Music to My Ears XXVII
Charles Foster of Sparklemotion, which I stumbled across while trolling through some Blog Hot or Not sites, points to some music worth listening to. Molly Pitcher is an "alternative-folk" duo from New York. Their song "No One Loves a Folk Song" reminds me a little of the Indigo Girls. He also recommends several songs by Tripod, as played on the Breakfast Show. The songs are classic novelty song material, which would be right up Cory's alley.
Friday, February 28, 2003
The Movie I Watched Last Night LVIII
I'm behind on these, as I watched several movies over the last couple of weekends, but if the Pieces, Particles entries are any indication, I'll all about catching up.
Thursday: The Pianist
After a quick dinner of French toast and strawberries with a Harpoon IPA with Andrea and Lauren at Zaftig's in Brookline, we headed to the Coolidge Corner. I've been trying to maintain a low threshold for experimentation and spontaneous experiences lately, so when Andrea told me they were going to the movie -- and asked if I wanted to join them -- I jumped at the chance. And even though I might not have gone to see The Pianist by myself, am I ever glad I did. Set in the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II, the movie details the plights and ongoing flight of a radio broadcast pianist. While Roman Polanski could have easily gone over the top in terms of portraying the atrocities that the German forces exacted on the Polish Jews, most of the violence, while present, was rather tastefully done. Similarly, the cinematographic styling was top notch. There were several scenes that were absolutely breathtaking, including several snow and blowing leaves in autumn shots, and a wide pan of some CGI ruins of Warsaw. The characterizations in the movie were deeply rooted, and I felt a real affinity for many of the characters. Best line, paraphrased: "Weren't you lucky to run into us today? That's the historical imperative in action, as I like to say." A beautiful classical soundtrack, stunning visuals, and a sensitive script made this a beautiful movie. Well worth seeing.
I'm behind on these, as I watched several movies over the last couple of weekends, but if the Pieces, Particles entries are any indication, I'll all about catching up.
Thursday: The Pianist
After a quick dinner of French toast and strawberries with a Harpoon IPA with Andrea and Lauren at Zaftig's in Brookline, we headed to the Coolidge Corner. I've been trying to maintain a low threshold for experimentation and spontaneous experiences lately, so when Andrea told me they were going to the movie -- and asked if I wanted to join them -- I jumped at the chance. And even though I might not have gone to see The Pianist by myself, am I ever glad I did. Set in the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II, the movie details the plights and ongoing flight of a radio broadcast pianist. While Roman Polanski could have easily gone over the top in terms of portraying the atrocities that the German forces exacted on the Polish Jews, most of the violence, while present, was rather tastefully done. Similarly, the cinematographic styling was top notch. There were several scenes that were absolutely breathtaking, including several snow and blowing leaves in autumn shots, and a wide pan of some CGI ruins of Warsaw. The characterizations in the movie were deeply rooted, and I felt a real affinity for many of the characters. Best line, paraphrased: "Weren't you lucky to run into us today? That's the historical imperative in action, as I like to say." A beautiful classical soundtrack, stunning visuals, and a sensitive script made this a beautiful movie. Well worth seeing.
Among the Literati XXVII
Neal Pollack turns 33 tomorrow, March 1. Media Dieticians everywhere, if you're familiar with his work and appreciate it, send him some happies!
Neal Pollack turns 33 tomorrow, March 1. Media Dieticians everywhere, if you're familiar with his work and appreciate it, send him some happies!
Subway Soundtrack IV
This is a silent film of sorts, but David Crawford's Stop Motion Studies concentrating on passengers on the Red Line is a beautiful look at the people who ride the T. Poetry in motion!
Thanks to Boston Common.
This is a silent film of sorts, but David Crawford's Stop Motion Studies concentrating on passengers on the Red Line is a beautiful look at the people who ride the T. Poetry in motion!
Thanks to Boston Common.
Better Fred Than Dead II
Even Neal Pollack has something to say about Mr. Rogers' passing.
Even Neal Pollack has something to say about Mr. Rogers' passing.
Music to My Eyes XI
Pleix is an online community of digital artists, including 3-D artists, musicians, and graphic designers. There's a lot of interesting video work available through the community, but the video developed for Plaid's piece "Itsu" strikes me as especially important today. Equal parts anti-consumer culture commentary, mainstream media manifesto, and economic erotica, it's well worth watching.
Thanks to Memepool.
Pleix is an online community of digital artists, including 3-D artists, musicians, and graphic designers. There's a lot of interesting video work available through the community, but the video developed for Plaid's piece "Itsu" strikes me as especially important today. Equal parts anti-consumer culture commentary, mainstream media manifesto, and economic erotica, it's well worth watching.
Thanks to Memepool.
Sites on the Side of the Road VI
Mike and Nathan are gearing up for more Roadtrip Nation activity soon. They've revamped the Web site, incorporating interviews with the leaders and innovators they meet along the way, and updating folks on their documentary, roadtrip, and book projects. They've also launched the Green RV, an informative email newsletter about their activities. It's an awesome project. And they're good people. We've ridden side by side in many ways since the first CoF Roadshow in 1999. Now, if only they could make a T-shirt that's not in such a ghastly color!
Mike and Nathan are gearing up for more Roadtrip Nation activity soon. They've revamped the Web site, incorporating interviews with the leaders and innovators they meet along the way, and updating folks on their documentary, roadtrip, and book projects. They've also launched the Green RV, an informative email newsletter about their activities. It's an awesome project. And they're good people. We've ridden side by side in many ways since the first CoF Roadshow in 1999. Now, if only they could make a T-shirt that's not in such a ghastly color!
Corollary: Blogging About Blogging L
What's the "official" word on Google's acquisition of Pyra and Blogger? Ev says...
What's the "official" word on Google's acquisition of Pyra and Blogger? Ev says...
Thursday, February 27, 2003
From the In Box: Better Fred Than Dead
Thanks so much for the beautiful tribute to Mr. Rogers. I have always been a big fan. Interestingly, just yesterday, I was torturing my daughter with my rendition of "You Are Special" (I add a bit of drama and jazz to it to make it extra special). And a friend just said she had watched "The Neighborhood" two days ago, on a whim. He is part of our common television heritage and we are better for it.
When I was a child, my father was an executive at WNET, the New York PBS station. Because of his work, I was exposed to all of those great public television shows for children (as well as Monty Python at a very early age!). My father did not work directly with, but interacted many times with, Fred Rogers. Through the PBS connection, my mother developed a pen pal relationship with Fred (they had teaching and divinity degrees in common), and every year at Christmas we would receive a family Christmas card featuring Fred, the Mrs. and their two sons (who looked very much like him). Fred wrote a lovely note of condolence when my mother died, suddenly, five years ago.
Again, thanks for the thoughtful piece. -- Mari Guarino
Thanks so much for the beautiful tribute to Mr. Rogers. I have always been a big fan. Interestingly, just yesterday, I was torturing my daughter with my rendition of "You Are Special" (I add a bit of drama and jazz to it to make it extra special). And a friend just said she had watched "The Neighborhood" two days ago, on a whim. He is part of our common television heritage and we are better for it.
When I was a child, my father was an executive at WNET, the New York PBS station. Because of his work, I was exposed to all of those great public television shows for children (as well as Monty Python at a very early age!). My father did not work directly with, but interacted many times with, Fred Rogers. Through the PBS connection, my mother developed a pen pal relationship with Fred (they had teaching and divinity degrees in common), and every year at Christmas we would receive a family Christmas card featuring Fred, the Mrs. and their two sons (who looked very much like him). Fred wrote a lovely note of condolence when my mother died, suddenly, five years ago.
Again, thanks for the thoughtful piece. -- Mari Guarino
North End Moment XXXIV
As I left Mangia Mangia with my grilled cheese and tomato, tater tots, and cranberry juice, a man with several leather coats draped over his arm stopped me on the street just outside the restaurant.
Man: "Do you know if anyone in there would be interested in buying a leather coat?"
Me: "What?"
Man: "Is anyone in there interested in a cheap leather?"
Me: "Um, no."
Man:"What are they, some kind of f*ckin' cheap people?"
I crossed the street and angled away as quickly as I could -- "Hey! Now where are you goin'?" -- but I have a couple of questions.
How much do you think the coats cost?
What kind of a man walks down the street selling leather coats off his arm?
What kind of person buys a leather coat from a man walking down the street?
As I left Mangia Mangia with my grilled cheese and tomato, tater tots, and cranberry juice, a man with several leather coats draped over his arm stopped me on the street just outside the restaurant.
Man: "Do you know if anyone in there would be interested in buying a leather coat?"
Me: "What?"
Man: "Is anyone in there interested in a cheap leather?"
Me: "Um, no."
Man:"What are they, some kind of f*ckin' cheap people?"
I crossed the street and angled away as quickly as I could -- "Hey! Now where are you goin'?" -- but I have a couple of questions.
Nervy, Pervy XI
Just to show that I am a true Webaissance Man, I'm going to write about Suicide Girls immediately after mourning the passing of Mr. Rogers. Matt wonders "when did Suicide Girls take over from Playboy in the 'I only read it for the articles' department?"
Yes, Media Dieticians, you've got to pay to play with most of SG's content, but access to its interviews, features, and fiction is free. Recent interviews feature William Gibson and David Cronenberg.
Just to show that I am a true Webaissance Man, I'm going to write about Suicide Girls immediately after mourning the passing of Mr. Rogers. Matt wonders "when did Suicide Girls take over from Playboy in the 'I only read it for the articles' department?"
Yes, Media Dieticians, you've got to pay to play with most of SG's content, but access to its interviews, features, and fiction is free. Recent interviews feature William Gibson and David Cronenberg.
Better Fred Than Dead
Fred McFeely Rogers died today, becoming a full-time resident of the Land of Make Believe. His TV show, Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, played a large role in the formative years of my life, and I have many fond childhood memories of Mr. Rogers.
I used to sit on my mom's lap -- or beside her, when I was small enough -- in my dad's recliner watching Mr. Rogers on the local PBS affiliate. I have several Mr. Rogers records, which remain prized possessions because of their mix of gentle homily, slightly out-of-tune singing, and extensive liner notes, lyrics, and positive messages for children.
Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood was my show, loved more than Sesame Street, Captain Kangaroo, the Electric Company, or 3-2-1 Contact. My mother and I wrote a letter of protest to a local TV station when Captain Kangaroo was going to be canceled. They kept the show on the air, and I received a letter of thanks from the Captain. That, too, remains a prized possession.
I would have saved Mr. Rogers from stomach cancer if I could have. He was a gift to children, and every time I put on a cardigan sweater or change out of my boots into my Vans at work, I feel like Mr. Rogers. What are we to do? Thanks to PBS, we can listen to some of the songs sung on the show. And thanks to TV Barn, we can read a poetic memorial to the man's life and work.
I'll miss you, Mr. Rogers. Thanks for helping make me who I am today.
Fred McFeely Rogers died today, becoming a full-time resident of the Land of Make Believe. His TV show, Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, played a large role in the formative years of my life, and I have many fond childhood memories of Mr. Rogers.
I used to sit on my mom's lap -- or beside her, when I was small enough -- in my dad's recliner watching Mr. Rogers on the local PBS affiliate. I have several Mr. Rogers records, which remain prized possessions because of their mix of gentle homily, slightly out-of-tune singing, and extensive liner notes, lyrics, and positive messages for children.
Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood was my show, loved more than Sesame Street, Captain Kangaroo, the Electric Company, or 3-2-1 Contact. My mother and I wrote a letter of protest to a local TV station when Captain Kangaroo was going to be canceled. They kept the show on the air, and I received a letter of thanks from the Captain. That, too, remains a prized possession.
I would have saved Mr. Rogers from stomach cancer if I could have. He was a gift to children, and every time I put on a cardigan sweater or change out of my boots into my Vans at work, I feel like Mr. Rogers. What are we to do? Thanks to PBS, we can listen to some of the songs sung on the show. And thanks to TV Barn, we can read a poetic memorial to the man's life and work.
I'll miss you, Mr. Rogers. Thanks for helping make me who I am today.
Business Reportage Goes Boom, Now Bust II
Red Herring is about to flounder. Its folding might only result in the sale of the name and its subscriber list. Media Life speculates that the Herring's closure will help magazines birthed in the now-empty "new economy" niche better resposition themselves.
Thanks to Fucked Company.
Red Herring is about to flounder. Its folding might only result in the sale of the name and its subscriber list. Media Life speculates that the Herring's closure will help magazines birthed in the now-empty "new economy" niche better resposition themselves.
Thanks to Fucked Company.
Conferences and Community II
SXSW Interactive is next weekend, and the anticipation is starting to rise. I'll be staying at my friend Rick's new house. I'll be hanging out with zine and comic folks, including Joe O'Connell from Lost Armadillos in Heat and Ben from Snakepit. Evhead will be there. Scott from Meetup will be there. Cory Doctorow, Sandy Stone, and Jon Lebkowsky are hosting an EFF party Monday night, the night Bruce Springsteen is playing in Providence. And I'll connect with some CoF members from Austin and Houston. Should be a blast!
SXSW Interactive is next weekend, and the anticipation is starting to rise. I'll be staying at my friend Rick's new house. I'll be hanging out with zine and comic folks, including Joe O'Connell from Lost Armadillos in Heat and Ben from Snakepit. Evhead will be there. Scott from Meetup will be there. Cory Doctorow, Sandy Stone, and Jon Lebkowsky are hosting an EFF party Monday night, the night Bruce Springsteen is playing in Providence. And I'll connect with some CoF members from Austin and Houston. Should be a blast!
Among the Literati XXVI
Some friends of a friend guest edited the current edition of Slope. Slope 17 is an anthology of FU poems. If you ever needed to say FU to someone, here are 25 poetic ways to express how you feel.
Some friends of a friend guest edited the current edition of Slope. Slope 17 is an anthology of FU poems. If you ever needed to say FU to someone, here are 25 poetic ways to express how you feel.
Games People Play VI
One of the highlights last night -- at least for me -- was playing Radikal Bikers. The game has several flaws -- including horrible graphics and a too-linear narrative -- but it's pretty easy to see past them and get into the game. At least for me.
Basically, Radikal Bikers is a moped-racing game set in Rome, Italy. As a player, you have your choice of four pizza delivery people, two of whom are scantily clad women. The goal is to beat a competing pizza delivery person -- labeled "CPU" -- to the delivery points. If they beat you, you cry. If you win, you proudly present the pizza box. The game, while full of eye candy, is extremely linear. If you play it a couple of times, you can map a route to winning, and I'd imagine that it gets boring after awhile.
The game adds some interesting aspects to the race, however, adding shortcuts -- which earn you points when taken -- and special effects such as turbo speed and a power kick so you can destroy cars around you. My favorite parts of the game include scooting through the catacombs, shooting down the side alleys in which laborers are moving boxes, watching the rampaging rhinos escaping the zoo, and cutting through the cemetery, where you encounter zombies. Zombies! And rhinos! Zombies and rhinos!
I'll go back to the Saloon just to play Radikal Bikers. But another thing that intrigues me about the game is the economic story the game tells. Just as it's bad form to call a cab to pick you up -- and then hop into the first cab you see on the street -- it strikes me as silly that two people would be racing to deliver a pizza to the same customer. The delivery people work for competing pizza places, so that means that the customer called both. Does that happen? Here or in Italy? Wouldn't you have to pay for both pizzas because you ordered both?
And, and this is the biggest question, did the customer order the same toppings on both pizzas? Future game play may answer all of these questions, and more.
One of the highlights last night -- at least for me -- was playing Radikal Bikers. The game has several flaws -- including horrible graphics and a too-linear narrative -- but it's pretty easy to see past them and get into the game. At least for me.
Basically, Radikal Bikers is a moped-racing game set in Rome, Italy. As a player, you have your choice of four pizza delivery people, two of whom are scantily clad women. The goal is to beat a competing pizza delivery person -- labeled "CPU" -- to the delivery points. If they beat you, you cry. If you win, you proudly present the pizza box. The game, while full of eye candy, is extremely linear. If you play it a couple of times, you can map a route to winning, and I'd imagine that it gets boring after awhile.
The game adds some interesting aspects to the race, however, adding shortcuts -- which earn you points when taken -- and special effects such as turbo speed and a power kick so you can destroy cars around you. My favorite parts of the game include scooting through the catacombs, shooting down the side alleys in which laborers are moving boxes, watching the rampaging rhinos escaping the zoo, and cutting through the cemetery, where you encounter zombies. Zombies! And rhinos! Zombies and rhinos!
I'll go back to the Saloon just to play Radikal Bikers. But another thing that intrigues me about the game is the economic story the game tells. Just as it's bad form to call a cab to pick you up -- and then hop into the first cab you see on the street -- it strikes me as silly that two people would be racing to deliver a pizza to the same customer. The delivery people work for competing pizza places, so that means that the customer called both. Does that happen? Here or in Italy? Wouldn't you have to pay for both pizzas because you ordered both?
And, and this is the biggest question, did the customer order the same toppings on both pizzas? Future game play may answer all of these questions, and more.
Corollary: Happy Birthday to Media Dieticians XI
I promise, this is the last birthday-related entry I'll publish about my 30th. I'm sure you're sick and tired of hearing about my aging. We all age, every minute, every day. How am I different or special?
Well, last night I felt really special because of the gathering of friends that convened at the Cambridgeport Saloon in Cambridge. Things started slowly at 8, when I arrived to claim a high table by the dart boards and officially open my office hours. There was a small, dedicated crew in the early hours, and then the crowd grew.
I have many different circles of friends, and they don't often overlap. Last night, they did. In attendance, we had people from work, childhood family friends, people from the Anchormen and Handstand Command, folks I know through the Boston-area Web community, and some people I met for the first time last night. One surprising overlap was that a long-time friend went to high school with some people I know through Handstand Command and the comic shop. I had no ideas our lives overlapped that way, too.
Around 11:30, we inherited some second-wind friends from work who had spent the earlier portion of the evening at the Enormous Room to celebrate another friend's birthday. Not to claim the party crown, but folks seemed to think that the Cambridgeport Saloon was a better location, and the dart boards and pool tables, as well as the pinball and video games, occupied much of our attention. I hope people had fun!
Thanks to Emily for working the camera. It was kind of dark in there, huh?
I promise, this is the last birthday-related entry I'll publish about my 30th. I'm sure you're sick and tired of hearing about my aging. We all age, every minute, every day. How am I different or special?
Well, last night I felt really special because of the gathering of friends that convened at the Cambridgeport Saloon in Cambridge. Things started slowly at 8, when I arrived to claim a high table by the dart boards and officially open my office hours. There was a small, dedicated crew in the early hours, and then the crowd grew.
I have many different circles of friends, and they don't often overlap. Last night, they did. In attendance, we had people from work, childhood family friends, people from the Anchormen and Handstand Command, folks I know through the Boston-area Web community, and some people I met for the first time last night. One surprising overlap was that a long-time friend went to high school with some people I know through Handstand Command and the comic shop. I had no ideas our lives overlapped that way, too.
Around 11:30, we inherited some second-wind friends from work who had spent the earlier portion of the evening at the Enormous Room to celebrate another friend's birthday. Not to claim the party crown, but folks seemed to think that the Cambridgeport Saloon was a better location, and the dart boards and pool tables, as well as the pinball and video games, occupied much of our attention. I hope people had fun!
Thanks to Emily for working the camera. It was kind of dark in there, huh?
Event-O-Dex XL
Looks like a good weekend for music.
Thursday, Feb. 27: Plunge into Death, Pelvic Circus, Sallie, and Distorted Megabytes at the Choppin' Block, 724 Huntington Ave., Boston.
Friday, Feb. 28: Palomar, Soltero, and the Mittens at the Milky Way, 405 Centre St., Jamaica Plain.
Saturday, March 1: Choo Choo la Rouge, Jen O'Connor, Soltero, and the In Out at the Abbey Lounge, 3 Beacon St., Somerville.
Looks like a good weekend for music.
Thursday, Feb. 27: Plunge into Death, Pelvic Circus, Sallie, and Distorted Megabytes at the Choppin' Block, 724 Huntington Ave., Boston.
Friday, Feb. 28: Palomar, Soltero, and the Mittens at the Milky Way, 405 Centre St., Jamaica Plain.
Saturday, March 1: Choo Choo la Rouge, Jen O'Connor, Soltero, and the In Out at the Abbey Lounge, 3 Beacon St., Somerville.
Wednesday, February 26, 2003
Blogging About Blogging LI
Hot on the heels of its acquisition of Blogger, Google has started sending legal letters requesting that Web writers not use phrases such as "I googled for Muppet Baby icons yesterday." Welcome to the blogosphere? Unimpressive.
Trademark protection is an ongoing legal battle -- and expense -- for companies and brands such as Kleenex, Frisbee, Xerox, and so forth. But in Google's case, as I think is true in Xerox's case as well, the terms use as a verb stems from the fact that people use Google to search the Web. While "to xerox" became a generic phrase meaning "to photocopy" and "kleenex" is now used to describe any facial tissue, I don't see this potential danger for Google.
Sure, "xerox" morphed -- because of the brand's early ubiquity and eventual outpacing by other photocopier manufacturers. And, yes, "xerox" is a silly word. "Google" is even sillier. How can we seriously say "I googled for Muppet Baby icons" if we used AltaVista or AlltheWeb? My prediction: "Google" will never become a generic term for "searched on the Web."
When I say I googled for something, I mean it. I used Google. And that, my friends, is an endorsement.
Hot on the heels of its acquisition of Blogger, Google has started sending legal letters requesting that Web writers not use phrases such as "I googled for Muppet Baby icons yesterday." Welcome to the blogosphere? Unimpressive.
Trademark protection is an ongoing legal battle -- and expense -- for companies and brands such as Kleenex, Frisbee, Xerox, and so forth. But in Google's case, as I think is true in Xerox's case as well, the terms use as a verb stems from the fact that people use Google to search the Web. While "to xerox" became a generic phrase meaning "to photocopy" and "kleenex" is now used to describe any facial tissue, I don't see this potential danger for Google.
Sure, "xerox" morphed -- because of the brand's early ubiquity and eventual outpacing by other photocopier manufacturers. And, yes, "xerox" is a silly word. "Google" is even sillier. How can we seriously say "I googled for Muppet Baby icons" if we used AltaVista or AlltheWeb? My prediction: "Google" will never become a generic term for "searched on the Web."
When I say I googled for something, I mean it. I used Google. And that, my friends, is an endorsement.
The Days of Whiners and Posers III
This is awesome. Fucked Company was a little slow on picking up on Bill and Alan's eventual departure from Fast Company, but Pud finally commented on it. (I fully expected the memo we received Monday to show up in Internal Memos yesterday morning, but no such luck.)
While I had to grin at his claim that we ripped off his logo, I had even more fun reading the comments in the Happy Fun Slander Corner.
I read Fucked Company every day, but it's been awhile since I've delved into their discussion boards. Know what? Fucked Company readers aren't the brightest bulbs in the box. I'd much rather work for the readers of Fast Company. Glointhedark pens a somewhat clever parody of a Web-only story we published in 2002 that shows some smarts, but otherwise, the Happy Fun hoipolloi are a sorry lot.
This is awesome. Fucked Company was a little slow on picking up on Bill and Alan's eventual departure from Fast Company, but Pud finally commented on it. (I fully expected the memo we received Monday to show up in Internal Memos yesterday morning, but no such luck.)
While I had to grin at his claim that we ripped off his logo, I had even more fun reading the comments in the Happy Fun Slander Corner.
I read Fucked Company every day, but it's been awhile since I've delved into their discussion boards. Know what? Fucked Company readers aren't the brightest bulbs in the box. I'd much rather work for the readers of Fast Company. Glointhedark pens a somewhat clever parody of a Web-only story we published in 2002 that shows some smarts, but otherwise, the Happy Fun hoipolloi are a sorry lot.
Music to My Eyes X
Handstand Command has developed an online archive of past show fliers and screen-printed posters from musical groups involved in the arts collective. Most of the posters were created by Jef Czekaj, Tom Devlin, and Christy McCaffrey. Jef's section includes a lot of posters from Anchormen shows.
Handstand Command has developed an online archive of past show fliers and screen-printed posters from musical groups involved in the arts collective. Most of the posters were created by Jef Czekaj, Tom Devlin, and Christy McCaffrey. Jef's section includes a lot of posters from Anchormen shows.
Workaday World XX
From my window at work, I overlook the alley behind the Scotch & Sirloin building -- and Casa Maria, a North End apartment building for the elderly. Every few minutes so far today, my eyes have been caught by a flash of white on the face of Casa Maria. I look up and out every time to see a woman washing the inside of the windows with a white cloth. The white of the cloth catches my eye as she wipes the inside of the windows. So far she's done about 10 windows on five different floors. She'll have been in every room of Casa Maria by the time she's done!
From my window at work, I overlook the alley behind the Scotch & Sirloin building -- and Casa Maria, a North End apartment building for the elderly. Every few minutes so far today, my eyes have been caught by a flash of white on the face of Casa Maria. I look up and out every time to see a woman washing the inside of the windows with a white cloth. The white of the cloth catches my eye as she wipes the inside of the windows. So far she's done about 10 windows on five different floors. She'll have been in every room of Casa Maria by the time she's done!
Tuesday, February 25, 2003
From the In Box: Happy Birthday to Media Dieticians XI
This is just too fun. Media Dieticians are crawling out of the woodwork all around the world!
Here's an embarrassing snapshot of me and Rupert Ravens, designer of the independent Web site for the New Jersey Metro: Montclair CoF group, taken during the 2002 CoF Roadshow event. He just emailed me this with a birthday wish: "Stop smiling!"
My friend in Oregon, Su Yim, says encouragingly, "A premature happy 30th birthday to you! You're getting there before I am." Um, thanks.
Media Dietician Rob Upson says 30 is great "because it's between 29 and 31!" We've got a real math whiz there.
And my colleague Polly Labarre quoth, "I can tell you from experience that it only gets better in your 30's."
Oh, happy day. 30, here I come.
This is just too fun. Media Dieticians are crawling out of the woodwork all around the world!
Here's an embarrassing snapshot of me and Rupert Ravens, designer of the independent Web site for the New Jersey Metro: Montclair CoF group, taken during the 2002 CoF Roadshow event. He just emailed me this with a birthday wish: "Stop smiling!"
My friend in Oregon, Su Yim, says encouragingly, "A premature happy 30th birthday to you! You're getting there before I am." Um, thanks.
Media Dietician Rob Upson says 30 is great "because it's between 29 and 31!" We've got a real math whiz there.
And my colleague Polly Labarre quoth, "I can tell you from experience that it only gets better in your 30's."
Oh, happy day. 30, here I come.
Corollary: Happy Birthday to Media Dieticians XI
As I may have mentioned in an earlier Media Diet entry, tomorrow is my 30th birthday.
I was born almost exactly 30 years ago. It was 7:58 in the morning. I weighed 7 pounds and eight ounces. I was 20 inches long. In the last 30 years, I've come a long way. At this writing, it is 5:08 p.m. I now weigh about 150 pounds and top off at roughly 5' 8". I may not have grown much or come a long way, baby, but because tomorrow is the 30th anniversary of my birth, I think it's an eerily appropriate time for me to celebrate my 30th birthday. Spooky, even.
But this isn't about me. This -- as is the future -- is about you.
You, then, if you are in the Boston area, are invited to help me recognize and celebrate my many accomplishments, admirable qualities, and endeavors tomorrow night:
8 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 26
The Cambridgeport Saloon
300 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge
Between Central Square and MIT
Now, I'm no math major, but if turning 30 means hitting the big 3-0, and if 3-0 does in fact equal 3, then 3 is an interesting number. Let's go on a little mathematic journey. The year of my birth, 1973, plus that 3 yields 1976. That year, you American Media Dieticians may remember, marked a historic, patriotic occasion for the United States. It marked the 200th anniversary of the birth of our fine country.
Now, I'm no statesman, but to honor and recognize the many men and women who have fought, are fighting, or will fight have fought fighting (or whatever) in the name of our grand homeland, I'd like to propose a new system of social engagement alerts to help you participate in tomorrow evening's festivities -- the Boston Beer Party -- should you choose to do so. This is, after all, a democracy. I call the levels of alert
Red
White
Blue
"That's easy!" you might say. "Beautiful in its simplicity!" To that, I would reply, "Whoa, Nellie! Hold the phone! I'm not done yet!" On its face, the system may seem overly facile, but the alert codes have meaning. They, in fact, gauge your exact social engagement and investment in any activity, event, fete, or folderol, work related and otherwise. Please make note:
Red: I didn't eat anything after work, I was one of the first people to arrive tonight, and I'm not quite sure how I'm going to get home. Is this your beer?
White: I can't believe she just threw that dart at that guy's butt. I'm kind of embarrassed to be hanging out with people I met on the InterWeb, but this is kind of fun in a weird way. Hey, she's cuter than she is in Hot or Not!
Blue: Calgon, take me away! Is it really that early still? I'm only here because the guy's blog was mentioned in Boing Boing and Evhead and I hope he links to me, the dope. Maybe if I get in his good graces, he can help me become a member of the blogging 3l33t.
There you go. I encourage you to print this out, laminate it, and put it in a safe place for reference. If you fold it before using a laminating machine, be sure not to fold it so the code level descriptions or the details for the Boston Beer Party are on the inside folds of what you're about to laminate. That'd make it a useless piece of laminated paper. Some people.
Remember: Red, White, and Blue. If you don't celebrate my birthday, the terrorists win.
As I may have mentioned in an earlier Media Diet entry, tomorrow is my 30th birthday.
I was born almost exactly 30 years ago. It was 7:58 in the morning. I weighed 7 pounds and eight ounces. I was 20 inches long. In the last 30 years, I've come a long way. At this writing, it is 5:08 p.m. I now weigh about 150 pounds and top off at roughly 5' 8". I may not have grown much or come a long way, baby, but because tomorrow is the 30th anniversary of my birth, I think it's an eerily appropriate time for me to celebrate my 30th birthday. Spooky, even.
But this isn't about me. This -- as is the future -- is about you.
You, then, if you are in the Boston area, are invited to help me recognize and celebrate my many accomplishments, admirable qualities, and endeavors tomorrow night:
Now, I'm no math major, but if turning 30 means hitting the big 3-0, and if 3-0 does in fact equal 3, then 3 is an interesting number. Let's go on a little mathematic journey. The year of my birth, 1973, plus that 3 yields 1976. That year, you American Media Dieticians may remember, marked a historic, patriotic occasion for the United States. It marked the 200th anniversary of the birth of our fine country.
Now, I'm no statesman, but to honor and recognize the many men and women who have fought, are fighting, or will fight have fought fighting (or whatever) in the name of our grand homeland, I'd like to propose a new system of social engagement alerts to help you participate in tomorrow evening's festivities -- the Boston Beer Party -- should you choose to do so. This is, after all, a democracy. I call the levels of alert
"That's easy!" you might say. "Beautiful in its simplicity!" To that, I would reply, "Whoa, Nellie! Hold the phone! I'm not done yet!" On its face, the system may seem overly facile, but the alert codes have meaning. They, in fact, gauge your exact social engagement and investment in any activity, event, fete, or folderol, work related and otherwise. Please make note:
There you go. I encourage you to print this out, laminate it, and put it in a safe place for reference. If you fold it before using a laminating machine, be sure not to fold it so the code level descriptions or the details for the Boston Beer Party are on the inside folds of what you're about to laminate. That'd make it a useless piece of laminated paper. Some people.
Remember: Red, White, and Blue. If you don't celebrate my birthday, the terrorists win.
Corollary: Business Media Reportage Goes Bust, Now Boom? III
Some random snaps from this morning's all-hands meeting:
Some random snaps from this morning's all-hands meeting:
Tele-Phony II
I just called my parents in Wisconsin and misdialed by one number. It's amazing what a difference one digit can make.
I just called my parents in Wisconsin and misdialed by one number. It's amazing what a difference one digit can make.
The San Francisco Ex-Examiner
I interned for the San Francisco Examiner back in 1994 when it was still run under the joint operating agreement with the San Francisco Chronicle. My experiences there, while good, helped me decide to get out of newspaper work. The Fang family's ongoing abuse of the paper makes me glad that I no longer work there, for sure. What a sad, sad state of media affairs in the Bay Area. A city like San Francisco should easily be able to claim two quality dailies.
I interned for the San Francisco Examiner back in 1994 when it was still run under the joint operating agreement with the San Francisco Chronicle. My experiences there, while good, helped me decide to get out of newspaper work. The Fang family's ongoing abuse of the paper makes me glad that I no longer work there, for sure. What a sad, sad state of media affairs in the Bay Area. A city like San Francisco should easily be able to claim two quality dailies.
Event-O-Dex XXXIX
It's a toss up tonight:
6:30 p.m.: Harvard Business Review's new editor, Thomas Stewart, will speak to members of the Northwestern University's Medill Alumni Club and the American Society of Business Publication Editors at the Holiday Inn Newton.
7:30 p.m.: Sarah Frederick, Erica Friedman, and Kerey Luis will discuss "Schoolgirls & Superheroes: Gender and Sexuality in Contemporary Japanese Animation" in MIT's room 4-370.
Let's see... anime or business? Anime or business?
It's a toss up tonight:
6:30 p.m.: Harvard Business Review's new editor, Thomas Stewart, will speak to members of the Northwestern University's Medill Alumni Club and the American Society of Business Publication Editors at the Holiday Inn Newton.
7:30 p.m.: Sarah Frederick, Erica Friedman, and Kerey Luis will discuss "Schoolgirls & Superheroes: Gender and Sexuality in Contemporary Japanese Animation" in MIT's room 4-370.
Let's see... anime or business? Anime or business?
Business Media Reportage Goes Bust, Now Boom? III
Around 4 p.m. yesterday, Fast Company's founding editors, Bill Taylor and Alan Webber, circulated an internal memo announcing that their roles at the magazine were changing and that we're going to be looking for a new editor in chief. The Boston Globe's D.C. Denison and Chris Reidy somehow got a copy of the memo, and in today's paper, there's a story on their job shift. The article quotes directly from the emailed memo, positions the transition within the context of the current economic downturn and changing face of business media, and speculates what might happen next.
I've worked here since July 1997. I was the 17th employee. And it's been an amazing time. Bill and Alan aren't leaving entirely, but some relatively big changes are sure to come. Can't wait to see what this next stage in our evolution and development brings!
Around 4 p.m. yesterday, Fast Company's founding editors, Bill Taylor and Alan Webber, circulated an internal memo announcing that their roles at the magazine were changing and that we're going to be looking for a new editor in chief. The Boston Globe's D.C. Denison and Chris Reidy somehow got a copy of the memo, and in today's paper, there's a story on their job shift. The article quotes directly from the emailed memo, positions the transition within the context of the current economic downturn and changing face of business media, and speculates what might happen next.
I've worked here since July 1997. I was the 17th employee. And it's been an amazing time. Bill and Alan aren't leaving entirely, but some relatively big changes are sure to come. Can't wait to see what this next stage in our evolution and development brings!
Workaday World XIX
Despite a relaxing and delicious pre-birthday dinner with Hiromi at Centro and an early bedtime, I couldn't sleep a wink last night. Just before 5 a.m., I decided to suck it up, stop faking coming slumber, get up and get out.
The sun is rising slowly over Casa Maria, and I was struck by how different the 5:30 T commuters are from my usual crew. Dour-faced elderly people, grizzled middle-aged men, and Latino workers joined me for my short hops on the Red and Green lines, and I was pleased by how uncrowded the platforms and train cars were.
I stopped by Mangia Mangia for an egg and cheese and an OJ, and I was slightly surprised -- and pleased -- that they were open at 6. Joe was one member of the restaurant's early-morning skeleton crew, and he had this to say:
Heartless? Maybe I could get used to this early morning thing. It's not even 6:30 and I've already gotten up and out, eaten breakfast, and read the newspaper. Hello, world.
Despite a relaxing and delicious pre-birthday dinner with Hiromi at Centro and an early bedtime, I couldn't sleep a wink last night. Just before 5 a.m., I decided to suck it up, stop faking coming slumber, get up and get out.
The sun is rising slowly over Casa Maria, and I was struck by how different the 5:30 T commuters are from my usual crew. Dour-faced elderly people, grizzled middle-aged men, and Latino workers joined me for my short hops on the Red and Green lines, and I was pleased by how uncrowded the platforms and train cars were.
I stopped by Mangia Mangia for an egg and cheese and an OJ, and I was slightly surprised -- and pleased -- that they were open at 6. Joe was one member of the restaurant's early-morning skeleton crew, and he had this to say:
Joe: You're up early this morning.
Me: Yeah. I was glad you were open.
Joe: I'm not. You wouldn't like keeping these hours.
Me: I'm not here every day.
Heartless? Maybe I could get used to this early morning thing. It's not even 6:30 and I've already gotten up and out, eaten breakfast, and read the newspaper. Hello, world.
Monday, February 24, 2003
Workaday World XVIII
I came in at 9 this morning to find more than 650 emails delivered since 6 p.m. Friday -- many of them regarding a recent reminder notice sent to Company of Friends members who haven't confirmed their memberships yet. Just now, at 5 p.m., I'm caught up on my customer-service email replies. Checking my Out Box, I've sent almost 200 individual emails today.
This is what I do.
I came in at 9 this morning to find more than 650 emails delivered since 6 p.m. Friday -- many of them regarding a recent reminder notice sent to Company of Friends members who haven't confirmed their memberships yet. Just now, at 5 p.m., I'm caught up on my customer-service email replies. Checking my Out Box, I've sent almost 200 individual emails today.
This is what I do.
Magazine Me XXIV
Adbusters is seeking cool hunters:
Adbusters is seeking cool hunters:
We're looking for help with an upcoming issue of Adbusters -- we're hunting for images of "cool" from outside American culture. By cool we mean everything that is hot, hip and dripping with brand-power, of course, but we're also digging into the older meaning of cool: the outsider, the honest dissenter, the subversive. If you come across magazines from outside the U.S. and Canada that express either of these meanings of cool, please send them our way (we prefer that you send an entire magazine). If what you send makes it into Adbusters, we'll make sure you get a free copy of the issue when it hits the stands.
Cheers,
Aiden Enns
Managing Editor
Adbusters Magazine
1243 West 7th Ave.
Vancouver BC Canada V6H 1B7
Radio Raves II
Streaming live to my laptop as we speak, so to speak, the jazz show on WNUR-FM. Phoneathon runs through this week Wednesday.
Streaming live to my laptop as we speak, so to speak, the jazz show on WNUR-FM. Phoneathon runs through this week Wednesday.
On the Blend IV
While I haven't kept up my smoothie every morning plan since December, I do have two or three smoothies for breakfast weekly. And I've been refining the recipe. Stopping my early tofu experiments, I've moved onto vanilla yogurt. There's just something about Stonyfield Farm organic lowfat vanilla yogurt, and I can get through a 32-ounce tub in about a week. Delish! I've also been adding two tablespoons of wheat germ to the smoothies. For the first time this weekend, on Nancy's recommendation, I cut up the bananas I had on hand and put them in little baggies in the freezer. I think that'll cut down on my throwing away of browning bananas, and it means I don't have to add ice cubes to the mix. Frozen bananas are totally the way to go. This morning, I was fresh out of frozen raspberries, so it was a blueberry-only day. Yum, smoothies.
While I haven't kept up my smoothie every morning plan since December, I do have two or three smoothies for breakfast weekly. And I've been refining the recipe. Stopping my early tofu experiments, I've moved onto vanilla yogurt. There's just something about Stonyfield Farm organic lowfat vanilla yogurt, and I can get through a 32-ounce tub in about a week. Delish! I've also been adding two tablespoons of wheat germ to the smoothies. For the first time this weekend, on Nancy's recommendation, I cut up the bananas I had on hand and put them in little baggies in the freezer. I think that'll cut down on my throwing away of browning bananas, and it means I don't have to add ice cubes to the mix. Frozen bananas are totally the way to go. This morning, I was fresh out of frozen raspberries, so it was a blueberry-only day. Yum, smoothies.
Friday, February 21, 2003
Tele-phony
A friend got her first wrong number SMS this morning. It said, "Do u want to go to the mall later will mom take us."
A friend got her first wrong number SMS this morning. It said, "Do u want to go to the mall later will mom take us."
Rock Shows of Note LV
Oh, I am burning too brightly as I near my 30th birthday. Last night, Kurt called around 9 saying that he was going to TT the Bear's to see Tim Easton play. Some friends and former bandmates of Kurt's now play in Easton's back-up band.
I arrived in time to catch a lengthy set by Jay Bennett and Edward Burch. The club was all a-twitter because Bennett's the guy who "got kicked out of Wilco." Word is he plays a role in I Am Trying to Break Your Heart. They performed a solid set, albeit long, and I spent much of the evening chatting with Kurt and Geraldine. In fact, I didn't really pay much attention to Easton at all, and I went home way too late for a weeknight.
Dragging my feet today, Media Dieticians, and it's so beautiful and warm outside. And, adding mystery to misery, I somehow skinned my knuckles last night. I have no idea how I scraped my right hand so. Sigh. Tonight's going to be a quiet night inside, occupied by dishes, laundry, recycling, and the television. I'm getting too old for this.
Oh, I am burning too brightly as I near my 30th birthday. Last night, Kurt called around 9 saying that he was going to TT the Bear's to see Tim Easton play. Some friends and former bandmates of Kurt's now play in Easton's back-up band.
I arrived in time to catch a lengthy set by Jay Bennett and Edward Burch. The club was all a-twitter because Bennett's the guy who "got kicked out of Wilco." Word is he plays a role in I Am Trying to Break Your Heart. They performed a solid set, albeit long, and I spent much of the evening chatting with Kurt and Geraldine. In fact, I didn't really pay much attention to Easton at all, and I went home way too late for a weeknight.
Dragging my feet today, Media Dieticians, and it's so beautiful and warm outside. And, adding mystery to misery, I somehow skinned my knuckles last night. I have no idea how I scraped my right hand so. Sigh. Tonight's going to be a quiet night inside, occupied by dishes, laundry, recycling, and the television. I'm getting too old for this.
Corollary: Television-Impaired VI
Pitchfork has published an article about the indie-rock leanings of Dawson's Creek, and the inclusion of local yokels Choo Choo la Rouge on said show.
It's an interesting look at how music is selected for TV shows -- and the impact that inclusion might (or might not) have on a band's "career." Interesting trivial tidbit: The Dawson's Creek Music Guide lists every song played in various episodes, complete with links to bands' Web sites, cross-referenced mentions of other episodes a musical group was featured in, and descriptions of the scenes during which a song was played. You can even compile your own soundtrack of songs from the show.
Now if only my copy of the Gilmore Girls soundtrack would arrive, already!
Pitchfork has published an article about the indie-rock leanings of Dawson's Creek, and the inclusion of local yokels Choo Choo la Rouge on said show.
It's an interesting look at how music is selected for TV shows -- and the impact that inclusion might (or might not) have on a band's "career." Interesting trivial tidbit: The Dawson's Creek Music Guide lists every song played in various episodes, complete with links to bands' Web sites, cross-referenced mentions of other episodes a musical group was featured in, and descriptions of the scenes during which a song was played. You can even compile your own soundtrack of songs from the show.
Now if only my copy of the Gilmore Girls soundtrack would arrive, already!
Magazine Me XXIII
Reasons You Should Read Sports Illustrated Even If You Don't Like Sports:
1. Steve Rushin. The senior writer's Air and Space columns read the way good letters from the editor should: personal, poignant, and principled.
2. The Show. This two-column roundup of one liners penned by David Letterman's head monologue writer, Bill Scheft, offers ample fuel for the water-cooler fire.
3. Faces in the Crowd. Few magazines have celebrated the Everyman -- here represented by junior, high-school, college, and other workaday amateur athletes -- as visibly or consistently.
4. The annual swimsuit issue. Meow!
5. You are -- or you know -- a man. Sometimes, knowing a little about sports, just a little, can be useful. And reading SI is hella better than watching sports, for crissakes.
Reasons You Should Read Sports Illustrated Even If You Don't Like Sports:
1. Steve Rushin. The senior writer's Air and Space columns read the way good letters from the editor should: personal, poignant, and principled.
2. The Show. This two-column roundup of one liners penned by David Letterman's head monologue writer, Bill Scheft, offers ample fuel for the water-cooler fire.
3. Faces in the Crowd. Few magazines have celebrated the Everyman -- here represented by junior, high-school, college, and other workaday amateur athletes -- as visibly or consistently.
4. The annual swimsuit issue. Meow!
5. You are -- or you know -- a man. Sometimes, knowing a little about sports, just a little, can be useful. And reading SI is hella better than watching sports, for crissakes.
Thursday, February 20, 2003
Corollary: Games People Play V
Here are some snapshots fresh from the Bucket Ball tournament. Get your game on.
The object of our desire: The bucket.
Referee Daigo explains scoring to Andrew.
Dan gets in the zone...
...prepares to throw...
...and misses!
The fans in the cheap seats cheer, nonetheless.
Keeping score.
Showing team pride.
Twintern Paul gives Rob a run for his money.
Boo-yah!
More from the floor.
Wicked Dixon!
A close call.
Murdoch checking the schedule
"Oh, let's check the rules to see if that counts."
Game over.
As soon as the BBL releases the official scores and statistics, I'll file another tournament report.
Here are some snapshots fresh from the Bucket Ball tournament. Get your game on.
The object of our desire: The bucket.
Referee Daigo explains scoring to Andrew.
Dan gets in the zone...
...prepares to throw...
...and misses!
The fans in the cheap seats cheer, nonetheless.
Keeping score.
Showing team pride.
Twintern Paul gives Rob a run for his money.
Boo-yah!
More from the floor.
Wicked Dixon!
A close call.
Murdoch checking the schedule
"Oh, let's check the rules to see if that counts."
Game over.
As soon as the BBL releases the official scores and statistics, I'll file another tournament report.
Hiking History IV
The Boston World Explorers' Foundation gathered this past Sunday for its second expedition. On the coldest day of the winter to date, on the 80th anniversary of the opening of Tutankhamen's tomb, and the day before the Blizzard of 2003, foundation members delved into the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Boston.
The Intrepid Explorers:
David Belson
Hiromi Hiraoka
Shannon Okey
Michael Reed
Heath Row
Here are some architectural, cultural, and historical highlights we explored in Beacon Hill.
Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, who introduced kindergartens to Boston, operated a bookstore at 13-15 West St. The site, next door to the modern-day Brattle Book Store, is now a parking lot. Margaret Fuller, edior of The Dial, held discussion salons in the shop. And Peabody, an active feminist, was the model for Henry James' character Miss Birdseye in The Bostonians.
The Boston Alms House, one of the country's earliest poor houses, was located at the corner of Beacon and Park streets.
Between 1848 and 1888, there was a reservoir complex located in the block delineated by Hancock, Derne, Bowdoin, and Mount Vernon streets, directly behind the State House. Water stored there was piped in 15 miles from Lake Cochituate in Natick. Today, nothing remains of the squat, imposing, fort-like structure.
Much of Boston Common and Beacon Hill covers land purchased from William Blackstone, one of Boston's earliest settlers. After one of the early colonies failed, Blackstone remained behind with his library of 200 books, making a wilderness home near a spring supposedly where Louisburg Square is now. A plaque at the corner of Beacon and Spruce streets also supposedly marks the location of Blackstone's house. Louisburg Square is the site of the first home owners' association in America. The precursor to the condo associations of today, residents ringing the square share upkeep costs to maintain the fenced park area. And each parking space is deeded to a resident.
William Dean Howells, editor of The Atlantic, lived at 4 Louisburg Square. He also hosted the Saturday Club discussion salon.
Lucy Stone, an abolitionist and suffragette, edited the Women's Journal out of 5 Park St.
Julia Ward Howe, writer of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" lived at 32 Mount Vernon St. She wrote the hymn at 24 West Cedar, the former home of abolitionist Wendell Phillips. She also held meetings of the Radical Club at 13 Chestnut.
Edwin Booth, the actor brother of assassin John Wilkes Booth, lived at 29A Chestnut. He was performing in a play in Boston at the time of Lincoln's killing. Upon hearing news of the shooting, he skipped town.
Robert Frost lived at 88 Mount Vernon. Henry James' father and sister lived at 131 Mount Vernon. The view of Beacon Hill, the Charles River, and Cambridge detailed in chapter 20 of The Bostonians may have been the view from their home. Mount Vernon was once called "Mount Whoredom" because of Beacon Hill's former reputation as a red-light district.
Not far from the Charles Street Meeting House at the corner of Mount Vernon and Charles is the converted fire station that housed the cast of Real World Boston.
Acorn Street is a cobbled, privately owned street. It's arguably Boston's most photographed street -- sure enough, when we approached it, some British tourists were taking pictures! -- and among the city's narrowest.
Pinckney Street traditional separated black from white Beacon Hill. (When the wealthy moved into the North End, they pushed out the previous black residents. Then, after the Beacon Hill neighborhood was filled in using soil from Trimountaine, the wealthy followed the blacks there, too. Henry David Thoreau lived at 4 Pinckney. Louisa May Alcott lived at No. 20. The House of Odd Windows at No. 24 has no two windows the same on the side facing the street. Workers renovating 62 Pinckney in the '20s discovered hidden chambers that were used to house slaves along the Underground Railroad.
Phillips Street also features Underground Railroad stops. Fugitive slaves stayed in boarding houses paid for by members of the Committee of Vigilance, an abolitionist group organized by Julia Ward Howe's husband. Samuel Gridley Howe also founded the Perkins Institute for the Blind.
Rollins Square, a cul de sac that opens off of Revere Street, dead ends at a fake house. The façade, complete with pillars, window shutters, and a rocking chair, blocks a 20-foot drop to the street on the other side.
Lastly, even though Buzzy's is gone, part of the former Charles Street Jail remains near the Charles/MGH T stop and Mass General. Its central building, which will be incorporated into a new hospital/hotel complex, was built in 1849 at the end of Boston's Granite Age. It was crowded and miserable for inmates and closed in the '80s.
Thanks to everyone who participated! "We may not know where we're going, but we've read a lot about it."
Sources: Philip Bergen, Old Boston in Early Photographs, 1850-1918; William Corbett, Literary New England; Fodor's Boston '96; Walt Kellley, What They Never Told You About Boston; Greg and Katherine Letterman, Walking Boston; and A. McVoy McIntyre, Beacon Hill: A Walking Tour
The Boston World Explorers' Foundation gathered this past Sunday for its second expedition. On the coldest day of the winter to date, on the 80th anniversary of the opening of Tutankhamen's tomb, and the day before the Blizzard of 2003, foundation members delved into the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Boston.
The Intrepid Explorers:
Here are some architectural, cultural, and historical highlights we explored in Beacon Hill.
Thanks to everyone who participated! "We may not know where we're going, but we've read a lot about it."
Sources: Philip Bergen, Old Boston in Early Photographs, 1850-1918; William Corbett, Literary New England; Fodor's Boston '96; Walt Kellley, What They Never Told You About Boston; Greg and Katherine Letterman, Walking Boston; and A. McVoy McIntyre, Beacon Hill: A Walking Tour
Games People Play V
Some co-workers invented a new sport called Bucket Ball. The first Bucket Ball tournament starts tonight at 5 p.m.
Some co-workers invented a new sport called Bucket Ball. The first Bucket Ball tournament starts tonight at 5 p.m.
It's an Ad, Ad, Ad, Ad World XXIV
As if a world in which Maxim shills hair dye for men and Hustler revitalizes seedy strip clubs wasn't bad enough, the female-oriented surf clothes maker Roxy has teamed up with MTV and HarperCollins to create a TV show and book series about girl surf culture. Buy the book, wear the pants.
Shades of DC Shoes' Project Detention show. Is that still airing?
Thanks to Bookslut.
As if a world in which Maxim shills hair dye for men and Hustler revitalizes seedy strip clubs wasn't bad enough, the female-oriented surf clothes maker Roxy has teamed up with MTV and HarperCollins to create a TV show and book series about girl surf culture. Buy the book, wear the pants.
Shades of DC Shoes' Project Detention show. Is that still airing?
Thanks to Bookslut.
Event-O-Dex XXXVIII
One for the day planners:
Saturday, March 29: Beantown Zinetown 6 will run from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Mass College of Art Gym in Boston.
Thanks to Lisa Off My Jammy.
One for the day planners:
Saturday, March 29: Beantown Zinetown 6 will run from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Mass College of Art Gym in Boston.
Thanks to Lisa Off My Jammy.
Radio Raves
WNUR-FM is one of the best college radio stations in the country, if not one of the best radio stations period. I DJ'd there between 1991 and 1995 while a student at Northwestern University, hosting the jazz, folk, and Shaking and Stomping show (surf, rockabilly, and garage).
WNUR's annual pledge drive -- Phoneathon -- starts tomorrow.
That's just the Jazz Show's email solicitation. You can check out WNUR's programming schedule online, as well as learn more about Phoneathon.
I give WNUR money every year. And I don't even mind not receiving the premiums.
WNUR-FM is one of the best college radio stations in the country, if not one of the best radio stations period. I DJ'd there between 1991 and 1995 while a student at Northwestern University, hosting the jazz, folk, and Shaking and Stomping show (surf, rockabilly, and garage).
WNUR's annual pledge drive -- Phoneathon -- starts tomorrow.
Please consider supporting WNUR 89.3 FM this year (between Thursday, Feb. 21, through Feb. 27). The Jazz Show on WNUR runs Monday-Friday from 5 a.m. through 12:30 p.m., giving everyone in Chicago and all over the world via our Webcast 37.5 hours of jazz every week. WNUR depends on its listeners for financial support -- Northwestern University only pays for transmitter-related expenses, basically just enough enough to keep our signal up. Everything else in our budget (programming-related expenses, repairs, replacements, upgrades, etc.) comes from the money we raise.
Check out WNUR's Web site starting tomorrow morning to see all the premiums we're offering as gifts to our donors. The Jazz Show is offering over 80 different CDs that are representative of the music we play over the air. If you think non-commercial, independent, and local jazz programming in Chicago is important, then this is a great way to show your support.
That's just the Jazz Show's email solicitation. You can check out WNUR's programming schedule online, as well as learn more about Phoneathon.
I give WNUR money every year. And I don't even mind not receiving the premiums.
Wednesday, February 19, 2003
Happy Birthday to Media Dieticians XI
I turn 30 next Wednesday.
People tell me that that's kind of a big deal.
Friends and family ask me what I'm doing to celebrate.
I'll tell you what I'm doing.
To honor all past, present, and future university teaching assistants and professors, I am holding office hours.
That's right: Office hours.
If by "office" you mean "bar."
(I'm totally serious about the "hours" bit. Turning 29 was hard enough. 30 should be a cakewalk. If by "cake" you mean "beer." And if by "walk" you mean "drink.")
The essentials:
Heath Row's 30th Birthday Office Hours
8 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2003
Cambridgeport Saloon
300 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge
(Between Central Square and MIT)
Any and all Media Dieticians are invited. Come and go as you wish. Bring friends and family members. Bring quarters for the jukebox.
Quoth the Boston Phoenix, "The Cambridgeport Saloon is no den of bigotry; it's not even a very rowdy place. There are just as many MIT students and townie sports fans hanging at the bar as there are skinheads. But thank God the latter have taken over the jukebox, which cranks out a collection of '77-vintage UK punk and early American hardcore as extensive as you're likely to find in any bar."
Quoth the MIT Tech, "The Cambridge License Commission has voted to require the Cambridgeport Saloon to hire a security guard on weekend evenings to patrol the sidewalk outside the bar."
Thank god it's Wednesday. And thank you for your attention.
I turn 30 next Wednesday.
People tell me that that's kind of a big deal.
Friends and family ask me what I'm doing to celebrate.
I'll tell you what I'm doing.
To honor all past, present, and future university teaching assistants and professors, I am holding office hours.
That's right: Office hours.
If by "office" you mean "bar."
(I'm totally serious about the "hours" bit. Turning 29 was hard enough. 30 should be a cakewalk. If by "cake" you mean "beer." And if by "walk" you mean "drink.")
The essentials:
Any and all Media Dieticians are invited. Come and go as you wish. Bring friends and family members. Bring quarters for the jukebox.
Quoth the Boston Phoenix, "The Cambridgeport Saloon is no den of bigotry; it's not even a very rowdy place. There are just as many MIT students and townie sports fans hanging at the bar as there are skinheads. But thank God the latter have taken over the jukebox, which cranks out a collection of '77-vintage UK punk and early American hardcore as extensive as you're likely to find in any bar."
Quoth the MIT Tech, "The Cambridge License Commission has voted to require the Cambridgeport Saloon to hire a security guard on weekend evenings to patrol the sidewalk outside the bar."
Thank god it's Wednesday. And thank you for your attention.
Event-O-Dex XXXVII
Friday, Feb. 21: Lloyd Arthur (saxophone and guitar) and Frank O'Dell (drums) perform a free spazz jazz show at 8 p.m. at Twisted Village Records on Harvard Square.
Friday, Feb. 21: Lloyd Arthur (saxophone and guitar) and Frank O'Dell (drums) perform a free spazz jazz show at 8 p.m. at Twisted Village Records on Harvard Square.
Corollary: Big Brother Is Watching XII
Portland, Oregon-based attorney Bert Krages has developed a legal handbook for photographers, as well as a downloadable guide to your rights as a shutterbug. Quoth Krages:
Thanks to Interesting People.
Portland, Oregon-based attorney Bert Krages has developed a legal handbook for photographers, as well as a downloadable guide to your rights as a shutterbug. Quoth Krages:
The right to take photographs is now under assault more than ever. People are being stopped, harassed, and even intimidated into handing over their personal property simply because they were taking photographs of subjects that made other people uncomfortable. Recent examples include photographing industrial plants, bridges, and vessels at sea. For the most part, attempts to restrict photography are based on misguided fears about the supposed dangers that unrestricted photography presents to society.
Ironically, unrestricted photography by private citizens has played an integral role in protecting the freedom, security, and well being of all Americans. Photography in the United States has contributed to improvements
in civil rights, curbed abusive child labor practices, and provided information important to investigating crimes. These images have not always been pretty and often have offended the sensibilities of governmental and
commercial interests who had vested interests in a status quo that was adverse to the majority in our country.
Photography has not contributed to a decline in public safety or economic vitality in the United States. When people think back to the acts of terrorism that have occurred over the last forty years, none have depended on or even involved photography. Restrictions on photography would have not prevented any of these acts. Similarly, some corporations have a history of abusing the rights of photographers under the guise of protecting their trade secrets. These claims are almost always bogus since entities are required to keep trade secrets from public view if they want to protect them. Trade secret laws do not give anyone the right to persecute photographers.
The Photographer's Right is a downloadable guide that is loosely based on the ACLU's Bust Card and the Know Your Rights flyer. It may be downloaded and printed out using Adobe Acrobat Reader. You may make copies and carry them your wallet, pocket or camera bag to give you quick access to your rights and obligations concerning confrontations over photography. You may distribute the guide to others provided that such distribution is not done for commercial gain and credit is given to the author.
Thanks to Interesting People.
Big Brother Is Watching XII
Attention, trainspotters! A student at Haverford College was arrested last weekend while working on a homework assignment in Philadelphia. As part of the Cities project, the student was taking pictures of SEPTA facilities when he was arrested, detained for a few hours, and eventually released. Word is that taking photographs of public transit facilities is cause for arrest during "Code Orange" alerts.
Thanks to Interesting People.
Attention, trainspotters! A student at Haverford College was arrested last weekend while working on a homework assignment in Philadelphia. As part of the Cities project, the student was taking pictures of SEPTA facilities when he was arrested, detained for a few hours, and eventually released. Word is that taking photographs of public transit facilities is cause for arrest during "Code Orange" alerts.
Thanks to Interesting People.
Tuesday, February 18, 2003
It's an Ad, Ad, Ad, Ad World XXIII
Ogilvy & Mather in Toronto has created an ad spot for the Television Bureau of Canada's awards, the Bessies. It's a well-produced and bittersweet short film about the birth -- and death -- of an idea.
Thanks to Media Dietician Laszlo Perlorian.
Ogilvy & Mather in Toronto has created an ad spot for the Television Bureau of Canada's awards, the Bessies. It's a well-produced and bittersweet short film about the birth -- and death -- of an idea.
Thanks to Media Dietician Laszlo Perlorian.
Corollary: The Blogging of Business
Well, one of my questions about how AlwaysOn plans to incorporate members' voices outside of comments and discussion posts has been addressed. In my in box yesterday was an email from Tony Perkins that reads:
Seems like they're heading in the right direction!
Well, one of my questions about how AlwaysOn plans to incorporate members' voices outside of comments and discussion posts has been addressed. In my in box yesterday was an email from Tony Perkins that reads:
AlwaysOn wants your opinion! But it has to be 600 words or less.
AO is your site. I would like to extend you a personal invitation to tell the rest of us what you think. This opinion piece should be 600 words or less, very specific in its point, and ideally supported by a few data points and a few links to other sites.
Once you have a proof-read version of your contribution please feel free to send it to me at this e-mail address. We look forward to seeing what you come up with.
We now have over 6,000 members, and when you browse the member profiles you can see that it is a pretty smart group. So in addition to our regular correspondents, we wanted to open up the site to our most thoughtful members.
In the next version of the site (v.75) we will be adding a member blog room so everyone can go at it. And we will be posting the entries that get the most views and highest ratings on the home page. Any other suggestions on how you think we should evolve the site would be appreciated.
Seems like they're heading in the right direction!
Monday, February 17, 2003
Comic Books and Commerce
Ninth Art's Paul O'Brien asks: Has Marvel sold its creative soul to the anti-smoking lobby?
Ninth Art's Paul O'Brien asks: Has Marvel sold its creative soul to the anti-smoking lobby?
Blogging About Blogging L
Google just bought Pyra Labs, maker of Blogger. Congratulations, Ev! And happy President's Day.
Thanks to Interesting People.
Google just bought Pyra Labs, maker of Blogger. Congratulations, Ev! And happy President's Day.
Thanks to Interesting People.
Event-O-Dex XXXVI
The Zeitgeist Gallery in Inman Square in Cambridge is hosting an exhibition of original comic art featuring R. Crumb, Dan Clowes, Rick Altergott, Ariel Bordeaux, Jack Davis, Greg Cook, Art Spiegelman, and others through the month of March. "Comics as Art" can be seen at 1353 Cambridge St., Cambridge.
The Zeitgeist Gallery in Inman Square in Cambridge is hosting an exhibition of original comic art featuring R. Crumb, Dan Clowes, Rick Altergott, Ariel Bordeaux, Jack Davis, Greg Cook, Art Spiegelman, and others through the month of March. "Comics as Art" can be seen at 1353 Cambridge St., Cambridge.
Comics and Community VIII
The March 2003 edition of Wizard includes an item about an interesting music-and-comics collaboration between Jim Mahfood and DJ Z-Trip. Now that Mahfood has moved to LA, he's done some "live art" at the El Rey Theater in December. While Z-Trip played hip-hop and funk music, Mahfood threw up some giant murals. Word is they intend to do more comics collaborations in the future.
The March 2003 edition of Wizard includes an item about an interesting music-and-comics collaboration between Jim Mahfood and DJ Z-Trip. Now that Mahfood has moved to LA, he's done some "live art" at the El Rey Theater in December. While Z-Trip played hip-hop and funk music, Mahfood threw up some giant murals. Word is they intend to do more comics collaborations in the future.
Comic Book Collections IV
Not so much comic books as s-f and punk-rock fanzines, here are two interesting DIY archival opportunities.
Per the September 2002 issue of Locus, and as mentioned here Aug. 2, 2002, the University of Calgary Library acquired the s-f book and magazine collection of William Robert Gibson, who died at the of 92 in 2001. Gibson's collection spans Jules Verne's 19th-century work to the 21st century's cyperpunk writing. It also comprises pulp magazines from the 1920s-1950s. The library estimates that it needs to raise $500,000 to clean, preserve, catalog, and house the collection, which will be open to researchers. Email Blane Hogue, director of development, information resources, for more information.
And in Maximumrocknroll #236, Mykel Board says that the Salt Lake City Library System is paying cash money for non-newsprint zines. Mail materials to Brooke Young, Salt Lake City Public Library, 209 E. 500 S., Salt Lake City, UT 84111 -- with a bill -- and the library will send you a check to cover the donation. Board's already sent them some stuff and gotten his.
Not so much comic books as s-f and punk-rock fanzines, here are two interesting DIY archival opportunities.
Per the September 2002 issue of Locus, and as mentioned here Aug. 2, 2002, the University of Calgary Library acquired the s-f book and magazine collection of William Robert Gibson, who died at the of 92 in 2001. Gibson's collection spans Jules Verne's 19th-century work to the 21st century's cyperpunk writing. It also comprises pulp magazines from the 1920s-1950s. The library estimates that it needs to raise $500,000 to clean, preserve, catalog, and house the collection, which will be open to researchers. Email Blane Hogue, director of development, information resources, for more information.
And in Maximumrocknroll #236, Mykel Board says that the Salt Lake City Library System is paying cash money for non-newsprint zines. Mail materials to Brooke Young, Salt Lake City Public Library, 209 E. 500 S., Salt Lake City, UT 84111 -- with a bill -- and the library will send you a check to cover the donation. Board's already sent them some stuff and gotten his.
Pieces, Particles XIII
With the onset of winter in Boss Town, I've been spending some real quality time on the Big Blue Couch at Church Corner. I hope to keep up with my clip file more frequently, and I apologize for the daunting entry that follows. That said, the following media-related stories recently spotted in print publications might be worth a look. Heads and decks, only. Heads and decks.
Alternative Voices on Campus by Emma Ruby-Sachs and Timothy Waligore, The Nation, Feb. 17, 2003
Progressive journals are key in creating a movement, but they lack support
Are You Addicted to TV? by Martiga Lohn, Natural Health, January/February 2003
You can turn it off whenever you want, right? Or can you? Find out what TV is really doing to you and how altering your habits can change your life
Big Brother Is Also Being Watched, with a New Alarm by Eleanor Heartney, The New York Times, Jan. 26, 2003
Even before 9/11, artists were looking at issues raised by a society of surveillance
Blabberwocky by Scot Lehigh, The Boston Globe Magazine, Feb. 9, 2003
We've all begun to talk in media-driven stupid-speak, clipped cliches and solecisms that amount to a verbal virus
Bone: The End, Wizard, February 2003
Boston's Logan International Airport by Douglas Corrigan, Airliners, September/October 2002
Gateway to New England
Cable TV System Uprooted, and Some Russian Immigrants See Vestiges of Totalitarian Past by Andy Newman, The New York Times, Jan. 5, 2003
A building manager cuts off reception of a Russian-language channel
Charles N. Brown: The Joy of SF by Jennifer Hall, Locus, September 2002
Community Rallies to Aid Creator, Wizard, February 2003
Copyright Monopolies by Andrew Shapiro, The Nation, Feb. 17, 2003
Culture Change by David Goodman, Mother Jones, January/February 2003
Does the selling of Stonyfield Farm yogurt signals the end of socially responsible business -- or a new beginning?
Dial Again by Roger Angell, The New Yorker, Feb. 10, 2003
On the Ameche
Doctor, My Eyes by Joel Achenbach, National Geographic, February 2003
How we watch TV ads
Doing Their Own Thing, Making Art Together by Holland Cotter, The New York Times, Jan. 19, 2003
A new movement of collectives, with names like rock bands, harks back to the 60's (an uncool notion for these digital-age multitaskers).
E-Epistles by Anjula Razdan, Utne, January-February 2003
A letter-writing revival
Fear of a Punk Planet by Ivan Kreilkamp, The Nation, Jan. 13-20, 2003
Flash News by Geoff Edgers, The Boston Globe, Jan. 26, 2003
Call them reality videos. They show young women willing to life their shirts, and 4.5 million were sold last year
The Forest for the Trees by Michael Ackerman, The Big Takeover, No. 51
Game School's Finest Minds by Mark Schone, Rolling Stone, Feb. 20, 2003
Meet the young stars of a university devoted to video games -- they're the happiest dorks in college
Get Ready for the Blogs by Leif Utne, Utne, January-February 2003
Making good on the Internet's promise of a global village
Getting Your War On by Camille Dodero, The Boston Phoenix, Oct. 25, 2002
Here at GQ by Martin Beiser, GQ, September 2002
Notes on forty-five years of ascendancy
Here Comes the Fuzz by Richard Linnett, Advertising Age, Jan. 13, 2003
Bat Boy crosses the line
The Hidden Life of Art Supplies by Sara Zaske, Sierra, January/February 2003
Holy Rock 'n' Rollers by Lauren Sandler, The Nation, Jan. 13-20, 2003
How to Write a Catchy Beer Ad by Chris Ballard, The New York Times Magazine, Jan. 26, 2003
Footballs, guitars -- and twins -- turned a commercial into a phenomenon
The Hush of History by Cate McQuaid, The Boston Globe, Jan. 26, 2003
Not all at Quabbin is a watery grave; relics of people and towns remain
Just Plain Folks Write Songs, Too by Jon Pareles, The New York Times, Feb. 9, 2003
For decades, song-sharking has preyed on naive, hopeful amateurs. But sometimes the racket can turn up winners
Ladder to Success by Joanna Weiss, The Boston Globe, Feb. 9, 2003
Step by step, publicists help turn shabby area into hip new district for Boston's martini crowd
The Lost Art of Reading the Newspaper at Night by A.J. Jacobs, Esquire, February 2003
Major Labels' Century-Long Abuse of Artists (and Customers), and Why Things Are Finally Starting to Change by Jack Rabid, The Big Takeover, No. 51
The Man Who Wasn't There by David Wild, Rolling Stone, Jan. 23, 2003
Being the director of Adaptation and the skate-punk husband of Hollywood royalty is one thing. Being able to talk about it, well, um...
A Meter Man with a Mission by Marilyn Berlin Snell, Sierra, January/February 2003
Mexico City's VW Bugs Are Headed for Extinction by Tim Weiner, The New York Times, Jan. 5, 2003
Mobile Afterlife by Katie Fehrenbacher, ReadyMade, No. 5
Where do cell phones go when they die?
New Plaque Marks the First Home of the Globe by Karla Kingsley, The Boston Globe, Jan. 25, 2003
Not So Funny by Mike Miliard, The Boston Phoenix, Feb. 7, 2003
"Comic" strips get serious about life
Online Treachery by Lazlow, Playboy, February 2003 (?)
Net gaming has become a sinister playground for lurkers and assholes
Orville Poundridge's GQ by David Kamp, GQ, September 2002
A scrapbook of the century past
The Power of Music by Ann Powers, The Nation, Jan. 13-20, 2003
Practical Publishers by Phil Hall, The Hartford Courant, Oct. 17, 2002
Online magazines succeed by holding down startup costs, sometimes to zero
The "Public Interest" by Bill O'Driscoll, The Nation, Jan. 6, 2003
Real People by Jenn Shreve, ReadyMade, No. 5
In advertising's new reality, the ultimate sales pitch is you
The Reconnection by Chris Wright, The Boston Phoenix, Jan. 24, 2003
Two years after his break-up with WBUR, Chris Lydon is back in business
Scientists Make Music with DNA, The Boston Globe, Jan. 19, 2003
Social Climbing by Blaize Wilkinson, ReadyMade, No. 5
How to be an urban tour guide
Spambusters by Jacqueline White, Utne, January-February 2003
How to rid your inbox of penis enlargement offers
Spammers ISO Respect by Brad Stone, Newsweek, Dec. 30, 2002/Jan. 6, 2003
Straight to Video by John Mankiewicz, The New Yorker, Feb. 10, 2003
Tangled up in Spam by James Gleick, The New York Times Magazine, Feb. 9, 2003
Those unwanted messages have become the bane of the Internet. Why we can't just say no
Teen Beat by Mark Singer, The New Yorker, Jan. 13, 2003
What happens when a high-school weekly is the only newspaper in town
That Sucking Sound by Neal Pollack, GQ, February 2003
Gimmicks, antics and ironic distance. Who needs real talent when you've mastered punk-rock foolishness?
TV on DVD: A-OK by Matthew Gilbert, The Boston Globe Magazine, Jan. 26, 2003
Several television series are now available on disc, meaning a longer afterlife and maybe even better programs in the future
Urban Legends by Michael Azerrad, The New Yorker, Aug. 12, 2002
Utopia 2.0 by Leif Utne, Utne, January-February 2003
Play games, build a future
Video Underground by Mike Miliard, The Boston Phoenix, Oct. 25, 2002
Indie film finds a home
Voices of America by Tom Sinclair, Entertainment Weekly, Feb. 14, 2003
For 50 years, ordinary folk have paid to have their verse set to music. Now song-poems are being hailed as art
Wall Street Journal Bigs Up NME!, New Musical Express, Jan. 4, 2003
Financial bible acclaims our role in breaking new talent on both sides of the pond
Was Romenesko Rebuilt in a Daze? by Greg Mitchell, Editor & Publisher, Nov. 25, 2002
Forget Iraq, Osama, and the ad-revenue blahs: When a favorite Web site gets redesigned, all hell breaks loose in media land
What It's Really Like... to Give Birth on Television by Stephanie Karp, Parents, February 2003
We agreed to let a camera crew videotape my labor and delivery and broadcast it to millions
When Uncle Sam Wanted Us by Paul Rauber, Sierra, January/February 2003
To Vice President Dick Cheney, conservation is just "a sign of personal virtue." In World War II, it was every citizen's duty
Why Information Will No Longer Be Free by Michael Scherer, Columbia Journalism Review, January/February 2003
Zen Is Not a Perfume by Jan Chozen Bays, Buddhadharma, Fall 2002
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.
With the onset of winter in Boss Town, I've been spending some real quality time on the Big Blue Couch at Church Corner. I hope to keep up with my clip file more frequently, and I apologize for the daunting entry that follows. That said, the following media-related stories recently spotted in print publications might be worth a look. Heads and decks, only. Heads and decks.
Alternative Voices on Campus by Emma Ruby-Sachs and Timothy Waligore, The Nation, Feb. 17, 2003
Progressive journals are key in creating a movement, but they lack support
Are You Addicted to TV? by Martiga Lohn, Natural Health, January/February 2003
You can turn it off whenever you want, right? Or can you? Find out what TV is really doing to you and how altering your habits can change your life
Big Brother Is Also Being Watched, with a New Alarm by Eleanor Heartney, The New York Times, Jan. 26, 2003
Even before 9/11, artists were looking at issues raised by a society of surveillance
Blabberwocky by Scot Lehigh, The Boston Globe Magazine, Feb. 9, 2003
We've all begun to talk in media-driven stupid-speak, clipped cliches and solecisms that amount to a verbal virus
Bone: The End, Wizard, February 2003
Boston's Logan International Airport by Douglas Corrigan, Airliners, September/October 2002
Gateway to New England
Cable TV System Uprooted, and Some Russian Immigrants See Vestiges of Totalitarian Past by Andy Newman, The New York Times, Jan. 5, 2003
A building manager cuts off reception of a Russian-language channel
Charles N. Brown: The Joy of SF by Jennifer Hall, Locus, September 2002
Community Rallies to Aid Creator, Wizard, February 2003
Copyright Monopolies by Andrew Shapiro, The Nation, Feb. 17, 2003
Culture Change by David Goodman, Mother Jones, January/February 2003
Does the selling of Stonyfield Farm yogurt signals the end of socially responsible business -- or a new beginning?
Dial Again by Roger Angell, The New Yorker, Feb. 10, 2003
On the Ameche
Doctor, My Eyes by Joel Achenbach, National Geographic, February 2003
How we watch TV ads
Doing Their Own Thing, Making Art Together by Holland Cotter, The New York Times, Jan. 19, 2003
A new movement of collectives, with names like rock bands, harks back to the 60's (an uncool notion for these digital-age multitaskers).
E-Epistles by Anjula Razdan, Utne, January-February 2003
A letter-writing revival
Fear of a Punk Planet by Ivan Kreilkamp, The Nation, Jan. 13-20, 2003
Flash News by Geoff Edgers, The Boston Globe, Jan. 26, 2003
Call them reality videos. They show young women willing to life their shirts, and 4.5 million were sold last year
The Forest for the Trees by Michael Ackerman, The Big Takeover, No. 51
Game School's Finest Minds by Mark Schone, Rolling Stone, Feb. 20, 2003
Meet the young stars of a university devoted to video games -- they're the happiest dorks in college
Get Ready for the Blogs by Leif Utne, Utne, January-February 2003
Making good on the Internet's promise of a global village
Getting Your War On by Camille Dodero, The Boston Phoenix, Oct. 25, 2002
Here at GQ by Martin Beiser, GQ, September 2002
Notes on forty-five years of ascendancy
Here Comes the Fuzz by Richard Linnett, Advertising Age, Jan. 13, 2003
Bat Boy crosses the line
The Hidden Life of Art Supplies by Sara Zaske, Sierra, January/February 2003
Holy Rock 'n' Rollers by Lauren Sandler, The Nation, Jan. 13-20, 2003
How to Write a Catchy Beer Ad by Chris Ballard, The New York Times Magazine, Jan. 26, 2003
Footballs, guitars -- and twins -- turned a commercial into a phenomenon
The Hush of History by Cate McQuaid, The Boston Globe, Jan. 26, 2003
Not all at Quabbin is a watery grave; relics of people and towns remain
Just Plain Folks Write Songs, Too by Jon Pareles, The New York Times, Feb. 9, 2003
For decades, song-sharking has preyed on naive, hopeful amateurs. But sometimes the racket can turn up winners
Ladder to Success by Joanna Weiss, The Boston Globe, Feb. 9, 2003
Step by step, publicists help turn shabby area into hip new district for Boston's martini crowd
The Lost Art of Reading the Newspaper at Night by A.J. Jacobs, Esquire, February 2003
Major Labels' Century-Long Abuse of Artists (and Customers), and Why Things Are Finally Starting to Change by Jack Rabid, The Big Takeover, No. 51
The Man Who Wasn't There by David Wild, Rolling Stone, Jan. 23, 2003
Being the director of Adaptation and the skate-punk husband of Hollywood royalty is one thing. Being able to talk about it, well, um...
A Meter Man with a Mission by Marilyn Berlin Snell, Sierra, January/February 2003
Mexico City's VW Bugs Are Headed for Extinction by Tim Weiner, The New York Times, Jan. 5, 2003
Mobile Afterlife by Katie Fehrenbacher, ReadyMade, No. 5
Where do cell phones go when they die?
New Plaque Marks the First Home of the Globe by Karla Kingsley, The Boston Globe, Jan. 25, 2003
Not So Funny by Mike Miliard, The Boston Phoenix, Feb. 7, 2003
"Comic" strips get serious about life
Online Treachery by Lazlow, Playboy, February 2003 (?)
Net gaming has become a sinister playground for lurkers and assholes
Orville Poundridge's GQ by David Kamp, GQ, September 2002
A scrapbook of the century past
The Power of Music by Ann Powers, The Nation, Jan. 13-20, 2003
Practical Publishers by Phil Hall, The Hartford Courant, Oct. 17, 2002
Online magazines succeed by holding down startup costs, sometimes to zero
The "Public Interest" by Bill O'Driscoll, The Nation, Jan. 6, 2003
Real People by Jenn Shreve, ReadyMade, No. 5
In advertising's new reality, the ultimate sales pitch is you
The Reconnection by Chris Wright, The Boston Phoenix, Jan. 24, 2003
Two years after his break-up with WBUR, Chris Lydon is back in business
Scientists Make Music with DNA, The Boston Globe, Jan. 19, 2003
Social Climbing by Blaize Wilkinson, ReadyMade, No. 5
How to be an urban tour guide
Spambusters by Jacqueline White, Utne, January-February 2003
How to rid your inbox of penis enlargement offers
Spammers ISO Respect by Brad Stone, Newsweek, Dec. 30, 2002/Jan. 6, 2003
Straight to Video by John Mankiewicz, The New Yorker, Feb. 10, 2003
Tangled up in Spam by James Gleick, The New York Times Magazine, Feb. 9, 2003
Those unwanted messages have become the bane of the Internet. Why we can't just say no
Teen Beat by Mark Singer, The New Yorker, Jan. 13, 2003
What happens when a high-school weekly is the only newspaper in town
That Sucking Sound by Neal Pollack, GQ, February 2003
Gimmicks, antics and ironic distance. Who needs real talent when you've mastered punk-rock foolishness?
TV on DVD: A-OK by Matthew Gilbert, The Boston Globe Magazine, Jan. 26, 2003
Several television series are now available on disc, meaning a longer afterlife and maybe even better programs in the future
Urban Legends by Michael Azerrad, The New Yorker, Aug. 12, 2002
Utopia 2.0 by Leif Utne, Utne, January-February 2003
Play games, build a future
Video Underground by Mike Miliard, The Boston Phoenix, Oct. 25, 2002
Indie film finds a home
Voices of America by Tom Sinclair, Entertainment Weekly, Feb. 14, 2003
For 50 years, ordinary folk have paid to have their verse set to music. Now song-poems are being hailed as art
Wall Street Journal Bigs Up NME!, New Musical Express, Jan. 4, 2003
Financial bible acclaims our role in breaking new talent on both sides of the pond
Was Romenesko Rebuilt in a Daze? by Greg Mitchell, Editor & Publisher, Nov. 25, 2002
Forget Iraq, Osama, and the ad-revenue blahs: When a favorite Web site gets redesigned, all hell breaks loose in media land
What It's Really Like... to Give Birth on Television by Stephanie Karp, Parents, February 2003
We agreed to let a camera crew videotape my labor and delivery and broadcast it to millions
When Uncle Sam Wanted Us by Paul Rauber, Sierra, January/February 2003
To Vice President Dick Cheney, conservation is just "a sign of personal virtue." In World War II, it was every citizen's duty
Why Information Will No Longer Be Free by Michael Scherer, Columbia Journalism Review, January/February 2003
Zen Is Not a Perfume by Jan Chozen Bays, Buddhadharma, Fall 2002
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.
Digesting the Daily VIII
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.
MTV correspondent battles stereotypes, bad music
Asian American dishes on celebrities, making it big, in front of crowd of 200
(Jan. 14, 2003)
A paper monopoly
Norris Bookstore is where NU gets its texts -- but what happens if service falls short?
(Jan. 16, 2003)
How Norris cornered the market
(Jan. 16, 2003)
TV star visits As-Am class
Actor Shin tells class about difficulties of getting minority roles in television
(Jan. 16, 2003)
Lord of the lingo
NU library employee has mastered the mystical tongue central to Tolkien's trilogy
(Jan. 17, 2003)
Pick-A-Prof posts profs' grade history on the Web
Site already in place at 50 universities; NU has no plans to go beyond CTEC
(Jan. 17, 2003)
Double trouble
Rumor that Olsen twins will attend NY proves false but funny
(Jan. 29, 2003)
Weekend detention to the Daily's editorial team for thinking that Janeane Garofalo's stand-up appearance on campus was worth so much ink. The Jan. 17, 2003 edition of the Daily features two (2) feature stories about the show, taking up about half of the front page (both with jumps inside). Sure, the pieces are theoretically different. Raksha Varma reports on Garofalo's act, and Jennifer Leopoldt interviews the comedian by phone. But the two stories might have worked much better if combined into one story -- and perhaps included in one of the paper's two feature sections. Access doesn't warrant so much coverage, and unless it's a hella slow news day in Evanston, you wasted a front page. Janeane's great, but she's not all that.
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.
MTV correspondent battles stereotypes, bad music
Asian American dishes on celebrities, making it big, in front of crowd of 200
(Jan. 14, 2003)
A paper monopoly
Norris Bookstore is where NU gets its texts -- but what happens if service falls short?
(Jan. 16, 2003)
How Norris cornered the market
(Jan. 16, 2003)
TV star visits As-Am class
Actor Shin tells class about difficulties of getting minority roles in television
(Jan. 16, 2003)
Lord of the lingo
NU library employee has mastered the mystical tongue central to Tolkien's trilogy
(Jan. 17, 2003)
Pick-A-Prof posts profs' grade history on the Web
Site already in place at 50 universities; NU has no plans to go beyond CTEC
(Jan. 17, 2003)
Double trouble
Rumor that Olsen twins will attend NY proves false but funny
(Jan. 29, 2003)
Weekend detention to the Daily's editorial team for thinking that Janeane Garofalo's stand-up appearance on campus was worth so much ink. The Jan. 17, 2003 edition of the Daily features two (2) feature stories about the show, taking up about half of the front page (both with jumps inside). Sure, the pieces are theoretically different. Raksha Varma reports on Garofalo's act, and Jennifer Leopoldt interviews the comedian by phone. But the two stories might have worked much better if combined into one story -- and perhaps included in one of the paper's two feature sections. Access doesn't warrant so much coverage, and unless it's a hella slow news day in Evanston, you wasted a front page. Janeane's great, but she's not all that.
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.
Friday, February 14, 2003
Corollary: The Blogging of Business
Ev points something out about AlwaysOn that I didn't catch on to. By hooking AlwaysOn's membership database into Salesforce.com, AlwaysOn is able to offer advertisers and sponsors real-time access to the users' demographics. Ev read the service's privacy statement, which I failed to do -- I usually just breeze on by stuff like that -- and it indicates that AlwaysOn will only share aggregate information to third parties, not the individual user data that Salesforce.com affords. "Sounds like a blatant violation," Ev concludes.
Ev points something out about AlwaysOn that I didn't catch on to. By hooking AlwaysOn's membership database into Salesforce.com, AlwaysOn is able to offer advertisers and sponsors real-time access to the users' demographics. Ev read the service's privacy statement, which I failed to do -- I usually just breeze on by stuff like that -- and it indicates that AlwaysOn will only share aggregate information to third parties, not the individual user data that Salesforce.com affords. "Sounds like a blatant violation," Ev concludes.
Music to My Eyes IX
Liz Enthusiasm's new "Stakeout!" video for local synthpop band Freezepop is perfect for Valentine's Day.
Happy Valentine's Day, everybody!
Liz Enthusiasm's new "Stakeout!" video for local synthpop band Freezepop is perfect for Valentine's Day.
Happy Valentine's Day, everybody!
Thursday, February 13, 2003
Workaday World XVII
L'esprit d'elevator:
Yes, Media Dieticians, it's cold in Boss Town today. Seems much colder than 17 degrees. Sheesh.
L'esprit d'elevator:
Fellow passenger: Bitter out there!
Me: Cold, today.
Fellow passenger: Just booked a ticket to Myrtle Beach. In April.
Me: Two months away!
Fellow passenger: If only I can make it.
Me: Count down those days.
Yes, Media Dieticians, it's cold in Boss Town today. Seems much colder than 17 degrees. Sheesh.
North End Moment XXXIII
I just saw a dark blue delivery van with the URL big.express.com printed on the passenger side door. No Web site exists at that URL. What's the point?
I just saw a dark blue delivery van with the URL big.express.com printed on the passenger side door. No Web site exists at that URL. What's the point?
Blogging About Blogging XLIX
Sorry to be so blog-specific today, but that's the way the ball bounces some days. Meg's got a new game going. Blog Logic brings the online community together to discuss why they blog. Andcetera. I just signed up, and posts to date address, well, the value of blogs and online communities.
Thanks to Doc Searls.
Sorry to be so blog-specific today, but that's the way the ball bounces some days. Meg's got a new game going. Blog Logic brings the online community together to discuss why they blog. Andcetera. I just signed up, and posts to date address, well, the value of blogs and online communities.
Thanks to Doc Searls.
Media Meet Space IV
My colleague Dan Cederholm went to Dave Winer's live blogging session at Harvard on Tuesday night so I didn't have to. Dan Bricklin took photos. Other folks wrote about it, too.
I kinda wish I'd have gone.
My colleague Dan Cederholm went to Dave Winer's live blogging session at Harvard on Tuesday night so I didn't have to. Dan Bricklin took photos. Other folks wrote about it, too.
I kinda wish I'd have gone.
Comics and Community VII
Savant's Kyle Rivest has declared March 3 Read a Comic Book in Public Day. Here are his guidelines:
Right on, Kyle. Here's to March 3!
Thanks to Bookslut.
Savant's Kyle Rivest has declared March 3 Read a Comic Book in Public Day. Here are his guidelines:
The comic book you read has to be in pamphlet format. Locally made mini-comics are encouraged, but not required. Only one comic book. If you make your own comics, it has to be someone else's book that you read. It has to be in a public place where people can actually see you. It must be a book you enjoy and would be willing to recommend to a complete stranger.
Right on, Kyle. Here's to March 3!
Thanks to Bookslut.
The Blogging of Business
Fortune's David Kirkpatrick wrote this week about the new AlwaysOn insiders' network for "chiefs, geeks, investors, boosters and wonks." Created by Upside and Red Herring founder Tony Perkins, AlwaysOn is billed as a "spontaneous and uncensored arena" in which members can share their business experience, ideas, and insight.
Ostensibly combining business reportage and blogging, AlwaysOn strikes me instead as a business news service with comment and discussion tools. Organizing material in more than 10 categories, including the Always On Generation, Real-Time Economy, and the tumble-weed town of the Underground Web (perhaps indicating the site creators' limited knowledge of independent net culture), the site is currently relatively quiet, despite a growing membership roster. While Perkins' 10 commandments are praise-worthy, I'm not convinced the service, albeit young, deserves Kirkpatrick's praise and hype.
Instead of representing the "Ebay-ization of media," AlwaysOn strikes me as a business-oriented Electric Minds as it was at launch. There's site manager-created content -- and member commentary and discussion. That discussion is bolstered by a robust membership directory, complete with contact information, which will further member interaction off site. But Perkins' use of the word "blog" is worrisome. Perkins calls the site's editorial entries "blogs." He also calls member comments and discussion posts blogs. But as newsworthy as blogs have been and will be, AlwaysOn includes extremely limited self-authoring tools. I cannot find a way to add my own entry, much less a dedicated personal blogging space.
In the end, if all we're doing is responding to what others have published or written, the success of something like AlwaysOn will rest squarely on two things: the value of its staff's editorial content -- and the personalities and participation of the people reading that content.
But is AlwaysOn blogging? I'm not so sure.
Fortune's David Kirkpatrick wrote this week about the new AlwaysOn insiders' network for "chiefs, geeks, investors, boosters and wonks." Created by Upside and Red Herring founder Tony Perkins, AlwaysOn is billed as a "spontaneous and uncensored arena" in which members can share their business experience, ideas, and insight.
Ostensibly combining business reportage and blogging, AlwaysOn strikes me instead as a business news service with comment and discussion tools. Organizing material in more than 10 categories, including the Always On Generation, Real-Time Economy, and the tumble-weed town of the Underground Web (perhaps indicating the site creators' limited knowledge of independent net culture), the site is currently relatively quiet, despite a growing membership roster. While Perkins' 10 commandments are praise-worthy, I'm not convinced the service, albeit young, deserves Kirkpatrick's praise and hype.
Instead of representing the "Ebay-ization of media," AlwaysOn strikes me as a business-oriented Electric Minds as it was at launch. There's site manager-created content -- and member commentary and discussion. That discussion is bolstered by a robust membership directory, complete with contact information, which will further member interaction off site. But Perkins' use of the word "blog" is worrisome. Perkins calls the site's editorial entries "blogs." He also calls member comments and discussion posts blogs. But as newsworthy as blogs have been and will be, AlwaysOn includes extremely limited self-authoring tools. I cannot find a way to add my own entry, much less a dedicated personal blogging space.
In the end, if all we're doing is responding to what others have published or written, the success of something like AlwaysOn will rest squarely on two things: the value of its staff's editorial content -- and the personalities and participation of the people reading that content.
But is AlwaysOn blogging? I'm not so sure.
Wednesday, February 12, 2003
From the In Box: Comics and Conversation III
You are the first person to "IM'erview" me -- and although my work is not particularly your tea of choice, you manage to be respectful of it rather than slandering. Very appropiate. Regardless, thanks for the free press.
My 13-page story in NEW THING: Identity -- I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BEARD SMOKES -- does carry a resemblance to the type of dialogue displayed in LEGAL ACTION and Studygroup -- but in place of sheer SHOCK HUMOR VALUE (and that is all that BEARD AND BABY BROTHER and SUPERCAT CUM are) I made a poignant TRUE-TO-MY-LIFE tale of young love gone fucked diagnol-wise. Of all the comics I've done so far, it is the one that counts for a more mature/intellectual readership. You might even like it. -- Victor Cayro
You are the first person to "IM'erview" me -- and although my work is not particularly your tea of choice, you manage to be respectful of it rather than slandering. Very appropiate. Regardless, thanks for the free press.
My 13-page story in NEW THING: Identity -- I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BEARD SMOKES -- does carry a resemblance to the type of dialogue displayed in LEGAL ACTION and Studygroup -- but in place of sheer SHOCK HUMOR VALUE (and that is all that BEARD AND BABY BROTHER and SUPERCAT CUM are) I made a poignant TRUE-TO-MY-LIFE tale of young love gone fucked diagnol-wise. Of all the comics I've done so far, it is the one that counts for a more mature/intellectual readership. You might even like it. -- Victor Cayro
Music to My Eyes VIII
I just met Erich Thaler, a former member of the now-defunct Boston hard-rock band Stompbox. Now an employee of the Sir Speedy copy shop in the Scotch & Sirloin building, Erich has a degree in music synthesis and used to work for a large-format color printer. We discussed the difference between print production and copy shop work, what it was like to sign with a label in the early '90s, the experience of touring with a band, and the enjoyment inherent in live music.
"For every band that makes it, there are hundreds that got one shot with a label," Erich says. "I know plenty of people who slug it out into their 40's. The music industry is so youth-oriented that they're not going to sign anyone over 20. I need to find a job that'll support me into my 50's, you know?"
Before Stompbox disbanded, they released a couple of 7-inches, put out a self-released record on Wonderdrug (which also included them on a compilation, and put out two albums with a major affiliated with Columbia and Sony. Now Erich works in a copy shop located in a low-traffic part of town. Were it not for the businesses in the Scotch & Sirloin building and across the street toward North Station, the copy shop would probably disband, too.
I just met Erich Thaler, a former member of the now-defunct Boston hard-rock band Stompbox. Now an employee of the Sir Speedy copy shop in the Scotch & Sirloin building, Erich has a degree in music synthesis and used to work for a large-format color printer. We discussed the difference between print production and copy shop work, what it was like to sign with a label in the early '90s, the experience of touring with a band, and the enjoyment inherent in live music.
"For every band that makes it, there are hundreds that got one shot with a label," Erich says. "I know plenty of people who slug it out into their 40's. The music industry is so youth-oriented that they're not going to sign anyone over 20. I need to find a job that'll support me into my 50's, you know?"
Before Stompbox disbanded, they released a couple of 7-inches, put out a self-released record on Wonderdrug (which also included them on a compilation, and put out two albums with a major affiliated with Columbia and Sony. Now Erich works in a copy shop located in a low-traffic part of town. Were it not for the businesses in the Scotch & Sirloin building and across the street toward North Station, the copy shop would probably disband, too.
Weather Report IX
The sun just broke the top of the Casa Maria apartment building behind the Scotch & Sirloin building, illuminating the swirl of falling snow outside my office window. Absolutely beautiful.
The sun just broke the top of the Casa Maria apartment building behind the Scotch & Sirloin building, illuminating the swirl of falling snow outside my office window. Absolutely beautiful.
Monday, February 10, 2003
Call Me
While eating lunch at the 'Rang not long ago, I heard the pleasing strains of my Green Day ring tone as someone called me on my cell. Glad I didn't put down my BLT to take the call, because I just listened to a voicemail from someone in the 978 who thought my name was Dave, that I was going to buy a condo in North Redding, and that I was interested in getting some financing. It is not, I am not, and I am not.
Now, I don't get a lot of wrong number calls on my cell, but the Ethicist reader in me wonders whether I'm now responsible to call the fellow back and set him straight that he didn't actually leave a message for Dave. What if Dave doesn't get the financing for the condo purchase because I got this voicemail?
Debate over. I just returned the call.
Dave, I hope you find the financing you need to buy the condo of your dreams. I did my best.
While eating lunch at the 'Rang not long ago, I heard the pleasing strains of my Green Day ring tone as someone called me on my cell. Glad I didn't put down my BLT to take the call, because I just listened to a voicemail from someone in the 978 who thought my name was Dave, that I was going to buy a condo in North Redding, and that I was interested in getting some financing. It is not, I am not, and I am not.
Now, I don't get a lot of wrong number calls on my cell, but the Ethicist reader in me wonders whether I'm now responsible to call the fellow back and set him straight that he didn't actually leave a message for Dave. What if Dave doesn't get the financing for the condo purchase because I got this voicemail?
Debate over. I just returned the call.
Media Diet: Hi. I just got a voicemail from this number from someone who was calling about condo financing, and I wanted to let you know it was a wrong number.
Receptionist: Do you know who called?
Media Diet: All I know is that they were calling some guy named Dave and that the condo is in North Redding. They didn't leave their name.
Receptionist: Oh, I wouldn't even know where to begin if you don't know who called.
Media Diet: Well, I just thought you should know. I didn't want this guy to lose the opportunity because of a wrong number, you know?
Receptionist: Oh, well, thanks for calling.
Media Diet: I tried.
Dave, I hope you find the financing you need to buy the condo of your dreams. I did my best.
In the Cards
Ever wonder who writes Hallmark cards -- and how? The Washington Post Magazine's Jason puts pen to paper to take a look at Hallmark's creative process and the value of emotional content. It's a solid exploration of what makes greeting cards work, but I'm kind of glad I don't work in the Masculine Relative Birthday department.
Thanks to Pure Content.
Ever wonder who writes Hallmark cards -- and how? The Washington Post Magazine's Jason puts pen to paper to take a look at Hallmark's creative process and the value of emotional content. It's a solid exploration of what makes greeting cards work, but I'm kind of glad I don't work in the Masculine Relative Birthday department.
Thanks to Pure Content.
Big Brother Is Watching XI
Sometimes, Big Brother isn't so big. A former Boston College student has been indicted for installing a key-logging device that kept tabs on more than 100 campus computers and accessing personnel and student databases.
Thanks to EvHead.
Sometimes, Big Brother isn't so big. A former Boston College student has been indicted for installing a key-logging device that kept tabs on more than 100 campus computers and accessing personnel and student databases.
Thanks to EvHead.
Corollary: Hiking History III
Brad, a founding member of the Boston World Explorers' Foundation, has put up his photographs from our inaugural expedition last month. Trivia tidbit: The Flying Cloud is not just the name of a ship built by Donald McKay. It's also the name of one of today's water taxis! We saw it from the pier shortly after reaching the McKay monument.
Brad, a founding member of the Boston World Explorers' Foundation, has put up his photographs from our inaugural expedition last month. Trivia tidbit: The Flying Cloud is not just the name of a ship built by Donald McKay. It's also the name of one of today's water taxis! We saw it from the pier shortly after reaching the McKay monument.
Boston World Explorers' Foundation
I've been researching the second expedition for the Boston World Explorers' Foundation, and I'm thinking that if the weather cooperates, it might be nice to get out and about this Saturday or Sunday.
Based on my reading and research, it might be interesting to explore the Beacon Hill area of the city, sticking to the section bounded by Beacon, Bowdoin, Cambridge, and Charles streets. Historically home to Boston's early African-American population, the neighborhood once included Underground Railroad stops, radical discussion salons, a long-gone reservoir complex, and the Charles Street Jail.
The walk will also feature Boston's first home-owners' association, one of the city's narrowest streets, and other architectural and historical highlights.
If you'd like to be in on this second expedition, let me know what day works best for you. We'll see what comes together!
I've been researching the second expedition for the Boston World Explorers' Foundation, and I'm thinking that if the weather cooperates, it might be nice to get out and about this Saturday or Sunday.
Based on my reading and research, it might be interesting to explore the Beacon Hill area of the city, sticking to the section bounded by Beacon, Bowdoin, Cambridge, and Charles streets. Historically home to Boston's early African-American population, the neighborhood once included Underground Railroad stops, radical discussion salons, a long-gone reservoir complex, and the Charles Street Jail.
The walk will also feature Boston's first home-owners' association, one of the city's narrowest streets, and other architectural and historical highlights.
If you'd like to be in on this second expedition, let me know what day works best for you. We'll see what comes together!
Rock Shows of Note LIV
Last week was way too active on the nightlife and show-going scene. This week needs to be much quieter. That said, I did take in some excellent music over the last five nights. Wednesday night found me at the Druid on Inman Square, where I caught up with Sarah and some of her friends to see Paddy Soul, Eric Saulnier, and Martin Finke. Sonier works sound at the Abbey, so a lot of the Abbey staff was there to support him. We didn't stick around to see Finke, but I enjoyed the first two solo guitar singer-songwriter sets. Seems like music at the Druid is picking up.
Thursday night found me at the Choppin' Block near Northeastern for the Mister Records CD release party. While I wasn't too impressed by Shark Mountain, I quite enjoyed the sets by Plunge Into Death, Tunnel of Love, and Cathy Cathodic. Having met some co-workers for drinks after leaving the office -- and before taking the E line to Brigham's Circle -- the night got rather long and late, and I recall making eyes at a red-haired girl with dreadlocks.
She was at the 71 Sunbeam show Saturday at TT the Bear's, too, oddly enough. I made a point not to be so creepy this time. Not sure why I found her so captivating Thursday. In any event, Neil came up from Connecticut for the show, the band's first in Boston since he moved back there for school. And their shows in Brooklyn and Providence seem to have helped them find a new confidence and presence. Quite an impressive set, despite the low mix on Jeremy's xylophone solo. And the band has a new fan! There was a fellow standing right up in front, dancing, taking digital photos, and air drumming for much of the show. I'm glad 71 Sunbeam has been able to continue despite half the band's relocation to Connecticut and Rhode Island.
Sally Crewe, who usually plays with the Sudden Moves, performed a solo set that was enjoyable but seemingly unappreciated by the crowd. It's hard to play solo at TT's unless you're on the other side, and as Crewe's set progressed, the crowd on the floor diminished and conversation increased. Laguardia followed, but by then, I was on the other side hanging out with Neil catching up. Like Thursday, Saturday got long and late, with me heading to Shay's to meet up with Dan, Fitz, Nick, and Jenn. Dana, who waitresses at Shay's, plays in the Signal, another local band. We ended the night at Charlie's, where we hung out upstairs -- and where I saw Natalie Portman.
All in all, not a bad week for music, but a bad week for sleep.
Thanks to Media Dietician Vincent Scorziello for the research assistance.
Last week was way too active on the nightlife and show-going scene. This week needs to be much quieter. That said, I did take in some excellent music over the last five nights. Wednesday night found me at the Druid on Inman Square, where I caught up with Sarah and some of her friends to see Paddy Soul, Eric Saulnier, and Martin Finke. Sonier works sound at the Abbey, so a lot of the Abbey staff was there to support him. We didn't stick around to see Finke, but I enjoyed the first two solo guitar singer-songwriter sets. Seems like music at the Druid is picking up.
Thursday night found me at the Choppin' Block near Northeastern for the Mister Records CD release party. While I wasn't too impressed by Shark Mountain, I quite enjoyed the sets by Plunge Into Death, Tunnel of Love, and Cathy Cathodic. Having met some co-workers for drinks after leaving the office -- and before taking the E line to Brigham's Circle -- the night got rather long and late, and I recall making eyes at a red-haired girl with dreadlocks.
She was at the 71 Sunbeam show Saturday at TT the Bear's, too, oddly enough. I made a point not to be so creepy this time. Not sure why I found her so captivating Thursday. In any event, Neil came up from Connecticut for the show, the band's first in Boston since he moved back there for school. And their shows in Brooklyn and Providence seem to have helped them find a new confidence and presence. Quite an impressive set, despite the low mix on Jeremy's xylophone solo. And the band has a new fan! There was a fellow standing right up in front, dancing, taking digital photos, and air drumming for much of the show. I'm glad 71 Sunbeam has been able to continue despite half the band's relocation to Connecticut and Rhode Island.
Sally Crewe, who usually plays with the Sudden Moves, performed a solo set that was enjoyable but seemingly unappreciated by the crowd. It's hard to play solo at TT's unless you're on the other side, and as Crewe's set progressed, the crowd on the floor diminished and conversation increased. Laguardia followed, but by then, I was on the other side hanging out with Neil catching up. Like Thursday, Saturday got long and late, with me heading to Shay's to meet up with Dan, Fitz, Nick, and Jenn. Dana, who waitresses at Shay's, plays in the Signal, another local band. We ended the night at Charlie's, where we hung out upstairs -- and where I saw Natalie Portman.
All in all, not a bad week for music, but a bad week for sleep.
Thanks to Media Dietician Vincent Scorziello for the research assistance.
Comics and Conversation III
Last night's Boston Chamber Music Society concert last night snuck up on me, and I ended up staying in to read and write on the Big Blue Couch at Church Corner. Planning the itinerary for this weekend's Boston World Explorers' Foundation excursion, I had my hiptop near at hand to research sights and sites on the Web. In the midst of my research, I received an IM from Victor Cayro. Curious about my recent comments about his piece in Studygroup 12 #2, Cayro's IM query turned into a proper IM'erview about why he avoids the small press, how Jessica Abel got him into comics, and life in Dubuque, Iowa. Here's the transcript.
After finishing the IM'erview, I checked out his piece in Legal Action Comics. The story's theme and content is similar to that of "The Beard and Baby Brother" in terms of its shock value and language, but it's much better drawn than the Studygroup 12 story. Not quite my bag, but I'll keep my eyes peeled for future work by this iconoclastic Iowan.
Last night's Boston Chamber Music Society concert last night snuck up on me, and I ended up staying in to read and write on the Big Blue Couch at Church Corner. Planning the itinerary for this weekend's Boston World Explorers' Foundation excursion, I had my hiptop near at hand to research sights and sites on the Web. In the midst of my research, I received an IM from Victor Cayro. Curious about my recent comments about his piece in Studygroup 12 #2, Cayro's IM query turned into a proper IM'erview about why he avoids the small press, how Jessica Abel got him into comics, and life in Dubuque, Iowa. Here's the transcript.
VICTORJULIOCAYRO: You don't really think that my strip was offensive and insensitive, do you?
h3athrow: Memory kicking in... The bathtub strip?
V: bathh tub?
h: I don't have that anthology right here, so id need to refresh what made me say that
V: not, rivalry among siblings
V: my baby
V: my baby brother
V: who is challenged
V: chair challenge
V: Pepsi Challenge
V: RETARDED
V: Study Group number 2
h: Ah. Lemme get it.
V: yes sir
h: yep, pretty insensitive
V: how so
V: immature?
V: poorly illustrated?
V: aww schucks
h: Your portrayal of the retarded guy and the violence inflicted on him. I didn't find the punchline a payoff...
h: Wasnt a funny piece
V: Jessica helped me write the script
V: Jessica Abel
h: Was that where the piece started? You wanted to get to "tard-get"?
V: no, I wanted something to drink
V: and my Brother was looking at me funny
V: because retards have a way of looking at things funny
V: and looking funny
V: it's nature's way really
h: Is your brother really retarded? And you don't think your piece is hurtful?
V: he loves it
V: I make photocopies of the strip for him
h: I suppose all is well, then
V: and colors them with crayolas
V: and defecation
V: NO, I don't have a baby brother
V: When I was 6 yrs old I was traumitized by a severe and profound individual
h: im sorry to hear about that
V: never gotten over it
V: still hurts
V: inside
h: How do you know the studygroup people?
V: Zackary Soto saw my piece in LEGAL action comics
V: and chatted about ghost stories
V: a connection was made
V: and unbreakable bond
V: never made out or anything, be is allot of fun
V: but he, I meant
V: are friends with some of those guys?
V: are you, I meant
V: ?
h: Hung out with souther and sammy a little at ape. A friend is publishing Marc Bell's book
V: I haven't any of those guys, and I never been to the APe before
V: you do the SPX?
h: Not yet
V: its a great show
V: like of big names were there this year
V: I've been doing that show since 99
V: Art Speigleman, Charles Burns, Eddie Campbell, one of those mexican soap opera comics dudes.....
h: How long you been doing comics?
V: Evan Dorkin
V: Dean Haspiel
V: Since I was 19
V: I think
V: so that'd be in 2000
V: but my first published work is GARBAGE
V: Big Book of the &0s
V: DC/VErigo
V: GARBAGE
h: Whatd you do for that?
V: money
V: and the idea of getting published sounded cool
h: Howd you get involved in that project?
V: it had always been my dream to a published comic artist
V: Jessica Abel told me that the place to get a good basic idea of the indie comic world was through a weekend at SPX
V: she was right
V: she introduced me to Jim Higgins
V: who was the editor for the Big Book series at that time
V: he like the stuff had
V: although my old stuff sucks
V: Jim Higgins left DC and published his own book, that I will recommend
V: NEW THING: Identity, you have that?
h: It sounds familiar
V: I have a sensitive 13 page story in there, and Tomer Hanuka of Bipolar has a good story in there
V: everyone in the book couldn't be more different, style wise
h: Sounds good. New Bipolar coming soon, i hear
V: Tomer is a machine
V: hes a decent guy
V: smokes Marlboro light 100's
V: oh yeah, makes good comics
h: You have other stuff out?
V: Legal Action Comics
V: New THing: Identity
V: I'm working on my story for Legal Action Comics 2
V: and just finished a story for a book entitled True POrn
V: that will feature comics by Kochalka, Robyn Chaopman, Ivan Brunettie
V: and a slew of others
V: it will be an adventure
V: Any minis of your own?
V: no, never done a mini
V: don't think I ever will
V: I only want to do things that will see large print run
V: or at more that 5o copies
V: or at least more than 50 copies I mean
V: I can barely type or think clearly right now, excuse the grammital errors and misspellings
h: No worries. Can i use some of this in media diet? First time someone im'd me bc of a review
V: sure, go for broke
h: Where do you live?
V: although that part about Jessica Abel co writing THE BEARD AND BABY BROTHER comic, that is completely false
V: a joke
V: I live in Dubuque Iowa
h: I thought so
V: ?
V: Why do you say that?
h: That the abel thing was a joke? Didn't seem like jessica...
V: looking me up on the net?
V: Yes, I know it doesn't sound like anything Jessica Abel would even look at(the strip), THAT IS THE JOKE
V: a very small and insignificant joke...
h: Nah, the joke was good
V: regardless, I didn't want her hearing of some website saying that he had anything to do with the creation of the said strip
V: no, why did you figure I lived in Dubuque?
h: I didn't. Our lines crossed.
h: Do you think your clarification of the abel thing is good enough, or do you want that cut entirely?
V: ok, where do you live?
V: If you think that it makes for good media diet, then blow nuts with it
V: it is sort of funny, in a funny way
V: God Bless Jessica Abel
V: you can run that...
V: sincerely though, without her, I wouldn't be in comics
h: I live in boston.
h: Id kinda like to put this up just as a chat transcript...
V: I'd having sex with white trash bitchs and drawing pictures of me jacking off at late night diners on yellowed computer paper and placemats, it would be some Caruso Clown crying cradlebreak type shit
h: Is there much of a comics crew in dubuque?
V: ZILCH
V: just me
V: not really a scene of anything
V: a small music scene, that I'm a part off
h: What do you do?
V: I do all the promotional flyers
V: and great drunk
h: Good bands there?
V: sure, for young kids
h: Are you drunk now?
V: no, I don't really drink that much
V: I used to have problem
V: have A problem
V: but I drink here and there
V: I limit myself to 3 times a month
V: because I am dedicated to my comics
h: Youre 23 now? What do you do in dubuque? (outside of comics)
V: my last girlfriend broke up with me because she though I loved comics more than her cunt
V: I'm 22
V: besides comics? talk to friends, frequent the movie theatre
V: I like Chinese action films
V: I make home videos
V: and NOT JACKASS rip off garbage
V: concerts
V: foot bag
V: cigarette tricks
V: making a difference in young child's life
V: having terrible luck with women
V: I'm sure I leaving something out
V: or something
V: or nothing
V: I don't know anymore
V: how old are you?
V: 26?
h: 29
h: You in school? Have a job?
V: what do you in boston to alleviate strss troubles?
V: I work in a grocery store, and live in a apt by myself
V: its pretty CRAZY!!!
V: you make the big boston bucks?
h: Not really. Work for a magazine, go to shows, sing in a punk band
V: whats you punk band's name?
V: you like Dillinger Four? Boris the Sprinkler? Toys that Kill?
V: Groovey Ghoulies?
V: The EUrchins?
V: those are some that I know
h: The anchormen
V: are MP3s available online?
h: Yep. Anchormen.com . Dillinger 4 and boris are awesome. Good midwestern stuff!
h: What are the best punk bands in iowa?
V: I like them quite a bit, one of my best friends(and neighbors) has played with them before, but I don't know if you have ever heard of them, HOT CARL?
V: I think they are good
V: geez
h: Do they have mp3s up?
V: NO NO NO!!!!
V: geez, as in, let me think geez
V: I can't say who best are
V: Hot Carl is the only one I know that is Iowa nativwe
V: although I did hear a good band not so long ago, but I forgot the name
h: Are you an iowa native?
V: Half Peruvian, born here.
h: Know anything about peruvian comics? I'd be curious...
V: I would be to, but I have never seen one
V: althought there is allot of artists there
V: I want to move there for a year or so
V: been there a couple of times
V: loved it
h: Well, i should go. Ill look for more of your stuff
V: 75 cents for a pack of Marlboros
V: It was nice chatting with you
V: have a great evening
h: Thanks for saying hey
V: any day
After finishing the IM'erview, I checked out his piece in Legal Action Comics. The story's theme and content is similar to that of "The Beard and Baby Brother" in terms of its shock value and language, but it's much better drawn than the Studygroup 12 story. Not quite my bag, but I'll keep my eyes peeled for future work by this iconoclastic Iowan.
Thursday, February 06, 2003
Comics and Computers
James Kochalka has developed a set of icons for the Mac and PC featuring Magic Boy, Peanut Butter and Jeremy, Fancy Froglin, and Monkey vs. Robot. These are a great complement to the icon set designed by Pupino.
James Kochalka has developed a set of icons for the Mac and PC featuring Magic Boy, Peanut Butter and Jeremy, Fancy Froglin, and Monkey vs. Robot. These are a great complement to the icon set designed by Pupino.
From the In Box: From the Reading Pile XVI
I enjoyed perusing your site. Ten thousand years from now archeologists will answer the question "But how did these people live?" by mining web logs from fossilized hard drives. Immortality! -- Fred Leisen
I enjoyed perusing your site. Ten thousand years from now archeologists will answer the question "But how did these people live?" by mining web logs from fossilized hard drives. Immortality! -- Fred Leisen
Wednesday, February 05, 2003
From the Reading Pile XVI
A Modest Sample of Work for My Close Friends and Prospective Clients
An aspiring commercial artist, Fred was one of the friendliest people I met at APE this year. Currently working freelance, Fred says that his mini hasn't really helped him find any work yet, but you know what? The photocopied 12-pager is an impressive melange of Andi Watson, Shary Flenniken, Kris Dresen, Jeff Smith, Jordan Crane, and Geoff Darrow, believe it or not. Using a Scott McCloud-like approach to strutting his storytelling stuff, Fred recounts his animation, illustration, and publishing experience, basically creating a comics resume. The plane crash panel by itself is worth flipping through this. Friendly, funny, and extremely clean in its pacing and line. Somebody hire this guy. Free from Fred Leisen.
The New Adventures of Mangfish
This eight-page photocopied mini was completed at the copy shop minutes before Andy arrived at APE this past weekend. It's a slight divergence from his Life of a Fetus work for Slave Labor, both in terms of artwork and story. As the "presumed unquenchable," Mangfish is jokingly based on the "popular books on tape version of Peter Benchley's White Shark." Riffing on some of Marvel's worst monster comics ("Mangfish chooses poorly.", the Mangfish soon emerges as the "Mangfish that walks like a mang," stomping on a well-drawncoelacanth. This might be a good excuse for Andy to draw amphibians ("Good evening friends.") or it might be a solid parody of monster comics. All I know is that it's less dense that Fetus -- less psychedelic -- and a slight stretch for Andy. Keep stretching, man. I look forward to seeing the full length. Free from Andy Ristaino.
Snake Pit Anthology II
I met -- or almost met -- Ben at APE this year, and having read almost two years worth of his daily punk-rock autobio comic strips, I feel as though I know him. His simple yet complex all at the same time. Every day Ben details his daily regimen. His soundtrack. Watching movies. Smoking pot. Hooking up with girls. Drinking heavily. Going to shows. Working at a record store. Enjoying James Kochalka's work -- and getting the tat to prove it. Caring for his fish. Toruing as a roadie. Playing in a band. Visiting his parents. Going on roadtrips. It's all rather deadpan and mundane in a Doris-meets-Cometbus kind of way, but reading Ben a year at a time -- these anthologies collect Ben's monthly editions -- it's easier to track the trends in his life. People come and go. He debates whether he has a drinking problem. And he continues to discover himself through comics, friends, and music. My favorites in this edition include the full-page New Year's piece, the thrash metal song lyric adaptations, and his drawing of girls, turtles, snails, and people at parties. Wonderful. $2 to Ben White, P.O. Box 49447, Austin, TX 78765.
Stuart Ng Books Catalogue Eight
This free 28-page catalog of out-of-print, rare, and used books about illustration, animation, and comic art is an impressive, albeit expensive selection of original art, artist monographs, political cartoons, art instruction books, illustration annuals, reference books, and periodicals. A media geek's dream. Almost rivaling my favorite catalog of rare labor- and socialism-oriented texts, this catalog, though thinner, is just as tempting. Charles Addams, Jack Cole, Harold Gray, Bill Mauldin, Harry Rountree, and back issues of Nemo -- they're all here, all in early editions and well-described listings. Budget knows whether I'll place an order, but it's fun to browse -- and dream. Stuart Ng Books, 2456 W. 228th St., Torrance, CA 90501-5232.
Synthetic Universe #3
Not to relegate Alison to girlfriend status out of the gate, but this comic -- Alison's first full-sized comic, I believe -- was handed to me by Andy Hunter, former Somerville-based editorial executor of Mommy and I Are One. Oddly, having read the entire comic, a piece that Andy wrote, "Killing Time," is perhaps the best in the issue. A modern-day reworking of the frog prince fairy tale, the piece is a darkly playful look at love, separation, and opportunity. Hunter's other piece, the short-form "Walk in the Park," isn't as satisying. Of Taylor's solo pieces, "Thrifting in the 2020's" reminds me of Megan Kelso's Bottlecap stories, with its dystopic manufacturing-based future and relational considerations. (The phone panel on p. 11 of that story sings!) "The Bone Story," despite the awkward two-page spread, is a nifty twist on autobio storytelling. And, while it was fun to see Andy's mug in the third panel of p. 30, Alison's art is largely an ugly-style take on Leela Corman or Jessica Abel. The writing, I like. The art, I might need to get used to. $3.95 to Alison Taylor, Hardcut Publishing, P.O. Box 291700, Los Angeles, CA 90029.
A Modest Sample of Work for My Close Friends and Prospective Clients
An aspiring commercial artist, Fred was one of the friendliest people I met at APE this year. Currently working freelance, Fred says that his mini hasn't really helped him find any work yet, but you know what? The photocopied 12-pager is an impressive melange of Andi Watson, Shary Flenniken, Kris Dresen, Jeff Smith, Jordan Crane, and Geoff Darrow, believe it or not. Using a Scott McCloud-like approach to strutting his storytelling stuff, Fred recounts his animation, illustration, and publishing experience, basically creating a comics resume. The plane crash panel by itself is worth flipping through this. Friendly, funny, and extremely clean in its pacing and line. Somebody hire this guy. Free from Fred Leisen.
The New Adventures of Mangfish
This eight-page photocopied mini was completed at the copy shop minutes before Andy arrived at APE this past weekend. It's a slight divergence from his Life of a Fetus work for Slave Labor, both in terms of artwork and story. As the "presumed unquenchable," Mangfish is jokingly based on the "popular books on tape version of Peter Benchley's White Shark." Riffing on some of Marvel's worst monster comics ("Mangfish chooses poorly.", the Mangfish soon emerges as the "Mangfish that walks like a mang," stomping on a well-drawncoelacanth. This might be a good excuse for Andy to draw amphibians ("Good evening friends.") or it might be a solid parody of monster comics. All I know is that it's less dense that Fetus -- less psychedelic -- and a slight stretch for Andy. Keep stretching, man. I look forward to seeing the full length. Free from Andy Ristaino.
Snake Pit Anthology II
I met -- or almost met -- Ben at APE this year, and having read almost two years worth of his daily punk-rock autobio comic strips, I feel as though I know him. His simple yet complex all at the same time. Every day Ben details his daily regimen. His soundtrack. Watching movies. Smoking pot. Hooking up with girls. Drinking heavily. Going to shows. Working at a record store. Enjoying James Kochalka's work -- and getting the tat to prove it. Caring for his fish. Toruing as a roadie. Playing in a band. Visiting his parents. Going on roadtrips. It's all rather deadpan and mundane in a Doris-meets-Cometbus kind of way, but reading Ben a year at a time -- these anthologies collect Ben's monthly editions -- it's easier to track the trends in his life. People come and go. He debates whether he has a drinking problem. And he continues to discover himself through comics, friends, and music. My favorites in this edition include the full-page New Year's piece, the thrash metal song lyric adaptations, and his drawing of girls, turtles, snails, and people at parties. Wonderful. $2 to Ben White, P.O. Box 49447, Austin, TX 78765.
Stuart Ng Books Catalogue Eight
This free 28-page catalog of out-of-print, rare, and used books about illustration, animation, and comic art is an impressive, albeit expensive selection of original art, artist monographs, political cartoons, art instruction books, illustration annuals, reference books, and periodicals. A media geek's dream. Almost rivaling my favorite catalog of rare labor- and socialism-oriented texts, this catalog, though thinner, is just as tempting. Charles Addams, Jack Cole, Harold Gray, Bill Mauldin, Harry Rountree, and back issues of Nemo -- they're all here, all in early editions and well-described listings. Budget knows whether I'll place an order, but it's fun to browse -- and dream. Stuart Ng Books, 2456 W. 228th St., Torrance, CA 90501-5232.
Synthetic Universe #3
Not to relegate Alison to girlfriend status out of the gate, but this comic -- Alison's first full-sized comic, I believe -- was handed to me by Andy Hunter, former Somerville-based editorial executor of Mommy and I Are One. Oddly, having read the entire comic, a piece that Andy wrote, "Killing Time," is perhaps the best in the issue. A modern-day reworking of the frog prince fairy tale, the piece is a darkly playful look at love, separation, and opportunity. Hunter's other piece, the short-form "Walk in the Park," isn't as satisying. Of Taylor's solo pieces, "Thrifting in the 2020's" reminds me of Megan Kelso's Bottlecap stories, with its dystopic manufacturing-based future and relational considerations. (The phone panel on p. 11 of that story sings!) "The Bone Story," despite the awkward two-page spread, is a nifty twist on autobio storytelling. And, while it was fun to see Andy's mug in the third panel of p. 30, Alison's art is largely an ugly-style take on Leela Corman or Jessica Abel. The writing, I like. The art, I might need to get used to. $3.95 to Alison Taylor, Hardcut Publishing, P.O. Box 291700, Los Angeles, CA 90029.
Books Worth a Look XI
These are the books I read in January 2003.
Beneath the Axis of Evil: One Man's Journey into the Horrors of War by Neal Pollack (So New Media, 2003)
I don't know Neal Pollack. I've never met Neal Pollack. In fact, I've often confused Neal Pollack with Todd Pruzan, a much better writer, although he's much lesser known. Regardless, perhaps because of occasional email exchanges and the sheer power and possibility of Pollack's writing, I eagerly awaited the arrival of this text and read it in one sitting on the Big Blue Couch. If irony is dead, Jesus is ironic, because irony lives again. Not many people can make fun of 911 or the prospect of war without being gauche or offensive, but Neal does so with taste, tenacity, and something starting with "t" that means intelligence. Well worth reading, if not just for the hand-written personal inscription making light of where you work.
Pages: 62. Days to read: 1. Rating: Good.
The Doofus Omnibus: The Definitive Collection of His Greatest Adventures in Flowertown, U.S.A. by Rick Altergott (Fantagraphics, 2002)
I'm not the biggest fan of Altergott's work. Even though he's tight with many of the Fantagraphics set, is married to cartoonist Ariel Bordeaux, and lives nearby in Providence, I've just never appreciated his art or writing. His artwork, while reminiscent of some of the old-school EC artists such as Wally Wood, is overly busy and dense for my taste, and I don't really enjoy his Doofus or Henry Hotchkiss characters. That said, there's some good in the book. His collaboration with Dan Clowes is a nice piece of near-autobiography. As is his piece with Charles Schneider. Similarly, his story with Irwin Chispid about Stan Kenton arranger Robert Graettinger is also impressive. But of his own stuff, the Tales of Young Doofus is about as close as I get to digging Altergott. But I'm glad I gave this a chance.
Pages: 112. Days to read: 1. Rating: Fair.
Exit Strategy by Douglas Rushkoff (Soft Skull, 2002)
As the "world's first open-source novel," Rushkoff's recent book, which was first serialized online by Yahoo! Internet Life, fails in principle. The idea was that, by publishing the novel online, Rushkoff would attract reader-contributed Pale Fire-like footnotes that would then be published along with the principle text. The footnotes failed. While a worthy gambit and gimmick, I read the novel once through without paying attention to the overly interrupting footnotes and then flipped back through the book to see what I missed. Not much. Footnotes aside, the novel is well worth reading. A dotcom retelling of the Biblical story of Joseph, Rushkoff susses out some excellent religious theorizing, Judaicultural commentary, and speculative technological development. The cultic aspects of the AI are quite intriguing, But the footnotes? Give 'em the boot.
Pages: 335. Days to read: 3. Rating: Good.
Fruits by Shoichi Aoki (Phaidon, 2001)
What an awesome, mind-blowing book! Compiling about 270 photographs taken by Aoki in the Harajuku shopping district of Tokyo, much of the book was originally published in the Japanese street fashion magazine Fruits. While the photographs of the various progressive modes of clothing are wide-ranging and extremely interesting, Aoki's subjects' facial expressions, body postures, and attitudes resonate even more strongly. Aoki also finds value in the minutiae. Each photo identifies the subject by name and age and details where various items of clothing came from. But it is the "point of fashion" and "current obsession" listings that really surprise. It is here that we learn what the fashion means to the wearer -- and who they really are.
Pages: 276. Days to read: 1. Rating: Excellent.
Haw! Horrible, Horrible Cartoons by Ivan Brunetti (Fantagraphics, 2001)
I know I've already read this before, but I don't think I ever got around to reviewing it. This collection of mostly single-panel gag comics represents what might have been created were Charles Schultz to channel Mike Diana. Much more far out and visceral than Brunetti's work in Schizo and for magazines such as Fast Company, Haw! is horrible, horrible indeed. Incest, pedophilia, dismemberment, homophobia, S&M, irreverence, scatology, racism, AIDS, disembowelment, drug use, rape, pornography, and suicide. It's a dreary roundup of humankind's worst foibles, and most of this would be decidedly unfunny were it not couched in cartoon art so cute. This is the real dysfunctional family circus.
Pages: 96. Days to read: 1. Rating: Fair.
Hope: Opens the Way When There Seems No Way by Norman Vincent Peale (Peale Center for Christian Living, 2002)
I'm fascinated by religions pamphlets and other easily portable, reproducible, and readable pieces of philosophical propaganda. Designed to be easily digested and distributed, they're an interesting way to move ideas fast. This slim volume, produced in the context of the economic downturn and pending war, focuses on Peale's optimistic perspective on detemination, enthusiasm, persistence, vision, and faith. Though simple and somewhat shallow, the booklet contends that belief is all we need. The section on expectations hit home.
Pages: 32. Days to read: 1. Rating: Fair.
The Illustrated Price Guide to Cult Magazines 1945 to 1969: 25 Years of Exploitation by Alan Betrock (Shake Books, 1994)
Not really a book to read as much as it is a book to refer to, this doesn't even really make that great a reference book. By now way outdated, the book does not really reflect current prices for the non-cheesecake exploitation magazines indexed here. Betrock chooses not to concentrate on magazines that specialized in nudity, instead focusing on scandal, crime, romance, and other exploitation titles such as Best Detective Cases, Exciting Romances, and Front Page Confidential. The price guide data is limited to listing the publisher, the date of the first issue, and extremely broad price ranges. But this book is important because of the almost 475 cover reproductions. An excellent visual survey of the publishing niche.
Pages: 160. Days to read: 1. Rating: Good.
Interbeing: Fourteen Guidelines for Engaged Buddism by Thich Nhat Hanh (Parallal, 1987)
The Order of Interbeing grew out of the School of Yough for Social Service in the mid-'60s as a way to incubate members' Buddhist practice as well as their social activism. This thin volume comprises documentation on the order's charter, community, and 14 precepts. Hanh proceeds to expand on the 14 precepts, which balance traditional Buddhist thinking with more societally involved considerations, including consumerism, right livelihood, simplicity, and social justice. I didn't find the precept recitationceremony scripts that useful, but it's interesting that the book is designed to help people organize their own sanghas. An easy introduction to engaged Buddhism in practice.
Pages: 77. Days to read: 12. Rating: Fair.
Metrophage by Richard Kadrey (Ace, 1988)
Kadrey's first novel was part of the Terry Carr-edited New Ace Science Fiction Specials series, which also helped launch Kim Stanley Robinson, William Gibson, and Michael Swanwick. The novel is a rollicking and undisciplined exploration of a near-future Los Angeles rocked by cultural tribes of all stripes, an emergent police state, and an engineered plague that threatens to make it all even worse. I never really empathized with the novel's protagonist, but the people whose lives intersected with his haphazard sleuthing are all thoughtfully crafted and innovatively presented. A good start to a writing career worth following.
Pages: 240. Days to read: 4. Rating: Fair.
Pictorial History of Highland, Indiana edited by Matthew Figi (Highland Historical Society, 1999)
Highland is a town of roughly 25,000 peopel in northwest Indiana not far from where my grandmother lives. I'm not overly familiar with the area's layout, but I love local history books like this. At base, the book collects more than 175 phootographs dating between 1850 and 1998, capturing the people, places, and organizations that made Highland what it is today. Largely a history of founding families, civic involvement, and commercial locations, the book could have been organized chronologically. But in the end, it's an archive worth sharing -- and one that showcases some bygone faces and spaces. Highland could be anywhere.
Pages: 106. Days to read: 1. Rating: Good.
Tremont Street Subway: A Century of Public Service by Bradley Clarke and O.R. Cummings (Boston Street Railway Association, 1997)
This well-researched, -documented, and -illustrated history of the Tremont Street Subway, now the green line of the MBTA, is an excellent introduction to Boston's public transit history. Documenting the pre-T transportation options in the area -- horsecars and electric trolleys -- as well as the legislation that led to the T, the booklet includes vintage maps, illustrations, and photographs that date back to the late 1800s. The history touches on construction, the gas explosion of 1897, dead stations, the balance of subway and elevated service, and various extensions to the green line. Clarke and Cummings have provided a valuable, focused history of the T.
Pages: 67. Days to read: 1. Rating: Excellent.
The Ultimate Cyberpunk: The Best Fiction from SF's New Wave edited by Pat Cadigan (iBooks, 2002)
Despite Cadigan's disappointingly apologetic introduction, "Not a Manifesto," which sidesteps the responsibility to establish a cyberpunk canon and fails to adequately define or describe the school of s-f writing, the bulk of this book -- which comprises 13 short stories -- is excellent. Highlights include Alfred Bester's 1954 "Fondly Farenheit," Philip K. Dick's Total Recall inspiration "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale," Greg Bear's nanogenetic cautionary tale "Blood Music," and Paul J. McAuley's "Dr. Luther's Assistant." What impressed me the most of Cadigan's collection was the historical scope. Instead of sticking to the school's most-known and of-the-time contributors, she expands the scope and meaning of cyberpunk, even as she refuses to pin it down or reduce it to a single definition.
Pages: 399. Days to read: 6. Rating: Good.
The Way to Happiness: A Common Sense Guide to Better Living by L. Ron Hubbard (Bridge 1989)
This slim, inexpensive pamphlet was produced by the Church of Scientology as an easy-to-digest introduction to the church's moral code. As such, it opens with encouraging instructions to distribute the booklet to friends and family before outlining a 21-point plan for happiness. While the pamphlet is simply written -- with Hubbard's characteristic footnote definitions -- and there's nothing overtly disagreeable about the booklet, several aspects stand out. One, these moral guidelines could come from any of the world's religions. Two, Scientology's mistrust of the mainstream media comes clear as the book exhorts readers to make their own decisions and determine what is true for them. The booklet's insights on observation, ownership, and the Golden Rule are especially interesting.
Pages: 45. Days to read: 1. Rating: Fair.
We're Desperate: The Punk Rock Photography of Jim Jocoy SF/LA 78-80 by Jim Jocoy with Thurston Moore, Exene Cervenka, and Marc Jacobs (Powerhouse, 2002)
This wonderfully produced book collects almost 350 full-bleed portrait photographs Jocoy took at the Mabuhay Gardens, the Masque, and other locations. Mostly capturing a series of art students, punk rockers, and show goers in similar settings, the staged poses aptly catch the moment in musical, fashion, and cultural time. While Cervenka and Jacobs'' essays add little to the collection or its context, Moore's interview with Jocoy addresses how the book came to be, Jocoy's innovative photography process (which initially involved a slide--based color photocopy projection technology!), and work with the "models." Like an issue of Fruits magazine crossed with Search & Destroy or Slash. Beautiful.
Pages: 370. Days to read: 2. Rating: Excellent.
What They Never Told You About Boston (or What They Did That Were Lies) by Walt Kelley (Down East, 1993)
A driver for Town Taxi -- for about six years when this was published and following a management career in banking -- Kelley offers a perspective of the city that stems from his experiences on the street, as well as conversations with passengers. He knows what history interests people, and he shares a lot of it in this quick read -- the origin of Boston's name; the three lies of John Harvard's statue in Harvard Yard; little-known facts about the Boston Massacre, Boston Tea Party, and Midnight Ride of Paul Revere; the landfill that makes Boston livable; and other unsung stories. Kelley's book is well-researched yet streetwise.
Pages: 112. Days to read: 1. Rating: Excellent.
Writers and publishers may send books for Media Diet to consider for review to the address in the left-hand column. Publishers who send galleys or review copies -- if reviewed -- will receive a link as part of the review.
These are the books I read in January 2003.
Beneath the Axis of Evil: One Man's Journey into the Horrors of War by Neal Pollack (So New Media, 2003)
I don't know Neal Pollack. I've never met Neal Pollack. In fact, I've often confused Neal Pollack with Todd Pruzan, a much better writer, although he's much lesser known. Regardless, perhaps because of occasional email exchanges and the sheer power and possibility of Pollack's writing, I eagerly awaited the arrival of this text and read it in one sitting on the Big Blue Couch. If irony is dead, Jesus is ironic, because irony lives again. Not many people can make fun of 911 or the prospect of war without being gauche or offensive, but Neal does so with taste, tenacity, and something starting with "t" that means intelligence. Well worth reading, if not just for the hand-written personal inscription making light of where you work.
Pages: 62. Days to read: 1. Rating: Good.
The Doofus Omnibus: The Definitive Collection of His Greatest Adventures in Flowertown, U.S.A. by Rick Altergott (Fantagraphics, 2002)
I'm not the biggest fan of Altergott's work. Even though he's tight with many of the Fantagraphics set, is married to cartoonist Ariel Bordeaux, and lives nearby in Providence, I've just never appreciated his art or writing. His artwork, while reminiscent of some of the old-school EC artists such as Wally Wood, is overly busy and dense for my taste, and I don't really enjoy his Doofus or Henry Hotchkiss characters. That said, there's some good in the book. His collaboration with Dan Clowes is a nice piece of near-autobiography. As is his piece with Charles Schneider. Similarly, his story with Irwin Chispid about Stan Kenton arranger Robert Graettinger is also impressive. But of his own stuff, the Tales of Young Doofus is about as close as I get to digging Altergott. But I'm glad I gave this a chance.
Pages: 112. Days to read: 1. Rating: Fair.
Exit Strategy by Douglas Rushkoff (Soft Skull, 2002)
As the "world's first open-source novel," Rushkoff's recent book, which was first serialized online by Yahoo! Internet Life, fails in principle. The idea was that, by publishing the novel online, Rushkoff would attract reader-contributed Pale Fire-like footnotes that would then be published along with the principle text. The footnotes failed. While a worthy gambit and gimmick, I read the novel once through without paying attention to the overly interrupting footnotes and then flipped back through the book to see what I missed. Not much. Footnotes aside, the novel is well worth reading. A dotcom retelling of the Biblical story of Joseph, Rushkoff susses out some excellent religious theorizing, Judaicultural commentary, and speculative technological development. The cultic aspects of the AI are quite intriguing, But the footnotes? Give 'em the boot.
Pages: 335. Days to read: 3. Rating: Good.
Fruits by Shoichi Aoki (Phaidon, 2001)
What an awesome, mind-blowing book! Compiling about 270 photographs taken by Aoki in the Harajuku shopping district of Tokyo, much of the book was originally published in the Japanese street fashion magazine Fruits. While the photographs of the various progressive modes of clothing are wide-ranging and extremely interesting, Aoki's subjects' facial expressions, body postures, and attitudes resonate even more strongly. Aoki also finds value in the minutiae. Each photo identifies the subject by name and age and details where various items of clothing came from. But it is the "point of fashion" and "current obsession" listings that really surprise. It is here that we learn what the fashion means to the wearer -- and who they really are.
Pages: 276. Days to read: 1. Rating: Excellent.
Haw! Horrible, Horrible Cartoons by Ivan Brunetti (Fantagraphics, 2001)
I know I've already read this before, but I don't think I ever got around to reviewing it. This collection of mostly single-panel gag comics represents what might have been created were Charles Schultz to channel Mike Diana. Much more far out and visceral than Brunetti's work in Schizo and for magazines such as Fast Company, Haw! is horrible, horrible indeed. Incest, pedophilia, dismemberment, homophobia, S&M, irreverence, scatology, racism, AIDS, disembowelment, drug use, rape, pornography, and suicide. It's a dreary roundup of humankind's worst foibles, and most of this would be decidedly unfunny were it not couched in cartoon art so cute. This is the real dysfunctional family circus.
Pages: 96. Days to read: 1. Rating: Fair.
Hope: Opens the Way When There Seems No Way by Norman Vincent Peale (Peale Center for Christian Living, 2002)
I'm fascinated by religions pamphlets and other easily portable, reproducible, and readable pieces of philosophical propaganda. Designed to be easily digested and distributed, they're an interesting way to move ideas fast. This slim volume, produced in the context of the economic downturn and pending war, focuses on Peale's optimistic perspective on detemination, enthusiasm, persistence, vision, and faith. Though simple and somewhat shallow, the booklet contends that belief is all we need. The section on expectations hit home.
Pages: 32. Days to read: 1. Rating: Fair.
The Illustrated Price Guide to Cult Magazines 1945 to 1969: 25 Years of Exploitation by Alan Betrock (Shake Books, 1994)
Not really a book to read as much as it is a book to refer to, this doesn't even really make that great a reference book. By now way outdated, the book does not really reflect current prices for the non-cheesecake exploitation magazines indexed here. Betrock chooses not to concentrate on magazines that specialized in nudity, instead focusing on scandal, crime, romance, and other exploitation titles such as Best Detective Cases, Exciting Romances, and Front Page Confidential. The price guide data is limited to listing the publisher, the date of the first issue, and extremely broad price ranges. But this book is important because of the almost 475 cover reproductions. An excellent visual survey of the publishing niche.
Pages: 160. Days to read: 1. Rating: Good.
Interbeing: Fourteen Guidelines for Engaged Buddism by Thich Nhat Hanh (Parallal, 1987)
The Order of Interbeing grew out of the School of Yough for Social Service in the mid-'60s as a way to incubate members' Buddhist practice as well as their social activism. This thin volume comprises documentation on the order's charter, community, and 14 precepts. Hanh proceeds to expand on the 14 precepts, which balance traditional Buddhist thinking with more societally involved considerations, including consumerism, right livelihood, simplicity, and social justice. I didn't find the precept recitationceremony scripts that useful, but it's interesting that the book is designed to help people organize their own sanghas. An easy introduction to engaged Buddhism in practice.
Pages: 77. Days to read: 12. Rating: Fair.
Metrophage by Richard Kadrey (Ace, 1988)
Kadrey's first novel was part of the Terry Carr-edited New Ace Science Fiction Specials series, which also helped launch Kim Stanley Robinson, William Gibson, and Michael Swanwick. The novel is a rollicking and undisciplined exploration of a near-future Los Angeles rocked by cultural tribes of all stripes, an emergent police state, and an engineered plague that threatens to make it all even worse. I never really empathized with the novel's protagonist, but the people whose lives intersected with his haphazard sleuthing are all thoughtfully crafted and innovatively presented. A good start to a writing career worth following.
Pages: 240. Days to read: 4. Rating: Fair.
Pictorial History of Highland, Indiana edited by Matthew Figi (Highland Historical Society, 1999)
Highland is a town of roughly 25,000 peopel in northwest Indiana not far from where my grandmother lives. I'm not overly familiar with the area's layout, but I love local history books like this. At base, the book collects more than 175 phootographs dating between 1850 and 1998, capturing the people, places, and organizations that made Highland what it is today. Largely a history of founding families, civic involvement, and commercial locations, the book could have been organized chronologically. But in the end, it's an archive worth sharing -- and one that showcases some bygone faces and spaces. Highland could be anywhere.
Pages: 106. Days to read: 1. Rating: Good.
Tremont Street Subway: A Century of Public Service by Bradley Clarke and O.R. Cummings (Boston Street Railway Association, 1997)
This well-researched, -documented, and -illustrated history of the Tremont Street Subway, now the green line of the MBTA, is an excellent introduction to Boston's public transit history. Documenting the pre-T transportation options in the area -- horsecars and electric trolleys -- as well as the legislation that led to the T, the booklet includes vintage maps, illustrations, and photographs that date back to the late 1800s. The history touches on construction, the gas explosion of 1897, dead stations, the balance of subway and elevated service, and various extensions to the green line. Clarke and Cummings have provided a valuable, focused history of the T.
Pages: 67. Days to read: 1. Rating: Excellent.
The Ultimate Cyberpunk: The Best Fiction from SF's New Wave edited by Pat Cadigan (iBooks, 2002)
Despite Cadigan's disappointingly apologetic introduction, "Not a Manifesto," which sidesteps the responsibility to establish a cyberpunk canon and fails to adequately define or describe the school of s-f writing, the bulk of this book -- which comprises 13 short stories -- is excellent. Highlights include Alfred Bester's 1954 "Fondly Farenheit," Philip K. Dick's Total Recall inspiration "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale," Greg Bear's nanogenetic cautionary tale "Blood Music," and Paul J. McAuley's "Dr. Luther's Assistant." What impressed me the most of Cadigan's collection was the historical scope. Instead of sticking to the school's most-known and of-the-time contributors, she expands the scope and meaning of cyberpunk, even as she refuses to pin it down or reduce it to a single definition.
Pages: 399. Days to read: 6. Rating: Good.
The Way to Happiness: A Common Sense Guide to Better Living by L. Ron Hubbard (Bridge 1989)
This slim, inexpensive pamphlet was produced by the Church of Scientology as an easy-to-digest introduction to the church's moral code. As such, it opens with encouraging instructions to distribute the booklet to friends and family before outlining a 21-point plan for happiness. While the pamphlet is simply written -- with Hubbard's characteristic footnote definitions -- and there's nothing overtly disagreeable about the booklet, several aspects stand out. One, these moral guidelines could come from any of the world's religions. Two, Scientology's mistrust of the mainstream media comes clear as the book exhorts readers to make their own decisions and determine what is true for them. The booklet's insights on observation, ownership, and the Golden Rule are especially interesting.
Pages: 45. Days to read: 1. Rating: Fair.
We're Desperate: The Punk Rock Photography of Jim Jocoy SF/LA 78-80 by Jim Jocoy with Thurston Moore, Exene Cervenka, and Marc Jacobs (Powerhouse, 2002)
This wonderfully produced book collects almost 350 full-bleed portrait photographs Jocoy took at the Mabuhay Gardens, the Masque, and other locations. Mostly capturing a series of art students, punk rockers, and show goers in similar settings, the staged poses aptly catch the moment in musical, fashion, and cultural time. While Cervenka and Jacobs'' essays add little to the collection or its context, Moore's interview with Jocoy addresses how the book came to be, Jocoy's innovative photography process (which initially involved a slide--based color photocopy projection technology!), and work with the "models." Like an issue of Fruits magazine crossed with Search & Destroy or Slash. Beautiful.
Pages: 370. Days to read: 2. Rating: Excellent.
What They Never Told You About Boston (or What They Did That Were Lies) by Walt Kelley (Down East, 1993)
A driver for Town Taxi -- for about six years when this was published and following a management career in banking -- Kelley offers a perspective of the city that stems from his experiences on the street, as well as conversations with passengers. He knows what history interests people, and he shares a lot of it in this quick read -- the origin of Boston's name; the three lies of John Harvard's statue in Harvard Yard; little-known facts about the Boston Massacre, Boston Tea Party, and Midnight Ride of Paul Revere; the landfill that makes Boston livable; and other unsung stories. Kelley's book is well-researched yet streetwise.
Pages: 112. Days to read: 1. Rating: Excellent.
Writers and publishers may send books for Media Diet to consider for review to the address in the left-hand column. Publishers who send galleys or review copies -- if reviewed -- will receive a link as part of the review.
Up in Smoke III
As of two (2) minutes ago, I haven't had a cigarette in 24 hours. It's been easy for me not to smoke while traveling and visiting family -- but more difficult when in my ruts at home. So far, this quit is going pretty well. It wasn't until about noon that I started craving a cigaroo. QuitNet tells me that in the last 24 hours, I haven't smoked eight (8) cigarettes -- more like 11 -- and that I've saved $2.10 (more like $3) and an hour of my life. The last two stats are really what interest me. How much money am I saving and how much longer will I live? As they say, time is money.
As of two (2) minutes ago, I haven't had a cigarette in 24 hours. It's been easy for me not to smoke while traveling and visiting family -- but more difficult when in my ruts at home. So far, this quit is going pretty well. It wasn't until about noon that I started craving a cigaroo. QuitNet tells me that in the last 24 hours, I haven't smoked eight (8) cigarettes -- more like 11 -- and that I've saved $2.10 (more like $3) and an hour of my life. The last two stats are really what interest me. How much money am I saving and how much longer will I live? As they say, time is money.
Corollary: Born to Run Away II
Bill says that the tickets for the Bruce Springsteen/DoubleTake show at the Somerville Theater sold out in nine (9) minutes. Wow.
Bill says that the tickets for the Bruce Springsteen/DoubleTake show at the Somerville Theater sold out in nine (9) minutes. Wow.
Corollary: Event-O-Dex XXXV
Want more information on Thursday's Plunge into Death show?
Tunnel of Love is awesome. See you there!
Want more information on Thursday's Plunge into Death show?
Tunnel of Love is awesome. See you there!
Tuesday, February 04, 2003
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.
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.
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.
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