud Real Paper into what is now the Boston Phoenix media empire, I wonder how loosely based the movie is on the alt.weekly scene in Beantown. The story, while slightly cartoony in its portrayal of the stereotypical independent journalists and the stories they pursue, is an engaging look at how a media merger affects the content of the paper, as well as the relationships among the staff. And it's the staff -- the cast -- that amazed me here. Jeff Goldblum plays a manic, down-on-his-luck rock critic who, in one scene, gives a "performance artist" who shows up at the office demanding to be interviewed a run for his money. Bruno Kirby, almost unrecognizable, plays a hapless newbie who can't quite write, and who gets stomped for trying to out a local record bootlegger. You've also got actors who went on to be in L.A. Law and Taxi. Stellar. A great, unsung media movie. If you work in journalism at all, check this out. The issues surrounding mergers remain, although the romantic portrayal of what it's like being an independent journalist is a little dated.
Shallow Hal
I never would have paid money to see this in a theater, much less rent it, but there it was on HBO on Saturday night, a night I was trying to stay in to read and have a quiet night at home for a change. So I watched it. I enjoy Jack Black, who I thought was relatively mellow in this movie, and I was pleased by the people he surrounded himself with in the movie. Nice to see Kyle Gass in the movie, and even Jason Alexander was quietly present in the movie. The gist of the story is that Black's character, Hal, gets trapped in an elevator with the motivational speaker Tony Robbins. After Robbins works his mojo, shallow Hal now only sees what's really inside people. Homely, good-hearted people appear beautiful. And duplicitous, beautiful people are seen as haggard and ugly. The jokes of the movie, which could have been much more aggressive and slapstick, are based on the premise that now Hal's only attracted to fat and ugly people who are good and pure inside. Enter Gwyneth Paltrow's character. Seen as a slim, shapely, beautiful woman, she's actually quite large. Chair-breaking large. They fall in love before Robbins' mojo is removed and Hal is able to see things as they really are. While I didn't buy his conversion and undying love for Paltrow's roly-poly Rosemary, I was touched by his affection for the children in the pediatric burn ward. I was also intrigued by the parallels to The Sixth Sense because I couldn't always tell whether I was seeing characters as Hal saw them or as they really were. In the end, an OK movie, but one torn between wanting to be a comedy -- and wanting to be a message movie. It doesn't quite succeed as either.
The Blair Witch Project
To help pass time while reading magazines on the Big Blue Couch on Friday night, I popped in The Blair Witch Project. While I wish I'd originally seen it back in 1999 without having read so much about the movie, the film holds up well to my first viewing in the theaters. Several aspects of the film resonate with me: the need to document experiences; a fascination with lost, bizarre local history; and stomping around in the woods -- or city, for that matter -- looking for things you've read about. This viewing, I felt like they gave the interview segments with locals short shrift and that, outside of the scene at coffin rock, the history was poorly presented. I also didn't connect as much with the decay of the filmmaking trio's friendships as they got lost deeper and deeper into the woods. So I was pleasantly surprised when they finally started discovering the totems, they stumbled across the abandoned house in the night, and the movie proceeded to accelerate to its relatively anticlimactic, though satisying, end. As a faux documentary, this was done pretty well. As a horror movie, I'm not so sure. Has anyone seen the sequel? Is it a waste of time, or does it build on the witch mythos and back story?
Between the Lines
A surprisingly solid all-star cast populates this little-known 1977 movie that tells the tale of a small, scrappy alternative newspaper in Boston -- the Back Bay Mainline -- that's on the brink of being bought out by a larger, corporate publisher. Riffing on the evolution of the once-proud Real Paper into what is now the Boston Phoenix media empire, I wonder how loosely based the movie is on the alt.weekly scene in Beantown. The story, while slightly cartoony in its portrayal of the stereotypical independent journalists and the stories they pursue, is an engaging look at how a media merger affects the content of the paper, as well as the relationships among the staff. And it's the staff -- the cast -- that amazed me here. Jeff Goldblum plays a manic, down-on-his-luck rock critic who, in one scene, gives a "performance artist" who shows up at the office demanding to be interviewed a run for his money. Bruno Kirby, almost unrecognizable, plays a hapless newbie who can't quite write, and who gets stomped for trying to out a local record bootlegger. You've also got actors who went on to be in L.A. Law and Taxi. Stellar. A great, unsung media movie. If you work in journalism at all, check this out. The issues surrounding mergers remain, although the romantic portrayal of what it's like being an independent journalist is a little dated.
Shallow Hal
I never would have paid money to see this in a theater, much less rent it, but there it was on HBO on Saturday night, a night I was trying to stay in to read and have a quiet night at home for a change. So I watched it. I enjoy Jack Black, who I thought was relatively mellow in this movie, and I was pleased by the people he surrounded himself with in the movie. Nice to see Kyle Gass in the movie, and even Jason Alexander was quietly present in the movie. The gist of the story is that Black's character, Hal, gets trapped in an elevator with the motivational speaker Tony Robbins. After Robbins works his mojo, shallow Hal now only sees what's really inside people. Homely, good-hearted people appear beautiful. And duplicitous, beautiful people are seen as haggard and ugly. The jokes of the movie, which could have been much more aggressive and slapstick, are based on the premise that now Hal's only attracted to fat and ugly people who are good and pure inside. Enter Gwyneth Paltrow's character. Seen as a slim, shapely, beautiful woman, she's actually quite large. Chair-breaking large. They fall in love before Robbins' mojo is removed and Hal is able to see things as they really are. While I didn't buy his conversion and undying love for Paltrow's roly-poly Rosemary, I was touched by his affection for the children in the pediatric burn ward. I was also intrigued by the parallels to The Sixth Sense because I couldn't always tell whether I was seeing characters as Hal saw them or as they really were. In the end, an OK movie, but one torn between wanting to be a comedy -- and wanting to be a message movie. It doesn't quite succeed as either.
Friday, January 24, 2003
Hiking History II
My pedestrian explorations of Boston's past continued today, straddling the North End and downtown. Davo and I set out in search of centers, starting at the Boston Stone embedded in a wall not far from Ye Olde Union Oyster House, which has been in operation since 1826. The Boston Stone was brought to the United States in 1700 and was used to grind paint pigments. Installed as a marker in 1737, the stone has been rumored to be the point from which all distances from Boston were measured. Sources conflict on that matter. Also, upstairs from the oyster house was the printing shop for the Massachusetts Spy, the first newspaper in America.
Not far from the Blackstone Block, Boston's oldest commercial block, is Faneuil Hall and Quincy Marketplace. The sidewalks and courtyard in the area are marked with building and street locations circa 1819, an interesting exercise in mapping the city's past on the city itself. Nearby are several bronze statues of note, including Anne Whitney's 1873 state of Samuel Adams and Lloyd Lillie's 1989 double of Mayor James Michael Curley. Curley held his first elected office in 1904 while in jail, and in 1946, President Truman had to pardon him to serve as mayor -- an election Curley won while in prison again.
Then we looked for the next center. And looked. And looked. According to Bizarro Boston there's a bronze plaque near Filene's and Downtown Crossing noting the exact center of the universe. The neighborhood has been rejuvenated, as marked by a stone inset near where I expected the plaque to be, so perhaps the sign has been removed or moved. Regardless, Davo and I couldn't find it.
On the way back toward the office, we walked past the Boston Globe's original location back when Washington Street was called Newspaper Row. We also made a point of stopping by 383 Salem St., now a vacant space, but once Langone's Funeral Home where Sacco and Vanzetti were laid out following their executions in 1927. Spectators spread out the length of Hanover Street. The two were later cremated at Forest Hills Cemetery.
Source: Greg and Katherine Letterman, Walking Boston
My pedestrian explorations of Boston's past continued today, straddling the North End and downtown. Davo and I set out in search of centers, starting at the Boston Stone embedded in a wall not far from Ye Olde Union Oyster House, which has been in operation since 1826. The Boston Stone was brought to the United States in 1700 and was used to grind paint pigments. Installed as a marker in 1737, the stone has been rumored to be the point from which all distances from Boston were measured. Sources conflict on that matter. Also, upstairs from the oyster house was the printing shop for the Massachusetts Spy, the first newspaper in America.
Not far from the Blackstone Block, Boston's oldest commercial block, is Faneuil Hall and Quincy Marketplace. The sidewalks and courtyard in the area are marked with building and street locations circa 1819, an interesting exercise in mapping the city's past on the city itself. Nearby are several bronze statues of note, including Anne Whitney's 1873 state of Samuel Adams and Lloyd Lillie's 1989 double of Mayor James Michael Curley. Curley held his first elected office in 1904 while in jail, and in 1946, President Truman had to pardon him to serve as mayor -- an election Curley won while in prison again.
Then we looked for the next center. And looked. And looked. According to Bizarro Boston there's a bronze plaque near Filene's and Downtown Crossing noting the exact center of the universe. The neighborhood has been rejuvenated, as marked by a stone inset near where I expected the plaque to be, so perhaps the sign has been removed or moved. Regardless, Davo and I couldn't find it.
On the way back toward the office, we walked past the Boston Globe's original location back when Washington Street was called Newspaper Row. We also made a point of stopping by 383 Salem St., now a vacant space, but once Langone's Funeral Home where Sacco and Vanzetti were laid out following their executions in 1927. Spectators spread out the length of Hanover Street. The two were later cremated at Forest Hills Cemetery.
Source: Greg and Katherine Letterman, Walking Boston
The Movie I Watched Last Night LV
Johnny Mnemonic
I so wanted this movie to be good. Based on a short story by William Gibson, this is one of the most important cyberpunk pieces to date. Robert Longo's screen adaptation, despite a screenplay by Gibson himself, falls far short of what the movie could have been. Keanu Reeves performs at his wooden, mangling most of the dramatically necessary dialogue with a ham-handed delivery. Henry Rollins is similarly doltish, failing entirely as the heroic, principled medico. Udo Kier's Ralfi is satisfyingly creepy, although I could easily see Dean Stockwell or Dennis Hopper in that role. Of the cast, Ice-T stands out far above the others regardless of an underused presence until the end of the movie. His Low-tech parallel society with a media network in an elevated city state constructed out of garbage emerges as the most successful meme in the film. Stronger than the uber-dolphin, and stronger than Dolph Lundgren's street preacher. Lastly, compared to the graphic representations of the net in The Net and Hackers, the animations developed by Braid Media Arts shine quite brightly. Read the story. The movie is merely a curiosity.
The Lawnmower Man
Not that there have been many successful TV or movie adaptations of Stephen King's writing, but you know a movie is bad if the original author takes legal action to stop the filmmakers from associating his name with the movie and its promotion. "The Lawnmower Man" is one of King's most delightfully dark short stories, and the movie, while drawing lightly on some scenes and images from the story, adds and reworks so much, that the lineage is hardly direct. The King connection aside, this is a forward-thinking look at how virtual reality could be used to improve and augment human cognition. Pierce Brosnan's researcher improves the intelligence of an abused, developmentally disabled man, who rises up as a superhuman in the end, able to tap into the VR space while still in the real world. Jeff Fahey's Jobe Smith develops well -- intellectually and physically -- throughout the film, and the representations of VR aren't that bad. But in the end, the ethical quandary of messing with the human psyche gets short shrift, the director resorts to special effects, and the plot is left hanging, ripe for a sequel. The film doesn't capture King's original vision, and the resulting vision is so far removed -- and so unsatisyfing -- that The Lawnmower Man ends up as so much mulch.
Johnny Mnemonic
I so wanted this movie to be good. Based on a short story by William Gibson, this is one of the most important cyberpunk pieces to date. Robert Longo's screen adaptation, despite a screenplay by Gibson himself, falls far short of what the movie could have been. Keanu Reeves performs at his wooden, mangling most of the dramatically necessary dialogue with a ham-handed delivery. Henry Rollins is similarly doltish, failing entirely as the heroic, principled medico. Udo Kier's Ralfi is satisfyingly creepy, although I could easily see Dean Stockwell or Dennis Hopper in that role. Of the cast, Ice-T stands out far above the others regardless of an underused presence until the end of the movie. His Low-tech parallel society with a media network in an elevated city state constructed out of garbage emerges as the most successful meme in the film. Stronger than the uber-dolphin, and stronger than Dolph Lundgren's street preacher. Lastly, compared to the graphic representations of the net in The Net and Hackers, the animations developed by Braid Media Arts shine quite brightly. Read the story. The movie is merely a curiosity.
The Lawnmower Man
Not that there have been many successful TV or movie adaptations of Stephen King's writing, but you know a movie is bad if the original author takes legal action to stop the filmmakers from associating his name with the movie and its promotion. "The Lawnmower Man" is one of King's most delightfully dark short stories, and the movie, while drawing lightly on some scenes and images from the story, adds and reworks so much, that the lineage is hardly direct. The King connection aside, this is a forward-thinking look at how virtual reality could be used to improve and augment human cognition. Pierce Brosnan's researcher improves the intelligence of an abused, developmentally disabled man, who rises up as a superhuman in the end, able to tap into the VR space while still in the real world. Jeff Fahey's Jobe Smith develops well -- intellectually and physically -- throughout the film, and the representations of VR aren't that bad. But in the end, the ethical quandary of messing with the human psyche gets short shrift, the director resorts to special effects, and the plot is left hanging, ripe for a sequel. The film doesn't capture King's original vision, and the resulting vision is so far removed -- and so unsatisyfing -- that The Lawnmower Man ends up as so much mulch.
Products I Love VI
Just as I re-sleeve my CD's in space-saving slip cases from Univenture, I've started thinking that my DVD's are starting to take up too much room, too. So I recently ordered a couple of DVD albums from Case Logic.
While I certainly don't need to retain the bulky plastic packaging DVD's come with, I was wondering what I'd do with the jacket inserts -- if they were worth keeping at all. A pleasant surprise: Case Logic's DVD albums (I opted for the 40-count case) come with pages outfitted to hold the DVD's as well as the jacket inserts -- so there's no loss of content or art, and the DVD's are more easily found. Good call, Case Logic.
Case Logic also offers DVD storage trays and other products, but I think these DVD albums are spot on. Space saved!
Just as I re-sleeve my CD's in space-saving slip cases from Univenture, I've started thinking that my DVD's are starting to take up too much room, too. So I recently ordered a couple of DVD albums from Case Logic.
While I certainly don't need to retain the bulky plastic packaging DVD's come with, I was wondering what I'd do with the jacket inserts -- if they were worth keeping at all. A pleasant surprise: Case Logic's DVD albums (I opted for the 40-count case) come with pages outfitted to hold the DVD's as well as the jacket inserts -- so there's no loss of content or art, and the DVD's are more easily found. Good call, Case Logic.
Case Logic also offers DVD storage trays and other products, but I think these DVD albums are spot on. Space saved!
Comic Strip Crossover
Courtesy of OzComics:
I know I could be slow on the uptake, but am I learning about this from Australia? Fun stuff.
Courtesy of OzComics:
This coming Tuesday, January 28, will bring a special post-holiday treat to fans of the alternative weekly comics genre. Ted Rall, whose controversial, politically-themed strip "Seach & Destroy" is published weekly in over 100 newspapers in the US and abroad) will for one week take the reigns of Tony Millionaire's popular weekly strip "Maakies", (three-time Eisner award winner Millionaire is also the creator of the acclaimed Fantagraphics book "The House at Maakies Corner"; also Dark Horse's "Sock Monkey).
Both cartoonists had exchanged harsh words in the wake of a 1999 lawsuit concerning a critical article Rall wrote about Pulitzer Prize-winning "MAUS" creator Art Spiegelman; thankfully, Rall and Millionaire have chosen to holster their guns in the interest of creating great comics, for the benefit of fans worldwide.
I know I could be slow on the uptake, but am I learning about this from Australia? Fun stuff.
Making Radio Waves
From Bob Dubrow, proprietor of Kimchee Records and now-former host of WMBR-FM's Pipeline:
Wow. Nine years hosting Pipeline. Thanks for all you've done, Bob, and may you continue to do even more!
From Bob Dubrow, proprietor of Kimchee Records and now-former host of WMBR-FM's Pipeline:
Bob Dubrow is leaving WMBR's Pipeline! show after 9 years as host.
He will be passing the reigns to Jeff Breeze, editor of the Northeast Performer magazine.
Bob's final show is on Tuesday, February 11. It will be extended to 4 hours, from 8:00 pm to midnight.
To celebrate, Robin Lane & The Chartbusters will be playing a full live electric set during the show . 4/5s of her original band has reformed after 20 years and they've added a fifth member. They have a new album entitled Piece of Mind due for release on February 15, coinciding with the day of their release party at the Middle East.
In addition to the Chartbusters, many guests have been invited to take to the mics and play a tune or two throughout the show's 4-hour span. Verified guests include:
Charlie Chesterman Chris Brokaw Thalia Zedek John Dragonetti and Blake Hazard 27 and possibly some by Big Dipper folk.
Plus there will be more to be announced. (Inquiries are out to Roger Miller, Nat Freedburg, Robert Fisher, and more...)
We especially want to make you press folk aware so such a fun night of live music doesn't get lost in the air...
There will be updates sent out to you on additional live guests or changes as the show approaches. We hope to have the final line-up by the end of the month...
Bob will be moving on to host Lost & Found on WMBR alternate Mondays from noon-2:00. Lost & Found airs every weekday at that time and features mostly non-commercial music (and an occassional hit) from the '60s-early '70s.
Wow. Nine years hosting Pipeline. Thanks for all you've done, Bob, and may you continue to do even more!
Thursday, January 23, 2003
Games People Play III
A co-worker developed an Unreal Tournament mod of the Fast Company offices. In fact, right now, colleagues of mine are "running" around the space "killing" each other. Pretty weird seeing the game taking place in the office!
A co-worker developed an Unreal Tournament mod of the Fast Company offices. In fact, right now, colleagues of mine are "running" around the space "killing" each other. Pretty weird seeing the game taking place in the office!
Mention Me! XXXII
This made me laugh. Tim Bauer, whom I mentioned in Media Diet way back in May, hasn't updated his blog NewsWrap since July last year. Yet in the referral logs today, there was some traffic from his site. Just goes to show that the Web can be a ghost town.
Bauer linked to Media Diet in his Blogs roundup, and his page features the following item in a little "About NewsWrap with Tim Bauer" Q&A:
Ha! A claim to fame, to be sure. And now he's been mentioned twice.
This made me laugh. Tim Bauer, whom I mentioned in Media Diet way back in May, hasn't updated his blog NewsWrap since July last year. Yet in the referral logs today, there was some traffic from his site. Just goes to show that the Web can be a ghost town.
Bauer linked to Media Diet in his Blogs roundup, and his page features the following item in a little "About NewsWrap with Tim Bauer" Q&A:
Has he ever been mentioned in Heath Row's "Media Diet"?
Yes.
Ha! A claim to fame, to be sure. And now he's been mentioned twice.
Among the Literati XXII
Glenn Gaslin doesn't update his site Scrawlings often, but when he does, he says things like, "You can pre-order my novel!"
Good news, Glenn. Good news.
Glenn Gaslin doesn't update his site Scrawlings often, but when he does, he says things like, "You can pre-order my novel!"
Good news, Glenn. Good news.
Corollary: Blogging About Blogging XXXII
While my LiveJournal lasted about as long as Neil's chocolate chip cookies, I'm still intrigued by the different content tactics and strategies used in journals as compared to blogs. Ross Mayfield recently shared some preliminary anecdotal findings based on a survey of bloggers' perceptions of journals. His comments on the insular nature of LiveJournal's community and communication -- you can even link to people's sites via their LiveJournal usernames, which introduces an interesting social network dynamic and user-navigated content vetting -- are interesting.
While my LiveJournal lasted about as long as Neil's chocolate chip cookies, I'm still intrigued by the different content tactics and strategies used in journals as compared to blogs. Ross Mayfield recently shared some preliminary anecdotal findings based on a survey of bloggers' perceptions of journals. His comments on the insular nature of LiveJournal's community and communication -- you can even link to people's sites via their LiveJournal usernames, which introduces an interesting social network dynamic and user-navigated content vetting -- are interesting.
Comics and Calamity III
Rob G., artist of the comic TFM and the upcoming Couriers graphic novel with Brian Wood, recently lost everything he owned outside of the clothes on his back in a fire. While Rob, his roommate, and his cat are safe and OK, their apartment building and everything they own -- including his art for TFM, Couriers, and a Batman story -- is gone. You can help.
Rob G., artist of the comic TFM and the upcoming Couriers graphic novel with Brian Wood, recently lost everything he owned outside of the clothes on his back in a fire. While Rob, his roommate, and his cat are safe and OK, their apartment building and everything they own -- including his art for TFM, Couriers, and a Batman story -- is gone. You can help.
Rock Shows of Note LIII
Around 10 last night, and with a last-minute invitation to Hiromi, I went to the Middle East Upstairs to see Choo Choo La Rouge. I arrived just as they were finishing their set, unfortunately, but Hiromi and several friends were in the audience, so we stuck around to see the other bands.
Hailing from Providence, the Eyesores were amazing. Led by accordionist Alex K. Redfearn, the band featured an interesting mix of instruments: cello, upright bass, violin, accordion, and drum kit. Their set was a rollicking, high-energy assortment of Elephant Six by way of Slim Cessna's Auto Club-style pop. Not quite alt.country, but on the edge. I couldn't help bouncing on my heels and swaying back and forth. The violinist was a lot of fun to watch, and my only complaint was that Alex was sitting, so I couldn't really see him. Had to pick up a couple of their CD's.
Then Soltero played. The show was a CD release party for their new recording "Defrocked and Kicking the Habit," so they were in fine form. Hiromi and I left after several songs, so I didn't hear too much, but I've been listening to MP3's today, and they, too, have an impressive blend of alt.country and slightly off-kilter pop. Tim Howard's voice is a sleepy Sunday treat.
What a good show. One of those nights I probably shouldn't have gone out (sleepy today), but I'm glad I did.
Around 10 last night, and with a last-minute invitation to Hiromi, I went to the Middle East Upstairs to see Choo Choo La Rouge. I arrived just as they were finishing their set, unfortunately, but Hiromi and several friends were in the audience, so we stuck around to see the other bands.
Hailing from Providence, the Eyesores were amazing. Led by accordionist Alex K. Redfearn, the band featured an interesting mix of instruments: cello, upright bass, violin, accordion, and drum kit. Their set was a rollicking, high-energy assortment of Elephant Six by way of Slim Cessna's Auto Club-style pop. Not quite alt.country, but on the edge. I couldn't help bouncing on my heels and swaying back and forth. The violinist was a lot of fun to watch, and my only complaint was that Alex was sitting, so I couldn't really see him. Had to pick up a couple of their CD's.
Then Soltero played. The show was a CD release party for their new recording "Defrocked and Kicking the Habit," so they were in fine form. Hiromi and I left after several songs, so I didn't hear too much, but I've been listening to MP3's today, and they, too, have an impressive blend of alt.country and slightly off-kilter pop. Tim Howard's voice is a sleepy Sunday treat.
What a good show. One of those nights I probably shouldn't have gone out (sleepy today), but I'm glad I did.
Pushing Up Pencils
It's a bad week for cartoonists. First Al Hirschfield. Now Bill Mauldin. The world's a little more empty today.
It's a bad week for cartoonists. First Al Hirschfield. Now Bill Mauldin. The world's a little more empty today.
Comics and Community IV
Well, what do you know? I'll be in San Francisco for work late next week, and I'm sticking around for the weekend. APE is that weekend. I am so there.
Well, what do you know? I'll be in San Francisco for work late next week, and I'm sticking around for the weekend. APE is that weekend. I am so there.
Wednesday, January 22, 2003
The Movie I Watched Last Night LIV
The A-Team: "The Children of Jamestown"
Originally airing Jan. 30, 1983, this is the first hour-long episode of the show -- and the first starring Dirk Benedict as Faceman. The title sequence better captures the A-Team's origin than the pilot movie did, but the episode is little more than a watered down riff on the Jonestown massacre. John Saxon's Martin James, the erstwhile leader of a religious cult, is shallow and cartoony, little more than sunglasses and pseudo-religious blather. The team enters the cult's compound to rescue a girl held hostage, gets captured themselves, outwits the cult faithful in a death hunt, construct weapons at a nearby farmhouse, and in the end, win the day. The scene in which Faceman tries to woo a woman by explaining the adrenalin rush of their adventures, describing what he calls the "jazz" is silly but enjoyable. And in the end, this episode establishes what might be the formula for future shows: get hired, get captured, escape, construct new weapons or a vehicle, succeed against the odds, crack wise. Repeat.
Soundtrack: Meshuggah, "Nothing"
The A-Team: "The Children of Jamestown"
Originally airing Jan. 30, 1983, this is the first hour-long episode of the show -- and the first starring Dirk Benedict as Faceman. The title sequence better captures the A-Team's origin than the pilot movie did, but the episode is little more than a watered down riff on the Jonestown massacre. John Saxon's Martin James, the erstwhile leader of a religious cult, is shallow and cartoony, little more than sunglasses and pseudo-religious blather. The team enters the cult's compound to rescue a girl held hostage, gets captured themselves, outwits the cult faithful in a death hunt, construct weapons at a nearby farmhouse, and in the end, win the day. The scene in which Faceman tries to woo a woman by explaining the adrenalin rush of their adventures, describing what he calls the "jazz" is silly but enjoyable. And in the end, this episode establishes what might be the formula for future shows: get hired, get captured, escape, construct new weapons or a vehicle, succeed against the odds, crack wise. Repeat.
Soundtrack: Meshuggah, "Nothing"
Corollary: Comics Crackdown II
From the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund:
From the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund:
After a year of legal maneuvers, Kraft has settled its trademark dilution suit against CBLDF defendant Stuart Helm. The settlement agreement forms a permanent injunction that prohibits Helm from using the name "King VelVeeda" on any future web, comics, or illustration work. Helm is allowed five years to sell all existing work using the censored name. Kraft is also donating $10,000 to the American Library Association's Freedom to Read Foundation, Kraft's recognized charity of Helm's choice. Each side will bear its own legal fees.
The CBLDF spent over $14,000 on the case. Those costs were borne with membership and convention contributions. The Freedom to Read Foundation will also contribute a portion of Kraft's settlement donation to offset the Fund's legal fees.
Kraft first contacted Helm in January of 2002, sending him a letter requesting he cease and desist the use of his nickname "King VelVeeda." Helm had been signing work using the pseudonym for more than a decade and maintained that because he was not directly competing with Kraft that he was within his rights using the name. Kraft differed, and sued him for Trademark Dilution and Infringement, and followed that suit with a request for Preliminary Injunction. In addition to suing Helm to cease use of the name, Kraft also sued for legal fees and punitive damages.
Helm represented himself for the first months of his case. Later he procured the help of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund after being deposed by Kraft's lawyers. The Fund's Board of Directors voted to take the case, believing that because the trademark laws involved in Helm's case are in flux until this term's Supreme Court decision in Mosely v. Secret Catalogs, Inc. comes down, that his First Amendment rights were in need of defense.
CBLDF retained counsel Burton Joseph, James Joseph, and Ken Levinson took over Helm's case in April. They deposed Kraft's executives and argued his case before Magistrate Arlander Keys' court in the Preliminary Injunction hearing. Keys granted Kraft's request for preliminary injuction last July. His decision required the artist to remove the nickname from all web pages, metatags, and search engines.
Helm complied with the Magistrate's decision while the Fund's lawyers filed an appeal. In September, Kraft approached the Fund's lawyers about arriving at a settlement.
"We were passing settlement proposals back and forth in October and the settlement was actually reached by the end of November," Helm reveals. "They took a hard line on everything, saying they were prepared to go back to court no matter how much it cost, but at the same time harassing Burton to settle and being really stingy with the settlement money. I asked them to give the money to the CBLDF, but they refused to do that, so eventually we agreed to give it to the Freedom to Read Foundation," Helm adds.
Helm continues, "I had a couple of reasons for settling. After losing the Preliminary Injunction trial I had lost some faith in the justice system. I didn't want to risk going all the way through the trial and losing because I didn't want to set a bad precedent. But more than that, I was physically tired of the case. I was tired of going to court, I was tired of being harassed by them, and I wanted to move on. The preliminary injunction already forced me to do a lot of work that made me want to move on. It's hard enough to stay energized and do art and then also deal with this court stuff. And also, I've been doing some activism because of the war on terror and I want to focus my political energy on those issues rather than spending that energy going to court fighting over my nickname."
In the end, Kraft successfully censored Helm, but they didn't crush him. "It could have been much worse," Helm says. "When they started, they gave me 30 days to cease and desist doing anything with the nickname. Now one year later I have five years to sell my artwork, I don't owe them any money, and a good cause is getting paid."
"I owe a lot to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund because they came in and rescued me at my lowest ebb. If they hadn't supported my case, I probably would have caved. But the Fund gave me the chance to fight when I needed it and I couldn't have done it without their support," Helm admits.
Fund Board Member Louise Nemschoff says, "This case highlights some of the ways in which trademark law poses serious traps for the unwary artist. Branding is becoming a more important part of American life and this case is another example of how First Amendment rights are at risk. In this climate, it's important for the Fund to defend the First Amendment rights of cartoonists to comment on the commercial icons of pop culture."
CBLDF Director Charles Brownstein says, "Stu needed a strong defense against Kraft's legal bullying and we were able to provide that. We responded quickly, we put up a good fight, and we helped him arrive at a settlement that enables him to go on with his life and art. In the end, this case is another example of how artists' First Amendment rights are in need of constant vigilance and protection. Trademark and Copyright laws are volatile and constantly changing; in that climate, it's important the Fund continue to fight on behalf of artists so as to protect the rights the First Amendment affords them."
Hiking History
This noon I braved the North End's 17 degrees and wind to track down a couple of interesting historical locations near the Scotch & Sirloin building. First stop, Copp's Hill Burial Ground, the North End's oldest cemetery and Boston's second, which has been in use since 1660. In the late 18th century, the northeastern base of Copp's Hill was called "New Guinea" because it housed most of the African-Americans in Boston. Of the 10,000-plus people buried in the burial ground, 1,000 are African-Americans. Ironically, they're segregated into their own section of the graveyard.
Prince Hall, whose grave marker is pictured above, was an African-born Revolutionary soldier who was an active leader of Boston's African-American community and founded the black Masonic order. Increase, Cotton, and Samuel Mather are also buried on Copp's Hill (pictured below). Cotton, who started school at Harvard when he was 12, once claimed that Satan spoke English, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew -- but not the "Indian language."
At the edge of the burial ground, bordered by Charter Street, is Copp's Hill Terrace. Not far from here, on Jan. 15, 1919 -- just a week ago today! -- a storage tank holding 2.5 million gallons of liquid molasses burst. (Reports also suggest that the tank may have been located closer to Faneuil Hall or the New England Aquarium.) A 15-foot-high flood of molasses destroyed buildings and the elevated railway along what is now Commercial Street. More than 20 people and many horses were killed, and more than 50 people were injured as a result. I don't know exactly where the flood started, but supposedly, you can track its progress from Copp's Hill along Commercial.
I also walked by the Old North Church, Boston's oldest church, and one possible place that the lanterns that alerted Paul Revere that the British were coming might have been hung. (Folks also think Second Church might have been the place, but descendants of Revere hang lanterns in this spire every April 18 to assert its claim.) And I made my way back past 44 Hull St., the narrowest house in Boston. 44 Hull is 9.5 feet wide and was built to ruin the view of a neighbor who lived in the lot behind it. Talk about spite!
On the way back to the office from Hull Street, I came across several sad-looking chairs neatly ordered along a chain-link fenced parking lot. When the weather is warm, elderly men and women often sit in lawn chairs along the sidewalks and streets of the North End. Perhaps these chairs are waiting for the warmth and welcome of their owners come spring.
Source: Greg and Katherine Letterman, Walking Boston
Soundtrack: The Postman Syndrome, "Terraforming"
This noon I braved the North End's 17 degrees and wind to track down a couple of interesting historical locations near the Scotch & Sirloin building. First stop, Copp's Hill Burial Ground, the North End's oldest cemetery and Boston's second, which has been in use since 1660. In the late 18th century, the northeastern base of Copp's Hill was called "New Guinea" because it housed most of the African-Americans in Boston. Of the 10,000-plus people buried in the burial ground, 1,000 are African-Americans. Ironically, they're segregated into their own section of the graveyard.
Prince Hall, whose grave marker is pictured above, was an African-born Revolutionary soldier who was an active leader of Boston's African-American community and founded the black Masonic order. Increase, Cotton, and Samuel Mather are also buried on Copp's Hill (pictured below). Cotton, who started school at Harvard when he was 12, once claimed that Satan spoke English, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew -- but not the "Indian language."
At the edge of the burial ground, bordered by Charter Street, is Copp's Hill Terrace. Not far from here, on Jan. 15, 1919 -- just a week ago today! -- a storage tank holding 2.5 million gallons of liquid molasses burst. (Reports also suggest that the tank may have been located closer to Faneuil Hall or the New England Aquarium.) A 15-foot-high flood of molasses destroyed buildings and the elevated railway along what is now Commercial Street. More than 20 people and many horses were killed, and more than 50 people were injured as a result. I don't know exactly where the flood started, but supposedly, you can track its progress from Copp's Hill along Commercial.
I also walked by the Old North Church, Boston's oldest church, and one possible place that the lanterns that alerted Paul Revere that the British were coming might have been hung. (Folks also think Second Church might have been the place, but descendants of Revere hang lanterns in this spire every April 18 to assert its claim.) And I made my way back past 44 Hull St., the narrowest house in Boston. 44 Hull is 9.5 feet wide and was built to ruin the view of a neighbor who lived in the lot behind it. Talk about spite!
On the way back to the office from Hull Street, I came across several sad-looking chairs neatly ordered along a chain-link fenced parking lot. When the weather is warm, elderly men and women often sit in lawn chairs along the sidewalks and streets of the North End. Perhaps these chairs are waiting for the warmth and welcome of their owners come spring.
Source: Greg and Katherine Letterman, Walking Boston
Soundtrack: The Postman Syndrome, "Terraforming"
Tuesday, January 21, 2003
Humor Me VIII
Crazy Magazine #1, October 1973, Marvel Comics Group, NYC, NY (40 cents)
Executive Editor: Roy Thomas
Editor: Marv Wolfman
Production: Sol Brodsky
Staff: Don McGregor, Tony Isabella, Carla Joseph, Murray Friedman
Writers: Vaughn Bode, Gerry Conway, Harlan Ellison, Bob Foster, Tony Isabella, Carla Joseph, Don McGregor, Stu Scwartzberg, Jean Shepherd, Steve Skeates, Jean Thomas, Roy Thomas, Len Wein, Marv Wolfman
Artists: Ross Andru, Vaughn Bode, Bob Foster, Dave Hunt, Vic Martin, Mike Ploog, Marie Severin, Herb Trimpe, Basil Wolverton, Ned Young
Photographers: Vincent Colletta, Michele Wolfman
Cover: Kelly Freas
Cover: Kelly Freas image of the Crazy nebbish dynamiting the logos of Sick, Mad, National Lampoon (!), and Cracked. Cover lines: Maniacal mirth to mangle your mind; Featuring the way-out humor of Jean Shepherd, Harlan Ellison, Vaughn Bode, Kelly Freas, and the Bullpen that plays for fun; Also in this issue: Crazy rips off the Poseidon Adventure and Kung Fu; Special issue on the future -- or what's left of it
p. 2 Fake ad for Virginia Slim Chances, w/ Stu Schwartzberg, d/ Marie Severin
p. 3 Contents, masthead, and indicia
p. 4 Kung Fooey w/ Stu Schwartzberg, d/ Mike Ploog... TV parody featuring western cliche plot signpost, Buddhist aphorism flashbacks, and the line "Heavy on the spareribs, easy on the burning coals."
p. 12 Breaking and Entering Pandora's Box w/ Harlan Ellison, d/ Basil Wolverton... Cockroaches take over the Earth -- I think I have that right
p. 13 Daily Survivor w/ Tony Isabella, Carla Joseph, Gerry Conway, and Steve Skeates; d/ Dave Hunt, Marie Severin... Post-apocalyptic newspaper parody touching on mutated soldiers, mind tapping, frogs, genetic variations, Holohedral TV, Dennis the Menace, and the Olympics
p. 20 The Lighter Side of Racial Violence w/ Roy and Jean Thomas, d/ Ned Young, et. al. ... Crazy parodies Mad's Dave Berg -- that's crazy! Best line: "One man's rip-off is another man's revolution."
p. 21 Foto Funnies... National Lampoon parody addressing -- or undressing -- the war between the sexes
p. 22 Shush-Ups! d/ Vincent Van Nog... This Cracked parody tackles vampires, the Titanic, and cartoonists
p. 23 Foto Funkies... Another uncredited National Lampoon lampoon taking on -- or off -- feminism and the evident battle between the publishers
p. 24 The Great American Dream w/ Marv Wolfman, p/ Michele Wolfman... A "far-out" fumetti starring Dick Giordano, Neal Adams, and Tony Isabella in a realtor's police-state dream
p. 27 An Independent Survey Today Announced... w/ Jean Shepherd, d/ Herb Trimpe... Adapted from The Ferrari in the Bedroom, this series of clippings from the Daily Disaster isn't very funny. Outside of the comics-panel adaptations, this ran three pages too long
p. 33 Who's Who w/ Marv Wolfman... Other than "A Crazy Editorial," which recounts the dubious origin of humor, this page pokes fun at the need to feature big names to sell magazines. Wolfman calls Ellison a pornographer and claims that he, himself, is married to Michele Wolfman. There's also an ad for the "First and Greatest Name-That-Nebbish Contest."
p. 34 The Upseidown Adventure w/ Len Wein, d/ Ross Andru and Vic Martin... Movie parody recounting how passengers try to save a sinking ship (T-minus 93 issues?). Best line: "I forgot all about yer tattoo!"
p. 40 Evolution and History of Moosekind w/d Bob Foster... So not funny. I can't believe this was ever printed.
p. 43 FOOM-Etti w/ Tony Isabella, p/ Vinnie Colletta... A perved-out Marv Wolfman strives to sell a Friends of Ol' Marvel membership
p. 44 Junkwaffel: Sole Survivor w/d Vaughn Bode... 'Nuff said.
Crazy Magazine #1, October 1973, Marvel Comics Group, NYC, NY (40 cents)
Executive Editor: Roy Thomas
Editor: Marv Wolfman
Production: Sol Brodsky
Staff: Don McGregor, Tony Isabella, Carla Joseph, Murray Friedman
Writers: Vaughn Bode, Gerry Conway, Harlan Ellison, Bob Foster, Tony Isabella, Carla Joseph, Don McGregor, Stu Scwartzberg, Jean Shepherd, Steve Skeates, Jean Thomas, Roy Thomas, Len Wein, Marv Wolfman
Artists: Ross Andru, Vaughn Bode, Bob Foster, Dave Hunt, Vic Martin, Mike Ploog, Marie Severin, Herb Trimpe, Basil Wolverton, Ned Young
Photographers: Vincent Colletta, Michele Wolfman
Cover: Kelly Freas
Cover: Kelly Freas image of the Crazy nebbish dynamiting the logos of Sick, Mad, National Lampoon (!), and Cracked. Cover lines: Maniacal mirth to mangle your mind; Featuring the way-out humor of Jean Shepherd, Harlan Ellison, Vaughn Bode, Kelly Freas, and the Bullpen that plays for fun; Also in this issue: Crazy rips off the Poseidon Adventure and Kung Fu; Special issue on the future -- or what's left of it
p. 2 Fake ad for Virginia Slim Chances, w/ Stu Schwartzberg, d/ Marie Severin
p. 3 Contents, masthead, and indicia
p. 4 Kung Fooey w/ Stu Schwartzberg, d/ Mike Ploog... TV parody featuring western cliche plot signpost, Buddhist aphorism flashbacks, and the line "Heavy on the spareribs, easy on the burning coals."
p. 12 Breaking and Entering Pandora's Box w/ Harlan Ellison, d/ Basil Wolverton... Cockroaches take over the Earth -- I think I have that right
p. 13 Daily Survivor w/ Tony Isabella, Carla Joseph, Gerry Conway, and Steve Skeates; d/ Dave Hunt, Marie Severin... Post-apocalyptic newspaper parody touching on mutated soldiers, mind tapping, frogs, genetic variations, Holohedral TV, Dennis the Menace, and the Olympics
p. 20 The Lighter Side of Racial Violence w/ Roy and Jean Thomas, d/ Ned Young, et. al. ... Crazy parodies Mad's Dave Berg -- that's crazy! Best line: "One man's rip-off is another man's revolution."
p. 21 Foto Funnies... National Lampoon parody addressing -- or undressing -- the war between the sexes
p. 22 Shush-Ups! d/ Vincent Van Nog... This Cracked parody tackles vampires, the Titanic, and cartoonists
p. 23 Foto Funkies... Another uncredited National Lampoon lampoon taking on -- or off -- feminism and the evident battle between the publishers
p. 24 The Great American Dream w/ Marv Wolfman, p/ Michele Wolfman... A "far-out" fumetti starring Dick Giordano, Neal Adams, and Tony Isabella in a realtor's police-state dream
p. 27 An Independent Survey Today Announced... w/ Jean Shepherd, d/ Herb Trimpe... Adapted from The Ferrari in the Bedroom, this series of clippings from the Daily Disaster isn't very funny. Outside of the comics-panel adaptations, this ran three pages too long
p. 33 Who's Who w/ Marv Wolfman... Other than "A Crazy Editorial," which recounts the dubious origin of humor, this page pokes fun at the need to feature big names to sell magazines. Wolfman calls Ellison a pornographer and claims that he, himself, is married to Michele Wolfman. There's also an ad for the "First and Greatest Name-That-Nebbish Contest."
p. 34 The Upseidown Adventure w/ Len Wein, d/ Ross Andru and Vic Martin... Movie parody recounting how passengers try to save a sinking ship (T-minus 93 issues?). Best line: "I forgot all about yer tattoo!"
p. 40 Evolution and History of Moosekind w/d Bob Foster... So not funny. I can't believe this was ever printed.
p. 43 FOOM-Etti w/ Tony Isabella, p/ Vinnie Colletta... A perved-out Marv Wolfman strives to sell a Friends of Ol' Marvel membership
p. 44 Junkwaffel: Sole Survivor w/d Vaughn Bode... 'Nuff said.
The Movie I Watched Last Night LIII
Hackers
Oh, I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed this movie. You've got rebellious teenage hackers saying things like "elite" and "righteous hack." You've got one of the first soundtracks featuring pop electronica music. You've got Penn Jillette. You've got a young Angelina Jolie (meow). You've got the characteristically irritating Matthew Lillard. You've got the graffiti-ridden teen hangout, roller blades, and futuristic "hacker fashion." You've got clueless but caring parents. And you've got graphic representations of networks and the net that put The Net to shame but nonetheless scream of implausibility. There's a virus hidden in a worm wrapped up in a virus (or something) that's going to scuttle oil tankers if this wily bunch of computer kids doesn't save the day -- and their own bacon. It's a shallow, silly plot, and the characters are likewise, but the interactions among the teens, the representation of hacker culture -- just this side of realistic -- and the Dawson's Creek-styled male lead hero's puppy-dog affection for Jolie's character (meow) make it all worthwhile. Oh, the Richard Kadrey-lookalike evil mastermind is a goon. And the hackers pranking of the federal agent is a nice riff on The Net's fear of identity theft.
Hackers
Oh, I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed this movie. You've got rebellious teenage hackers saying things like "elite" and "righteous hack." You've got one of the first soundtracks featuring pop electronica music. You've got Penn Jillette. You've got a young Angelina Jolie (meow). You've got the characteristically irritating Matthew Lillard. You've got the graffiti-ridden teen hangout, roller blades, and futuristic "hacker fashion." You've got clueless but caring parents. And you've got graphic representations of networks and the net that put The Net to shame but nonetheless scream of implausibility. There's a virus hidden in a worm wrapped up in a virus (or something) that's going to scuttle oil tankers if this wily bunch of computer kids doesn't save the day -- and their own bacon. It's a shallow, silly plot, and the characters are likewise, but the interactions among the teens, the representation of hacker culture -- just this side of realistic -- and the Dawson's Creek-styled male lead hero's puppy-dog affection for Jolie's character (meow) make it all worthwhile. Oh, the Richard Kadrey-lookalike evil mastermind is a goon. And the hackers pranking of the federal agent is a nice riff on The Net's fear of identity theft.
Street Art III
This noon, I set out to find Mags Harries's 1976 urban sculpture, Asaroton (Unswept Floor). Originally embedded in the pavement at Hanover and Haymarket streets a short walk from where I work, the 55'-by-10'-by-9" bronze insert sculpture featured detritus you might find littering the streets and sidewalks around the open-air produce market: fish, flowers, newspapers, gloves, and corn cobs. The newspapers Harries used even featured headlines about busing in South Boston.
Commissioned to commemorate the U.S. Bicentennial, Asaroton refers to a Greco-Roman floor mosaic technique dating to 200 B.C. Because of construction of the central artery, however, Asaroton is no longer visible -- with most (hopefully all) of it in storage or on display at the Museum of Science. That's a relief, as I was prepared to write the MBTA to inquire what happened to the sculpture because of the Big Dig.
Unable to see the sidewalk sculpture, I grabbed a quick and unsatisfying lunch at Haymarket Pizza (two slices, $2), braved the cold wind of the pedestrian tunnel through the construction, and headed back to work. Hopefully I'll be more successful finding items of interest in Marty Carlock's A Guide to Public Art in Greater Boston in the future.
This noon, I set out to find Mags Harries's 1976 urban sculpture, Asaroton (Unswept Floor). Originally embedded in the pavement at Hanover and Haymarket streets a short walk from where I work, the 55'-by-10'-by-9" bronze insert sculpture featured detritus you might find littering the streets and sidewalks around the open-air produce market: fish, flowers, newspapers, gloves, and corn cobs. The newspapers Harries used even featured headlines about busing in South Boston.
Commissioned to commemorate the U.S. Bicentennial, Asaroton refers to a Greco-Roman floor mosaic technique dating to 200 B.C. Because of construction of the central artery, however, Asaroton is no longer visible -- with most (hopefully all) of it in storage or on display at the Museum of Science. That's a relief, as I was prepared to write the MBTA to inquire what happened to the sculpture because of the Big Dig.
Unable to see the sidewalk sculpture, I grabbed a quick and unsatisfying lunch at Haymarket Pizza (two slices, $2), braved the cold wind of the pedestrian tunnel through the construction, and headed back to work. Hopefully I'll be more successful finding items of interest in Marty Carlock's A Guide to Public Art in Greater Boston in the future.
Blogging About Blogging XLVII
Confession: I've never read InstaPundit. OK, once, just now, but that was to verify the URL. I know Glenn looms relatively large in the blogosphere. I know he's heavily inked in blog-related press. And I know that his schtick doesn't really interest me.
That said, Neal Pollack's interview with Glenn today made me laugh out loud.
Confession: I've never read InstaPundit. OK, once, just now, but that was to verify the URL. I know Glenn looms relatively large in the blogosphere. I know he's heavily inked in blog-related press. And I know that his schtick doesn't really interest me.
That said, Neal Pollack's interview with Glenn today made me laugh out loud.
Water Blogged
A friend from DC visited the Boston area with a friend this weekend. We met up for lunch at Charlie's Kitchen on Saturday, and then we checked in with each other yesterday afternoon. Amy and her friend were at the New England Aquarium, a scant three T stops away from where I work. In an uncharacteristic fit of spontaneity, I decided to leave work and meet them there. Even though I've lived in Boston for six years, I've not once been to the aquarium. And that's a crime. Amy was my trigger.
After getting my ticket for $13.50 (which is kind of pricy, but a membership only costs $40, and that means you can get in for free -- go at least three times a year, and you're set), I walked around the first floor for awhile before finding them. We'd called each other on our cell phones. I don't know how this would have happened before the advent of cell phones. Where would I have left her a message? Would she have called me from an aquarium payphone? What if we'd never found each other?
We checked out some of the exhibits along the outer wall of the aquarium, and then we made our way up the center spiral walkway around the Giant Ocean Tank. The huge turtle was amazing, and the shark refused to eat what a diver offered it. We were impressed by the large assortment of fish -- and how ugly some of them are!
At the top, we watched a staff member feed the fish. There was one extremely chubby fish that was quite greedy, and it was hogging much of the food. Kept coming back for more! Then we wound our way back down to the main level, where we headed over to the ship Discovery for the 4:30 p.m. sea lion presentation.
The show was great. We saw two California sea lions (one was named Tyler; I forget the other) that had been trained to wave, roll over, balance a ball on their nose, fetch a plastic bottle from the pool and deposit in a recycling bin, and do other tricks. The staff member MC'ing the show made a point of distinguishing between sea lions and seals -- and worked in a subtle environmental conservation message.
All in all, a fun afternoon -- and high time I got to the aquarium in Boston! I left Amy and her friend to their host and headed home as they headed to dinner, the airport, and eventually DC.
***
Speaking of water, there was no hot water in my apartment building Saturday at 9:30 a.m., and this morning at 8, there was no hot water yet again. It's never been a problem in the past, so it's not because people were showering and depleting the supply. Must be something wrong with the water heater. I shower every morning, and it feels kind of odd not having done so. Not that you need to know that, but I miss hot water. Will have to talk to my landlord soon.
A friend from DC visited the Boston area with a friend this weekend. We met up for lunch at Charlie's Kitchen on Saturday, and then we checked in with each other yesterday afternoon. Amy and her friend were at the New England Aquarium, a scant three T stops away from where I work. In an uncharacteristic fit of spontaneity, I decided to leave work and meet them there. Even though I've lived in Boston for six years, I've not once been to the aquarium. And that's a crime. Amy was my trigger.
After getting my ticket for $13.50 (which is kind of pricy, but a membership only costs $40, and that means you can get in for free -- go at least three times a year, and you're set), I walked around the first floor for awhile before finding them. We'd called each other on our cell phones. I don't know how this would have happened before the advent of cell phones. Where would I have left her a message? Would she have called me from an aquarium payphone? What if we'd never found each other?
We checked out some of the exhibits along the outer wall of the aquarium, and then we made our way up the center spiral walkway around the Giant Ocean Tank. The huge turtle was amazing, and the shark refused to eat what a diver offered it. We were impressed by the large assortment of fish -- and how ugly some of them are!
At the top, we watched a staff member feed the fish. There was one extremely chubby fish that was quite greedy, and it was hogging much of the food. Kept coming back for more! Then we wound our way back down to the main level, where we headed over to the ship Discovery for the 4:30 p.m. sea lion presentation.
The show was great. We saw two California sea lions (one was named Tyler; I forget the other) that had been trained to wave, roll over, balance a ball on their nose, fetch a plastic bottle from the pool and deposit in a recycling bin, and do other tricks. The staff member MC'ing the show made a point of distinguishing between sea lions and seals -- and worked in a subtle environmental conservation message.
All in all, a fun afternoon -- and high time I got to the aquarium in Boston! I left Amy and her friend to their host and headed home as they headed to dinner, the airport, and eventually DC.
Speaking of water, there was no hot water in my apartment building Saturday at 9:30 a.m., and this morning at 8, there was no hot water yet again. It's never been a problem in the past, so it's not because people were showering and depleting the supply. Must be something wrong with the water heater. I shower every morning, and it feels kind of odd not having done so. Not that you need to know that, but I miss hot water. Will have to talk to my landlord soon.
It's an Ad, Ad, Ad, Ad World XXII
The Gap made a casting call for its next series of television advertisements. More than 200,000 people entered. 24 finalists have been selected. And only six will win: one man, one woman, one boy, one girl, one baby boy, and one baby girl. You can vote on who you think should be in the ad campaign online.
Voting requires sharing some personal information, but there's a $500 gift card at stake. Each category includes four selections. You can only vote once. Regardless of whether you win the gift card at the end, voting nets you a 15% discount coupon you can print and save.
Is this the future of democratic advertising?
The Gap made a casting call for its next series of television advertisements. More than 200,000 people entered. 24 finalists have been selected. And only six will win: one man, one woman, one boy, one girl, one baby boy, and one baby girl. You can vote on who you think should be in the ad campaign online.
Voting requires sharing some personal information, but there's a $500 gift card at stake. Each category includes four selections. You can only vote once. Regardless of whether you win the gift card at the end, voting nets you a 15% discount coupon you can print and save.
Is this the future of democratic advertising?
Monday, January 20, 2003
The Movie I Watched Last Night LII
The Insider
This movie starring Russell Crowe -- cast as another quirky scientist/scholar -- and Al Pacino is much more than the story of big tobacco whistlebower Jeffrey Wigand. It's more of a Wag the Dog meets All the President's Men meta-media commentary on the story-selection process at 60 Minutes. Along the way, the movie addresses the corporate complicity of TV networks such as CBS, the money big tobacco can bring to bear to quash criticism and legal action, and the role of journalist as hero. Pacino shines as producer Lowell Bergman, once a journalist for Ramparts who finds himself questioning his own corporate position as a serious story is slowed. Christopher Plummer's portrayal of Mike Wallace highlights the ego inherent in anchoring big-name news programs, and the interactions between the character Bergman and other journalists at the New York Times and Wall Street Journal offer a heartening inside look at the relationships between journalists. In the end, we're left with a view of journalists as rebellious truth tellers, corporate media lawyers and executives as complicit gatekeepers, and big tobacco as, well, big tobacco. Wigand, who is underwritten as the true hero of the tale, is almost left with a broken life -- a life nearly broken by the very media organization that initially encouraged him to step forward and into a limelight he never wanted.
The Net
Sandra Bullock is miscast as a female computer hacker who finds herself trapped in a web of political intrigue when she's hired to debug a CD-ROM. Outside of the movie's largely Speed-styled thriller sequences, the movie is especially notable for its portrayal of online technologies and interaction. The online chat -- complete with heavily pixellated icons and horribly computer-generated voices -- is a kick and a half, as is the scene in which Bullock's surprisingly beautiful antisocial character is "accepted" by others in a chat room just before she orders a pizza online. The rapid-fire, higher-quality security breach scenes in which Bullock's character and others gain access to various govenmental, financial, and corporate online services stands out in stark contrast, indicating that the technological grass may very well be greener on the corporate side of the fence. While the adventure-movie plot isn't that interesting, the internet-based paranoia and privacy/security concerns raised by the film -- The Net's point, really -- really don't hold water or pack a punch. Still, an interesting artifact from the early day's of the net's commercial and consumer emergence and acceptance.
The Insider
This movie starring Russell Crowe -- cast as another quirky scientist/scholar -- and Al Pacino is much more than the story of big tobacco whistlebower Jeffrey Wigand. It's more of a Wag the Dog meets All the President's Men meta-media commentary on the story-selection process at 60 Minutes. Along the way, the movie addresses the corporate complicity of TV networks such as CBS, the money big tobacco can bring to bear to quash criticism and legal action, and the role of journalist as hero. Pacino shines as producer Lowell Bergman, once a journalist for Ramparts who finds himself questioning his own corporate position as a serious story is slowed. Christopher Plummer's portrayal of Mike Wallace highlights the ego inherent in anchoring big-name news programs, and the interactions between the character Bergman and other journalists at the New York Times and Wall Street Journal offer a heartening inside look at the relationships between journalists. In the end, we're left with a view of journalists as rebellious truth tellers, corporate media lawyers and executives as complicit gatekeepers, and big tobacco as, well, big tobacco. Wigand, who is underwritten as the true hero of the tale, is almost left with a broken life -- a life nearly broken by the very media organization that initially encouraged him to step forward and into a limelight he never wanted.
The Net
Sandra Bullock is miscast as a female computer hacker who finds herself trapped in a web of political intrigue when she's hired to debug a CD-ROM. Outside of the movie's largely Speed-styled thriller sequences, the movie is especially notable for its portrayal of online technologies and interaction. The online chat -- complete with heavily pixellated icons and horribly computer-generated voices -- is a kick and a half, as is the scene in which Bullock's surprisingly beautiful antisocial character is "accepted" by others in a chat room just before she orders a pizza online. The rapid-fire, higher-quality security breach scenes in which Bullock's character and others gain access to various govenmental, financial, and corporate online services stands out in stark contrast, indicating that the technological grass may very well be greener on the corporate side of the fence. While the adventure-movie plot isn't that interesting, the internet-based paranoia and privacy/security concerns raised by the film -- The Net's point, really -- really don't hold water or pack a punch. Still, an interesting artifact from the early day's of the net's commercial and consumer emergence and acceptance.
Mention Me! XXXI
Photojunkie includes Media Diet in its new links roundup. Rannie Turingan's "daily dose of images and commentary" is a lively collection of photography, personal writing, and meta-photoblogging news reports. Here's hoping Rannie makes it to SXSW!
Photojunkie includes Media Diet in its new links roundup. Rannie Turingan's "daily dose of images and commentary" is a lively collection of photography, personal writing, and meta-photoblogging news reports. Here's hoping Rannie makes it to SXSW!
Video-A-Go-Go II
Heavy-metal music videography has always stood apart from other music video production styles, and Iron Maiden's 1990 compilation of 16 videos, The First Ten Years: The Videos, offers an interesting look at the evolution of the genre as it highlights the successful design elements of the band and its various music video tactics.
Opening with the 1980 video for "Women in Uniform," which was shot at the Rainbow Theatre in London, the video is an example of one of the first promotional music videos. Featuring Maiden's original singer, Paul Di'Anno, the video telegraphs many of the tactics future videos will employ. For the most part, Maiden's videos are performance videos, capturing the band on stage with full light show and stadium theatrics. The video also includes light narrative segments, however, seemingly to introduce Maiden's undead mascot Eddie, but also to remind viewers of the song's title as the segments feature heavily made-up women in nurse and military uniform. Live, the band lacks energy and stage presence, making for a relatively uninteresting video that may promote the song or record but certainly doesn't sell the live concert experience. If this is a Maiden concert, I don't need to go.
"Wrathchild" fares slightly better, featuring Di'Anno again but with a more mature, meatier delivery. The video, devoid of any narrative, documents what was probably an actual concert instead of a staged show. That improves the performance, presence, and passion of the video, much more effectively promoting the concert experience.
It's not until the third video, "Run to the Hills" that viewers are introduced to Bruce Dickinson, the prototypical Maiden frontman. With this video, the band holds onto live performance documentation but adds black-and-white stock film footage to bolster the song's cartoony content about the mistreatment of Native Americans. This is an intriguing aspect, as the band -- or the video's director -- avoids actual direction or narrative storytelling while including the grainy footage. Narrative enough, I suppose, although the silent comedy selected undermines the thesis of the song more than it adds to the video.
Maiden's use of stock footage -- with a Vincent Price voiceover to boot -- continues in "The Number of the Beast," which introduces dramatically lit camera-oriented posed performance, costumed extras, and narrative segments to the expected live stage settings. The live footage features a large Godzilla model on stage, and the stock footage incorporates some Godzilla imagery as well, smartly linking the two devices.
"Flight of Icarus" only confuses the progression, however. While the video employs cheesily produced costumed extra-cast narrative segments, the live performance is replaced with in-studio recording session shots. Perhaps because of the opening hallway shot, viewers might read the in-studio sequences as narrative, as well, especially because a man sitting at the mixing board morphs into Eddie and then a costumed extra (Icarus himself, perhaps). In a way, the two streams do intersect, with Icarus lowering his head to the board before the closing guitar solo, but in the end, viewers are left with no real narration, only costumed cameos.
Stock footage and live performance return for "The Trooper," interspersing title card and narrative establishing shots with stadium footage once again. But for the most part, this is "Run to the Hills" all over again. While the footage of calvary horses falling down is confusing enough, the prolonged use of title cards, even at the very end to close out the video, is even more confusing. Horses fall down. Is the song about the futility of war? If the content of the song isn't clear, no amount of silent film footage or title cards will help.
At the same time, this video leads me to think that the relative success of Iron Maiden might be built on several elements: the live-show spectacle, consistent branding through the ongoing presence of Eddie, heavy-metal humor via found footage of violence and destruction, and pseudo-literary and -historical allusions that give the band a pretense of depth.
That case is helped by "2 Minutes to Midnight," a song that appears to be about the countdown to nuclear war and the price of the political decisions that are made to reach that point. Here, the narrative segments almost dominate the live performance, representing a statesman anguishing over his choices -- and his timely end. The video introduces the neo-arcane ephemera of Eddie's fantasy world as the statesman explores a manuscript rife with runes and esoteric script. Adding to the representation of mediated experience supported by the use of stock footage, the statesman turns to a computer to scry the manuscript's meaning. Just to highlight the limited budgets available, however, it's notable that the producers had to mock up a stenciled cover to the fictional "Fortune and Glory" magazine.
Remember the Vincent Price voiceover? There's a Winston Churchill voiceover opening "Aces High." That means it's another song with political and historical allusions -- and that Maiden will back them up with stock footage of World War II-era news reels and films of fighter planes. For the most part, the video is live performance, with the stock footage puncuating solos. The song's lyrics remind viewers of the masculine, heroic context behind Maiden's stage performance. Regardless of whether it's the Native Americans, Icarus, soldiers, or pilots, so far, the main character's in Maiden's videos are heroes or thwarted heroes. That might be another ingredient in the band's recipe for success. Or perhaps it's an aspirational element of heavy metal's appeal to the disenfranchised in general.
The role of place pops up again in "Running Free," an entirely live performance in which Dickinson mentions spending a night in a Los Angeles jail. An interesting counterpoint to Di'Anno's mention of flying to London on a 747 in "Wrathchild"! Was Maiden one of the first NWOBHM bands equally at home in the United States as well as the United Kingdom?
If "Wasted Years" is any indication -- much less the Somewhere in Time album in its entirety -- Maiden's also at home in outer space. Interspersing live performance and candid backstage footage with animated segments and album-cover closeups, as well as representations of Eddie's many guises, the video also reuses stock footage from earlier music videos. By repurposing segments of the "Women in Uniform," "Run to the Hills," "The Trooper," "2 Minutes to Midnight," and "Aces High" videos, Maiden adds another wrinkle to its historic, heroic video representations. Now there's inter-video band history, which appears to be more than NWOBHM nostalgia, to consider. Heavy-metal band as hero.
Dickinson's mic-stand antics during the live introduction to "Stranger in a Strange Land" is as cartoony as Eddie's undead mug, and this is the first live footage that feels false. Oh, there's an audience, a large audience, but Dickinson's delivery was better when it was not so polished, thoughtfully dramatic, or oriented to the camera. "No brave new world," indeed. However, the allusions to being lost "in a land of ice and snow," the increased distance between performer and audience that's brought with better production, and the hero-worship gaze seen in the audience shots only add to the heroic aspirations and fantastic elements of Maiden's music. Eddie's goggled visage on stage underscores the science-fiction aspects of Somewhere in Time-era Maiden.
The all-live "Stranger in a Strange Land" makes "Can I Play with Madness"' full-on narrative all the more disturbing, if not a backward evolutionary step. With the introduction of synthesizers on Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, many hardcore Maiden fans accused the band of going mersh and selling out. That this is the first fully narrative video in the collection lends credence to the evident commercial evolution of the band. Interestingly enough, just as the arcane manuscript element of "2 Minutes to Midnight" pops up again in this video, so does the role of the monitor and the magazine. Here, a glossy metal fanzine is used as a torch, and the only live footage of the band is seen by video characters on a cobwebbed television. Another indication of commercial distancing and mediated experience.
Maiden make a point of returning to a concert video for "The Evil That Men Do," opening the video with slow-motion backstage and audience footage, contributing to the nostalgic history established in "Stranger in a Strange Land." While the band would have used stock footage or light narrative to bring home the song's message in the past, this is a purely live video, a radical response to the singular success of "Can I Play with Madness," and perhaps an attempt to hold onto the band's heroic past more strongly.
The band returns to the grassroots even more with "The Clairvoyant," which includes footage taken on the green hills of Donington. Smoke machine going, British flag flying, this video is all about the show and the audience's presence and response. The story is there, in the song, as well as in the stage set. Why use stock footage or narrative devices? With Iron Maiden, there's little need, and attempts to add depth only draw attention to the band's lack of depth.
In the end, the collection closes with another live video, seemingly from Donington ("Infinite Dreams") and a more heavily produced video directed by Steve Harris ("Holy Smoke"). The latter, a topical song addressing the political foibles of Christian evangelists such as Jim Bakker, combines friendly studio footage and goofy staged performance footage shot in a field of flowers. Commenting on the mediated duplicity of the PMRC and similar efforts, the video's cartoony shenanigans -- contrary to those in "Run to the Hills"' stock footage -- only bolsters the song's message. Here, Maiden says "We're a heavy-metal band. This is fun. We're serious, but we don't take ourselves too seriously."
That, I suppose, is what I've done by writing this video analysis. While Maiden falls prey to the violent stock footage tendencies of Headbangers' Ball and flirts with fully narrative pop music video styling, in the end, the band refocuses on the live concert and fan base experience, effectively stepping away from the edge of selling out and closer to the band's roots.
Even if those roots are shallowly planted.
Heavy-metal music videography has always stood apart from other music video production styles, and Iron Maiden's 1990 compilation of 16 videos, The First Ten Years: The Videos, offers an interesting look at the evolution of the genre as it highlights the successful design elements of the band and its various music video tactics.
Opening with the 1980 video for "Women in Uniform," which was shot at the Rainbow Theatre in London, the video is an example of one of the first promotional music videos. Featuring Maiden's original singer, Paul Di'Anno, the video telegraphs many of the tactics future videos will employ. For the most part, Maiden's videos are performance videos, capturing the band on stage with full light show and stadium theatrics. The video also includes light narrative segments, however, seemingly to introduce Maiden's undead mascot Eddie, but also to remind viewers of the song's title as the segments feature heavily made-up women in nurse and military uniform. Live, the band lacks energy and stage presence, making for a relatively uninteresting video that may promote the song or record but certainly doesn't sell the live concert experience. If this is a Maiden concert, I don't need to go.
"Wrathchild" fares slightly better, featuring Di'Anno again but with a more mature, meatier delivery. The video, devoid of any narrative, documents what was probably an actual concert instead of a staged show. That improves the performance, presence, and passion of the video, much more effectively promoting the concert experience.
It's not until the third video, "Run to the Hills" that viewers are introduced to Bruce Dickinson, the prototypical Maiden frontman. With this video, the band holds onto live performance documentation but adds black-and-white stock film footage to bolster the song's cartoony content about the mistreatment of Native Americans. This is an intriguing aspect, as the band -- or the video's director -- avoids actual direction or narrative storytelling while including the grainy footage. Narrative enough, I suppose, although the silent comedy selected undermines the thesis of the song more than it adds to the video.
Maiden's use of stock footage -- with a Vincent Price voiceover to boot -- continues in "The Number of the Beast," which introduces dramatically lit camera-oriented posed performance, costumed extras, and narrative segments to the expected live stage settings. The live footage features a large Godzilla model on stage, and the stock footage incorporates some Godzilla imagery as well, smartly linking the two devices.
"Flight of Icarus" only confuses the progression, however. While the video employs cheesily produced costumed extra-cast narrative segments, the live performance is replaced with in-studio recording session shots. Perhaps because of the opening hallway shot, viewers might read the in-studio sequences as narrative, as well, especially because a man sitting at the mixing board morphs into Eddie and then a costumed extra (Icarus himself, perhaps). In a way, the two streams do intersect, with Icarus lowering his head to the board before the closing guitar solo, but in the end, viewers are left with no real narration, only costumed cameos.
Stock footage and live performance return for "The Trooper," interspersing title card and narrative establishing shots with stadium footage once again. But for the most part, this is "Run to the Hills" all over again. While the footage of calvary horses falling down is confusing enough, the prolonged use of title cards, even at the very end to close out the video, is even more confusing. Horses fall down. Is the song about the futility of war? If the content of the song isn't clear, no amount of silent film footage or title cards will help.
At the same time, this video leads me to think that the relative success of Iron Maiden might be built on several elements: the live-show spectacle, consistent branding through the ongoing presence of Eddie, heavy-metal humor via found footage of violence and destruction, and pseudo-literary and -historical allusions that give the band a pretense of depth.
That case is helped by "2 Minutes to Midnight," a song that appears to be about the countdown to nuclear war and the price of the political decisions that are made to reach that point. Here, the narrative segments almost dominate the live performance, representing a statesman anguishing over his choices -- and his timely end. The video introduces the neo-arcane ephemera of Eddie's fantasy world as the statesman explores a manuscript rife with runes and esoteric script. Adding to the representation of mediated experience supported by the use of stock footage, the statesman turns to a computer to scry the manuscript's meaning. Just to highlight the limited budgets available, however, it's notable that the producers had to mock up a stenciled cover to the fictional "Fortune and Glory" magazine.
Remember the Vincent Price voiceover? There's a Winston Churchill voiceover opening "Aces High." That means it's another song with political and historical allusions -- and that Maiden will back them up with stock footage of World War II-era news reels and films of fighter planes. For the most part, the video is live performance, with the stock footage puncuating solos. The song's lyrics remind viewers of the masculine, heroic context behind Maiden's stage performance. Regardless of whether it's the Native Americans, Icarus, soldiers, or pilots, so far, the main character's in Maiden's videos are heroes or thwarted heroes. That might be another ingredient in the band's recipe for success. Or perhaps it's an aspirational element of heavy metal's appeal to the disenfranchised in general.
The role of place pops up again in "Running Free," an entirely live performance in which Dickinson mentions spending a night in a Los Angeles jail. An interesting counterpoint to Di'Anno's mention of flying to London on a 747 in "Wrathchild"! Was Maiden one of the first NWOBHM bands equally at home in the United States as well as the United Kingdom?
If "Wasted Years" is any indication -- much less the Somewhere in Time album in its entirety -- Maiden's also at home in outer space. Interspersing live performance and candid backstage footage with animated segments and album-cover closeups, as well as representations of Eddie's many guises, the video also reuses stock footage from earlier music videos. By repurposing segments of the "Women in Uniform," "Run to the Hills," "The Trooper," "2 Minutes to Midnight," and "Aces High" videos, Maiden adds another wrinkle to its historic, heroic video representations. Now there's inter-video band history, which appears to be more than NWOBHM nostalgia, to consider. Heavy-metal band as hero.
Dickinson's mic-stand antics during the live introduction to "Stranger in a Strange Land" is as cartoony as Eddie's undead mug, and this is the first live footage that feels false. Oh, there's an audience, a large audience, but Dickinson's delivery was better when it was not so polished, thoughtfully dramatic, or oriented to the camera. "No brave new world," indeed. However, the allusions to being lost "in a land of ice and snow," the increased distance between performer and audience that's brought with better production, and the hero-worship gaze seen in the audience shots only add to the heroic aspirations and fantastic elements of Maiden's music. Eddie's goggled visage on stage underscores the science-fiction aspects of Somewhere in Time-era Maiden.
The all-live "Stranger in a Strange Land" makes "Can I Play with Madness"' full-on narrative all the more disturbing, if not a backward evolutionary step. With the introduction of synthesizers on Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, many hardcore Maiden fans accused the band of going mersh and selling out. That this is the first fully narrative video in the collection lends credence to the evident commercial evolution of the band. Interestingly enough, just as the arcane manuscript element of "2 Minutes to Midnight" pops up again in this video, so does the role of the monitor and the magazine. Here, a glossy metal fanzine is used as a torch, and the only live footage of the band is seen by video characters on a cobwebbed television. Another indication of commercial distancing and mediated experience.
Maiden make a point of returning to a concert video for "The Evil That Men Do," opening the video with slow-motion backstage and audience footage, contributing to the nostalgic history established in "Stranger in a Strange Land." While the band would have used stock footage or light narrative to bring home the song's message in the past, this is a purely live video, a radical response to the singular success of "Can I Play with Madness," and perhaps an attempt to hold onto the band's heroic past more strongly.
The band returns to the grassroots even more with "The Clairvoyant," which includes footage taken on the green hills of Donington. Smoke machine going, British flag flying, this video is all about the show and the audience's presence and response. The story is there, in the song, as well as in the stage set. Why use stock footage or narrative devices? With Iron Maiden, there's little need, and attempts to add depth only draw attention to the band's lack of depth.
In the end, the collection closes with another live video, seemingly from Donington ("Infinite Dreams") and a more heavily produced video directed by Steve Harris ("Holy Smoke"). The latter, a topical song addressing the political foibles of Christian evangelists such as Jim Bakker, combines friendly studio footage and goofy staged performance footage shot in a field of flowers. Commenting on the mediated duplicity of the PMRC and similar efforts, the video's cartoony shenanigans -- contrary to those in "Run to the Hills"' stock footage -- only bolsters the song's message. Here, Maiden says "We're a heavy-metal band. This is fun. We're serious, but we don't take ourselves too seriously."
That, I suppose, is what I've done by writing this video analysis. While Maiden falls prey to the violent stock footage tendencies of Headbangers' Ball and flirts with fully narrative pop music video styling, in the end, the band refocuses on the live concert and fan base experience, effectively stepping away from the edge of selling out and closer to the band's roots.
Even if those roots are shallowly planted.
It's an Ad, Ad, Ad, Ad World XXI
In early 2002, Pizza Hut hired Ween to write an advertising jingle for the restaurant chain's "Insider" pizza. Ween did, but Pizza Hut's agency didn't like the results and hired another band to do something that, I'm sure, was eminently more lame. Add this to the ranks of All's "Alfredo's" and the Anchormen's "Kee Kar Lau."
In early 2002, Pizza Hut hired Ween to write an advertising jingle for the restaurant chain's "Insider" pizza. Ween did, but Pizza Hut's agency didn't like the results and hired another band to do something that, I'm sure, was eminently more lame. Add this to the ranks of All's "Alfredo's" and the Anchormen's "Kee Kar Lau."
Workaday World XII
Happy Martin Luther King, Jr., Day! It's a holiday at Fast Company, but a lot of folks are in today to ship the March 2003 issue. I'm in to make sure we're ready to launch the new Company of Friends tools this week.
But that doesn't mean there's no time to reflect on and recognize the contributions of Martin Luther King, Jr. Stanford University's Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project is publishing a 14-volume edition of King's most significant correspondence, sermons, speeches, published writings, and unpublished manuscripts. Additionally, the project's Liberation Curriculum offers historically accurate and pedagogically effective educational materials that embrace social justice and human rights.
King lived in Boston in the early '50s while studying at Boston University. He lived in an apartment building at 397 Massachusetts Ave., an apartment that is now adorned with a small commemorative plaque. If I have time later today, I hope to take a walk to King's former Boston digs and pay homage to his contributions and life.
Happy Martin Luther King, Jr., Day! It's a holiday at Fast Company, but a lot of folks are in today to ship the March 2003 issue. I'm in to make sure we're ready to launch the new Company of Friends tools this week.
But that doesn't mean there's no time to reflect on and recognize the contributions of Martin Luther King, Jr. Stanford University's Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project is publishing a 14-volume edition of King's most significant correspondence, sermons, speeches, published writings, and unpublished manuscripts. Additionally, the project's Liberation Curriculum offers historically accurate and pedagogically effective educational materials that embrace social justice and human rights.
King lived in Boston in the early '50s while studying at Boston University. He lived in an apartment building at 397 Massachusetts Ave., an apartment that is now adorned with a small commemorative plaque. If I have time later today, I hope to take a walk to King's former Boston digs and pay homage to his contributions and life.
Friday, January 17, 2003
Nervy, Pervy X
Annie Tomlin's look at the people, process -- and economics -- behind Suicide Girls is an extremely solid story. A surprisingly giving and impressive analysis published in Bitch magazine that, in the end, determines that Suicide Girls is run in a "slightly feminist" fashion. To Tomlin's discredit, she cops out at the conclusion of the piece by coupling what Spooky, Missy, and O are doing with traditional pornography such as Playboy. Anyone who can't think of a better example of pornography than Playboy clearly knows nothing about porn and shouldn't be criticizing anything as such.
Annie Tomlin's look at the people, process -- and economics -- behind Suicide Girls is an extremely solid story. A surprisingly giving and impressive analysis published in Bitch magazine that, in the end, determines that Suicide Girls is run in a "slightly feminist" fashion. To Tomlin's discredit, she cops out at the conclusion of the piece by coupling what Spooky, Missy, and O are doing with traditional pornography such as Playboy. Anyone who can't think of a better example of pornography than Playboy clearly knows nothing about porn and shouldn't be criticizing anything as such.
Pieces, Particles XII
The following media-related stories recently spotted in print publications might be worth a look. Heads and decks, only. Heads and decks.
45701: One Day, 114 Cameras by Larry Nighswander, National Geographic, January 2003
Lights? No. Action? Plenty. From dawn to dusk on a dismal fall day, 114 students fanned out from Athens, Ohio -- home to Ohio University's Visual Communication school -- to focus on 45701. Thanks to the VisCom school, this is one of the nation's most photographed zips. Click. A bus rolls, a farmer rests, a horse snorts, cans clatter, a prisoner walks, and a day is caught in the act.
Alt-weeklies Play Hard to Get with Adult Ads by Sarah Schaffer, American Journalism Review, January/February 2003
Battery-Powered Learning by Jeff Clark, Down East, February 2003
The boldest experiment in public education in Maine history is under way in every seventh-grade classroom across the state, and the results so far are beyond what anyone expected.
Cat People by Louis Menand, The New Yorker, Dec. 23 and 30, 2002
What Dr. Seuss really taught us.
Clean Slate by Richard Byrne, The Boston Phoenix, Jan. 17, 2003
In six years, Slate has weathered the dot-com bust and played a seminal role in Web journalism. Now can it shake its corporate sugar daddy and make a profit?
Couch Potato Heaven by Brad Stone, Newsweek, Dec. 23, 2002
Cable companies may have finally figured out how to give TV viewers what they want: the ability to watch a movie, any time, without a schlep to the video store
Dream Weavers by Cathy Newman, National Geographic, January 2003
Ever since our ancestors flung a pelt over themselves to shelter against the cold, textiles have protected us from weather, war, and much else. Now designers envision textiles smart enough to monitor heart patients, strong enough to move buildings, and sophisticated enough to camouflage soldiers in changing terrain.
E-Commie by David Waldes Greenwood, The Boston Phoenix, Jan. 17, 2003
If the feds start reading my e-mail, alerts may fly
Every Last Word by Barb Palser, American Journalism Review, January/February 2003
Sources who publish transcripts of their interviews? It's becoming more common.
Ground for Contention by Steve Ritea, American Journalism Review, January/February 2003
Life in the Fast Lane by Ed Leibowitz, Smithsonian, January 2003
Harry Truman's pals installed a bowling alley at the White House so the new president could escape the heat of the kitchen
The Newspapers Tell Only Half of the Story by Wes Carter, Newsweek, Jan. 13, 2003
Americans read about acts of racism daily, but most of us know things aren't nearly so bleak
On the Road by Paul Conrad, Tricycle, Winter 2002
Although we spend countless hours behind the wheel, we often overlook the excellent opportunity driving presents for the practice of mindfulness. Trucker Paul Conrad tells us how the road can be our teacher.
Poll Crazy by Lori Robertson, American Journalism Review, January/February 2003
America's news organizations poll the public on a staggering variety of subjects, from Iraq to the sniper to whether Elvis is still alive. Does all of this surveying increase understanding, or does it simply amount to more random noise?
The Right Channel by Michaela Cavallaro, Down East, February 2003
THat's what many Mainers feel they've found when they hear Vicki Monroe connect with their departed loved ones on her Thursday morning call-in program.
Rockin' with My Son by David Macfarlane, GQ, January 2003
He may never get groupies, but writer David Macfarlane discovers the satisfaction of playing rock 'n' roll with a motley crew, decent equipment and, mostly, his 14-year-old son
Scrap Happy by Andy Steiner, Bitch, Fall 2002
Scrapbooking may be big business now, but its roots are in homegrown history
Shopping the Dharma by Bhiksuni Thubten Chodron, Tricycle, Winter 2002
Consumer culture has spawned a class of spiritual shoppers who bring their acquisitive instincts to the practice of the dharma.
Smile! You're on Slanted Camera!, Busted!, October 2002
Sophisticated Pursuits by Lynn Pyne Davis, Southwest Art, January 2003
Elaine G. Coffee's figurative paintings capture the cosmopolitan crowds at restaurants, museums, and galleries
Telemarketers Are People Too by Kathryn McKay, Family Circle, Jan. 14, 2003
The 10 Secrets of a Master Networker by Tahl Raz, Inc., January 2003
Keith Ferrazzi needs two PalmPilots to keep track of all his contacts, people like Bill Clinton and Michael Milken. But there's far more to cracking the inner circle of the power elite than just taking names
This Is Going to Be Big by Tad Friend, The New Yorker, Sept. 23, 2002
How publicity really works in Hollywood.
Tile Fighters by Martin Wong, Giant Robot #27
In Thailand, Scrabble competitions are not gathering places for geeks, but linguistic battles fought in arenas packed with screaming fans.
Who Is Axel Zwingenberger by Matt Van Hattem and M.R. Valentine, Trains, February 2003
And why does he take photos of steam engines at night>
You've Got Mail, Sports Illustrated, Dec. 30, 2002
In case you don't get holidat greetings from a pro athlete, or a team, or even a league, we went through our mailbag and picked some of our favorites to share
If you work for a magazine and would like to sign me up for a complimentary subscription, please feel free to do so. My address is in the grey bar over on the left.
The following media-related stories recently spotted in print publications might be worth a look. Heads and decks, only. Heads and decks.
45701: One Day, 114 Cameras by Larry Nighswander, National Geographic, January 2003
Lights? No. Action? Plenty. From dawn to dusk on a dismal fall day, 114 students fanned out from Athens, Ohio -- home to Ohio University's Visual Communication school -- to focus on 45701. Thanks to the VisCom school, this is one of the nation's most photographed zips. Click. A bus rolls, a farmer rests, a horse snorts, cans clatter, a prisoner walks, and a day is caught in the act.
Alt-weeklies Play Hard to Get with Adult Ads by Sarah Schaffer, American Journalism Review, January/February 2003
Battery-Powered Learning by Jeff Clark, Down East, February 2003
The boldest experiment in public education in Maine history is under way in every seventh-grade classroom across the state, and the results so far are beyond what anyone expected.
Cat People by Louis Menand, The New Yorker, Dec. 23 and 30, 2002
What Dr. Seuss really taught us.
Clean Slate by Richard Byrne, The Boston Phoenix, Jan. 17, 2003
In six years, Slate has weathered the dot-com bust and played a seminal role in Web journalism. Now can it shake its corporate sugar daddy and make a profit?
Couch Potato Heaven by Brad Stone, Newsweek, Dec. 23, 2002
Cable companies may have finally figured out how to give TV viewers what they want: the ability to watch a movie, any time, without a schlep to the video store
Dream Weavers by Cathy Newman, National Geographic, January 2003
Ever since our ancestors flung a pelt over themselves to shelter against the cold, textiles have protected us from weather, war, and much else. Now designers envision textiles smart enough to monitor heart patients, strong enough to move buildings, and sophisticated enough to camouflage soldiers in changing terrain.
E-Commie by David Waldes Greenwood, The Boston Phoenix, Jan. 17, 2003
If the feds start reading my e-mail, alerts may fly
Every Last Word by Barb Palser, American Journalism Review, January/February 2003
Sources who publish transcripts of their interviews? It's becoming more common.
Ground for Contention by Steve Ritea, American Journalism Review, January/February 2003
Life in the Fast Lane by Ed Leibowitz, Smithsonian, January 2003
Harry Truman's pals installed a bowling alley at the White House so the new president could escape the heat of the kitchen
The Newspapers Tell Only Half of the Story by Wes Carter, Newsweek, Jan. 13, 2003
Americans read about acts of racism daily, but most of us know things aren't nearly so bleak
On the Road by Paul Conrad, Tricycle, Winter 2002
Although we spend countless hours behind the wheel, we often overlook the excellent opportunity driving presents for the practice of mindfulness. Trucker Paul Conrad tells us how the road can be our teacher.
Poll Crazy by Lori Robertson, American Journalism Review, January/February 2003
America's news organizations poll the public on a staggering variety of subjects, from Iraq to the sniper to whether Elvis is still alive. Does all of this surveying increase understanding, or does it simply amount to more random noise?
The Right Channel by Michaela Cavallaro, Down East, February 2003
THat's what many Mainers feel they've found when they hear Vicki Monroe connect with their departed loved ones on her Thursday morning call-in program.
Rockin' with My Son by David Macfarlane, GQ, January 2003
He may never get groupies, but writer David Macfarlane discovers the satisfaction of playing rock 'n' roll with a motley crew, decent equipment and, mostly, his 14-year-old son
Scrap Happy by Andy Steiner, Bitch, Fall 2002
Scrapbooking may be big business now, but its roots are in homegrown history
Shopping the Dharma by Bhiksuni Thubten Chodron, Tricycle, Winter 2002
Consumer culture has spawned a class of spiritual shoppers who bring their acquisitive instincts to the practice of the dharma.
Smile! You're on Slanted Camera!, Busted!, October 2002
Sophisticated Pursuits by Lynn Pyne Davis, Southwest Art, January 2003
Elaine G. Coffee's figurative paintings capture the cosmopolitan crowds at restaurants, museums, and galleries
Telemarketers Are People Too by Kathryn McKay, Family Circle, Jan. 14, 2003
The 10 Secrets of a Master Networker by Tahl Raz, Inc., January 2003
Keith Ferrazzi needs two PalmPilots to keep track of all his contacts, people like Bill Clinton and Michael Milken. But there's far more to cracking the inner circle of the power elite than just taking names
This Is Going to Be Big by Tad Friend, The New Yorker, Sept. 23, 2002
How publicity really works in Hollywood.
Tile Fighters by Martin Wong, Giant Robot #27
In Thailand, Scrabble competitions are not gathering places for geeks, but linguistic battles fought in arenas packed with screaming fans.
Who Is Axel Zwingenberger by Matt Van Hattem and M.R. Valentine, Trains, February 2003
And why does he take photos of steam engines at night>
You've Got Mail, Sports Illustrated, Dec. 30, 2002
In case you don't get holidat greetings from a pro athlete, or a team, or even a league, we went through our mailbag and picked some of our favorites to share
If you work for a magazine and would like to sign me up for a complimentary subscription, please feel free to do so. My address is in the grey bar over on the left.
Anchormen, Aweigh! XIII
Work on the upcoming Anchormen CD, A Nation of Interns, continues apace. Jef just crafted some concepts for the album cover. What do you think? I think they're fun.
Work on the upcoming Anchormen CD, A Nation of Interns, continues apace. Jef just crafted some concepts for the album cover. What do you think? I think they're fun.
It's an Ad, Ad, Ad, Ad World XX
Stop. Go. Media Diet.
On deadline crafting a new marketing campaign, and the catch phrases just aren't coming? Turn to the Advertising Slogan Generator, courtesy of the folks who brought us the Random British Movie Titles generator.
Thanks to Memepool.
Stop. Go. Media Diet.
On deadline crafting a new marketing campaign, and the catch phrases just aren't coming? Turn to the Advertising Slogan Generator, courtesy of the folks who brought us the Random British Movie Titles generator.
Thanks to Memepool.
Event-O-Dex XXXIII
A friend from Washington, DC, is visiting this weekend, and it's assuring to know that we'll have choices tomorrow night if we decide we want to go to a show.
Saturday, Jan. 18: The Division of Laura Lee, Burning Brides, and the Catheters hold forth at TT the Bear's in Cambridge.
Meanwhile, the Humanoids, with whom the Anchormen have shared stage, celebrate the release of their new CD, "Dirty Moves," with Cracktorch, the Stoves, and Tiger Mountain at the Middle East in Cambridge.
A friend from Washington, DC, is visiting this weekend, and it's assuring to know that we'll have choices tomorrow night if we decide we want to go to a show.
Saturday, Jan. 18: The Division of Laura Lee, Burning Brides, and the Catheters hold forth at TT the Bear's in Cambridge.
Meanwhile, the Humanoids, with whom the Anchormen have shared stage, celebrate the release of their new CD, "Dirty Moves," with Cracktorch, the Stoves, and Tiger Mountain at the Middle East in Cambridge.
Thursday, January 16, 2003
Blogging About Blogging XLVI
There's now a Hot or Not for blogs. Is Media Diet hot or not? I don't know. No one's rated it yet, so I'm showing a measly 1.5. Their default rating is 1.5? Yikes.
There's now a Hot or Not for blogs. Is Media Diet hot or not? I don't know. No one's rated it yet, so I'm showing a measly 1.5. Their default rating is 1.5? Yikes.
Mention Me! XXX
Daigo Fujiwara, mastermind behind Lunch Is Fun!, does a blog, too. Baseball, technology, jazz. Worth checking out.
Daigo Fujiwara, mastermind behind Lunch Is Fun!, does a blog, too. Baseball, technology, jazz. Worth checking out.
I'm a Master Rebater
After purchasing my Sidekick and external hard drive, I've mailed in no fewer than three (3) rebate forms for a total of $200. I've not sent in a rebate for a long time, and doing so -- following the arcane instructions and documentation requirements to the letter -- made me think about the economics of the rebate.
What are rebates, exactly? Why not just offer lower prices? Are rebates a gambit in which the product manufacture or retail business assumes that their costs will be lower overall because not everyone will redeem the rebate? Poking around on the Web, I found some interesting information.
Scott Gilpatrick at the University of Texas at Austin has written a paper entitled "Present-Biased Preferences and Rebate Redemption" that, yes, most people will be more likely to buy something if a rebate is offered -- but not very likely to redeem said rebate.
On the DealChecker site, Henry Norr explains the how and why of rebates, revealing that manufactures pay rebates, not retailers or distributors (although one of my rebates was from Amazon.com) and that redemption averages 10-30%.
TechTV's Martin Sargent decries rebates as "massive marketing ploys." He then goes on an online shopping spree to find out whether rebates really lower costs in the end.
And three academics expand on their non-price-discrimination theory of rebates, attempting to address the "redemption gap."
Now you know as much about rebate coupons as I do. You lucky devils.
Soundtrack: Articles of Faith, "Complete Vol. 1 1981-1983"
After purchasing my Sidekick and external hard drive, I've mailed in no fewer than three (3) rebate forms for a total of $200. I've not sent in a rebate for a long time, and doing so -- following the arcane instructions and documentation requirements to the letter -- made me think about the economics of the rebate.
What are rebates, exactly? Why not just offer lower prices? Are rebates a gambit in which the product manufacture or retail business assumes that their costs will be lower overall because not everyone will redeem the rebate? Poking around on the Web, I found some interesting information.
Now you know as much about rebate coupons as I do. You lucky devils.
Soundtrack: Articles of Faith, "Complete Vol. 1 1981-1983"
.Conversation II
Back in July 2002, the fine folks over at Play opened up their blog Pure Content to allow frequent readers to join their street team.
Six months later, today, actually, I leap into the fray and post an item about an innovation-related blog Pure Content readers might be interested in.
This is the first time I've posted to a blog that's not my own, and you know what? It felt kind of weird.
Back in July 2002, the fine folks over at Play opened up their blog Pure Content to allow frequent readers to join their street team.
Six months later, today, actually, I leap into the fray and post an item about an innovation-related blog Pure Content readers might be interested in.
This is the first time I've posted to a blog that's not my own, and you know what? It felt kind of weird.
Comics and Cuisine
Believe it or not, but Chicago Comics and James Kochalka have teamed up to produce a line of autobiographical hot sauce.
"But don't just place your bottles of Kochalka hot sauce in special glass cases, preserving them as prized collector's items," James says. "It's actually pretty good sauce! I mean, it tastes good! Plus, it brings a little art into your daily life, transforming it from a humdrum 'grind' to an exciting 'zing'! Don't be afraid to use it!"
The sauces come in jalapeño, habañero, garlic, and cayenne flavors, and each bottle features artwork. There's a Spandy sauce, a Don't Trust Whitey sauce, even a Fancy Froglin sauce. The Spandy sauce's label warns that it's "not for cats," and Fancy Froglin suggests that you "squirt some in your britches."
Oh, that James.
Believe it or not, but Chicago Comics and James Kochalka have teamed up to produce a line of autobiographical hot sauce.
"But don't just place your bottles of Kochalka hot sauce in special glass cases, preserving them as prized collector's items," James says. "It's actually pretty good sauce! I mean, it tastes good! Plus, it brings a little art into your daily life, transforming it from a humdrum 'grind' to an exciting 'zing'! Don't be afraid to use it!"
The sauces come in jalapeño, habañero, garlic, and cayenne flavors, and each bottle features artwork. There's a Spandy sauce, a Don't Trust Whitey sauce, even a Fancy Froglin sauce. The Spandy sauce's label warns that it's "not for cats," and Fancy Froglin suggests that you "squirt some in your britches."
Oh, that James.
The Movie I Watched Last Night LI
Existenz
Why didn't this movie make more waves when it was released in 1999? Written and directed by David Cronenberg and starring Jude Law, Jennifer Jason Leigh (meow), and Willem Dafoe, it's an evident influence on films such as AI and The Matrix. Equal parts exploration of video game development and playtesting culture -- and dive into virtual reality technology -- the movie just amazed me. The script and the acting had video game play elements down pat, from repeated motions and actions until a character is engaged to the use of trigger phrases or saying a character's name so they recognize you're addressing them. The neo-organic game devices and erotic undertones (which I remember the movie's marketing to play up even though they're such a small part of the movie) add a nice undercurrent of tactile arousal. What starts out as a hero's quest turns into a psychological thriller, and in the end, you're left wondering where the game ends -- and where the movie begins. Brilliant. Under recognized. Well worth watching if you have any interest at all in video games, technology, or science fiction.
Existenz
Why didn't this movie make more waves when it was released in 1999? Written and directed by David Cronenberg and starring Jude Law, Jennifer Jason Leigh (meow), and Willem Dafoe, it's an evident influence on films such as AI and The Matrix. Equal parts exploration of video game development and playtesting culture -- and dive into virtual reality technology -- the movie just amazed me. The script and the acting had video game play elements down pat, from repeated motions and actions until a character is engaged to the use of trigger phrases or saying a character's name so they recognize you're addressing them. The neo-organic game devices and erotic undertones (which I remember the movie's marketing to play up even though they're such a small part of the movie) add a nice undercurrent of tactile arousal. What starts out as a hero's quest turns into a psychological thriller, and in the end, you're left wondering where the game ends -- and where the movie begins. Brilliant. Under recognized. Well worth watching if you have any interest at all in video games, technology, or science fiction.
Wednesday, January 15, 2003
Mention Me! XXIX
The Open Directory Project includes Media Diet in its list of Arts:Comics:Magazines and E-Zines resources, describing it as a "Weblog with reviews of zines, comics, and movies." Fair enough, but when you really look at it, isn't Media Diet, oh, so much more?
The Open Directory Project includes Media Diet in its list of Arts:Comics:Magazines and E-Zines resources, describing it as a "Weblog with reviews of zines, comics, and movies." Fair enough, but when you really look at it, isn't Media Diet, oh, so much more?
Event-O-Dex XXXII
Wednesday, Jan. 22: Choo Choo la Rouge, Soltero, the Eyesores, and Joel Thibodeau of Stringbuilder at the Middle East Upstairs in Cambridge. Be the first on your block to get the new Soltero CD!
Wednesday, Jan. 22: Choo Choo la Rouge, Soltero, the Eyesores, and Joel Thibodeau of Stringbuilder at the Middle East Upstairs in Cambridge. Be the first on your block to get the new Soltero CD!
Digesting the Daily VII
Recent editions of the Daily Northwestern, the student newspaper of my alma mater, featured several media-, technology-, and activism-related items that might be of interest to Media Dieticians.
New EPD device keeps candid camera on criminals
High-tech investment could save city $60,000 spent yearly cleaning graffiti
(Jan. 9, 2003)
"Skankier than last year"
An inter-sorority e-mail newsletter offers candid thoughts on rush
(Jan. 9, 2003)
Evanston considers Web to crack down on parking scofflaws
Program denies city services for unpaid violations; names could be published on Web
(Jan. 10, 2003)
Extra credit to the Daily's Web team for prominently featuring Bottom of the Food Chain online. Alex Thomas is doing one of the best campus comic strips I'm aware of. Not that I read many, but it's good.
If you work for a college newspaper and would like to sign me up for a complimentary subscription, please feel free to do so. My address is in the grey bar over on the left.
Recent editions of the Daily Northwestern, the student newspaper of my alma mater, featured several media-, technology-, and activism-related items that might be of interest to Media Dieticians.
New EPD device keeps candid camera on criminals
High-tech investment could save city $60,000 spent yearly cleaning graffiti
(Jan. 9, 2003)
"Skankier than last year"
An inter-sorority e-mail newsletter offers candid thoughts on rush
(Jan. 9, 2003)
Evanston considers Web to crack down on parking scofflaws
Program denies city services for unpaid violations; names could be published on Web
(Jan. 10, 2003)
Extra credit to the Daily's Web team for prominently featuring Bottom of the Food Chain online. Alex Thomas is doing one of the best campus comic strips I'm aware of. Not that I read many, but it's good.
If you work for a college newspaper and would like to sign me up for a complimentary subscription, please feel free to do so. My address is in the grey bar over on the left.
The Movie I Watched Last Night L
Total Recall
Arnold Schwarzenegger's flawed 1990 adaptation of Philip K. Dick's short story "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale" is an excellent example of how Hollywood can manhandle and mangle an originally psychologically sensitive and surprising story. The movie strips away all of Dick's nuance and nervousness, replacing it with an over-the-top action-movie ambience lacking all subtlety. In fact, the movie's almost a catch-all for because-we-can special effects: the exploding pneumatic mask, the deformed "mutant" extras, and the scene at the end in which Arnie and his rebellious love interest are ejected into the not-so-harsh atmosphere of Mars. Bulging eyes again? Please. Given Arnie's girth, it's no surprise that his reluctant secret-agent recall is employed as a construction worker instead of as a clerk, and the movie's founding flaw is that lack of distance between the past and the present -- which only makes the outcome of the resulting self-realization less important. That said, the s-f concept of subterranean engines designed to maintain Mars atmosphere by converting an underground glacier into breathable air -- air volcano! -- was intriguing.
Soundtrack: Crimpshrine, 1987 demos
Total Recall
Arnold Schwarzenegger's flawed 1990 adaptation of Philip K. Dick's short story "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale" is an excellent example of how Hollywood can manhandle and mangle an originally psychologically sensitive and surprising story. The movie strips away all of Dick's nuance and nervousness, replacing it with an over-the-top action-movie ambience lacking all subtlety. In fact, the movie's almost a catch-all for because-we-can special effects: the exploding pneumatic mask, the deformed "mutant" extras, and the scene at the end in which Arnie and his rebellious love interest are ejected into the not-so-harsh atmosphere of Mars. Bulging eyes again? Please. Given Arnie's girth, it's no surprise that his reluctant secret-agent recall is employed as a construction worker instead of as a clerk, and the movie's founding flaw is that lack of distance between the past and the present -- which only makes the outcome of the resulting self-realization less important. That said, the s-f concept of subterranean engines designed to maintain Mars atmosphere by converting an underground glacier into breathable air -- air volcano! -- was intriguing.
Soundtrack: Crimpshrine, 1987 demos
Corollary: These Links Were Made for Breaking? X
The RIAA says that the claims they plan to hack MP3's to better audit them is a hoax.
Thanks, again, to Interesting People.
The RIAA says that the claims they plan to hack MP3's to better audit them is a hoax.
Thanks, again, to Interesting People.
Comics and Community III
Coming soon to a train car or park bench near you: Media Diet's Free-Range Comic Book Project.
Over the course of the next year, I am going to distribute 200 "free-range comic books" in the Boston area by leaving them on train cars and park benches -- and in other public places. Each comic book will be labeled with a card that reads, "This is a free-range comic book. Take it. Read it. Give it away."
If you come across one of these comic books and check out the URL printed on the card -- this site -- please let me know where you found it. I'd appreciate it.
And whatever you do, don't put the comic in a bag, with a board, or in a box. And whatever you do, don't sell it into the slavery of the back-issue bin. Free-range comic books need fresh air, sunlight, and active reading. When you're done with the book, pass it on.
I and the free-range comic books thank you.
Coming soon to a train car or park bench near you: Media Diet's Free-Range Comic Book Project.
Over the course of the next year, I am going to distribute 200 "free-range comic books" in the Boston area by leaving them on train cars and park benches -- and in other public places. Each comic book will be labeled with a card that reads, "This is a free-range comic book. Take it. Read it. Give it away."
If you come across one of these comic books and check out the URL printed on the card -- this site -- please let me know where you found it. I'd appreciate it.
And whatever you do, don't put the comic in a bag, with a board, or in a box. And whatever you do, don't sell it into the slavery of the back-issue bin. Free-range comic books need fresh air, sunlight, and active reading. When you're done with the book, pass it on.
I and the free-range comic books thank you.
These Links Were Made for Breaking? X
The Web is alive today with commentary on the Recording Industry Association of America, Computer Systems Policy Project, and Business Software Alliance's policy principles. And now there's news that the RIAA is considering hacking MP3's so they're more easily tracked and controlled.
This, I don't get. MP3's lead me to buy more CD's, not fewer. When will the recording industry get that? If all of this stuff keeps coming together, heading in the direction we see, the only option may be to stop buying commercial music altogether and just make our own.
Thanks to Interesting People.
The Web is alive today with commentary on the Recording Industry Association of America, Computer Systems Policy Project, and Business Software Alliance's policy principles. And now there's news that the RIAA is considering hacking MP3's so they're more easily tracked and controlled.
This, I don't get. MP3's lead me to buy more CD's, not fewer. When will the recording industry get that? If all of this stuff keeps coming together, heading in the direction we see, the only option may be to stop buying commercial music altogether and just make our own.
Thanks to Interesting People.
Blogging About Blogging XLV
I include a disclaimer in Media Diet that email communications regarding the blog may be posted as entries. Usually, these are headed "From the In Box." Ross Mayfield has started appending a line to his signature file indicating whether the item is OK to redistribute. Creative Commons for email communications! I hope it's OK to blog this.
I include a disclaimer in Media Diet that email communications regarding the blog may be posted as entries. Usually, these are headed "From the In Box." Ross Mayfield has started appending a line to his signature file indicating whether the item is OK to redistribute. Creative Commons for email communications! I hope it's OK to blog this.
Big Brother Is Watching X
The American Civil Liberties Union has drafted an interesting report entitled "Bigger Monster, Weaker Chains: The Growth of an American Surveillance Society."
In an email to David Farber's Interesting People mailing list, ACLU staffer Barry Steinhardt says:
"This report grew out of our sense here at the ACLU that in order to make progress on the privacy issue, we have to shift the terms of the debate. When viewed in isolation, many new privacy invasions seem harmless to many Americans, who don’t see why they should care that (for example) someone is recording the date and time that they drive through a tollbooth. To understand the privacy issue one has to look at the big picture to understand that each new piece of information collected about us, no matter how seemingly harmless, is increasingly being added together with thousands of other data points to create an extremely intrusive, high-resolution picture of our lives.
"The need to shift the terms of the debate on privacy to focus more on the big picture was made a lot easier by the breaking of the story of the Pentagon/Poindexter Total Information Awareness program and that story has provided the perfect opportunity to try to spark a broader discussion of how we are going to handle all the intrusive new technologies that are being developed, and what we are going to let this country turn into."
Thanks to Interesting People.
The American Civil Liberties Union has drafted an interesting report entitled "Bigger Monster, Weaker Chains: The Growth of an American Surveillance Society."
In an email to David Farber's Interesting People mailing list, ACLU staffer Barry Steinhardt says:
"This report grew out of our sense here at the ACLU that in order to make progress on the privacy issue, we have to shift the terms of the debate. When viewed in isolation, many new privacy invasions seem harmless to many Americans, who don’t see why they should care that (for example) someone is recording the date and time that they drive through a tollbooth. To understand the privacy issue one has to look at the big picture to understand that each new piece of information collected about us, no matter how seemingly harmless, is increasingly being added together with thousands of other data points to create an extremely intrusive, high-resolution picture of our lives.
"The need to shift the terms of the debate on privacy to focus more on the big picture was made a lot easier by the breaking of the story of the Pentagon/Poindexter Total Information Awareness program and that story has provided the perfect opportunity to try to spark a broader discussion of how we are going to handle all the intrusive new technologies that are being developed, and what we are going to let this country turn into."
Thanks to Interesting People.
Schoolhouse Punk Rock II
Dave Smith and Seth Frisbie-Fulton's Japan Punk Project has been gathering information about Japanese punk-rock bands since 1999. Granted, they only highlight 16 bands currently, but it seems that the listings include full personnel, contact, and discography information. Also featuring record reviews and a directory of labels and distributors, the service offers a tour schedule that hasn't been updated since 2001. Don't expect the content here to be that fresh, but it's certainly interesting. MP3's are scarce, but each band seems to have at least one RealAudio song online.
Thanks to Metafilter.
Dave Smith and Seth Frisbie-Fulton's Japan Punk Project has been gathering information about Japanese punk-rock bands since 1999. Granted, they only highlight 16 bands currently, but it seems that the listings include full personnel, contact, and discography information. Also featuring record reviews and a directory of labels and distributors, the service offers a tour schedule that hasn't been updated since 2001. Don't expect the content here to be that fresh, but it's certainly interesting. MP3's are scarce, but each band seems to have at least one RealAudio song online.
Thanks to Metafilter.
Tuesday, January 14, 2003
Music to My Ears XXIV
The Rogers Sisters rate so much more than a Soundtrack indicia item and I mostly review local-ish records in this category, so here's an unabashed, "I just got this record, I'm listening to it now, and I love it!" recommendation.
Based in Brooklyn, bandmates Jennifer and Laure Rogers also run the east Williamsburg bar Daddy's. And their band fits right in to the highly hyped scene sound there. Equal parts naive girl garage pop a la the Go-Go's and angular Chicago-style no wave like the Scissor Girls, the band revels in a sparse, sharply punctuated groove. Male member Miyuki Furtado any relation to Nell? -- plays Fred Schneider to the sisters' Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson. Awesome, awesome harmonies abound, particularly in "Song for Freddie."
I fall in love with bands several times a year, it seems. And today? Tonight? I'm in love with the Rogers Sisters. File your Rapture and Radio 4 records and give this disc a spin. You'll fall in love, too.
The Rogers Sisters rate so much more than a Soundtrack indicia item and I mostly review local-ish records in this category, so here's an unabashed, "I just got this record, I'm listening to it now, and I love it!" recommendation.
Based in Brooklyn, bandmates Jennifer and Laure Rogers also run the east Williamsburg bar Daddy's. And their band fits right in to the highly hyped scene sound there. Equal parts naive girl garage pop a la the Go-Go's and angular Chicago-style no wave like the Scissor Girls, the band revels in a sparse, sharply punctuated groove. Male member Miyuki Furtado any relation to Nell? -- plays Fred Schneider to the sisters' Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson. Awesome, awesome harmonies abound, particularly in "Song for Freddie."
I fall in love with bands several times a year, it seems. And today? Tonight? I'm in love with the Rogers Sisters. File your Rapture and Radio 4 records and give this disc a spin. You'll fall in love, too.
Newsletters of Note VI
Fine, it's a catalog. But if I had a million dollars, this is exactly the kind of stuff I'd squander my new-found wealth on. The Winter 2003 catalog of Leadership Directories' guides to "who's who in the leadership of the United States" is an information and social network junkie's wet dream.
For roughly $350, you can subscribe to the service's quarterly directories of members of Congress, city and county government officials, state and federal officials, judges, executives, media workers, lawyers, and other people. Directory entries for the Corporate Yellow Book include direct contact information for officers and management, major subsidiaries and divisions, and the board of directors. And the News Media Yellow Book comprises more than 2,300 national news media organizations, covering executives, administrators, editors, and reporters.
And for a measly $3,300, you can gain access to all 14 directories online. Sheesh. It's like Lexis-Nexis for people! Any Media Dietician benefactors want to spring for the Corporate and News Media yellow books? My birthday's coming up at the end of February.
Fine, it's a catalog. But if I had a million dollars, this is exactly the kind of stuff I'd squander my new-found wealth on. The Winter 2003 catalog of Leadership Directories' guides to "who's who in the leadership of the United States" is an information and social network junkie's wet dream.
For roughly $350, you can subscribe to the service's quarterly directories of members of Congress, city and county government officials, state and federal officials, judges, executives, media workers, lawyers, and other people. Directory entries for the Corporate Yellow Book include direct contact information for officers and management, major subsidiaries and divisions, and the board of directors. And the News Media Yellow Book comprises more than 2,300 national news media organizations, covering executives, administrators, editors, and reporters.
And for a measly $3,300, you can gain access to all 14 directories online. Sheesh. It's like Lexis-Nexis for people! Any Media Dietician benefactors want to spring for the Corporate and News Media yellow books? My birthday's coming up at the end of February.
Comics and Commerce II
Highwater Books has offered all of the minicomics it distributes for your online ordering and reading pleasure. There's a lot of awesome stuff here. Stuff you'll be hard pressed to find anywhere. Stuff like the old Fort Thunder anthology Monster. Stuff like Tom Hart's old Wodaabe Comics.
Highwater Books has offered all of the minicomics it distributes for your online ordering and reading pleasure. There's a lot of awesome stuff here. Stuff you'll be hard pressed to find anywhere. Stuff like the old Fort Thunder anthology Monster. Stuff like Tom Hart's old Wodaabe Comics.
Corollary: How I've Been Spending My Time
Way back in March 2002, I wrote about a "goofy little video game" that had captured my attention: Snood. Greg Costikyan is also smitten with Snood and has seen fit to explain why it -- and games like it -- don't get any respect. Here I come, you little buggers!
Thanks to Kottke.org.
Way back in March 2002, I wrote about a "goofy little video game" that had captured my attention: Snood. Greg Costikyan is also smitten with Snood and has seen fit to explain why it -- and games like it -- don't get any respect. Here I come, you little buggers!
Thanks to Kottke.org.
Business Media Reportage Goes Bust, Now Boom? II
Research analysts at Jupitemedia Corp. have started blogging. David Card weighs in on content and programming, and media and entertainment. Joseph Laszlo expands on broadband and wireless technologies. And Lydia Loizides waxes expert on digital and interactive television, digital imaging, consumer electronics, and PC peripherals. The entries I've seen so far -- mostly one a day -- are relatively brief pointers to articles with scant commentary, but Jupiter's step into the blogosphere is an intriguing evolution for the analyst industry.
Thanks to Ross Mayfield's Weblog.
Soundtrack: Siouxsie & the Banshees, "Peepshow"
Research analysts at Jupitemedia Corp. have started blogging. David Card weighs in on content and programming, and media and entertainment. Joseph Laszlo expands on broadband and wireless technologies. And Lydia Loizides waxes expert on digital and interactive television, digital imaging, consumer electronics, and PC peripherals. The entries I've seen so far -- mostly one a day -- are relatively brief pointers to articles with scant commentary, but Jupiter's step into the blogosphere is an intriguing evolution for the analyst industry.
Thanks to Ross Mayfield's Weblog.
Soundtrack: Siouxsie & the Banshees, "Peepshow"
Telefun and Games II
If you live in Massachusetts and you'd like to register for the commonwealth's new Do Not Call list, you can do so online. Your phone number, your name and address, and whoomp: No more unsolicited phone calls from telemarketers.
Thanks to Bradley's Almanac.
If you live in Massachusetts and you'd like to register for the commonwealth's new Do Not Call list, you can do so online. Your phone number, your name and address, and whoomp: No more unsolicited phone calls from telemarketers.
Thanks to Bradley's Almanac.
Summer Fun
Ain't It Cool News is all over the forthcoming Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Concept art, a teaser trailer, and more. Oh, I can't wait for this. When will they make a Haunted Mansion movie?
Thanks to Boing Boing.
Ain't It Cool News is all over the forthcoming Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Concept art, a teaser trailer, and more. Oh, I can't wait for this. When will they make a Haunted Mansion movie?
Thanks to Boing Boing.
Blogging About Blogging XLIV
Goofy-looking Tech Central Station contributor Arnold Kling boldly proposes that "content is crap" and that the Creative Commons Licensing Project is insignificant. If it's so insignificant, what attracted Colonel Kling's ire?
He thinks that the Creative Commons is based on some hippy-dippy ideology that holds that content aggregators, publishers, and media companies are evil and that pure content is golden. I don't think it's based on that at all. I think it's a complement to copyright that can help protect the ownership and integrity of smaller media makers of all stripes. It helps people say that their work can be reused -- and helps them indicate how.
But Kling wouldn't understand that. His work is for hire. The article he wrote is copyright 2003 Tech Central Station. He has no say how it's reused. He sees no future income from his work beyond his salary of freelance wage. And if push came to shove, he might not be able to legally photocopy a printout of his own story at Kinko's.
Huh.
Goofy-looking Tech Central Station contributor Arnold Kling boldly proposes that "content is crap" and that the Creative Commons Licensing Project is insignificant. If it's so insignificant, what attracted Colonel Kling's ire?
He thinks that the Creative Commons is based on some hippy-dippy ideology that holds that content aggregators, publishers, and media companies are evil and that pure content is golden. I don't think it's based on that at all. I think it's a complement to copyright that can help protect the ownership and integrity of smaller media makers of all stripes. It helps people say that their work can be reused -- and helps them indicate how.
But Kling wouldn't understand that. His work is for hire. The article he wrote is copyright 2003 Tech Central Station. He has no say how it's reused. He sees no future income from his work beyond his salary of freelance wage. And if push came to shove, he might not be able to legally photocopy a printout of his own story at Kinko's.
Huh.
Workaday World XI
I went to the dentist this morning, leaning into the bitter North End cold and waiting awhile in the lobby because the fellow ahead of me had been 35 minutes late because of traffic. While waiting, I read the Wall Street Journal, and in today's Personal Journal there is not just one, but two articles about tooth care.
The Cranky Consumer Works on Its Smile
We test five tooth whiteners, from gel to dentist's chair; fighting the drool factor
Toothbrush Wars: Study Gives Buyers Much to Chew on
A power brush that twists removes more plaque than one that shakes
Speaking of drool, the chip in my lower front tooth -- a chip I got back in September while traveling -- seems to be OK, and I learned that enamel is "multifaceted." That means that it's got a series of cracks already running through it, and it's not uncommon for teeth to chip or flake. On the down side, I had quite a bit of coffee stain on my inside lower teeth, but the hygienist scraped it away without much effort.
On the scrape tip, does anyone else find anything slightly J.G. Ballard- or Crash-like about going to the dentist? There's the element of sadistic and masochistic artifice -- the scraping, the chair, the floss, the mirrors and lights, the devices you bite down on to hold X-ray film in your mouth. And there's the erotic undercurrent that comes from any situation in which you're being administered to -- hair dresser, nurse, dental hygienist.
Maybe it's just me, but all I think think about while biting down on the painfully awkward X-ray film holder was J.G. Ballard.
I went to the dentist this morning, leaning into the bitter North End cold and waiting awhile in the lobby because the fellow ahead of me had been 35 minutes late because of traffic. While waiting, I read the Wall Street Journal, and in today's Personal Journal there is not just one, but two articles about tooth care.
The Cranky Consumer Works on Its Smile
We test five tooth whiteners, from gel to dentist's chair; fighting the drool factor
Toothbrush Wars: Study Gives Buyers Much to Chew on
A power brush that twists removes more plaque than one that shakes
Speaking of drool, the chip in my lower front tooth -- a chip I got back in September while traveling -- seems to be OK, and I learned that enamel is "multifaceted." That means that it's got a series of cracks already running through it, and it's not uncommon for teeth to chip or flake. On the down side, I had quite a bit of coffee stain on my inside lower teeth, but the hygienist scraped it away without much effort.
On the scrape tip, does anyone else find anything slightly J.G. Ballard- or Crash-like about going to the dentist? There's the element of sadistic and masochistic artifice -- the scraping, the chair, the floss, the mirrors and lights, the devices you bite down on to hold X-ray film in your mouth. And there's the erotic undercurrent that comes from any situation in which you're being administered to -- hair dresser, nurse, dental hygienist.
Maybe it's just me, but all I think think about while biting down on the painfully awkward X-ray film holder was J.G. Ballard.
Monday, January 13, 2003
Workaday World X
It's not even February, and there's a bag of Necco Sweethearts large conversation hearts on the 'Rang at work. I just shook five into my fist. They say:
Darling (purple)
I Got U Babe (white)
That Smile (green)
Teach Me (pink)
Something illegible (orange)
The last one is interesting. Printed so the text bleeds off the top of the heart near the charming butt crevice, it could read something office-y and high-tech like "Fax Me." But it could also say "Frisk Me," "Pick Me," or something quite naughty. I don't think it's as easy as "Kiss Me" or "Hug Me," though.
What conversation heart phrases end in "me"?
It's not even February, and there's a bag of Necco Sweethearts large conversation hearts on the 'Rang at work. I just shook five into my fist. They say:
The last one is interesting. Printed so the text bleeds off the top of the heart near the charming butt crevice, it could read something office-y and high-tech like "Fax Me." But it could also say "Frisk Me," "Pick Me," or something quite naughty. I don't think it's as easy as "Kiss Me" or "Hug Me," though.
What conversation heart phrases end in "me"?
Movie Location Nation
Ray Smith has developed an online resource showing what the San Francisco-based locations in the 1968 movie Bullitt look like in 1999 and 2002. An interesting media trigger for a then-and-now urban photography project!
Thanks to Memepool.
Ray Smith has developed an online resource showing what the San Francisco-based locations in the 1968 movie Bullitt look like in 1999 and 2002. An interesting media trigger for a then-and-now urban photography project!
Thanks to Memepool.
Daily Dosage II
Dan Pink, mastermind behind Just One Thing, is hanging up his hat. 2003 will miss you, Dan. Best of luck with the book!
Dan Pink, mastermind behind Just One Thing, is hanging up his hat. 2003 will miss you, Dan. Best of luck with the book!
Technofetishism XXVI
Much to my disappointment, Eudora 5.1 has a profanity filter. In folksy language, it cautions you against transmitting emails that may cause your keyboard to get washed out with soap, and even if you select Send Anyway, it doesn't send the email. What the heck? Checking my Eudora settings, there's a Mood Watch option that defaults to warning you if a message might be offensive -- and delays its sending even if you choose to forge ahead regardless. I changed my settings so I'm still warned -- in this instance I changed "shit" to "shiite" to skirt the filter -- but not delayed if I opt to transmit anyway. More than a year ago, Charles Moore asked whether Mood Watch was annoying or entertaining. This afternoon, I was annoyed. Debit, Eudora. Debit.
Much to my disappointment, Eudora 5.1 has a profanity filter. In folksy language, it cautions you against transmitting emails that may cause your keyboard to get washed out with soap, and even if you select Send Anyway, it doesn't send the email. What the heck? Checking my Eudora settings, there's a Mood Watch option that defaults to warning you if a message might be offensive -- and delays its sending even if you choose to forge ahead regardless. I changed my settings so I'm still warned -- in this instance I changed "shit" to "shiite" to skirt the filter -- but not delayed if I opt to transmit anyway. More than a year ago, Charles Moore asked whether Mood Watch was annoying or entertaining. This afternoon, I was annoyed. Debit, Eudora. Debit.
Hollywood If I Could
I like George Clooney.
No, not like that.
Clooney's someone who did an awful lot of shit before he got where he is today. He's been doing a bunch of interesting interviews to support Solaris and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, and in one of them he commented that whenever he turns on the TV at 3 a.m., there he is in another terrible show, with another terrible hair crime. I think only Jean Claude Van Damme tops him for the visual archive of hair crimes committed over the last 20 years.
Once he found himself in a position of power on ER -- in a gift of a role as the understated maverick who could never lose sympathy because he saved children's lives -- he started pulling stunts. He was instrumental in the episode of ER that the cast did live, twice in one night -- once for the East Coast, once for the West. Then he got involved in producing a remake of Fail Safe as a piece of live televisual theatre. Then came film, and starting again, doing some shit, clearly relearning how to act again, because an acting style that's charming on TV just dies on film.
See how often he looks down, in those early films, retains cadences from TV. Then he hooked up with Steven Soderbergh. His head comes up, he learns economy and bigness at the same time. And in Soderbergh, one of America's cleverer risk-takers, he seemed to have found someone who thought the same way.
In another recent interview, he lays this out. He says that the nature of the film beast is that in five or 10 years, he won't be allowed in front of a camera, let alone behind it. So he needs to do the things he wants to do now, while he's in the position of power to make them happen. He comments that Solaris is flopping domestically, though it'll probably make most of its money back in foreign markets. But that doesn't matter. What matters is that they did it. The film is there. And it is -- I realise this flies against the face of all critics everywhere -- a good film. I always hesitate to use the word "emotional" when discussing story, as I fear I sound like the wreckage of Francis Ford Coppola talking shit about the Godfather movies in the beginning of his twilight years. But Solaris has an unmannered, mature emotional complexity to it. It is, in fact, a '70s art-film. It gets the best performance I've ever seen from Natasha McElhone, and Clooney is clearly fucking with his perceived star persona as the chilly, damaged psychiatrist. One of the character's friends calls him "a nihilist shrink."
I grabbed the original Soderbergh script down from Script-O-Rama, and there are some interesting cuts. Anything that added to the science-fictional tone of the film got cut. It's all in the inference in the finished film. It's genre deconstruction, concentrating on the thing the majority of sf doesn't do -- creating a real life in the relationships.
It may not be what anyone wanted to see, but it's the film they wanted to make.
At similar peaks, people in Clooney's position tend to do things that will maintain or crest that peak. Running to stand still. There's something admirable in someone who says, now I'm going to do the things I need to do until they kick me off the peak. -- Warren Ellis
Reprinted with permission.
I like George Clooney.
No, not like that.
Clooney's someone who did an awful lot of shit before he got where he is today. He's been doing a bunch of interesting interviews to support Solaris and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, and in one of them he commented that whenever he turns on the TV at 3 a.m., there he is in another terrible show, with another terrible hair crime. I think only Jean Claude Van Damme tops him for the visual archive of hair crimes committed over the last 20 years.
Once he found himself in a position of power on ER -- in a gift of a role as the understated maverick who could never lose sympathy because he saved children's lives -- he started pulling stunts. He was instrumental in the episode of ER that the cast did live, twice in one night -- once for the East Coast, once for the West. Then he got involved in producing a remake of Fail Safe as a piece of live televisual theatre. Then came film, and starting again, doing some shit, clearly relearning how to act again, because an acting style that's charming on TV just dies on film.
See how often he looks down, in those early films, retains cadences from TV. Then he hooked up with Steven Soderbergh. His head comes up, he learns economy and bigness at the same time. And in Soderbergh, one of America's cleverer risk-takers, he seemed to have found someone who thought the same way.
In another recent interview, he lays this out. He says that the nature of the film beast is that in five or 10 years, he won't be allowed in front of a camera, let alone behind it. So he needs to do the things he wants to do now, while he's in the position of power to make them happen. He comments that Solaris is flopping domestically, though it'll probably make most of its money back in foreign markets. But that doesn't matter. What matters is that they did it. The film is there. And it is -- I realise this flies against the face of all critics everywhere -- a good film. I always hesitate to use the word "emotional" when discussing story, as I fear I sound like the wreckage of Francis Ford Coppola talking shit about the Godfather movies in the beginning of his twilight years. But Solaris has an unmannered, mature emotional complexity to it. It is, in fact, a '70s art-film. It gets the best performance I've ever seen from Natasha McElhone, and Clooney is clearly fucking with his perceived star persona as the chilly, damaged psychiatrist. One of the character's friends calls him "a nihilist shrink."
I grabbed the original Soderbergh script down from Script-O-Rama, and there are some interesting cuts. Anything that added to the science-fictional tone of the film got cut. It's all in the inference in the finished film. It's genre deconstruction, concentrating on the thing the majority of sf doesn't do -- creating a real life in the relationships.
It may not be what anyone wanted to see, but it's the film they wanted to make.
At similar peaks, people in Clooney's position tend to do things that will maintain or crest that peak. Running to stand still. There's something admirable in someone who says, now I'm going to do the things I need to do until they kick me off the peak. -- Warren Ellis
Reprinted with permission.
Corollary: Blogging About Blogging XLIII
Yet again, the folks behind the Bloggies chose not to include photoblogs as a category. So photobloggers are organizing their own photoblog awards, the 2003 Photobloggies. My guess is that photoblogs weren't included because the Bloggies organizers define blogs as pages "with dated entries that have a purpose (in whole or in part) of linking to other sites." Additionally, "sites that are intended to be just personal journals or site news pages are not eligible."
So a blog is just a list of dated links, perhaps with commentary? Seems relatively narrow to me. What if the purpose of your blog isn't solely to point people to other sites? What happens to the short entries organized chronologically part of the definition? Short-sighted, Bloggies. Short-sighted. (Or "-sited," ha hee hum.)
Yet again, the folks behind the Bloggies chose not to include photoblogs as a category. So photobloggers are organizing their own photoblog awards, the 2003 Photobloggies. My guess is that photoblogs weren't included because the Bloggies organizers define blogs as pages "with dated entries that have a purpose (in whole or in part) of linking to other sites." Additionally, "sites that are intended to be just personal journals or site news pages are not eligible."
So a blog is just a list of dated links, perhaps with commentary? Seems relatively narrow to me. What if the purpose of your blog isn't solely to point people to other sites? What happens to the short entries organized chronologically part of the definition? Short-sighted, Bloggies. Short-sighted. (Or "-sited," ha hee hum.)
Event-O-Dex XXXI
Monday, Jan. 13: Donna Barr, creator of the Desert Peach and Stinz, does a signing at the Million Year Picnic tonight. I think it starts at 5:30 p.m. While I usually don't enjoy signings, I think I'll stop by tonight. I've appreciated Barr's work since MU Press was publishing her and Steve Willis of Morty the Dog fame.
Wednesday, Jan. 15: Boston bloggers may very well gather for the International Blog Meetup Day at the Someday Cafe in Somerville. I've yet to make a Meetup, but you may find me there this week even though I have no interest whatsoever in the topic "Blogging During Wartime." In the back by the big red couch.
Monday, Jan. 13: Donna Barr, creator of the Desert Peach and Stinz, does a signing at the Million Year Picnic tonight. I think it starts at 5:30 p.m. While I usually don't enjoy signings, I think I'll stop by tonight. I've appreciated Barr's work since MU Press was publishing her and Steve Willis of Morty the Dog fame.
Wednesday, Jan. 15: Boston bloggers may very well gather for the International Blog Meetup Day at the Someday Cafe in Somerville. I've yet to make a Meetup, but you may find me there this week even though I have no interest whatsoever in the topic "Blogging During Wartime." In the back by the big red couch.
Corollary: Event-O-Dex XXVIII
I was unable to join Halley Suitt for her one-year blogging anniversary party last Friday, but Dan Bricklin was kind enough to share some of his snapshots of the event. David Weinberger was there, and they called Dave Winer to join the fun. By the looks of things, the Boston blog set is predominately male. All hail, Halley!
I was unable to join Halley Suitt for her one-year blogging anniversary party last Friday, but Dan Bricklin was kind enough to share some of his snapshots of the event. David Weinberger was there, and they called Dave Winer to join the fun. By the looks of things, the Boston blog set is predominately male. All hail, Halley!
Hiptop Nation IV
Some random snaps from my weekend in northern Indiana.
And some distant shots of the refineries while driving through the park to lunch.
I find sights like that strangely beautiful.
Some random snaps from my weekend in northern Indiana.
And some distant shots of the refineries while driving through the park to lunch.
I find sights like that strangely beautiful.
The Restaurant I Ate at Last Night XVIII
For my grandmother's 92nd birthday Saturday, seven members of my family went to Phil Smidt's in Hammond, Indiana, for lunch. Originally opened in 1910, the restaurant's location is sheer accident. Phil Smidt and his wife were on their way to California when their train stopped in Roby, Indiana. The Smidts thought they were in Chicago, so they got off the train. The train left without them, and they decided to stay in the area. Imagine that!
Since its opening, the restaurant -- which originally included a boat livery because of its proximity to Lake Michigan -- has specialized in perch and frog legs. The restaurant is dotted with several display cases full of various kinds of frogs, and the restaurant's phone number is even 1-800-FROG-LEG. When I was a young boy, frog legs were my favorite "fancy" restaurant dish. And after being a vegetarian for 10 years, I ordered frog legs Saturday for the first time since I started eating meat again. They were OK. I'm not sure if I like the idea of eating a frog's legs, especially when they look so leg-like. But the perch was much better.
The original restaurant building burned down in 1945, when an underground gas pipe exploded. The restaurant is now located in a largely industrial area situated between a couple of parks near Wolf Lake, the oil refineries, and a soap factory. The smell of soap was strong in the air outside. Inside, the smell of cigarette smoke was strong.
My grandmother's wedding reception was at the original Phil Smidt's location, the one that burned down in the mid-'40s. Not too long into her reception, it was discovered that the wedding cake had yet to arrive. They called the baker, and it turned out that the cake had been delivered to another restaurant across town. While they weren't able to get the cake delivered in time for the reception, family ate it at a relative's house later that night.
For my grandmother's 92nd birthday Saturday, seven members of my family went to Phil Smidt's in Hammond, Indiana, for lunch. Originally opened in 1910, the restaurant's location is sheer accident. Phil Smidt and his wife were on their way to California when their train stopped in Roby, Indiana. The Smidts thought they were in Chicago, so they got off the train. The train left without them, and they decided to stay in the area. Imagine that!
Since its opening, the restaurant -- which originally included a boat livery because of its proximity to Lake Michigan -- has specialized in perch and frog legs. The restaurant is dotted with several display cases full of various kinds of frogs, and the restaurant's phone number is even 1-800-FROG-LEG. When I was a young boy, frog legs were my favorite "fancy" restaurant dish. And after being a vegetarian for 10 years, I ordered frog legs Saturday for the first time since I started eating meat again. They were OK. I'm not sure if I like the idea of eating a frog's legs, especially when they look so leg-like. But the perch was much better.
The original restaurant building burned down in 1945, when an underground gas pipe exploded. The restaurant is now located in a largely industrial area situated between a couple of parks near Wolf Lake, the oil refineries, and a soap factory. The smell of soap was strong in the air outside. Inside, the smell of cigarette smoke was strong.
My grandmother's wedding reception was at the original Phil Smidt's location, the one that burned down in the mid-'40s. Not too long into her reception, it was discovered that the wedding cake had yet to arrive. They called the baker, and it turned out that the cake had been delivered to another restaurant across town. While they weren't able to get the cake delivered in time for the reception, family ate it at a relative's house later that night.
Rock Shows of Note LII
Arriving back in Boston yesterday around 4:30 p.m., I was pleased that the Boston Chamber Music Society performance didn't start until 7:30. That gave me plenty of time to drop my suitcase off at home, head to Harvard Square for a quick visit to the Picnic, where Cheryl told me about the Art Club that she and TD have been organizing -- and to Charlie's, where I had my customary grilled cheese sandwich. Disappointed that Charlie's has stopped tapping both Red Hook ESB and Harpoon IPA now (my two favorite beers), I sought solace at the record store before making my way to Sanders Theatre at Harvard.
Part of me wanted to head home. That part exerted itself especially strongly after a relatively lackluster performance of Frederick Chopin's Cello Sonata in G minor. But I stuck it out through the intermission and was quite pleased in the end.
Opening the show, cellist and artistic director Ronald Thomas was joined by Randall Hodgkinson on piano, Fenwick Smith on flute, Dean Anderson on percussion, and Sandra Laub as narrator. The piece: Earl Kim's "Dear Linda," which was based on a letter Anne Sexton wrote her daughter while on a flight to St. Louis. Laub's recitation was clear and resonant, and I was impressed by the cyclical rough bowing in the beginning of the piece. Anderson's tympani, xylophone, and snare added a nice texture to the work, as well. The token "modern" piece of music on tonight's program -- the fellow behind me commented, "But he always goes back to the 19th century, doesn't he?" -- this is the kind of stuff that's going to keep me coming back.
Because the second piece, Chopin's cello sonata, was relatively boring. Perhaps it was the performance -- everyone other than Ruggero Allifranchini seemed a little low energy last night -- or perhaps Chopin's just not my bag, but this almost chased me away at intermission. I find it slightly odd that Thomas would showcase himself so -- the sonata consists solely of cello and piano -- when he's so front and center anyway. I don't come for the cello and cello alone. More small-group settings! More strings on strings! That said, there was some impressively quiet bowing at the end of the Largo, and the dual tones in the Finale were also worth catching. But on the whole? Not that great.
So, as I said, I almost left at intermission. I was getting antsy. I had stuff to do at home. And even though I had most of the row to myself this time -- last time it was pretty close -- I felt a little claustrophobic and needing to move. But I stuck it out. And Robert Schumann's Piano Quartet in E-flat made me glad I did. Hodginson continued to impress on the piano -- he's a solid player -- and Marcus Thompson joined Thomas on viola. The real bright spot here, however, was guest musician Ruggero Allifranchini. While most everyone else in the society is largely dead in their chairs, playing with little drama or motion -- and Thompson almost puddling in his chair -- Allifranchini brought an energy and a presence to the stage that the society needs more of. Sitting on the edge of his seat, as he would bow upward-moving passages, he'd tense his legs, rising in the chair with the music. No one else in the society seems to feel the music so, and the music is stronger for being felt.
Clearly, though, he's not all flash and dash. His playing ably led Thomas and Thompson -- in this setting, it was clear that Allifranchini was in control -- and I particularly appreciated the Allegro, Scherzo, and Finale. I know nothing about Schumann outside of what Steven Ledbetter penned for the program, but I'd like to hear more -- and this piece saved the society's Chopin bacon.
Soundtrack: Good Charlotte, "The Young and the Hopeless"
Arriving back in Boston yesterday around 4:30 p.m., I was pleased that the Boston Chamber Music Society performance didn't start until 7:30. That gave me plenty of time to drop my suitcase off at home, head to Harvard Square for a quick visit to the Picnic, where Cheryl told me about the Art Club that she and TD have been organizing -- and to Charlie's, where I had my customary grilled cheese sandwich. Disappointed that Charlie's has stopped tapping both Red Hook ESB and Harpoon IPA now (my two favorite beers), I sought solace at the record store before making my way to Sanders Theatre at Harvard.
Part of me wanted to head home. That part exerted itself especially strongly after a relatively lackluster performance of Frederick Chopin's Cello Sonata in G minor. But I stuck it out through the intermission and was quite pleased in the end.
Opening the show, cellist and artistic director Ronald Thomas was joined by Randall Hodgkinson on piano, Fenwick Smith on flute, Dean Anderson on percussion, and Sandra Laub as narrator. The piece: Earl Kim's "Dear Linda," which was based on a letter Anne Sexton wrote her daughter while on a flight to St. Louis. Laub's recitation was clear and resonant, and I was impressed by the cyclical rough bowing in the beginning of the piece. Anderson's tympani, xylophone, and snare added a nice texture to the work, as well. The token "modern" piece of music on tonight's program -- the fellow behind me commented, "But he always goes back to the 19th century, doesn't he?" -- this is the kind of stuff that's going to keep me coming back.
Because the second piece, Chopin's cello sonata, was relatively boring. Perhaps it was the performance -- everyone other than Ruggero Allifranchini seemed a little low energy last night -- or perhaps Chopin's just not my bag, but this almost chased me away at intermission. I find it slightly odd that Thomas would showcase himself so -- the sonata consists solely of cello and piano -- when he's so front and center anyway. I don't come for the cello and cello alone. More small-group settings! More strings on strings! That said, there was some impressively quiet bowing at the end of the Largo, and the dual tones in the Finale were also worth catching. But on the whole? Not that great.
So, as I said, I almost left at intermission. I was getting antsy. I had stuff to do at home. And even though I had most of the row to myself this time -- last time it was pretty close -- I felt a little claustrophobic and needing to move. But I stuck it out. And Robert Schumann's Piano Quartet in E-flat made me glad I did. Hodginson continued to impress on the piano -- he's a solid player -- and Marcus Thompson joined Thomas on viola. The real bright spot here, however, was guest musician Ruggero Allifranchini. While most everyone else in the society is largely dead in their chairs, playing with little drama or motion -- and Thompson almost puddling in his chair -- Allifranchini brought an energy and a presence to the stage that the society needs more of. Sitting on the edge of his seat, as he would bow upward-moving passages, he'd tense his legs, rising in the chair with the music. No one else in the society seems to feel the music so, and the music is stronger for being felt.
Clearly, though, he's not all flash and dash. His playing ably led Thomas and Thompson -- in this setting, it was clear that Allifranchini was in control -- and I particularly appreciated the Allegro, Scherzo, and Finale. I know nothing about Schumann outside of what Steven Ledbetter penned for the program, but I'd like to hear more -- and this piece saved the society's Chopin bacon.
Soundtrack: Good Charlotte, "The Young and the Hopeless"
Friday, January 10, 2003
Up in Smoke II
Yeah yeah yeah, I was going to quit smoking in June. Then I was going to quit smoking during Christmas week. I did, but when I got back to Boston, I started again. Then I was going to quit smoking for New Year's. Clearly, while I have little trouble stopping smoking -- Christmas week was painless -- I also have little trouble starting smoking again.
Now I'm going to Indiana for my grandmother's 92nd birthday this weekend. I haven't had a cigarette in more than 12 hours. I won't smoke while I'm visiting with the fam, and I don't plan on smoking when I get back to Boss town. A friend recently called me wishy washy. I've got to have the willpower to stop. And stay stopped.
Related resources:
QuitNet: Includes a calculator for keeping track of how many cigarettes you haven't smoked, how much money you've saved, and how much longer you'll live
The Truth: Local zinemaker Rich Mackin works on this campaign -- chock full of research
Truth in Advertising: A collection of vintage cigarette advertisements from the age of innocence
CigaretteLitter: The facts about cigarette butts and litter
Yeah yeah yeah, I was going to quit smoking in June. Then I was going to quit smoking during Christmas week. I did, but when I got back to Boston, I started again. Then I was going to quit smoking for New Year's. Clearly, while I have little trouble stopping smoking -- Christmas week was painless -- I also have little trouble starting smoking again.
Now I'm going to Indiana for my grandmother's 92nd birthday this weekend. I haven't had a cigarette in more than 12 hours. I won't smoke while I'm visiting with the fam, and I don't plan on smoking when I get back to Boss town. A friend recently called me wishy washy. I've got to have the willpower to stop. And stay stopped.
Related resources:
Big Brother Is Watching IX
Neil Hrab spent World Sousveillance Day with Steve Mann. His piece in Reason offers some interesting insight on Mann's concept of "Web ramps" -- streaming video shopping for items for the housebound -- and Ronald Deibert's work in applied activism.
Thanks to Utne Web Watch.
Neil Hrab spent World Sousveillance Day with Steve Mann. His piece in Reason offers some interesting insight on Mann's concept of "Web ramps" -- streaming video shopping for items for the housebound -- and Ronald Deibert's work in applied activism.
Thanks to Utne Web Watch.
Thursday, January 09, 2003
From the In Box: Technofetishism XXV
X-Tunes is cooler. Well, I haven't run yours, but X-Tunes takes up less screen real-estate. None, until you hit the hot-keys. -- Joe Germuska
Joe's right. X-Tunes is pretty cool. Step off, iTunes Tool!
X-Tunes is cooler. Well, I haven't run yours, but X-Tunes takes up less screen real-estate. None, until you hit the hot-keys. -- Joe Germuska
Joe's right. X-Tunes is pretty cool. Step off, iTunes Tool!
Conferences and Community
It's official: I'm going to SXSW Interactive in early March. It's been awhile since I've gone to a conference like this, and I decided to get in while the $195 rate was still good. It'll be a good followup to my birthday at the end of February, and it's been ages since I've spent time in Austin. Ah, Austin.
It's official: I'm going to SXSW Interactive in early March. It's been awhile since I've gone to a conference like this, and I decided to get in while the $195 rate was still good. It'll be a good followup to my birthday at the end of February, and it's been ages since I've spent time in Austin. Ah, Austin.
Event-O-Dex XXX
Friday, Jan. 10: I'll be on my way to Indiana for my grandmother's birthday while the Agenda rock the Middle East Upstairs in Cambridge. Art-damaged leftist manifesto-making garage rockers riffing off the Make-Up, maybe. Nice! If I weren't in the Midwest, I'd so be at this show. Crash! Crash!
Wednesday, Jan. 15: Lots going on at the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge -- MC Traffic Cop of Sinus Brady, Larry Meyerhoff on hammered dulcimer, Ted Drozdowski doing blues slide guitar and drums, Peter Moore solo with keys, the Binary System, Mascara, and Sandro G's Portuguese and English hip hop.
Friday, Jan. 10: I'll be on my way to Indiana for my grandmother's birthday while the Agenda rock the Middle East Upstairs in Cambridge. Art-damaged leftist manifesto-making garage rockers riffing off the Make-Up, maybe. Nice! If I weren't in the Midwest, I'd so be at this show. Crash! Crash!
Wednesday, Jan. 15: Lots going on at the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge -- MC Traffic Cop of Sinus Brady, Larry Meyerhoff on hammered dulcimer, Ted Drozdowski doing blues slide guitar and drums, Peter Moore solo with keys, the Binary System, Mascara, and Sandro G's Portuguese and English hip hop.
The Movie I Watched Last Night XLIX
Shrek
Did people really like this movie enough to warrant scheduling a sequel for 2004? Ugh! Not only did I think that the animation was absolutely awful, the whole celebrity voiceover thing didn't work for me. Thankfully, Mike Myers' Scottish goblin wasn't always identifiably him, but Eddie Murphy's singing donkey irritated me to no end. A sort of Beauty and the Beast redux, the movie did have a funny allusion to lycanthropy, and there were a couple of nice moments -- the dragon/donkey romance and Princess Fiona's Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon martial arts moves. In addition to the celebrity voiceovers, I was also thrown by the pop-song soundtrack. Might have worked better with a straight-forward score instead of Smash Mouth, you know? I mean, Smash Mouth? Ugh.
Shrek
Did people really like this movie enough to warrant scheduling a sequel for 2004? Ugh! Not only did I think that the animation was absolutely awful, the whole celebrity voiceover thing didn't work for me. Thankfully, Mike Myers' Scottish goblin wasn't always identifiably him, but Eddie Murphy's singing donkey irritated me to no end. A sort of Beauty and the Beast redux, the movie did have a funny allusion to lycanthropy, and there were a couple of nice moments -- the dragon/donkey romance and Princess Fiona's Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon martial arts moves. In addition to the celebrity voiceovers, I was also thrown by the pop-song soundtrack. Might have worked better with a straight-forward score instead of Smash Mouth, you know? I mean, Smash Mouth? Ugh.
Technofetishism XXVI
I recently realized, during a marathon CD ripping stint over the holidays, that I have almost 30 GB of MP3's on my laptop -- and a 40 GB hard drive. That's more than 8,000 songs. I've not experienced any challenges relating to that yet, but I thought it'd be a good idea to get an external hard drive. So I'm now the proud owner of a 40GB Iomega external hard drive. My first external hard drive ever.
Soundtrack: Gordon Gano, "Hitting the Ground"
I recently realized, during a marathon CD ripping stint over the holidays, that I have almost 30 GB of MP3's on my laptop -- and a 40 GB hard drive. That's more than 8,000 songs. I've not experienced any challenges relating to that yet, but I thought it'd be a good idea to get an external hard drive. So I'm now the proud owner of a 40GB Iomega external hard drive. My first external hard drive ever.
Soundtrack: Gordon Gano, "Hitting the Ground"
Wednesday, January 08, 2003
Blogging About Blogging XLIII
C Monks pokes fun at people who blog about changes they've made to the design of their blog. I promise not to do something like that ever again.
C Monks pokes fun at people who blog about changes they've made to the design of their blog. I promise not to do something like that ever again.
Music to My Eyes VII
Reasons to love England: No. 23. The Cheeky Girls. "Come and smile. Don’t be shy. Touch my bum. This is life."
Thanks to Lunch Is Fun.
Reasons to love England: No. 23. The Cheeky Girls. "Come and smile. Don’t be shy. Touch my bum. This is life."
Thanks to Lunch Is Fun.
Technofetishism XXV
I'm using several new applications that I'm quite fond of. And I think Mac-using Media Dieticians might be, too.
Time Palette is a world time and mapping tool that offers several neat features. I now have a time bar across the top of my desktop highlighting local times in several cities around the world. There's a meeting scheduler that translates time-zone differences. And there's a local weather report window in which you can track meteorological phenomena in multiple locations. It's been clear in Minocqua, Wisconsin, for the last few days!
CookWare Deluxe is a recipe management tool that helps you search recipes by ingredient, compile grocery lists, and compose cookbook pages for printout. I've not really used it while cooking yet, but I have added a recipe for Nanaimo bars, a British Columbian treat.
iTunes Tool, despite one of the more ungainly icons I've encountered recently, is a handy iTunes add-on. Instead of keeping iTunes up and visible in its own window while you're listening to MP3's, iTunes Tool allows you to keep the window diminished but still retain control over your the iTunes player. With an extremely small screen imprint, the tool features play, pause, and skip controls, giving you iTunes control without taking up as much real estate.
Lastly, My DVD Library is a light application that will keep track of your, well, DVD collection. Developed to make it easier to keep track of what DVD's you've lent to friends, the program also features the ability to export your collection as an HTML file so you can post it on the Web. I spent some time last week or so adding my 70-plus DVDs to the app, and they didn't seem to stick. I'll let you know if I have further problems with the tool, but on its face, it seems pretty cool.
I'm using several new applications that I'm quite fond of. And I think Mac-using Media Dieticians might be, too.
Time Palette is a world time and mapping tool that offers several neat features. I now have a time bar across the top of my desktop highlighting local times in several cities around the world. There's a meeting scheduler that translates time-zone differences. And there's a local weather report window in which you can track meteorological phenomena in multiple locations. It's been clear in Minocqua, Wisconsin, for the last few days!
CookWare Deluxe is a recipe management tool that helps you search recipes by ingredient, compile grocery lists, and compose cookbook pages for printout. I've not really used it while cooking yet, but I have added a recipe for Nanaimo bars, a British Columbian treat.
iTunes Tool, despite one of the more ungainly icons I've encountered recently, is a handy iTunes add-on. Instead of keeping iTunes up and visible in its own window while you're listening to MP3's, iTunes Tool allows you to keep the window diminished but still retain control over your the iTunes player. With an extremely small screen imprint, the tool features play, pause, and skip controls, giving you iTunes control without taking up as much real estate.
Lastly, My DVD Library is a light application that will keep track of your, well, DVD collection. Developed to make it easier to keep track of what DVD's you've lent to friends, the program also features the ability to export your collection as an HTML file so you can post it on the Web. I spent some time last week or so adding my 70-plus DVDs to the app, and they didn't seem to stick. I'll let you know if I have further problems with the tool, but on its face, it seems pretty cool.
Event-O-Dex XXIX
Tonight, starting at 9 p.m., Emily of the Operators will host WMFO-FM's On the Town with Mikey Dee. The program will feature musical guests the Secret Channel and interview guest Jef Czekaj of the Anchormen. Turn on, tune in, and turn it up! You may even get to hear some of the early Anchormen mixes.
Tonight, starting at 9 p.m., Emily of the Operators will host WMFO-FM's On the Town with Mikey Dee. The program will feature musical guests the Secret Channel and interview guest Jef Czekaj of the Anchormen. Turn on, tune in, and turn it up! You may even get to hear some of the early Anchormen mixes.
From the In Box: The Movie I Watched Last Night XLVIII
Will they remake the Hobbit? Peter Jackson, Ian Holm, and New Line talked about this, but I don't think that Jackson will be doing it. He's been making nothing but noises for a year about wanting to do something smaller and more intimate next, a la Heavenly Creatures (his Kate Winslet film about murderous sisters). Although, given that Fellowship made over $1,000,000,000 so far, and Towers will probably match (or exceed) that, I'm sure the Tolkien estate will get someone to make it. -- Joe Sizzle
Will they remake the Hobbit? Peter Jackson, Ian Holm, and New Line talked about this, but I don't think that Jackson will be doing it. He's been making nothing but noises for a year about wanting to do something smaller and more intimate next, a la Heavenly Creatures (his Kate Winslet film about murderous sisters). Although, given that Fellowship made over $1,000,000,000 so far, and Towers will probably match (or exceed) that, I'm sure the Tolkien estate will get someone to make it. -- Joe Sizzle
Mention Me! XXVIII
A shout out to Aaron Bailey, who mentioned Media Diet in his blog 6:01 a.m. way back in November.
Also, hello to the folks at the Unknown News Network, who include Media Diet in their Link Library.
A shout out to Aaron Bailey, who mentioned Media Diet in his blog 6:01 a.m. way back in November.
Also, hello to the folks at the Unknown News Network, who include Media Diet in their Link Library.
The Restaurant I Ate at Last Night XVII
Sunday: India Pavilion
Located on Central Square in Cambridge, this is self-described as the first Indian restaurant in Cambridge. Founded in 1979 by Mohan Singh Siani, who also runs Gandhi, Akbar India, the Taj Mahal, and India Food & Spices in the Boston area, India Pavilion is a comfortable, friendly restaurant. Sarah and I ordered the lamb vindaloo curry and the lamb pasanda, sharing a garlic naan and each ordering mango lassis. Not only did we make the mistake of asking for the food to be spicy -- the dishes were extremely hot, two lassis hot -- we ate way too much. We're not sure if it was all the yogurt in the lassis, but we were filled to bursting and had to ride out dinner on the big blue couch, glued to the television. India Pavilion isn't too expensive, and the food is good. But I'm surprised there were no Indian restaurants in Cambridge until 1979.
Tuesday: The Phoenix Landing
Even though I've lived in the Boston area since 1996 -- and on Central Square for more than a year -- I've never once gone to the Phoenix Landing, for dinner, for drinks, or for the DJ's. Last night, however, I met Andrea there for dinner. Surprised that the space is so large and open -- I was picturing a narrow bar-like space -- I was slightly confused by the Landing's equal trappings of bar and restaurant. Largely a bar, you can smoke in most of the space. But the menu -- and the ample table seating -- sings restaurant. Andrea got the apple-stuffed chicken, which appeared tasty, and I ordered the shepherd's pie. I've never had shepherd's pie before, and it's not really a pie, now, is it? Ground beef mixed with vegetables topped with mashed potatoes, and another order of mashed potatoes on the side really filled me up, so I didn't take too many tastes of Andrea's carrot cake. I also tried Boddington's ale for the first time. A little sweet for my taste -- I don't like hella sweet beers -- Boddington's blends smoothness with just a little bite. Not sure if I'll return too soon, but the restaurant seems to attract regulars from the neighborhood -- including a woman who works at one of the Central Square liquor stores. Oh, if you go and no one makes a move to seat you? Just seat yourself. They'll get around to serving you.
Sunday: India Pavilion
Located on Central Square in Cambridge, this is self-described as the first Indian restaurant in Cambridge. Founded in 1979 by Mohan Singh Siani, who also runs Gandhi, Akbar India, the Taj Mahal, and India Food & Spices in the Boston area, India Pavilion is a comfortable, friendly restaurant. Sarah and I ordered the lamb vindaloo curry and the lamb pasanda, sharing a garlic naan and each ordering mango lassis. Not only did we make the mistake of asking for the food to be spicy -- the dishes were extremely hot, two lassis hot -- we ate way too much. We're not sure if it was all the yogurt in the lassis, but we were filled to bursting and had to ride out dinner on the big blue couch, glued to the television. India Pavilion isn't too expensive, and the food is good. But I'm surprised there were no Indian restaurants in Cambridge until 1979.
Tuesday: The Phoenix Landing
Even though I've lived in the Boston area since 1996 -- and on Central Square for more than a year -- I've never once gone to the Phoenix Landing, for dinner, for drinks, or for the DJ's. Last night, however, I met Andrea there for dinner. Surprised that the space is so large and open -- I was picturing a narrow bar-like space -- I was slightly confused by the Landing's equal trappings of bar and restaurant. Largely a bar, you can smoke in most of the space. But the menu -- and the ample table seating -- sings restaurant. Andrea got the apple-stuffed chicken, which appeared tasty, and I ordered the shepherd's pie. I've never had shepherd's pie before, and it's not really a pie, now, is it? Ground beef mixed with vegetables topped with mashed potatoes, and another order of mashed potatoes on the side really filled me up, so I didn't take too many tastes of Andrea's carrot cake. I also tried Boddington's ale for the first time. A little sweet for my taste -- I don't like hella sweet beers -- Boddington's blends smoothness with just a little bite. Not sure if I'll return too soon, but the restaurant seems to attract regulars from the neighborhood -- including a woman who works at one of the Central Square liquor stores. Oh, if you go and no one makes a move to seat you? Just seat yourself. They'll get around to serving you.
The Movie I Watched Last Night XLVIII
Do you really care what I think of the movies I watch? I've held off on publishing this entry because I can't really think of anything important or interesting to say. This might be the last entry of this sort. We'll see.
Dec. 22, 2002: Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Surely you've seen this already. Maybe 17 times. Me? I've only seen it once, and not surprisingly, I quite liked it. I don't think it's as mature a movie as the first installment -- this one seems much more straight-to-video game -- but the Tolkien mythos continues to expand and delight. I'll have to rewatch the first one again -- and this one again, too, natch -- before I can really know how I feel. My question to you is: Will they remake the Hobbit?
Dec. 23, 2002: The Year Without Santa Claus
Lovely, lovely Rankin-Bass. The irritating Shirley Booth stars as narrator Mrs. Claus, who retells the tale of the year Santa Claus -- as voiced by Mickey Rooney -- decided to hang his hat and take a breather. While the characterization of Mother Nature falls flat and largely fails, her two sons -- Heat Miser and Snow Miser -- perform quite brilliantly. Watch this just for the paired Dick Shawn and George Irving musical numbers.
Dec. 26, 2002: Pleasantville
Usually, I'm pretty loath to watch movies more than once when there's, oh, so many movies I haven't seen yet, but watching this with my folks before heading back to Boston after Christmas week was a wonderful way to wrap up the visit. The concept -- getting sucked into a TV show -- is wonderful, and several cast members stand out. The ever-excellent William Macy is underused, but Tobey Maguire and Reese Witherspoon take to their new personas quite well. Interesting political undertones as the film's plot begins to parallel the civil rights movement.
Jan. 7, 2003: Airplane II: The Sequel
It's been a long time since I've seen Airplane, but I didn't really warm up to this followup until about halfway through the movie. Lloyd Bridges is amazing. Chuck Connors briefly shines as the Sarge. William Shatner provides a fun self-parody. And Rip Torn hides in the woodwork. People seem to think that this was better than its precursor, but I don't see how that's possible. Netflix, here I come.
Do you really care what I think of the movies I watch? I've held off on publishing this entry because I can't really think of anything important or interesting to say. This might be the last entry of this sort. We'll see.
Dec. 22, 2002: Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Surely you've seen this already. Maybe 17 times. Me? I've only seen it once, and not surprisingly, I quite liked it. I don't think it's as mature a movie as the first installment -- this one seems much more straight-to-video game -- but the Tolkien mythos continues to expand and delight. I'll have to rewatch the first one again -- and this one again, too, natch -- before I can really know how I feel. My question to you is: Will they remake the Hobbit?
Dec. 23, 2002: The Year Without Santa Claus
Lovely, lovely Rankin-Bass. The irritating Shirley Booth stars as narrator Mrs. Claus, who retells the tale of the year Santa Claus -- as voiced by Mickey Rooney -- decided to hang his hat and take a breather. While the characterization of Mother Nature falls flat and largely fails, her two sons -- Heat Miser and Snow Miser -- perform quite brilliantly. Watch this just for the paired Dick Shawn and George Irving musical numbers.
Dec. 26, 2002: Pleasantville
Usually, I'm pretty loath to watch movies more than once when there's, oh, so many movies I haven't seen yet, but watching this with my folks before heading back to Boston after Christmas week was a wonderful way to wrap up the visit. The concept -- getting sucked into a TV show -- is wonderful, and several cast members stand out. The ever-excellent William Macy is underused, but Tobey Maguire and Reese Witherspoon take to their new personas quite well. Interesting political undertones as the film's plot begins to parallel the civil rights movement.
Jan. 7, 2003: Airplane II: The Sequel
It's been a long time since I've seen Airplane, but I didn't really warm up to this followup until about halfway through the movie. Lloyd Bridges is amazing. Chuck Connors briefly shines as the Sarge. William Shatner provides a fun self-parody. And Rip Torn hides in the woodwork. People seem to think that this was better than its precursor, but I don't see how that's possible. Netflix, here I come.
Anchormen, Aweigh! XII
The rough mixes of all of the songs slated for inclusion on the forthcoming Anchormen CD EP, "A Nation of Interns," are now available for your listening pleasure online. We're probably holding a listening party tomorrow night to pick the final mixes, so if you have any feedback or commentary, weigh in now. This record's taken a year to get this far -- exciting to be entering the home stretch!
The rough mixes of all of the songs slated for inclusion on the forthcoming Anchormen CD EP, "A Nation of Interns," are now available for your listening pleasure online. We're probably holding a listening party tomorrow night to pick the final mixes, so if you have any feedback or commentary, weigh in now. This record's taken a year to get this far -- exciting to be entering the home stretch!
It's an Ad, Ad, Ad, Ad World XIX
Maisonneuve offers an intriguing look at Big Fat Inc. and the emerging practice of lifestyle marketing in meatspace. That cute girl mixing the herbal drink with her vodka next to you in the bar just might be a paid plant.
Thanks to Utne Web Watch.
Maisonneuve offers an intriguing look at Big Fat Inc. and the emerging practice of lifestyle marketing in meatspace. That cute girl mixing the herbal drink with her vodka next to you in the bar just might be a paid plant.
Thanks to Utne Web Watch.
Among the Literati XXI
Kate Bolick uses the turn-of-the-century writings of Neith Boyce as a launchpad to consider the state of the single woman in New York City. As the only female reporter for the Commercial-Advertiser, the city's oldest daily, Boyce paints an independent picture of the life of the bachelor girl -- setting a possible agenda for the "singletons" of today.
Kate Bolick uses the turn-of-the-century writings of Neith Boyce as a launchpad to consider the state of the single woman in New York City. As the only female reporter for the Commercial-Advertiser, the city's oldest daily, Boyce paints an independent picture of the life of the bachelor girl -- setting a possible agenda for the "singletons" of today.
Covering Comic Books
Joe Bates' online collection of weird old comic book covers is priceless.
Thanks to Die Puny Humans.
Joe Bates' online collection of weird old comic book covers is priceless.
Thanks to Die Puny Humans.
Corollary: Compact Discs and Collusion
Wired News reports on pending increases of the levy added to blank tape, CD-R, and other recordable media prices in Canada. The levy has been on the books since 1998, drawing consistent criticism.
Remember the stateside PMRC-led blank tape tax movement about a decade ago? Wow. Does anyone know where the US stands in terms of recordable media taxes these days? Ah, there's a 2% tax on CD-R's to help "combat" home recording. Most of that money goes to the labels, of course.
Wired News reports on pending increases of the levy added to blank tape, CD-R, and other recordable media prices in Canada. The levy has been on the books since 1998, drawing consistent criticism.
Remember the stateside PMRC-led blank tape tax movement about a decade ago? Wow. Does anyone know where the US stands in terms of recordable media taxes these days? Ah, there's a 2% tax on CD-R's to help "combat" home recording. Most of that money goes to the labels, of course.
Mobile Magazines
In Metafilter today, Iconomy points to some little-known history of the Horn Book magazine, which concentrates on children's books and literature. In the '20s, before the first issue of the Horn Book was even published, Bertha Mahony and Frances Darling, employees of the Bookshop for Boys and Girls in Boston, embarked on a 50-city book caravan tour of New England to promote reading and writing. Literati lore is that the magazine got its name because Mahony and Darling would sound the truck's horn as they began business in a new community. Talk about taking the show on the road!
In Metafilter today, Iconomy points to some little-known history of the Horn Book magazine, which concentrates on children's books and literature. In the '20s, before the first issue of the Horn Book was even published, Bertha Mahony and Frances Darling, employees of the Bookshop for Boys and Girls in Boston, embarked on a 50-city book caravan tour of New England to promote reading and writing. Literati lore is that the magazine got its name because Mahony and Darling would sound the truck's horn as they began business in a new community. Talk about taking the show on the road!
Compact Discs and Collusion
If you haven't jumped in on the proposed settlement of lawsuits brought by the attorneys general of 43 states, commonwealths, and territories, and by counsel for the plaintiff settlement class entitled In re: Compact Disc Minimum Advertised Price Antitrust Litigation, the clock is ticking.
From the Music CD Settlement Web page: "The lawsuits, which are currently pending in the United States District Court for the district of Maine, relate to the retail pricing of prerecorded music compact discs, cassettes or vinyl albums. Plaintiffs allege that the defendants conspired to illegally raise the prices of prerecorded music products by implementing minimum advertised price policies in violation of state and federal laws. All defendants deny all claims of wrongdoing asserted by the plaintiffs.
"The distributor defendants are: Capitol Records, Inc. d/b/a EMI Music Distribution, Virgin Records America, Inc., and Priority Records LLC; Time Warner, Inc., Warner-Elektra-Atlantic Corp., WEA, Inc., Warner Music Group, Inc., Warner Bros. Records, Inc., Atlantic Recording Corporation, Elektra Entertainment Group, Inc., and Rhino Entertainment Company; Universal Music & Video Distribution Corporation, Universal Music Group, Inc., and UMG Recordings, Inc.; Bertelsmann Music Group, Inc. and BMG Music; and Sony Music Entertainment Inc. The Retailer Defendants are: MTS, Inc. d/b/a Tower Records, Musicland Stores Corp., and Trans World Entertainment Corp."
Basically, if you bought a CD, tape, or record between Jan. 1, 1995, and Dec. 22, 2000, you're a potential member of the settlement group. If the proposed settlement goes through, people involved could receive up to $20 from the defendants. If the settlement group is so large that each participant would receive less than $5, the money allotted will be donated to various charities and nonprofits. You must file your claim by March 3, and there will be a hearing May 22 to determine whether the settlement is fair.
Price fixing is a serious offense. CD's cost too much as things are, especially with so little of the retail price making its way back to musicians. It takes about a minute to fill out the online claim form, and if you're an active music buyer -- and are upset by the possibility of this criminal commercial collusion -- join the settlement group. $20 isn't much, but it's a start.
If you haven't jumped in on the proposed settlement of lawsuits brought by the attorneys general of 43 states, commonwealths, and territories, and by counsel for the plaintiff settlement class entitled In re: Compact Disc Minimum Advertised Price Antitrust Litigation, the clock is ticking.
From the Music CD Settlement Web page: "The lawsuits, which are currently pending in the United States District Court for the district of Maine, relate to the retail pricing of prerecorded music compact discs, cassettes or vinyl albums. Plaintiffs allege that the defendants conspired to illegally raise the prices of prerecorded music products by implementing minimum advertised price policies in violation of state and federal laws. All defendants deny all claims of wrongdoing asserted by the plaintiffs.
"The distributor defendants are: Capitol Records, Inc. d/b/a EMI Music Distribution, Virgin Records America, Inc., and Priority Records LLC; Time Warner, Inc., Warner-Elektra-Atlantic Corp., WEA, Inc., Warner Music Group, Inc., Warner Bros. Records, Inc., Atlantic Recording Corporation, Elektra Entertainment Group, Inc., and Rhino Entertainment Company; Universal Music & Video Distribution Corporation, Universal Music Group, Inc., and UMG Recordings, Inc.; Bertelsmann Music Group, Inc. and BMG Music; and Sony Music Entertainment Inc. The Retailer Defendants are: MTS, Inc. d/b/a Tower Records, Musicland Stores Corp., and Trans World Entertainment Corp."
Basically, if you bought a CD, tape, or record between Jan. 1, 1995, and Dec. 22, 2000, you're a potential member of the settlement group. If the proposed settlement goes through, people involved could receive up to $20 from the defendants. If the settlement group is so large that each participant would receive less than $5, the money allotted will be donated to various charities and nonprofits. You must file your claim by March 3, and there will be a hearing May 22 to determine whether the settlement is fair.
Price fixing is a serious offense. CD's cost too much as things are, especially with so little of the retail price making its way back to musicians. It takes about a minute to fill out the online claim form, and if you're an active music buyer -- and are upset by the possibility of this criminal commercial collusion -- join the settlement group. $20 isn't much, but it's a start.
Tuesday, January 07, 2003
Event-O-Dex XXVIII
Friday, Jan. 10: Halley Suitt celebrates one full year of blogging with David Weinberger and other special guests at high noon, Yenching Chinese Restaurant on Harvard Square in Cambridge.
Saturday, Feb. 8: Ken Field's 50th birthday fete with the Board of Education and other music at the VFW Hall on Green Street in Central Square, Cambridge. 8 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 10: Halley Suitt celebrates one full year of blogging with David Weinberger and other special guests at high noon, Yenching Chinese Restaurant on Harvard Square in Cambridge.
Saturday, Feb. 8: Ken Field's 50th birthday fete with the Board of Education and other music at the VFW Hall on Green Street in Central Square, Cambridge. 8 p.m.
Rock Shows of Note LI
I'm a bit bleary eyed today, given the late night that Kurt and I kept checking out the launch party for Punk Rock Aerobics' 2003 classes at TT the Bear's Place. After the aerobics class ended, Hilken and Maura hosted an all-star selection of local musicians performing classic punk-rock songs acoustically.
Highlights included Jim Buni's rendition of the Replacements' "Swingin' Party," Tony Goddess performing Television's "See No Evil" with Ray Needs, and the Operators' version of the Buzzcocks' "Ever Fallen in Love." Among the last to leave TT's, we then headed to the Kendall Cafe to continue our conversation. I caught a cab home way too late for a Monday night. Sheesh, I need sleep.
I'm a bit bleary eyed today, given the late night that Kurt and I kept checking out the launch party for Punk Rock Aerobics' 2003 classes at TT the Bear's Place. After the aerobics class ended, Hilken and Maura hosted an all-star selection of local musicians performing classic punk-rock songs acoustically.
Highlights included Jim Buni's rendition of the Replacements' "Swingin' Party," Tony Goddess performing Television's "See No Evil" with Ray Needs, and the Operators' version of the Buzzcocks' "Ever Fallen in Love." Among the last to leave TT's, we then headed to the Kendall Cafe to continue our conversation. I caught a cab home way too late for a Monday night. Sheesh, I need sleep.
Monday, January 06, 2003
From the In Box: From the Reading Pile XV
For your information, "Props" has a linoleum block-printed cover, not a screenprint. This accounts for the higher cost. You say this is "not worth the money." Although you are entitled to your opinions, please make sure you have all of your facts straight beforehand. You are more than welcome to contact me before printing your reviews of my work and I would be happy to answer any of your questions. -- Bruce Orr
For your information, "Props" has a linoleum block-printed cover, not a screenprint. This accounts for the higher cost. You say this is "not worth the money." Although you are entitled to your opinions, please make sure you have all of your facts straight beforehand. You are more than welcome to contact me before printing your reviews of my work and I would be happy to answer any of your questions. -- Bruce Orr
Off the Shelf IV
Steve Portigal has updated his Foreign Grocery Museum. He's been busy since October 2001! The tooth-shaped toothpaste dispenser from Japan might be my favorite.
Steve Portigal has updated his Foreign Grocery Museum. He's been busy since October 2001! The tooth-shaped toothpaste dispenser from Japan might be my favorite.
From the In Box: From the Reading Pile XV
Thanks for the spiffy review! I'm glad to see that you liked it. People respond well to Cochlea & Eustachia. I'm in the middle of another strip featuring them soon. I'm slowly building up to a larger narrative piece, but it takes time for me to figure out what I'm going to do. Most of my comics are improvised exploratory type things with minimal pre-planning. The results are mixed. Patience will prevail. Thanks! -- Hans Rickheit
Thanks for the spiffy review! I'm glad to see that you liked it. People respond well to Cochlea & Eustachia. I'm in the middle of another strip featuring them soon. I'm slowly building up to a larger narrative piece, but it takes time for me to figure out what I'm going to do. Most of my comics are improvised exploratory type things with minimal pre-planning. The results are mixed. Patience will prevail. Thanks! -- Hans Rickheit
Comics and Conflict
I've been a loyal patron of local comic book shops for about as long as I've been able to read. In Wisconsin, it was Capital City Comics in Madison. While I was in college, it was the crummy comic shop (RIP) in downtown Evanston. And since moving to Boston, it's been the Million Year Picnic. Because I'm friends with the owner and most of the staff of the Picnic, I get a pretty decent discount there, but lately, I've been thinking. What if I ordered my comics online every month?
The reasons to do so are as follows: A discount (which the Picnic beats, hands down), totally accurate pulling service based on my orders (which the Picnic is pretty good at, but not perfect), full access to Diamond's ordering database (which the Picnic has), and the ability to pre-order books once... and not again if I don't like it (something the Picnic doesn't offer).
To be totally honest, it's the last point that pushed me over the edge to sign up with and place an order for April's scheduled releases with Westfield Comics. My one beef with the Picnic is that their pull service only works with books you want every time an issue comes out. While the staff is great about occasionally putting something in my folder that I haven't asked for but might like, the pull service doesn't work that well for trade paperbacks, one-offs, and books I just want to try. As much as I disliked shopping there, the shop in Evanston handled this slightly better, with a monthly pull checklist in lieu of a standing subscription form.
So I'm giving Westfield a go. I feel a little guilty because I really like the Picnic, its owner, and its staff. But we'll see whether I like Westfield's service. (And even if I stick with Westfield, I'll still frequent the Picnic for conversation, minis, and signings.) Westfield offers a standing discount of 10-40% on most items, as well as an additional discount based on how much you order. I netted another 10% off because of my order's size. (Let's just say, I was unpleasantly surprised by how much money I seem to spend on comic books; I've never budgeted for this not-so-little media addiction.) They also ship once or twice a month, which means fewer trips to Harvard Square.
Huh. Should I feel guilty? Am I contributing to the death of the local comic shop? Or is online ordering good for comics creators, publishers, and readers? You tell me.
I've been a loyal patron of local comic book shops for about as long as I've been able to read. In Wisconsin, it was Capital City Comics in Madison. While I was in college, it was the crummy comic shop (RIP) in downtown Evanston. And since moving to Boston, it's been the Million Year Picnic. Because I'm friends with the owner and most of the staff of the Picnic, I get a pretty decent discount there, but lately, I've been thinking. What if I ordered my comics online every month?
The reasons to do so are as follows: A discount (which the Picnic beats, hands down), totally accurate pulling service based on my orders (which the Picnic is pretty good at, but not perfect), full access to Diamond's ordering database (which the Picnic has), and the ability to pre-order books once... and not again if I don't like it (something the Picnic doesn't offer).
To be totally honest, it's the last point that pushed me over the edge to sign up with and place an order for April's scheduled releases with Westfield Comics. My one beef with the Picnic is that their pull service only works with books you want every time an issue comes out. While the staff is great about occasionally putting something in my folder that I haven't asked for but might like, the pull service doesn't work that well for trade paperbacks, one-offs, and books I just want to try. As much as I disliked shopping there, the shop in Evanston handled this slightly better, with a monthly pull checklist in lieu of a standing subscription form.
So I'm giving Westfield a go. I feel a little guilty because I really like the Picnic, its owner, and its staff. But we'll see whether I like Westfield's service. (And even if I stick with Westfield, I'll still frequent the Picnic for conversation, minis, and signings.) Westfield offers a standing discount of 10-40% on most items, as well as an additional discount based on how much you order. I netted another 10% off because of my order's size. (Let's just say, I was unpleasantly surprised by how much money I seem to spend on comic books; I've never budgeted for this not-so-little media addiction.) They also ship once or twice a month, which means fewer trips to Harvard Square.
Huh. Should I feel guilty? Am I contributing to the death of the local comic shop? Or is online ordering good for comics creators, publishers, and readers? You tell me.
Music to My Ears XXIII
Before the Mr. T Experience show Saturday at Slim's in San Francisco, blogger Dr. Frank was profiled in the San Francisco Examiner, a newspaper for which I used to work. In the jealous department: The Hi-Fives reunited for the show. And this with Chris Imlay working as a designer for Mac Addict, too! Lucky, lucky San Franciscans.
Before the Mr. T Experience show Saturday at Slim's in San Francisco, blogger Dr. Frank was profiled in the San Francisco Examiner, a newspaper for which I used to work. In the jealous department: The Hi-Fives reunited for the show. And this with Chris Imlay working as a designer for Mac Addict, too! Lucky, lucky San Franciscans.
These Links Were Made for Breaking? IX
Sometimes, being Slashdotted can bring down a smaller site's server. Flattering, but a hassle, for sure. In a friendly and helpful Kuro5hin piece, Zonker proposes some guidelines that the big, traffic-driving sites could follow to make sure they don't hurt the little guy.
Sometimes, being Slashdotted can bring down a smaller site's server. Flattering, but a hassle, for sure. In a friendly and helpful Kuro5hin piece, Zonker proposes some guidelines that the big, traffic-driving sites could follow to make sure they don't hurt the little guy.
From the In Box: Books Worth a Look X
I greatly enjoy your book reviews as well. "Days to Read" is a great stat, but maybe including number of pages wouldn't hurt as well? -- Michael Genrich
Your wish is my command. The January 2003 Books Worth a Look entry will include page counts. As Sarah has told me in the past, I read pretty quickly.
I greatly enjoy your book reviews as well. "Days to Read" is a great stat, but maybe including number of pages wouldn't hurt as well? -- Michael Genrich
Your wish is my command. The January 2003 Books Worth a Look entry will include page counts. As Sarah has told me in the past, I read pretty quickly.
From the Reading Pile XV
Bucket Loader #5
Bruce Orr's packing up and heading to the west coast, and it seems that his last couple of comics are housecleaning catch-alls before he relocates. This 72-page comic collects pieces Orr did for his old minicomic anthology by the same name, as well as stories submitted to other anthology projects. I haven't seen most of these pieces before, but if you've read the previous issues of Bucket Loader, this collection might be ground already covered. Standouts include "Vandal," a futuristic look at the politics of graffiti; "Obsolete," a wonderful commentary on the illustration portfolio submission -- and flier-making -- process; and a couple of additions to Orr's "Linka" series, including a cute critique of environmentalism and pet ownership. Complete with his characteristic inking and innovative lettering, this is less abstract than the recently published Props, but as a collection, it's much less centered. It'll be interesting to see what Orr produces after his move. $5 to Bruce Orr, 232 NE Monroe Street, Portland, OR 97212.
Chrome Fetus Comics #5
Hot off the heels of Hans Rockheit's Xeric reprint Chloe, this 36-page collection of shorter pieces continues to expand on Rickheit's darkly surreal world of biological experiments and organic machinery. "Meander" is a dream-like linear narrative that involves inflatables, trains, and sex education. "Please Don't Do This" is a surprisingly shocking cartoon. "Cochlea and Eustachia" introduces two characters I hope Rickheit returns to. Two masked nymphets explore their environment while eluding a pursure. And "Folly" continues the cartooniness of "Please Don't Do This" in an almost Dean Haspiel manner. Another delightful surprise of an ending. Rickheit's artwork continues to improve, and even though I prefer his longer pieces, the shorter bits of punctuation -- like the bearhead sequences -- all add up to create the disturbing world that Rickheit's visions thrive in. $2.95 to Hans Rickheit, 81 Moreland St., Somerville, MA 02145.
Props
Produced in June 2002, this 20-page silk-screened short piece by Bruce Orr is a quick look at love and the threat of loss. A man walks into a bar and falls in love with the bartender. His overtures are almost thwarted by a police officer who soon finds a love of his own. The artwork, though still heavily inked, is more abstract that Orr's previous work, but it's good to see him experimenting with some new character designs and panel layouts. Interesting, but not really worth the money. $4 to Bruce Orr, 232 NE Monroe Street, Portland, OR 97212.
Studygroup 12 #1-2
Zack Soto's minicomics anthology is a wonderful addition to the ranks of self-publishing. These 68- and 84-page collections from 2001 and 2002 comprise unpublished material as well as pieces previously published as standalone minis. While each works well as an anthology, several creators stand out as noteworthy: Erik Van Buuren's "Progresshun;" the monthly Montreal Comix Jam reprints featuring Salgood Sam, Rupert Bottenberg, and Bernie Mireault; Souther Salazar's contributions to #2; David Lasky's "#28 Bus;" Ben Claassen's "Kit Kat;" Marc Bell's sketchbook reprints; and Soto's "Cloud Kids." The second edition reflects a more mature selection of comics outside of Victor Cayro's offensive and insensitive "The Beard and Baby Brother" story, and it'll be neat to see what Soto does next year. He's already come a long way. $5 or $10 to Zack Soto, 4212 Oxford Ave. #3, Baton Rouge, LA 70808.
Yut #1
This 52-page hodgepodge barrage of a comic-cum-zine combines the comic art of Daniel Morgan Landolt-Hoene with poems by several friends and what appear to be comics and zines that might have been printed previously as standalones. Of the comics, the one-page Jupiter strips are existential throwaways, while "Pro-Nun-See-A-Shun" and "Daydream No. 1" are interesting bits of autobiography. Adam Gray's poems are the best of the bunch, and Fletcher Johnson's conceptual short story begs notice. But all in all, Zut is an uneven effort. The 10-page "Book of Friends" by Zimminy Picket would've worked better as a one-off pamphlet, and the photocopier collages have the feel of an unfinished zine project. $2 to Daniel Morgan Landolt-Hoene, P.O. Box 43, Bristol, VT 05443.
Soundtrack: Dirt Bike Annie, "Hit the Rock!"
Bucket Loader #5
Bruce Orr's packing up and heading to the west coast, and it seems that his last couple of comics are housecleaning catch-alls before he relocates. This 72-page comic collects pieces Orr did for his old minicomic anthology by the same name, as well as stories submitted to other anthology projects. I haven't seen most of these pieces before, but if you've read the previous issues of Bucket Loader, this collection might be ground already covered. Standouts include "Vandal," a futuristic look at the politics of graffiti; "Obsolete," a wonderful commentary on the illustration portfolio submission -- and flier-making -- process; and a couple of additions to Orr's "Linka" series, including a cute critique of environmentalism and pet ownership. Complete with his characteristic inking and innovative lettering, this is less abstract than the recently published Props, but as a collection, it's much less centered. It'll be interesting to see what Orr produces after his move. $5 to Bruce Orr, 232 NE Monroe Street, Portland, OR 97212.
Chrome Fetus Comics #5
Hot off the heels of Hans Rockheit's Xeric reprint Chloe, this 36-page collection of shorter pieces continues to expand on Rickheit's darkly surreal world of biological experiments and organic machinery. "Meander" is a dream-like linear narrative that involves inflatables, trains, and sex education. "Please Don't Do This" is a surprisingly shocking cartoon. "Cochlea and Eustachia" introduces two characters I hope Rickheit returns to. Two masked nymphets explore their environment while eluding a pursure. And "Folly" continues the cartooniness of "Please Don't Do This" in an almost Dean Haspiel manner. Another delightful surprise of an ending. Rickheit's artwork continues to improve, and even though I prefer his longer pieces, the shorter bits of punctuation -- like the bearhead sequences -- all add up to create the disturbing world that Rickheit's visions thrive in. $2.95 to Hans Rickheit, 81 Moreland St., Somerville, MA 02145.
Props
Produced in June 2002, this 20-page silk-screened short piece by Bruce Orr is a quick look at love and the threat of loss. A man walks into a bar and falls in love with the bartender. His overtures are almost thwarted by a police officer who soon finds a love of his own. The artwork, though still heavily inked, is more abstract that Orr's previous work, but it's good to see him experimenting with some new character designs and panel layouts. Interesting, but not really worth the money. $4 to Bruce Orr, 232 NE Monroe Street, Portland, OR 97212.
Studygroup 12 #1-2
Zack Soto's minicomics anthology is a wonderful addition to the ranks of self-publishing. These 68- and 84-page collections from 2001 and 2002 comprise unpublished material as well as pieces previously published as standalone minis. While each works well as an anthology, several creators stand out as noteworthy: Erik Van Buuren's "Progresshun;" the monthly Montreal Comix Jam reprints featuring Salgood Sam, Rupert Bottenberg, and Bernie Mireault; Souther Salazar's contributions to #2; David Lasky's "#28 Bus;" Ben Claassen's "Kit Kat;" Marc Bell's sketchbook reprints; and Soto's "Cloud Kids." The second edition reflects a more mature selection of comics outside of Victor Cayro's offensive and insensitive "The Beard and Baby Brother" story, and it'll be neat to see what Soto does next year. He's already come a long way. $5 or $10 to Zack Soto, 4212 Oxford Ave. #3, Baton Rouge, LA 70808.
Yut #1
This 52-page hodgepodge barrage of a comic-cum-zine combines the comic art of Daniel Morgan Landolt-Hoene with poems by several friends and what appear to be comics and zines that might have been printed previously as standalones. Of the comics, the one-page Jupiter strips are existential throwaways, while "Pro-Nun-See-A-Shun" and "Daydream No. 1" are interesting bits of autobiography. Adam Gray's poems are the best of the bunch, and Fletcher Johnson's conceptual short story begs notice. But all in all, Zut is an uneven effort. The 10-page "Book of Friends" by Zimminy Picket would've worked better as a one-off pamphlet, and the photocopier collages have the feel of an unfinished zine project. $2 to Daniel Morgan Landolt-Hoene, P.O. Box 43, Bristol, VT 05443.
Soundtrack: Dirt Bike Annie, "Hit the Rock!"
Music to My Ears XXII
A baker's dozen of new record reviews!
And I Can't Wait "Hardcore Justice" EP
While I admire the band's intensity and idealism, presenting lyrics such as "He will learn about community" so they're indiscernable does no one any good. The lyric sheet represents an array of worthwhile manifestos addressing sexism in the scene, drug abuse, hardcore honesty, and responsibility, but the presentation clouds the content of the creative catharsis. Everything here should be said, but if your delivery mechanism is music -- recorded or live -- it'd be good if the ideas for solutions were identifiable. As it is, the record fails to get its points across. The spoken-word portions are more accessible and applicable, but the angry, acidic screamo sectopns are singing -- screaming -- to a choir. How big is your choir? Wouldn't you like it to be a little bigger? If you don't want people to join your choir -- or even hear your message -- keep it up. But as it is, hardcore records like this are vanity projects. Valid, but vain. Agitprop Records, P.O. Box 748, Hanover, MA 02339.
Baxter CD
This two-CD release is a discography of a Chicago band that was active in the mid- to late-'90s. Members later participated in bands such as the Lawrence Arms, Rise Against, and the Killing Tree. Shades of the Explosion by way of Fugazi, Baxter's sound is melodic yet intense, even if the shouted vocals and chunky guitars sound a little lackluster in the recording. "Burden" is the first song that really impresses me with some nice Dag Nasty moments. Baxter maintains this sound for the bulk of the record, never really breaking out or down. This is frustrating because the band had such promise -- a retrospective discography should be more impressive. "Sidelines" breaks the midtempo monotony and shows what the band is capable of, as does "Attempt." The second CD opens on a more promising note, sharing several unreleased tracks that were recorded in 1997, a year later than the first CD, which was previously released as "Troy's Bucket." The guitars are brighter, and the vocals are more intense. The bass on "Out of Reach," which was released on the "Lost Voices" 7-inch, is recorded a little heavy, but the songs on that record continue the new level of energy and intensity. Interestingly enough, so do the six songs from Baxter's 1995 "Red Tape" demo. Just goes to show that sometimes, raw is good. "Surge" is a silly bit of testosterone posturing, but "I Am a Cop" caps the demo with a wonderful Minor Threat-inspired burst. The final two tracks, recorded in 1998, again feature too-heavy bass and seem to be largely disposable, with out-of-tune singing and some sloppiness. The second CD is the standout here, but Baxter never really takes -- or loses -- control. The edge is missed. Will Not Clear Man, P.O. Box 911, Elgin, IL 60121.
Carpenter Ant "Never Stop Skating"
Skate rock, dude! With songs about dedication, dedication, dedication, this metal-edged hardcore expands on self-expression, honesty, intent, and transition. But despite its skateboarding allusions -- and illusions -- you can't really skate to this. Would Pushead be proud?
Carpenter Ant, c/o Union City Records.
Common Rider "Am I On My Own"
Featuring Operation Ivy's Jesse Michaels and Green Day's Billie Joe, this East Bay punk-rock superstar set features four songs of absolutely excellent pop punk with tinges of Michaels' reggae tastes. The title track is a quick hit of surreptitious sing-along, while "Insurgents" is a slightly more pretentious piece of futuristic fatality, shades of some of Naked Raygun's lyricism. Turning to the B side, Michaels' reggae and ska tastes become more clear. Suddenly, OPIV sans Rancid, makes more sense. I want to thank Billie Joe, in light of his major-label success with Green Day, for his work with Adeline Records, but I also want to thank him for his continued involvement with Bay Area punk icons such as Michaels. Songs like "Thief in a Sleeping Town" could've easily happened in 1989 as well as 1999, or now. Thanks, Billie Joe, for helping Chris bring this to life. Lookout! Records, 3264 Adeline St., Berkeley, CA 94703.
Def Choice 7-inch
Another depressing hardcore record, this time from the Midwest. It is uplifting and inspirational because of its messahes about progress, the evils of advertising, work culture, nationalism, capitalism, the legal system, and pop culture. But it's sad because of the reach Def Choice has. "Handguns & TV Dinners" is a pleasing piece of blistering burst, and the Denis Leary sample opening "We've Got Our Money on You" is comic. Yet the thought behind -- and inside -- songs such as the anti-organized education ditty "The Institution of the Damned" and the anti-consumption screed "Baseball Cards to Colored Wax" is lost in its presentation. Within a subculture, it's always good to reinforce ideas of disagreement and discussion, but how productive is this? One sample says, "Don't let hardcore turn into rock 'n' roll." What if it did? What if more people could receive your revelations? Kudos for the booklet insert, at least. Def Choice, 1130 N. Pine Pl., New Lenox, IL 60451.
High-Steppin' Nickel Kids "Is It Wrong to Imagine the Impossible?" 7-inch
This Boston hardcore foursome should still be around. There's no reason why Massachusetts doesn't need -- and deserve -- a smartly political punk band a la Propagandhi, and I'm afraid that the HSNK were it. Even the song titles on this "special prerelease tour edition" 7-inch are in the style of Propagandhi and Dillinger 4: "Scratch & Win (Void Where Prohibited)," "We Wanted Adventure, We Got Adventureland," "The Good, the Bad, the Midwest," and "Now We Are 27." The music is moshy but tuneful, the vocals are raw but melodic, and the lyrics are thought provoking. RIP, HSNK. You will be missed. At least Andrew's still doing ziines. High-Steppin' Nickel Kids, 22 Mansfield St., Allston, MA 02134.
Lady & the Mant "Inexcusable" CD
Kathy Biehl has long been one of my favorite zine people. Attorney, editrix of the Cardhouse-meets-Lost Armadillos in Heat zine Ladies Fetish & Taboo Society Compendium of Urban Anthropology, creative visualization artist, and improv comedy troupe member, Biehl does a lot of different stuff. This 1999 CD, released when Biehl still lived in Houston, collects 10 pop and rock cover songs performed with two guitars, one keyboard, and "no sense." To a large extent, the songs, including "Ruby Tuesday," "Stand by Your Man," and the theme from MASH, remind me of the Gomers and the related house band for the Madison, Wisconsin, ComedySportz troupe. There are also a couple of novelty songs credited to R. Romanovsky, "Wimp" and "Guilt Trip," self-described by Biehl as the "best roman revenge song ever," which more accurately reflect where the Lady & the Mant -- Biehl and collaborator Rick Mantler -- are coming from. Next stop, as "Sunshine of Your Love" reaffirms: Dr. Demento's dinner theater. Fortuna Works, P.O. Box 184, Oak Ridge, NJ 07438.
Meridians Divided "Blind" CD
Opening with a cyclical instrumental piece highlighting Lauren Hurd's violin work and some tender guitar work by Rob Arnold, this CD eases in with a bit of Rachel's-like classical post-rock. Not a surprise, given the Chicago area's embrace of that sound, but Meridians Divided adds a nice dose of emo-infused intensity. Sleepy post-rock for the shoe-gazing set, this band would be quite at home with now-defunct Boston bands such as 71 Sunbeam and the Also-Rans. With the first vocal line of "Persistence," "Selflessly selfish for you," Meridians makes its case and then proceeds to build on it, touching on themes of love, fear, the passing of time, and loneliness. Ben Belich and Arnold's vocals are pleasant, and the band breaks up the hesitant tone of many of the songs with sone nice surprises. The title track introduces some impressive Kevin Seconds-like elements, again using Hurd's violin to good effect. At times I find the effects on the vocals and bass distracting, especially in "The Soil of Time," but songs like "Light Bleu" make it all worthwhile. A wonderful love song, "Light Bleu" incorporates an intriguing presentation of the verses that overlaps and weaves in and out of the music behind it. Nice. Will Not Clear Man, P.O. Box 911, Elgin, IL 60121.
The Profits "Propaganda Machine" 7-inch
With a female-led hardcore attack, this Boston band opens with a scathing commentary on the duplicitous objectivity of the media. The second song is an under-researched diatribe against biological threats, which, while sharply pointed, comes across as overly cartoony and therefore disposable. Closing off the first side, the band brings back a quick bit of female-expedited explosion ranting about jingoistic consumerism. The opener of the B side, "Fight War," is particularly appropriate give the current political situation despite the son's avoidance of offering solutions in lieu of visceral criticism. "Spoiled" is a more solid commentary, positioned well for Nov. 29's Buy Nothing Day -- critiquing consumption-driven economic development. The name dropping of local shopping centers is a welcome bit of Bostonia, and despite this record's overall shallowness and lack of solutions-oriented thinking, it's great to hear an angry, politically minded punk band in the area. The Profits, c/o Rodent Popsicle, P.O. Box 1143, Allston, MA 02134.
Ready to Fight 7-inch
There are eight songs on this record, one an SS Decontrol cover, a standard Boston HC shoutout, and for the most part, they're your basic aggressive screamo punk-rock numbers. The songs seem to be about pride, moshing, false neutrality, scene politics, wage slavery, and media commentary. A lyric sheet would help this, but not much, as it's overly guttural and gloss-over enough that they might not be saying much more than is readily apparent. That said, "Work Sucks" stands out as the most organized critique, adequately countering the band's misinformed criticism of email. Ready to Fight, c/o Cadmium Sick, P.O. Box 35934, Brighton, MA 02135.
Somehow Hollow "Busted Wings and Rusted Halos" CD
Comprising several former members of Grade, this Canadian four-piece recorded these 11 songs in about a month. For the most part, Somehow Hollow falls on the poppier side of Victory, opting for lighter weight singalong torch songs (line from "Halfway Gone": "I think it's you/oh, it's so you") despite the news release's hardcore rhetoric about solidarity and unity. Don't get me wrong -- the songs are fine; I enjoy the record -- but I'm perplexed by the clash between the tattooed old-school hardcore posturing and boy-band pop production that's running rampant through the scene these days. As tough guy as so many Victory (and Revelation, for that matter) bands want to seem, songs like "Halfway Gone," "Walking Clothed Foot," and "A Lesson in Longing" -- actually, most of the record -- are basically emo songs about unrequited or lost love, presented with a bit more pep and less noodling. Punk points for the Canuck reference "Kamloops" and the odd Lord of the Rings-listing "Witch of Glen Cedar Gate." Major debits for the jangly college-rock opening to "Never Let You Go." Damn you, Dawson's Creek! As strong as Somehow Hollow's power pop or melodic hardcore (or whatever this is) might be, the music comes across as, well, somehow hollow. Victory Records, 346 N. Justine St. #504, Chicago, IL 60607.
Striking Distance "The Fuse Is Lit" 7-inch
This is stereotypical Boston hardcore with moshy parts punctuating the more straight-ahead moments. The music begs little description outside of saying it's pleasantly non-metal, but the lyrics deserve some mention. We've got your generic hardcore hypotheses about rhetoric, the Establishment, conformity, rebellion, and innovation. Records like this actually make me sad. As inspired by and agreeable with their message as I am, I'm depressed by their half-assed analysis and choice of aggression rather than application. OK, I say. So what? What are you going to do? "Find a Way" suggests that we can discover answers within ourselves, and "The Fuse Is Lit" posits that self-satisfaction is self-defeating, but otherwise, what, really, is within striking distance here? Bridge Nine Records, P.O. Box 990052, Boston, MA 02199.
Will Not Clear Man Sampler CD
This four-song compilation is a sampler of the bands currently working with this Elgin, Illinois-based label. Seedy Sea Controversy's "Everyone's Crazy" opens with an energetic melodic number that's somewhat reminiscent of the Lillingtons, although not lyrically. The spooky spy-theme breakdown adds a nice punctuation. Burn Elgin, which could be Will Not Clear Man head Jeremy Hansen's band, contributes "Down," which is structurally similar to the opening track. The song is solid, but the vocals seem a bit thin. Nevertheless, the piece doesn't lose steam and the variations on the chorus at the end -- complete with Freewill-like backing vocals -- are awesome. The last two songs get a little emo and post-rocky, with Over and Over's relatively boring yet anguished screamer "About Face" and Meridians Divided's "Light Bleu" -- a standout from their full length. Over and Over can be dismissed, but I look forward to more Seedy Sea Controversy and Burn Elgin. An impressive small label. Will Not Clear Man, P.O. Box 911, Elgin, IL 60121.
A baker's dozen of new record reviews!
And I Can't Wait "Hardcore Justice" EP
While I admire the band's intensity and idealism, presenting lyrics such as "He will learn about community" so they're indiscernable does no one any good. The lyric sheet represents an array of worthwhile manifestos addressing sexism in the scene, drug abuse, hardcore honesty, and responsibility, but the presentation clouds the content of the creative catharsis. Everything here should be said, but if your delivery mechanism is music -- recorded or live -- it'd be good if the ideas for solutions were identifiable. As it is, the record fails to get its points across. The spoken-word portions are more accessible and applicable, but the angry, acidic screamo sectopns are singing -- screaming -- to a choir. How big is your choir? Wouldn't you like it to be a little bigger? If you don't want people to join your choir -- or even hear your message -- keep it up. But as it is, hardcore records like this are vanity projects. Valid, but vain. Agitprop Records, P.O. Box 748, Hanover, MA 02339.
Baxter CD
This two-CD release is a discography of a Chicago band that was active in the mid- to late-'90s. Members later participated in bands such as the Lawrence Arms, Rise Against, and the Killing Tree. Shades of the Explosion by way of Fugazi, Baxter's sound is melodic yet intense, even if the shouted vocals and chunky guitars sound a little lackluster in the recording. "Burden" is the first song that really impresses me with some nice Dag Nasty moments. Baxter maintains this sound for the bulk of the record, never really breaking out or down. This is frustrating because the band had such promise -- a retrospective discography should be more impressive. "Sidelines" breaks the midtempo monotony and shows what the band is capable of, as does "Attempt." The second CD opens on a more promising note, sharing several unreleased tracks that were recorded in 1997, a year later than the first CD, which was previously released as "Troy's Bucket." The guitars are brighter, and the vocals are more intense. The bass on "Out of Reach," which was released on the "Lost Voices" 7-inch, is recorded a little heavy, but the songs on that record continue the new level of energy and intensity. Interestingly enough, so do the six songs from Baxter's 1995 "Red Tape" demo. Just goes to show that sometimes, raw is good. "Surge" is a silly bit of testosterone posturing, but "I Am a Cop" caps the demo with a wonderful Minor Threat-inspired burst. The final two tracks, recorded in 1998, again feature too-heavy bass and seem to be largely disposable, with out-of-tune singing and some sloppiness. The second CD is the standout here, but Baxter never really takes -- or loses -- control. The edge is missed. Will Not Clear Man, P.O. Box 911, Elgin, IL 60121.
Carpenter Ant "Never Stop Skating"
Skate rock, dude! With songs about dedication, dedication, dedication, this metal-edged hardcore expands on self-expression, honesty, intent, and transition. But despite its skateboarding allusions -- and illusions -- you can't really skate to this. Would Pushead be proud?
Carpenter Ant, c/o Union City Records.
Common Rider "Am I On My Own"
Featuring Operation Ivy's Jesse Michaels and Green Day's Billie Joe, this East Bay punk-rock superstar set features four songs of absolutely excellent pop punk with tinges of Michaels' reggae tastes. The title track is a quick hit of surreptitious sing-along, while "Insurgents" is a slightly more pretentious piece of futuristic fatality, shades of some of Naked Raygun's lyricism. Turning to the B side, Michaels' reggae and ska tastes become more clear. Suddenly, OPIV sans Rancid, makes more sense. I want to thank Billie Joe, in light of his major-label success with Green Day, for his work with Adeline Records, but I also want to thank him for his continued involvement with Bay Area punk icons such as Michaels. Songs like "Thief in a Sleeping Town" could've easily happened in 1989 as well as 1999, or now. Thanks, Billie Joe, for helping Chris bring this to life. Lookout! Records, 3264 Adeline St., Berkeley, CA 94703.
Def Choice 7-inch
Another depressing hardcore record, this time from the Midwest. It is uplifting and inspirational because of its messahes about progress, the evils of advertising, work culture, nationalism, capitalism, the legal system, and pop culture. But it's sad because of the reach Def Choice has. "Handguns & TV Dinners" is a pleasing piece of blistering burst, and the Denis Leary sample opening "We've Got Our Money on You" is comic. Yet the thought behind -- and inside -- songs such as the anti-organized education ditty "The Institution of the Damned" and the anti-consumption screed "Baseball Cards to Colored Wax" is lost in its presentation. Within a subculture, it's always good to reinforce ideas of disagreement and discussion, but how productive is this? One sample says, "Don't let hardcore turn into rock 'n' roll." What if it did? What if more people could receive your revelations? Kudos for the booklet insert, at least. Def Choice, 1130 N. Pine Pl., New Lenox, IL 60451.
High-Steppin' Nickel Kids "Is It Wrong to Imagine the Impossible?" 7-inch
This Boston hardcore foursome should still be around. There's no reason why Massachusetts doesn't need -- and deserve -- a smartly political punk band a la Propagandhi, and I'm afraid that the HSNK were it. Even the song titles on this "special prerelease tour edition" 7-inch are in the style of Propagandhi and Dillinger 4: "Scratch & Win (Void Where Prohibited)," "We Wanted Adventure, We Got Adventureland," "The Good, the Bad, the Midwest," and "Now We Are 27." The music is moshy but tuneful, the vocals are raw but melodic, and the lyrics are thought provoking. RIP, HSNK. You will be missed. At least Andrew's still doing ziines. High-Steppin' Nickel Kids, 22 Mansfield St., Allston, MA 02134.
Lady & the Mant "Inexcusable" CD
Kathy Biehl has long been one of my favorite zine people. Attorney, editrix of the Cardhouse-meets-Lost Armadillos in Heat zine Ladies Fetish & Taboo Society Compendium of Urban Anthropology, creative visualization artist, and improv comedy troupe member, Biehl does a lot of different stuff. This 1999 CD, released when Biehl still lived in Houston, collects 10 pop and rock cover songs performed with two guitars, one keyboard, and "no sense." To a large extent, the songs, including "Ruby Tuesday," "Stand by Your Man," and the theme from MASH, remind me of the Gomers and the related house band for the Madison, Wisconsin, ComedySportz troupe. There are also a couple of novelty songs credited to R. Romanovsky, "Wimp" and "Guilt Trip," self-described by Biehl as the "best roman revenge song ever," which more accurately reflect where the Lady & the Mant -- Biehl and collaborator Rick Mantler -- are coming from. Next stop, as "Sunshine of Your Love" reaffirms: Dr. Demento's dinner theater. Fortuna Works, P.O. Box 184, Oak Ridge, NJ 07438.
Meridians Divided "Blind" CD
Opening with a cyclical instrumental piece highlighting Lauren Hurd's violin work and some tender guitar work by Rob Arnold, this CD eases in with a bit of Rachel's-like classical post-rock. Not a surprise, given the Chicago area's embrace of that sound, but Meridians Divided adds a nice dose of emo-infused intensity. Sleepy post-rock for the shoe-gazing set, this band would be quite at home with now-defunct Boston bands such as 71 Sunbeam and the Also-Rans. With the first vocal line of "Persistence," "Selflessly selfish for you," Meridians makes its case and then proceeds to build on it, touching on themes of love, fear, the passing of time, and loneliness. Ben Belich and Arnold's vocals are pleasant, and the band breaks up the hesitant tone of many of the songs with sone nice surprises. The title track introduces some impressive Kevin Seconds-like elements, again using Hurd's violin to good effect. At times I find the effects on the vocals and bass distracting, especially in "The Soil of Time," but songs like "Light Bleu" make it all worthwhile. A wonderful love song, "Light Bleu" incorporates an intriguing presentation of the verses that overlaps and weaves in and out of the music behind it. Nice. Will Not Clear Man, P.O. Box 911, Elgin, IL 60121.
The Profits "Propaganda Machine" 7-inch
With a female-led hardcore attack, this Boston band opens with a scathing commentary on the duplicitous objectivity of the media. The second song is an under-researched diatribe against biological threats, which, while sharply pointed, comes across as overly cartoony and therefore disposable. Closing off the first side, the band brings back a quick bit of female-expedited explosion ranting about jingoistic consumerism. The opener of the B side, "Fight War," is particularly appropriate give the current political situation despite the son's avoidance of offering solutions in lieu of visceral criticism. "Spoiled" is a more solid commentary, positioned well for Nov. 29's Buy Nothing Day -- critiquing consumption-driven economic development. The name dropping of local shopping centers is a welcome bit of Bostonia, and despite this record's overall shallowness and lack of solutions-oriented thinking, it's great to hear an angry, politically minded punk band in the area. The Profits, c/o Rodent Popsicle, P.O. Box 1143, Allston, MA 02134.
Ready to Fight 7-inch
There are eight songs on this record, one an SS Decontrol cover, a standard Boston HC shoutout, and for the most part, they're your basic aggressive screamo punk-rock numbers. The songs seem to be about pride, moshing, false neutrality, scene politics, wage slavery, and media commentary. A lyric sheet would help this, but not much, as it's overly guttural and gloss-over enough that they might not be saying much more than is readily apparent. That said, "Work Sucks" stands out as the most organized critique, adequately countering the band's misinformed criticism of email. Ready to Fight, c/o Cadmium Sick, P.O. Box 35934, Brighton, MA 02135.
Somehow Hollow "Busted Wings and Rusted Halos" CD
Comprising several former members of Grade, this Canadian four-piece recorded these 11 songs in about a month. For the most part, Somehow Hollow falls on the poppier side of Victory, opting for lighter weight singalong torch songs (line from "Halfway Gone": "I think it's you/oh, it's so you") despite the news release's hardcore rhetoric about solidarity and unity. Don't get me wrong -- the songs are fine; I enjoy the record -- but I'm perplexed by the clash between the tattooed old-school hardcore posturing and boy-band pop production that's running rampant through the scene these days. As tough guy as so many Victory (and Revelation, for that matter) bands want to seem, songs like "Halfway Gone," "Walking Clothed Foot," and "A Lesson in Longing" -- actually, most of the record -- are basically emo songs about unrequited or lost love, presented with a bit more pep and less noodling. Punk points for the Canuck reference "Kamloops" and the odd Lord of the Rings-listing "Witch of Glen Cedar Gate." Major debits for the jangly college-rock opening to "Never Let You Go." Damn you, Dawson's Creek! As strong as Somehow Hollow's power pop or melodic hardcore (or whatever this is) might be, the music comes across as, well, somehow hollow. Victory Records, 346 N. Justine St. #504, Chicago, IL 60607.
Striking Distance "The Fuse Is Lit" 7-inch
This is stereotypical Boston hardcore with moshy parts punctuating the more straight-ahead moments. The music begs little description outside of saying it's pleasantly non-metal, but the lyrics deserve some mention. We've got your generic hardcore hypotheses about rhetoric, the Establishment, conformity, rebellion, and innovation. Records like this actually make me sad. As inspired by and agreeable with their message as I am, I'm depressed by their half-assed analysis and choice of aggression rather than application. OK, I say. So what? What are you going to do? "Find a Way" suggests that we can discover answers within ourselves, and "The Fuse Is Lit" posits that self-satisfaction is self-defeating, but otherwise, what, really, is within striking distance here? Bridge Nine Records, P.O. Box 990052, Boston, MA 02199.
Will Not Clear Man Sampler CD
This four-song compilation is a sampler of the bands currently working with this Elgin, Illinois-based label. Seedy Sea Controversy's "Everyone's Crazy" opens with an energetic melodic number that's somewhat reminiscent of the Lillingtons, although not lyrically. The spooky spy-theme breakdown adds a nice punctuation. Burn Elgin, which could be Will Not Clear Man head Jeremy Hansen's band, contributes "Down," which is structurally similar to the opening track. The song is solid, but the vocals seem a bit thin. Nevertheless, the piece doesn't lose steam and the variations on the chorus at the end -- complete with Freewill-like backing vocals -- are awesome. The last two songs get a little emo and post-rocky, with Over and Over's relatively boring yet anguished screamer "About Face" and Meridians Divided's "Light Bleu" -- a standout from their full length. Over and Over can be dismissed, but I look forward to more Seedy Sea Controversy and Burn Elgin. An impressive small label. Will Not Clear Man, P.O. Box 911, Elgin, IL 60121.
Books Worth a Look X
These are the books I read in December 2002. I read about 180 books last year.
Ancient Joe: El Bizarron by C. Scott Morse (Dark Horse, 2002)
According to Morse's "Sources" essay included in this volume, this wide-ranging embrace of various myths, legends, and histories around the world centers on… love. Ancient Joe is a totemic every-hero who's been alive seemingly forever. This book, written and drawn between 1998 and 2002, collects several tales from the Ancient Joe mythos. Morse details Ancient Joe's acquisition of El Diablo's gold, a long-lost love, and his return to hell to find that love. It's an odd pairing -- Morse's quality artwork and an attempt at a Joseph Campbell-like cultural combination, as well as a sometimes shallow take on shared stories. I'm not convinced that the cartoony, carven Ancient Joe is the best protagonist for Morse's experimental exploration, but the stories as such are solid.
Days to read: 1. Rating: Good.
Beg the Question by Bob Fingerman (Fantagraphics, 2002)
Previously released as Fingerman's comic book Minimum Wage, this reworked, excellently crafted book is perhaps the best introduction to his work. At more than 225 pages, Beg the Question reads well as a novel, tracking the main character's illustration work, friendships, new relationship, move out of his old apartment, and impending marriage. While Fingerman's artwork can take awhile to get used to, the writing is amazing. This book had me firmly planted on the big blue couch from beginning to end. There are some wonderfully comic moments -- including a friend's "spouting brownage" on his sheets and a surprise realistic cameo by Fingerman, Dean Haspiel, and Ivan Brunetti. Despite some off-register pages, this is a beautiful and believable book.
Days to read: 1. Rating: Good.
Be Here Now by Ram Dass (Lama Foundation, 1971)
Originally issued as a self-published pamphlet, this volume is really three books in one. The first section details Richard Alpert's self-discovery and transformation into Ram Dass, touching on his work with Timothy Leary and Bhagwan Dass, as well as his experimentation with psychoactive drugs and ashtanga yoga. The second section makes up the bulk of the book, a seemingly hand-stamped and -drawn primer to Dass' original philosophy. The final third of the book, subtitled "Cook Book for a Sacred Life," addresses the practical application of Dass' spiritual path, including advice on sleep, diet, asanas, engagement, meditation, and establishing a zen center. The resource listing at the end of the book is a welcome next step away from this insightful guide to self-discovery.
Days to read: 1. Rating: Good.
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (Weathervane, 1977)
This special edition of Dickens' 1843 holiday tale is lavishly illustrated by Arthur Rackham. I try to reread this every Christmas, and every year, the book reveals something new. This year, I was struck by Scrooge's visit to the tempest-tossed lighthouse and the thieves' selling of his plundered belongings. It's a delightful book rich with warmth and care -- a perfect Christmas reminder.
Days to read: 1. Rating: Excellent.
The Collected Omaha the Cat Dancer Vol. 1 by Reed Waller and Kate Worley (Fantagraphics, 1995)
Funny animal and anthropomorphic comics aren't really my bag, much less anthro comics that involve sex. But I have a couple of soft spots for the funny animals, including Arn Saba's Neil the Horse, Martin Wagner's Hepcats, and this historic furry book that's been on my radar as long as I've read comics. What I thought was your basic Eros-style furry porn is actually much more mature and complex. Parts commentary on the advent of blue laws in Minneapolis, mystery story, and softcore porn/love affair, Omaha has now risen in my estimation. The narrative has substance, the characters are multidimensional, and I'll have to give the next volume a shot.
Days to read: 1. Rating: Good.
Comic Books and Other Necessities of Life: A Collection of POV Columns by Mark Evanier (TwoMorrows, 2002)
Christopher Hitchens has stopped doing his column for The Nation. And Mark Evanier has stopped doing his column for the Comics Buyer's Guide. Funny thing, you rarely, if ever, see Hitchens and Evanier in the same place at the same time. Are they one and the same? You decide. Collecting columns that Evanier penned for CBG between 1994 and 2002, this book sheds light on the perspective of a true comics fan working within the comics industry. Evanier writes about alternate comics universes, his time working for Hanna-Barbera, the trials and tribulations of a comic book editor, shoplifting from the Cherokee Book Shop in LA, the LA Comic Book Club, William M. Gaines' role in the Comics Code controversy, his close friend Sergio Aragones, and other topics. Including several touching tributes to comics creators and co-conspirators, the book is as much a love letter as it is a look inside the industry.
Days to read: 1. Rating: Good.
The Complete Crumb Comics Vol. 4: Mr. Sixties! by Robert Crumb (Fantagraphics, 1997)
Collecting material created in 1966-67 for American Greeting Cards, as well as early issues of Yarrowstalks and Zap, this volume of the reprint series offers up some of Crumb's first truly underground comics. Also including pieces originally published in Underground Review, Cavalier, and the East Village Other, the book presents lushly colored, fully inked, and totally sketchy pieces that feature many of Crumb's iconic character. Snappy Bitts and Krazy Krax are here, as are Mr. Natural, Flakey Foont, Fritz the Cat, and Joey Tissue and the Dummies (band name alert!). The greeting card artwork is a welcome bit of ephemera, but republishing the Sad Book in full color was largely a waste of space.
Days to read: 1. Rating: Excellent.
Days of Love, Nights of War: Crimethink for Beginners by the CrimethInc. Workers' Collective (CrimethInc. Free Press, 2001)
The Atlanta-based CrimethInc. collective is one of the more impressive leftist- and Subgenius-inspired creative groups to emerge in the last few years. Between their columns in Maximum Rocknroll, Harbinger newspaper, and other micromedia activity (including this beautifully produced book), CrimethInc. is an impressively post-leftist and post-punk (in the truest sense of the term) non-organization. This book, then, is a primer to Crimethink. An A-Z sampler of sorts, the tome transmits CrimethInc.'s positions on anarchy, capitalistic culture, gender politics, the hypocrisy of history, image-driven ideologies, media manipulation, the politics of plagiarism, technology, and work. CrimethInc. practices what it preaches, critiquing while constructing. A how-to handbook for helping yourself.
Days to read: 30. Rating: Good.
The Files of Ms. Tree Vol. One: I, for an Eye, and Death Do Us Part by Max Collins and Terry Beatty (Aardvark-Vanaheim, 1984)
I suppose we can forgive Max Allan Collins his movie and TV tie-in novels. His mid-'80s two-color comics series and column for Asian Cult Cinema more than maintain his indie cred. Collecting material from Eclipse Magazine #1-6 and Ms. Tree's Thrilling Detective Adventures #1-3, this vintage volume showcases a long-gone gem of independent comics. Shades of a female Mack Bolan, Tree is a hard-boiled private investigator hot on the heels of a crime syndicate responsible for her husband's death. Full of references to pulp novels of the past, Ms. Tree is a rich read, and Beatty's Johnny Craig-like artwork is a joyful counterpoint to Collins' hard-boiled humor.
Days to read: 1. Rating: Excellent.
The Files of Ms. Tree Vol. 3: The Mike Mist Case Book by Max Collins, Terry Beatty, and Gary Kato (Renegade Press, 1986)
Not as impressive or enjoyable as the first volume in the reprint series, this edition collects the Mike Mist Minute Mist-eries and Mist-related stories previously published in Ms. Tree. Equal parts Ms. Tree and Encyclopedia Brown, the pieces comprise one- and two-page self-sleuthing stories, as well as a longer story arches featuring Ms. Tree gleaned from Ms. Tree #9, the Ms. Tree Rock & Roll Summer Special, and Ms. Tree 3-D (reprinted here in black and white). While the longer stories are enjoyable, the Encyclopedia Brown-styled pieces fall flat.
Days to read: 1. Rating: Fair.
The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov (Easton Press, 1986)
Call me a chump, but I've signed up for Easton Press' Masterpieces of Science Fiction collection. The books are expensive, but the production is lovely, and each book comes with Collector's Notes that detail the edition's content and context. This 1972 novel was Asimov's first adult s-f novel since 1957, and it's curious that he occupied himself otherwise for 15 years. It's a solid novel split into three parts. In the first, a scientific discovery brings limitless energy and abundance to the world -- while endangering it. In the second, an alien society in a parallel universe grapples with the same discovery. And in the third, Asimov takes us to the moon, where the political and societal implications are even more intense. The book is good -- I read it in one sitting -- and I can only hope that future selections are as impressive.
Days to read: 1. Rating: Good.
The Hobbit, or There and Back Again by J.R.R. Tolkien (Houghton Mifflin, 1937)
Inspired by watching the Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers with mom and dad over Christmas, I decided to reread the Hobbit. What a wonderful book! I remember it being more complex when I first read it in junior high, but it's a clear-cut linear heroic quest of a novel. Tolkien's descriptions of Smaug, Beorn, and the other fantastic denizens of Middle Earth are wonderful, and it's funny how offhand Bilbo's discovery of the ring is treated. I'll read this to my children when I'm a father.
Days to read: 2. Rating: Excellent.
The House at Maakies Corner by Tony Millionaire (Fantagraphics, 2002)
Tony Millionaire, who once posed as Brian Ralph for a photo at a comicon -- and who wrote and drew these comic strips between 2000 and 2002 -- is brilliant. Chip Kidd, who designed this book, which reproduces one strip to an overlong page, is brilliant. Whoever chose the materials for the cover? Not brilliant. Every copy of this book I've seen has been prematurely scraped, indented, smudged, or otherwise damaged. Awful choice of library binding-like grey cover finish. The interiors, however, are breathtaking. Millionaire combines hyperreal period sketches of ships with the pottymouth laugh riot of Drinky Crow and Uncle Gabby. Well read in alt.weeklies such as the Stranger, Maakies is even more impressive in bulk. Kudos.
Days to read: 1. Rating: Excellent.
Propaganda Inc.: Selling America's Culture to the World 2nd edition by Nancy Snow (Open Media, 2002)
While I'm slightly doubtful that editor Greg Puggiero's tactic of padding the volumes that comprise the Open Media Pamphlet Series with lefty celeb commentary has merit -- this booklet alone includes an author's note, preface, foreword, and introduction that account for about a third of the text -- I'm glad to see a reprint of Snow's 1998 account of her time working for the United States Information Agency. Snow looks at the USIA's role in global propaganda efforts, analyzes the agency's history, and offers steps readers can take to improve media literacy and foreign relations. At the same time, Snow highlights a lot of fascinating ephemera: the Committee on Public Information's four-minute men, the complicity of Hollywood during World War I, tactics of propagandists, and the USIA's role in NAFTA.
Days to read: 1. Rating: Good.
The Spirit Archives Vol. 1 by Will Eisner (DC, 2000)
Books like this make me wish I had more money. While Marvel has excelled at publishing inexpensive reprint collections, including the disappointingly black-and-white but still necessary Essential anthologies, DC has erred on the side of $50 full-color archival books. Granted, they're absolutely beautiful, especially this wonderfully colored collection of Spirit Sundays originally published between June 2 and Dec. 29, 1940. Marvel's color reproductions have always suffered, but this collection trumps the Smithsonian book in terms of how the Spirit should be reprinted. As I can afford them, I'll continue to buy them despite Eisner's regrettably -- and perhaps now apologetically -- racist depiction of Ebony.
Days to read: NA. Rating: Excellent.
Spunky Spot: A Tale of One Smart Fish by Suzanne Tate and James Melvin (Nags Head Art, 1989)
Fourth in Tate's nature series, this simple story about a spot fish who avoids the temptation of worms is a not-so-thinly veiled anti-drug message sponsored by Just Say No International. Tate's script is silly, and Melvin's art is amateurish, but it's impressive that the Outer Banks have spawned a regional children's press -- and that Tate has created 25 books as part of the nature series, complete with teaching guides.
Days to read: 1. Rating: Poor.
The UFO Silencers by Timothy Green Beckley (Inner Light, 1990)
This lower-cost samizdat edition of the renowned UFO researcher's expose of the men in black is a single-sided, photocopied volume that, at 160 pages, might be incomplete. Drawing heavily on first-person and secondary source accounts of encounters with these mysterious UFO conspirators who attempt to quash research of and communication about sightings, the book builds and builds on its primary case -- that men in black exist -- but fails to deliver any real conclusions or advice for dealing with the possible alien or government agents. The most notable aspect of the book is its insight on UFO culture, as Beckley mentions many of the major UFO researchers, periodicals, and organizations.
Days to read: 9. Rating: Fair.
Video Girl Ai Vol. 5: Spinoff by Masakazu Katsura (Viz, 2002)
While the manga seemed to have run its course with the end of the anime series' six episodes, this manga, which hasn’t been available even as fansubbed anime previously, adds several wrinkles. One, Ai's "master" sends another video girl, the vampiric Mai, to win over Yota and vanquish Ai. Meanwhile, the amnesiac Ai and Yota continue their flirtation while he's turn between Moemi, his longtime friend, and Nobuko, who's more than proved her love to the ever-fickle Yota.
Days to read: 1. Rating: Excellent.
Soundtrack: The Fall, "The Infotainment Scan"
These are the books I read in December 2002. I read about 180 books last year.
Ancient Joe: El Bizarron by C. Scott Morse (Dark Horse, 2002)
According to Morse's "Sources" essay included in this volume, this wide-ranging embrace of various myths, legends, and histories around the world centers on… love. Ancient Joe is a totemic every-hero who's been alive seemingly forever. This book, written and drawn between 1998 and 2002, collects several tales from the Ancient Joe mythos. Morse details Ancient Joe's acquisition of El Diablo's gold, a long-lost love, and his return to hell to find that love. It's an odd pairing -- Morse's quality artwork and an attempt at a Joseph Campbell-like cultural combination, as well as a sometimes shallow take on shared stories. I'm not convinced that the cartoony, carven Ancient Joe is the best protagonist for Morse's experimental exploration, but the stories as such are solid.
Days to read: 1. Rating: Good.
Beg the Question by Bob Fingerman (Fantagraphics, 2002)
Previously released as Fingerman's comic book Minimum Wage, this reworked, excellently crafted book is perhaps the best introduction to his work. At more than 225 pages, Beg the Question reads well as a novel, tracking the main character's illustration work, friendships, new relationship, move out of his old apartment, and impending marriage. While Fingerman's artwork can take awhile to get used to, the writing is amazing. This book had me firmly planted on the big blue couch from beginning to end. There are some wonderfully comic moments -- including a friend's "spouting brownage" on his sheets and a surprise realistic cameo by Fingerman, Dean Haspiel, and Ivan Brunetti. Despite some off-register pages, this is a beautiful and believable book.
Days to read: 1. Rating: Good.
Be Here Now by Ram Dass (Lama Foundation, 1971)
Originally issued as a self-published pamphlet, this volume is really three books in one. The first section details Richard Alpert's self-discovery and transformation into Ram Dass, touching on his work with Timothy Leary and Bhagwan Dass, as well as his experimentation with psychoactive drugs and ashtanga yoga. The second section makes up the bulk of the book, a seemingly hand-stamped and -drawn primer to Dass' original philosophy. The final third of the book, subtitled "Cook Book for a Sacred Life," addresses the practical application of Dass' spiritual path, including advice on sleep, diet, asanas, engagement, meditation, and establishing a zen center. The resource listing at the end of the book is a welcome next step away from this insightful guide to self-discovery.
Days to read: 1. Rating: Good.
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (Weathervane, 1977)
This special edition of Dickens' 1843 holiday tale is lavishly illustrated by Arthur Rackham. I try to reread this every Christmas, and every year, the book reveals something new. This year, I was struck by Scrooge's visit to the tempest-tossed lighthouse and the thieves' selling of his plundered belongings. It's a delightful book rich with warmth and care -- a perfect Christmas reminder.
Days to read: 1. Rating: Excellent.
The Collected Omaha the Cat Dancer Vol. 1 by Reed Waller and Kate Worley (Fantagraphics, 1995)
Funny animal and anthropomorphic comics aren't really my bag, much less anthro comics that involve sex. But I have a couple of soft spots for the funny animals, including Arn Saba's Neil the Horse, Martin Wagner's Hepcats, and this historic furry book that's been on my radar as long as I've read comics. What I thought was your basic Eros-style furry porn is actually much more mature and complex. Parts commentary on the advent of blue laws in Minneapolis, mystery story, and softcore porn/love affair, Omaha has now risen in my estimation. The narrative has substance, the characters are multidimensional, and I'll have to give the next volume a shot.
Days to read: 1. Rating: Good.
Comic Books and Other Necessities of Life: A Collection of POV Columns by Mark Evanier (TwoMorrows, 2002)
Christopher Hitchens has stopped doing his column for The Nation. And Mark Evanier has stopped doing his column for the Comics Buyer's Guide. Funny thing, you rarely, if ever, see Hitchens and Evanier in the same place at the same time. Are they one and the same? You decide. Collecting columns that Evanier penned for CBG between 1994 and 2002, this book sheds light on the perspective of a true comics fan working within the comics industry. Evanier writes about alternate comics universes, his time working for Hanna-Barbera, the trials and tribulations of a comic book editor, shoplifting from the Cherokee Book Shop in LA, the LA Comic Book Club, William M. Gaines' role in the Comics Code controversy, his close friend Sergio Aragones, and other topics. Including several touching tributes to comics creators and co-conspirators, the book is as much a love letter as it is a look inside the industry.
Days to read: 1. Rating: Good.
The Complete Crumb Comics Vol. 4: Mr. Sixties! by Robert Crumb (Fantagraphics, 1997)
Collecting material created in 1966-67 for American Greeting Cards, as well as early issues of Yarrowstalks and Zap, this volume of the reprint series offers up some of Crumb's first truly underground comics. Also including pieces originally published in Underground Review, Cavalier, and the East Village Other, the book presents lushly colored, fully inked, and totally sketchy pieces that feature many of Crumb's iconic character. Snappy Bitts and Krazy Krax are here, as are Mr. Natural, Flakey Foont, Fritz the Cat, and Joey Tissue and the Dummies (band name alert!). The greeting card artwork is a welcome bit of ephemera, but republishing the Sad Book in full color was largely a waste of space.
Days to read: 1. Rating: Excellent.
Days of Love, Nights of War: Crimethink for Beginners by the CrimethInc. Workers' Collective (CrimethInc. Free Press, 2001)
The Atlanta-based CrimethInc. collective is one of the more impressive leftist- and Subgenius-inspired creative groups to emerge in the last few years. Between their columns in Maximum Rocknroll, Harbinger newspaper, and other micromedia activity (including this beautifully produced book), CrimethInc. is an impressively post-leftist and post-punk (in the truest sense of the term) non-organization. This book, then, is a primer to Crimethink. An A-Z sampler of sorts, the tome transmits CrimethInc.'s positions on anarchy, capitalistic culture, gender politics, the hypocrisy of history, image-driven ideologies, media manipulation, the politics of plagiarism, technology, and work. CrimethInc. practices what it preaches, critiquing while constructing. A how-to handbook for helping yourself.
Days to read: 30. Rating: Good.
The Files of Ms. Tree Vol. One: I, for an Eye, and Death Do Us Part by Max Collins and Terry Beatty (Aardvark-Vanaheim, 1984)
I suppose we can forgive Max Allan Collins his movie and TV tie-in novels. His mid-'80s two-color comics series and column for Asian Cult Cinema more than maintain his indie cred. Collecting material from Eclipse Magazine #1-6 and Ms. Tree's Thrilling Detective Adventures #1-3, this vintage volume showcases a long-gone gem of independent comics. Shades of a female Mack Bolan, Tree is a hard-boiled private investigator hot on the heels of a crime syndicate responsible for her husband's death. Full of references to pulp novels of the past, Ms. Tree is a rich read, and Beatty's Johnny Craig-like artwork is a joyful counterpoint to Collins' hard-boiled humor.
Days to read: 1. Rating: Excellent.
The Files of Ms. Tree Vol. 3: The Mike Mist Case Book by Max Collins, Terry Beatty, and Gary Kato (Renegade Press, 1986)
Not as impressive or enjoyable as the first volume in the reprint series, this edition collects the Mike Mist Minute Mist-eries and Mist-related stories previously published in Ms. Tree. Equal parts Ms. Tree and Encyclopedia Brown, the pieces comprise one- and two-page self-sleuthing stories, as well as a longer story arches featuring Ms. Tree gleaned from Ms. Tree #9, the Ms. Tree Rock & Roll Summer Special, and Ms. Tree 3-D (reprinted here in black and white). While the longer stories are enjoyable, the Encyclopedia Brown-styled pieces fall flat.
Days to read: 1. Rating: Fair.
The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov (Easton Press, 1986)
Call me a chump, but I've signed up for Easton Press' Masterpieces of Science Fiction collection. The books are expensive, but the production is lovely, and each book comes with Collector's Notes that detail the edition's content and context. This 1972 novel was Asimov's first adult s-f novel since 1957, and it's curious that he occupied himself otherwise for 15 years. It's a solid novel split into three parts. In the first, a scientific discovery brings limitless energy and abundance to the world -- while endangering it. In the second, an alien society in a parallel universe grapples with the same discovery. And in the third, Asimov takes us to the moon, where the political and societal implications are even more intense. The book is good -- I read it in one sitting -- and I can only hope that future selections are as impressive.
Days to read: 1. Rating: Good.
The Hobbit, or There and Back Again by J.R.R. Tolkien (Houghton Mifflin, 1937)
Inspired by watching the Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers with mom and dad over Christmas, I decided to reread the Hobbit. What a wonderful book! I remember it being more complex when I first read it in junior high, but it's a clear-cut linear heroic quest of a novel. Tolkien's descriptions of Smaug, Beorn, and the other fantastic denizens of Middle Earth are wonderful, and it's funny how offhand Bilbo's discovery of the ring is treated. I'll read this to my children when I'm a father.
Days to read: 2. Rating: Excellent.
The House at Maakies Corner by Tony Millionaire (Fantagraphics, 2002)
Tony Millionaire, who once posed as Brian Ralph for a photo at a comicon -- and who wrote and drew these comic strips between 2000 and 2002 -- is brilliant. Chip Kidd, who designed this book, which reproduces one strip to an overlong page, is brilliant. Whoever chose the materials for the cover? Not brilliant. Every copy of this book I've seen has been prematurely scraped, indented, smudged, or otherwise damaged. Awful choice of library binding-like grey cover finish. The interiors, however, are breathtaking. Millionaire combines hyperreal period sketches of ships with the pottymouth laugh riot of Drinky Crow and Uncle Gabby. Well read in alt.weeklies such as the Stranger, Maakies is even more impressive in bulk. Kudos.
Days to read: 1. Rating: Excellent.
Propaganda Inc.: Selling America's Culture to the World 2nd edition by Nancy Snow (Open Media, 2002)
While I'm slightly doubtful that editor Greg Puggiero's tactic of padding the volumes that comprise the Open Media Pamphlet Series with lefty celeb commentary has merit -- this booklet alone includes an author's note, preface, foreword, and introduction that account for about a third of the text -- I'm glad to see a reprint of Snow's 1998 account of her time working for the United States Information Agency. Snow looks at the USIA's role in global propaganda efforts, analyzes the agency's history, and offers steps readers can take to improve media literacy and foreign relations. At the same time, Snow highlights a lot of fascinating ephemera: the Committee on Public Information's four-minute men, the complicity of Hollywood during World War I, tactics of propagandists, and the USIA's role in NAFTA.
Days to read: 1. Rating: Good.
The Spirit Archives Vol. 1 by Will Eisner (DC, 2000)
Books like this make me wish I had more money. While Marvel has excelled at publishing inexpensive reprint collections, including the disappointingly black-and-white but still necessary Essential anthologies, DC has erred on the side of $50 full-color archival books. Granted, they're absolutely beautiful, especially this wonderfully colored collection of Spirit Sundays originally published between June 2 and Dec. 29, 1940. Marvel's color reproductions have always suffered, but this collection trumps the Smithsonian book in terms of how the Spirit should be reprinted. As I can afford them, I'll continue to buy them despite Eisner's regrettably -- and perhaps now apologetically -- racist depiction of Ebony.
Days to read: NA. Rating: Excellent.
Spunky Spot: A Tale of One Smart Fish by Suzanne Tate and James Melvin (Nags Head Art, 1989)
Fourth in Tate's nature series, this simple story about a spot fish who avoids the temptation of worms is a not-so-thinly veiled anti-drug message sponsored by Just Say No International. Tate's script is silly, and Melvin's art is amateurish, but it's impressive that the Outer Banks have spawned a regional children's press -- and that Tate has created 25 books as part of the nature series, complete with teaching guides.
Days to read: 1. Rating: Poor.
The UFO Silencers by Timothy Green Beckley (Inner Light, 1990)
This lower-cost samizdat edition of the renowned UFO researcher's expose of the men in black is a single-sided, photocopied volume that, at 160 pages, might be incomplete. Drawing heavily on first-person and secondary source accounts of encounters with these mysterious UFO conspirators who attempt to quash research of and communication about sightings, the book builds and builds on its primary case -- that men in black exist -- but fails to deliver any real conclusions or advice for dealing with the possible alien or government agents. The most notable aspect of the book is its insight on UFO culture, as Beckley mentions many of the major UFO researchers, periodicals, and organizations.
Days to read: 9. Rating: Fair.
Video Girl Ai Vol. 5: Spinoff by Masakazu Katsura (Viz, 2002)
While the manga seemed to have run its course with the end of the anime series' six episodes, this manga, which hasn’t been available even as fansubbed anime previously, adds several wrinkles. One, Ai's "master" sends another video girl, the vampiric Mai, to win over Yota and vanquish Ai. Meanwhile, the amnesiac Ai and Yota continue their flirtation while he's turn between Moemi, his longtime friend, and Nobuko, who's more than proved her love to the ever-fickle Yota.
Days to read: 1. Rating: Excellent.
Soundtrack: The Fall, "The Infotainment Scan"
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