Tuesday, August 05, 2003
Blogging About Blogging LXVI
I've really tried not to post about this in Media Diet. Really, I have. But I'm currently working on a blog-related project for a certain business magazine, and I am so excited about its launch. You have no idea. More to come as it develops, but if I'm quiet for the next few days, it's because my blogging energy is being expended elsewhere.
Science-Fiction Spam III
Yay.
No, thank you. Some spam makes me smile.
Hello,
I'm a time traveler stuck here in 2003. Upon arriving here my dimensional warp generator stopped working. I trusted a company here by the name of LLC Lasers to repair my Generation 3 52 4350A watch unit, and they fled on me. I am going to need a new DWG unit, prefereably the rechargeable AMD wrist watch model with the GRC79 induction motor, four I80200 warp stabilizers, 512GB of SRAM and the menu driven GUI with front panel XID display.
I will take whatever model you have in stock, as long as its received certification for being safe on carbon based life forms.
In terms of payment: I dont have any Galactic Credits left. Payment can be made in platinum gold or 2003 currency upon safe delivery of unit.
INSTRUCTIONS MUST BE FOLLOWED EXACTLY: Please transport unit in either a brown paper bag or box to below coordinates on Tuesday August 5th at (exactly 5:00pm) Eastern Standard Time on the dot. A few minutes prior will be ok, but it cannot be after. If you miss this timeframe please email me. I will not be there prior to 4:45pm EST, so do not transport before then.
Item is to be delivered at (out of service tennis court) located at: Latitude N 42.47935 & Longitude W 071.17355 and the Elevation is 119. WARNING: DO NOT ATTEMPT TO TRANSPORT ITEM BY REGULAR MEANS OF TELEPORTATION. THEY ARE MONITORING AND WILL REDIRECT THE SIGNAL!!
I DO NOT CARE HOW YOU HAVE TO GET IT HERE, JUST DO IT IN A WAY THAT NO SPYING EYES WILL POSSIBLY BE ABLE TO REDIRECT THE TRANSFERENCE. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU BE ABLE TO MONITOR THE TRANSFER.
HOW ARE YOU GOING TO SEND IT SO THAT THEY CANNOT REDIRECT IT??? If in doubt do not transport actual unit until your method of transfer can be confirmed as a success. You just might need to send a intergalactic courier to deliver item safely to me. If so be VERY careful at how they approach me IN MY WHITE CAR.
After unit has been delivered please email me with payment instructions. Do not reply directly back to this email.
Thank You
No, thank you. Some spam makes me smile.
Monday, August 04, 2003
Among the Literati XLVII
There's a new online pomo popcult mag online, the High Hat. Ostensibly a monthly, the first edition of this Net-based newcomer includes content and commentary addressing cover songs, the marriage of comics and movies, reality TV, infomercials, media bias, and other topics of possible interest to Media Dieticians.
Corollary: Magazine Me XXXIX
Harf! I didn't have to wait long. Ken Gordon's look at the business media scene in Boston ran recently in Folio magazine. Gordon considers the fate of former Boston-based magazines -- as well as the city's immediate media future. I said it best myself: "Inc. and Fast Company were anomalies. They were founded by Bostonians. Staffed by Bostonians. They were outliers, indicating that quality magazines could be located outside of New York." The same goes for the Bay Area, as Dan Fost tells it.
The Height of Vanity
Just as the zine Baby Split Bowling News spawned Office Supply Junkie, the fine folks behind Lost Armadillos in Heat have a side project of their own going. Big-Headed Pygmies is a laugh-a-minute look at the height of vanity -- or the vanity that comes with a, well, lack of height.
What do I mean? Most celebrities, most actors, are shorter than they seem. In a rear-view mirror, they actually appear further away than they actually are. Or something. Why? Because they're small. Long on ego, perhaps, but lacking in the stature department. And with a lack of stature comes status. Russell Crowe wears special "tall" shoes. Corey Feldman is only slightly larger than a picnic table. And the Internet Movie Database over-reports Julia Roberts height by a good 3 inches.
Thanks to Media Dietician Joe-O for the tip off.
What do I mean? Most celebrities, most actors, are shorter than they seem. In a rear-view mirror, they actually appear further away than they actually are. Or something. Why? Because they're small. Long on ego, perhaps, but lacking in the stature department. And with a lack of stature comes status. Russell Crowe wears special "tall" shoes. Corey Feldman is only slightly larger than a picnic table. And the Internet Movie Database over-reports Julia Roberts height by a good 3 inches.
Thanks to Media Dietician Joe-O for the tip off.
Magazine Me XXXIX
Media Dietician Laura Goldberg turned me onto a great piece in the San Francisco Chronicle about the magazine publishing scene in Northern California. Writer Dan Fost considers the role the Net economy boom played in attracting media moguls to the Bay Area and takes names of the magazines that remain post-bust -- including some brilliant smaller magazines.
Citing the move of Parenting, Health, and Rolling Stone, Fost lists several innovative titles that still make the Bay Area their home: ReadyMade, Bark, and Dwell. And his mention of Bitch magazine's recent plea for readers indicates that Fost dug deeper than most mainstream journos would have. Kudos.
Additionally, Business 2.0 editor Josh Quittner's comments on what it was like to relocate from New York to take over the title -- including his struggle finding solid staffers -- are well worth considering. But really, is Business 2.0 the only "last man standing among the new economy magazines"? Either Fost is only considering Bay Area books, he doesn't consider Fast Company a new economy mag -- which is good, actually -- or he doesn't consider us standing. Well, we're still here.
Can't wait to see a similar piece about Boston's media scene soon.
Citing the move of Parenting, Health, and Rolling Stone, Fost lists several innovative titles that still make the Bay Area their home: ReadyMade, Bark, and Dwell. And his mention of Bitch magazine's recent plea for readers indicates that Fost dug deeper than most mainstream journos would have. Kudos.
Additionally, Business 2.0 editor Josh Quittner's comments on what it was like to relocate from New York to take over the title -- including his struggle finding solid staffers -- are well worth considering. But really, is Business 2.0 the only "last man standing among the new economy magazines"? Either Fost is only considering Bay Area books, he doesn't consider Fast Company a new economy mag -- which is good, actually -- or he doesn't consider us standing. Well, we're still here.
Can't wait to see a similar piece about Boston's media scene soon.
Products I Love IX
GP Markham has compiled a comprehensive illustrated catalog of ACME products as featured in various Warner Bros. cartoons between 1935 and 1964. The product listings are quite brief but include an image from the cartoon in which the item was featured, title and animator credits, and either a guarantee or usage warning based on the content of the cartoon. Fun stuff!
Thanks to Memepool.
Thanks to Memepool.
Technofetishism XLI
Comedy of Terror
Wait, so now Bob Hope isn't funny? Leave it to Christopher Hitchens to whip a dead horse laugh. I don't think that Hope was that funny, either, but, dude, he's dead. Let the people who liked him continue to like him. I don't need to read about why he wasn't funny. I don't need validation for thinking he's not funny. I can just choose not to read the appreciations and respect a grand old man of humor in his passing. Can't wait to see what Hitchens has to say about Tim Conway. Sheesh.
Thanks to Daypop.
Thanks to Daypop.
The Movie I Watched Last Night LXXIII
Daredevil
I didn't see this when it was in the theaters -- just as I missed X2 and Hulk -- but I did pick up the DVD to validate my comic book geekdom. And even though I had my doubts going in -- Ben Affleck? -- this movie could have been much, much worse. Not having been a big reader of the comic since the '80s, I don't think the director played up the darkness of the character as much as he could of. I remember Daredevil being so desolate and despairing. The production team tried to capture some of that by portraying a Tim Burton-era Batman-like world blending modern-day elements and gothic overtones. But outside of the nighttime scenes, it didn't really carry. For the long-running comic-based romance and storyline with Elektra, it's a shame that their relationship was so shallow in the movie -- and that she was killed off. Likewise with Bullseye, who was demoted to a cartoony ethnic tough. So what did I like? The repositioning of Daredevil's origin was interesting, with hazardous waste physically affecting his optic nerves. And the special effects during the sequences in which viewers got a taste of Daredevil's radar-like vision were extremely well done, particularly the scenes in the rain (which beg the question: Following Spider-Man, do all superhero movies now require a rainy romantic scene?). Two action sequences stand out: the scene in which young Matt Murdock fights the neighborhood bullies shortly after his blinding, and the scene in which Elektra and Murdock first meet and spar in the playground. But above all, I think it is the repositioning of the Kingpin that I think has the most promise. The ending opens up the opportunity for a sequel -- which might not be the wisest of decisions -- with the Kingpin put up against Daredevil as Magneto has been put up against the X-Men in their respective movies. Worth seeing if you're interested in comic books, but not overly satisfying if you don't have prior exposure to the characters.
I didn't see this when it was in the theaters -- just as I missed X2 and Hulk -- but I did pick up the DVD to validate my comic book geekdom. And even though I had my doubts going in -- Ben Affleck? -- this movie could have been much, much worse. Not having been a big reader of the comic since the '80s, I don't think the director played up the darkness of the character as much as he could of. I remember Daredevil being so desolate and despairing. The production team tried to capture some of that by portraying a Tim Burton-era Batman-like world blending modern-day elements and gothic overtones. But outside of the nighttime scenes, it didn't really carry. For the long-running comic-based romance and storyline with Elektra, it's a shame that their relationship was so shallow in the movie -- and that she was killed off. Likewise with Bullseye, who was demoted to a cartoony ethnic tough. So what did I like? The repositioning of Daredevil's origin was interesting, with hazardous waste physically affecting his optic nerves. And the special effects during the sequences in which viewers got a taste of Daredevil's radar-like vision were extremely well done, particularly the scenes in the rain (which beg the question: Following Spider-Man, do all superhero movies now require a rainy romantic scene?). Two action sequences stand out: the scene in which young Matt Murdock fights the neighborhood bullies shortly after his blinding, and the scene in which Elektra and Murdock first meet and spar in the playground. But above all, I think it is the repositioning of the Kingpin that I think has the most promise. The ending opens up the opportunity for a sequel -- which might not be the wisest of decisions -- with the Kingpin put up against Daredevil as Magneto has been put up against the X-Men in their respective movies. Worth seeing if you're interested in comic books, but not overly satisfying if you don't have prior exposure to the characters.
Friday, August 01, 2003
From the Reading Pile XX
The Big Mess
Produced for Free Comic Book Day this year, this is a 16-page prelude to T.J.G./Rocket Nova's fully fledged first issue, which was scheduled to be published in June. With an Andy Ristaino-meets-Bruce Orr artistic flair, the digest describes a roundup of robots' reactions to new comic day, the weekly point at which new comics are sold. Meanwhile, the Yezzah Nozzuh Brothers duke it out, characters' tongues tell tall tales, robots go to the flea market, Frankenstein eats spaghetti, and Nippy McGee gives readers advice. I get the sense that this is some sort of ADD-addled sampler, but Rocket Nova's work shows promise, and I hope to see some proper comics soon. Write 107 Conwell Ave., Somerville, MA 02145 for more information.
Mini-Sulk
Published in honor of Free Comic Book Day, this 24-page mini by Jeffrey Brown contains excerpts of Sulk #1, the forthcoming book "Any Easy Intimacy," and previously unpublished work. Brown's my new favorite autobiographical comics maker. His art is less clean than the usual cute brut school I appreciate but gentle enough to worm its way under my skin. And his writing -- John Porcellino meets Ben Snakepit -- is pleasantly revelatory yet self-effacing. The mostly brief vignettes featured in this mini address making comics, supermodels, childhood birthday parties and embarrassment, crushes, the safety of friends, making love, and dishonesty. My favorite pieces include "My Pathetic Day," the four-panel piece on p. 21, and the page-long foldout "(So He Says.)" I think we have a hot new talent in our midst. Write Jeffrey Brown, P.O. Box 120, Deerfield, IL 60015 for more information.
Misfit Toy
A cartoon skeleton gives a princess his heart. Meanwhile, Vix shares stories about stuffed animals, reviews a book about a transsexual, appreciates the Muppets, counts down 10 scary toys and analyzes a poll's results, considers "creatures I wish were real," and reviews related movies in this 28-page digest. While slightly disorganized and disjointed, this zine is an interesting look at morbid pop culture. Vix has unexpected insights, enjoys folk singer Richard Shindell (who recently played in Cambridge), and dabbles in photocopy collage. Best of luck with the next issue! Write Vix Spooky, 125 Earl Pl. #234, Toronto, ON, Canada M4Y 1M4 for more information.
True Confessions of a Big Geek
Starting with the premise that "Gays are geeks, too," editrix Sarah helped form the organization Action Grrrlz, and this 16-page "zinelette" was launched. The mini includes "Geek Confessions 101," a top 10 list of gay geek identifiers; Michele Collins' "Just 5 of the Reasons I'm a Big Geek" (hankies!); Siue's explanation of what it's like having trouble talking to strangers; Jonathan Culp's appreciation of Robert Christgau; and Steven Bereznai's writing about Bangkok, the Oriental city. While I don't think this zine is overly confessional or contextual, it's a nice almost-manifesto. Extra credit for the "alternate geek titles" for the zine and the snapshot on p. 14. Write Sarah, 57 Aziel St., Toronto, ON, Canada M6P 2N8 for more information.
Underground Surrealist #11
This 36-page standard-sized comic reminds me a lot of Rodney Schroeter's Bat Comix out of Random Lake, Wisconsin, c. 1982. I wonder if I still have my issues stowed somewhere. Published in 1999, this edition leads with some Steve Jackson Games-like cards featuring the Ambassador's Daughter, Russell Rooster, and Phil I. Stine, the comic's characters. Ramses gets his. Augustus is defrocked. India and Pakistan get it on. People fall down the stairs. (P. 7 is awesome!) A London raver spills some brain cells and changes his life. The Loch Ness Monster swallow Excalibur. Mike Cusimano misspells "renowned." Phil pollutes a river. And the rooster runs away. Then there's a photography spread by Alik Olisevich from the Ukraine before a solid comic by R.J. Pentzell and some ads. It's no Rodney Schroeter, but it's not bad in its silly surrealism. $3 to Mike Cusimano, P.O. Box 382565, Cambridge, MA 02238.
Produced for Free Comic Book Day this year, this is a 16-page prelude to T.J.G./Rocket Nova's fully fledged first issue, which was scheduled to be published in June. With an Andy Ristaino-meets-Bruce Orr artistic flair, the digest describes a roundup of robots' reactions to new comic day, the weekly point at which new comics are sold. Meanwhile, the Yezzah Nozzuh Brothers duke it out, characters' tongues tell tall tales, robots go to the flea market, Frankenstein eats spaghetti, and Nippy McGee gives readers advice. I get the sense that this is some sort of ADD-addled sampler, but Rocket Nova's work shows promise, and I hope to see some proper comics soon. Write 107 Conwell Ave., Somerville, MA 02145 for more information.
Mini-Sulk
Published in honor of Free Comic Book Day, this 24-page mini by Jeffrey Brown contains excerpts of Sulk #1, the forthcoming book "Any Easy Intimacy," and previously unpublished work. Brown's my new favorite autobiographical comics maker. His art is less clean than the usual cute brut school I appreciate but gentle enough to worm its way under my skin. And his writing -- John Porcellino meets Ben Snakepit -- is pleasantly revelatory yet self-effacing. The mostly brief vignettes featured in this mini address making comics, supermodels, childhood birthday parties and embarrassment, crushes, the safety of friends, making love, and dishonesty. My favorite pieces include "My Pathetic Day," the four-panel piece on p. 21, and the page-long foldout "(So He Says.)" I think we have a hot new talent in our midst. Write Jeffrey Brown, P.O. Box 120, Deerfield, IL 60015 for more information.
Misfit Toy
A cartoon skeleton gives a princess his heart. Meanwhile, Vix shares stories about stuffed animals, reviews a book about a transsexual, appreciates the Muppets, counts down 10 scary toys and analyzes a poll's results, considers "creatures I wish were real," and reviews related movies in this 28-page digest. While slightly disorganized and disjointed, this zine is an interesting look at morbid pop culture. Vix has unexpected insights, enjoys folk singer Richard Shindell (who recently played in Cambridge), and dabbles in photocopy collage. Best of luck with the next issue! Write Vix Spooky, 125 Earl Pl. #234, Toronto, ON, Canada M4Y 1M4 for more information.
True Confessions of a Big Geek
Starting with the premise that "Gays are geeks, too," editrix Sarah helped form the organization Action Grrrlz, and this 16-page "zinelette" was launched. The mini includes "Geek Confessions 101," a top 10 list of gay geek identifiers; Michele Collins' "Just 5 of the Reasons I'm a Big Geek" (hankies!); Siue's explanation of what it's like having trouble talking to strangers; Jonathan Culp's appreciation of Robert Christgau; and Steven Bereznai's writing about Bangkok, the Oriental city. While I don't think this zine is overly confessional or contextual, it's a nice almost-manifesto. Extra credit for the "alternate geek titles" for the zine and the snapshot on p. 14. Write Sarah, 57 Aziel St., Toronto, ON, Canada M6P 2N8 for more information.
Underground Surrealist #11
This 36-page standard-sized comic reminds me a lot of Rodney Schroeter's Bat Comix out of Random Lake, Wisconsin, c. 1982. I wonder if I still have my issues stowed somewhere. Published in 1999, this edition leads with some Steve Jackson Games-like cards featuring the Ambassador's Daughter, Russell Rooster, and Phil I. Stine, the comic's characters. Ramses gets his. Augustus is defrocked. India and Pakistan get it on. People fall down the stairs. (P. 7 is awesome!) A London raver spills some brain cells and changes his life. The Loch Ness Monster swallow Excalibur. Mike Cusimano misspells "renowned." Phil pollutes a river. And the rooster runs away. Then there's a photography spread by Alik Olisevich from the Ukraine before a solid comic by R.J. Pentzell and some ads. It's no Rodney Schroeter, but it's not bad in its silly surrealism. $3 to Mike Cusimano, P.O. Box 382565, Cambridge, MA 02238.
Books Worth a Look XVI
These are the books I read in June 2003.
All Gothic 1: The Boats of the Glen Garrig and the House on the Borderland by William Hope Hodgson (Xlibris, 2000)
If the PBS special "Lucky Jim" inspired me to read Kingsley Amis' novel this month, I need to credit reading this pairing of classic gothic horror novels to Richard Corben's recent "House on the Borderlands" graphic novel. The first two books of Hodgson's trilogy helped inspire H.P. Lovecraft's weird fiction, which means that these books' original publication predates the '30s at least. Yet they hold up. The first novel outlines the nautical misadventures of a crew lost in the Land of Lonesomeness. Encountering a placeless state of terror, humanoid fungi, a weed-choked sea, a ghost ship protecting a stranded band, and a slew of hulking horrors, the story is a largely linear tale. The second story, which Corben adapted almost accurately, is much more Lovecraftian in nature. An abandoned house rests not so comfortably above an ancient horror that evokes Ramsey Campbell-like time travel-triggered disease. While Corben's adaptation casts the hero's sister as his demon lover, Hodgson's original text portrays her as an alien adulteress. The description of the heat death of the universe and its aftermath is well worth the price of acquisition alone.
Pages: 317. Days to read: NA. Rating: Good.
Beemer by Glenn Gaslin (Soho, 2003)
I went to college with Glenn. He married the journalistic girl most wanted. He co-authored a Might-like book that sank like a stone. And his first novel is absolutely amazing. Like Maxx Barry's Syrup on uppers, Beemer is an awesome parallel read to D.B. Weiss' Lucky Wander Boy. A wandering wastrel seeks to secure success by establishing himself as a brand. Combining the occasional cliche with the life-changing lesson, Gaslin attacks pop culture proponents -- comic books, magazines, TV -- as his hero gains work in the advertising world, rekindles a lost advert icon, and gets into the virtual vortex of video games, values, and Variety. The book comes complete with a Brandon Tartikoff fetish and a Fast Company name drop. Required reading for Media Dieticians.
Pages: 261. Days to read: 2. Rating: Excellent.
Buddy the Dreamer by Peter Bagge (Fantagraphics, 1994)
I was inspired to revisit Bagge's earlier comics work after a recent email exchange with him about his page-long pieces in Reason magazine and his new comic Sweatshop. The second volume of the Buddy Bradley reprint series collects seven stories taken from Hate #6-10. "Valerie's Parents" shows that there's some gentleness and good in Buddy when it comes to relationships. In "Paranoia Reigns Supreme," Lisa tries to seduce George, reaffirming that "it's a very sick world out there." In the two-part "Follow That Dream," Buddy and Stinky get involved with a touring band, adding some expected Pacific Northwest grunge-rock color. And "The Nut" continues the stereotypical themes of early Fantagraphics books, particularly because of its setting in a used bookstore. Despite the introduction of these pop culture concepts, Bagge continues his character study, establishing Buddy as a mostly helpless -- and hapless -- bystander and expanding Stinky's self-centeredness and Lisa's self-loathing. Not as impressive as the first volume, but still worth revisiting.
Pages: 120. Days to read: 1. Rating: Good.
Col-Dee by Jordan Crane (Red Ink, 2001)
This slim graphic novelette by Jordan Crane is a well-designed item comprising a tenderly mature two-color story about a young boy and his relationship with his mother. The 7 year old copes with securing status among his circle of friends, his family's poverty, guilt about a small theft, his sick cat, and wanting to do well. The children do the things kids do -- flip off truckers, run errands, tell white lies, believe in magic, enjoy burping, try to one up each other, feel cheated when they lose faith, and try to hide their shortcomings -- but overall, the boy acts quite adult, expressing compassion, love, and remorse. Jordan's artwork is clean and gentle, but it is his writing and sense of design and presentation that really wows me. This book and his other recent work secures Jordan as one of the best comics makers -- and designers -- active in DIY media today.
Pages: 96. Days to read: 1. Rating: Excellent.
Cosmic Trigger Vol. 1 by Robert Anton Wilson (New Falcon, 1977)
One of Wilson's most controversial books, this first of three volumes helps expand on the agnosticism and intersubjectivity established by his co-authored magnum opus Illuminatus! And while I've yet to read the volume he wrote with collaborator and co-conspirator Robert Shea, I'd almost rather read Wilson's nonfiction than his fiction. Name dropping luminaries such as Aleister Crowley, Tim Leary, Aldous Huxley, and Uri Geller, Wilson riffs on UFO's, Sirius, the Kennedy assassination, psychedelic drugs, his time working at Playboy (about which I'd like to know more, back-issue hunt begun!), Discordianism, the channeling of ascended masters, space travel, the Masons, synchronicity, and multiple intelligences. It's a wide-ranging and rollicking ride that's a clear precursor to Everything in This Book is False but It's Exactly How Things Are, but it's certainly better written and more legitimate regardless of whether you decide to step across the threshold to enter Wilson's chapel perilous. I wouldn't say the book is mind blowing, but it does make one think.
Pages: 269. Days to read: 1. Rating: Good.
Dancing Barefoot by Wil Wheaton (Monolith, 2003)
These five stories were cut from Wheaton's autobiography Just a Geek because "they didn't fit." Offering a nice companion read to that volume, the golden boy child actor-turned-active blogger who just turned 31 isn't a bad writer. But I hope his fans can keep him afloat because it's his Star Trek experience that helps him stand out the most. Adam Curry:MTV::Wil Wheaton:STTNG. Including "short but true stories about life in the so-called space age," the book might be one of the first published under the Creative Commons. All of the pieces originally appeared in Wil's blog, which makes it a nice Web-to-print project. Sharing short stories about losing an aunt, playing hide and seek, getting a girl's phone number, and walking in the rain, the book is largely a container for the standout selection "The Saga of SpongeBob Vegas Pants." That story, which accounts for about two-thirds of the book, considers the science-fiction convention experience, the cultural progeny of William Fucking Shatner, and the creative risks of sketch comedy. The recollection of Wil's talk at the con is priceless, blending narrative with commentary on his personal experience of the speech. Students of fandom will be fascinated. Throughout the book, several aspects of Wil's life become clear: his helpless geekiness, which is charming; his intense love for his wife, which is enviable; and his adoration of the pop-punk band the Ataris, which I hope was slightly lessened by their most recent record. I believe he even name drops Oingo Boingo. That's rad. Not a brilliant read, but not bad at all. Get it for the convention story.
Pages: 116. Days to read: 4. Rating: Good.
Flying Leap by Judy Budnitz (Picador, 1998)
I bought this collection of short stories because Budnitz blurbed the jacket of another book I read recently -- perhaps Matthew Derby's Super Flat Times -- and I figured like likes like. I quite liked the 23 stories collected in this volume. From the Ben Marcus-like tale about a man in a dog suit to the closing first-person piece about a professional baby maker, Budnitz's simple, surreal stories shine with a concrete sense of impressionistic wonder. Themes include affection and loneliness, difficult choices, the heroism of fashion, the roles place and presence can play, popularity, entrapment, lies, the lowest common denominator and how quickly it can change, accelerated relationships, secrets, the love of leprosy, the stories people carry, and noisy neighbors. Like glimpses into an alternate reality, Budnitz's fiction feels like home yet horrible. I need to read more.
Pages: 244. Days to read: 31. Rating: Excellent.
Hey, Buddy! by Peter Bagge (Fantagraphics, 1993)
Collecting material from the first five issues of the comic book Hate, which was published in the early '90s, the first volume of the "complete Buddy Bradley stories" comprises nine selections. Readers are introduced to Buddy, his living space, his friends, his love life, his lifestyle, his cultural tastes, and his roommates. Those, as well as other people in his life, may be more interesting than Buddy himself, but he serves as an excellent centerpiece for the other characters. Stinky, Buddy's cheap, complaining, and duplicitious roommate, stands out, making Buddy look more mature and responsible by comparison. Conversely, George Cecil Hamilton III is a conspiracy theorist and obsessive martyr who wallows in popular TV programs as "research." Their interactions, in addition to Buddy's relationships with Lisa and Valerie -- much less Buddy's brother -- provide rich material for storytelling and character study. The bonus piece, "Prisoners of Hate Island," is a self-deprecating poke in the ribs of Bagge, Gary Groth, and Kim Thompson, offering some jokey context for the other stories. Reading this book now doesn't feel as epiphanal as reading Hate did when it was first published, but it's still more solid and important than the quaint example of early '90s indy comics that it could be. That speaks well of Bagge's body of work.
Pages: 116. Days to read: 2. Rating: Good.
Keeping Two Part 2 by Jordan Crane (Red Ink)
As the printed version of part two of Jordan's comics story originally published on Highwater Books' Web site, this is more comic book than book, but I read it as a book rather than as part of a batch of comics and zines. So here we go. Perhaps Jordan's most serious work to date, the story includes two intertwining storylines, one in which a young couple experiences a miscarriage, and another in which a second young couple deals with the ups and downs in their relationship, as well as the loss of the man's mother's dog. The ending is foreboding, as the man imagines the passing of his partner, and the overall impression is one of remorse and loneliness, even in the company of others. I can't wait until the entire storyline is collected into a book of its own.
Pages: 48. Days to read: 1. Rating: Excellent.
Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis (Penguin, 1961)
After watching the PBS adaptation of this witty British novel originally published in 1954, I had to read the book. And it is such a good read. Amis' comedy of manners involving the denizens of a second-rate post-war preparatory school is wickedly funny and includes several intriguing characters. Teacher Jim's entanglement with the daft but dedicated Margaret, love of pints, scheduled cigarette smoking, and befuddlement about buffoons adds up to create a forlorn hero out of his element. His love for Christine, who is likewise entangled with the asinine artist Bertrand, is worth cheering for, and while the conclusion of the novel doesn't quite match the TV program's righteous -- though thoroughly ripped -- call for quality education, Jim gets lucky and the ill-suffered fools get their comeuppance in the end. Wonderful.
Pages: 251. Days to read: 8. Rating: Excellent.
Purple Cow by Seth Godin (Portfolio, 2002)
Seth Godin's the greatest guy. He's bald. He's brilliant. He's hyperactively innovative. One Fast Company editor recently described him as a Unit of 20. So it's no surprise that the post-Yahoo marketing maven's most recent manifesto is a quick hit. Focusing on "how to transform your business by being remarkable," Seth ups the ante on his thought virus marketing theories by calling for an increase in quality and character during a downturn economy's days of grey. In about 75 easily digestible chunks, Seth describes the value of vigor, the death of the TV-industrial complex, what's wrong with the Wall Street Journal, the deficits of the attention economy, the mishaps of measurement, the parody paradox, and what it means to be a marketer. Like Chinese food, Seth's writing isn't always filling, but it's still nutritious food for thought. The man's a brand. He's a master of the sound bite. And he walks the talk, supporting the book with a viral marketing campaign and book-mentioned Web that works additional wonders. The airplane ride it takes to read this book, which I nibbled at over time, is well worth yours.
Pages: 145. Days to read: 13. Rating: Good.
All Gothic 1: The Boats of the Glen Garrig and the House on the Borderland by William Hope Hodgson (Xlibris, 2000)
If the PBS special "Lucky Jim" inspired me to read Kingsley Amis' novel this month, I need to credit reading this pairing of classic gothic horror novels to Richard Corben's recent "House on the Borderlands" graphic novel. The first two books of Hodgson's trilogy helped inspire H.P. Lovecraft's weird fiction, which means that these books' original publication predates the '30s at least. Yet they hold up. The first novel outlines the nautical misadventures of a crew lost in the Land of Lonesomeness. Encountering a placeless state of terror, humanoid fungi, a weed-choked sea, a ghost ship protecting a stranded band, and a slew of hulking horrors, the story is a largely linear tale. The second story, which Corben adapted almost accurately, is much more Lovecraftian in nature. An abandoned house rests not so comfortably above an ancient horror that evokes Ramsey Campbell-like time travel-triggered disease. While Corben's adaptation casts the hero's sister as his demon lover, Hodgson's original text portrays her as an alien adulteress. The description of the heat death of the universe and its aftermath is well worth the price of acquisition alone.
Pages: 317. Days to read: NA. Rating: Good.
Beemer by Glenn Gaslin (Soho, 2003)
I went to college with Glenn. He married the journalistic girl most wanted. He co-authored a Might-like book that sank like a stone. And his first novel is absolutely amazing. Like Maxx Barry's Syrup on uppers, Beemer is an awesome parallel read to D.B. Weiss' Lucky Wander Boy. A wandering wastrel seeks to secure success by establishing himself as a brand. Combining the occasional cliche with the life-changing lesson, Gaslin attacks pop culture proponents -- comic books, magazines, TV -- as his hero gains work in the advertising world, rekindles a lost advert icon, and gets into the virtual vortex of video games, values, and Variety. The book comes complete with a Brandon Tartikoff fetish and a Fast Company name drop. Required reading for Media Dieticians.
Pages: 261. Days to read: 2. Rating: Excellent.
Buddy the Dreamer by Peter Bagge (Fantagraphics, 1994)
I was inspired to revisit Bagge's earlier comics work after a recent email exchange with him about his page-long pieces in Reason magazine and his new comic Sweatshop. The second volume of the Buddy Bradley reprint series collects seven stories taken from Hate #6-10. "Valerie's Parents" shows that there's some gentleness and good in Buddy when it comes to relationships. In "Paranoia Reigns Supreme," Lisa tries to seduce George, reaffirming that "it's a very sick world out there." In the two-part "Follow That Dream," Buddy and Stinky get involved with a touring band, adding some expected Pacific Northwest grunge-rock color. And "The Nut" continues the stereotypical themes of early Fantagraphics books, particularly because of its setting in a used bookstore. Despite the introduction of these pop culture concepts, Bagge continues his character study, establishing Buddy as a mostly helpless -- and hapless -- bystander and expanding Stinky's self-centeredness and Lisa's self-loathing. Not as impressive as the first volume, but still worth revisiting.
Pages: 120. Days to read: 1. Rating: Good.
Col-Dee by Jordan Crane (Red Ink, 2001)
This slim graphic novelette by Jordan Crane is a well-designed item comprising a tenderly mature two-color story about a young boy and his relationship with his mother. The 7 year old copes with securing status among his circle of friends, his family's poverty, guilt about a small theft, his sick cat, and wanting to do well. The children do the things kids do -- flip off truckers, run errands, tell white lies, believe in magic, enjoy burping, try to one up each other, feel cheated when they lose faith, and try to hide their shortcomings -- but overall, the boy acts quite adult, expressing compassion, love, and remorse. Jordan's artwork is clean and gentle, but it is his writing and sense of design and presentation that really wows me. This book and his other recent work secures Jordan as one of the best comics makers -- and designers -- active in DIY media today.
Pages: 96. Days to read: 1. Rating: Excellent.
Cosmic Trigger Vol. 1 by Robert Anton Wilson (New Falcon, 1977)
One of Wilson's most controversial books, this first of three volumes helps expand on the agnosticism and intersubjectivity established by his co-authored magnum opus Illuminatus! And while I've yet to read the volume he wrote with collaborator and co-conspirator Robert Shea, I'd almost rather read Wilson's nonfiction than his fiction. Name dropping luminaries such as Aleister Crowley, Tim Leary, Aldous Huxley, and Uri Geller, Wilson riffs on UFO's, Sirius, the Kennedy assassination, psychedelic drugs, his time working at Playboy (about which I'd like to know more, back-issue hunt begun!), Discordianism, the channeling of ascended masters, space travel, the Masons, synchronicity, and multiple intelligences. It's a wide-ranging and rollicking ride that's a clear precursor to Everything in This Book is False but It's Exactly How Things Are, but it's certainly better written and more legitimate regardless of whether you decide to step across the threshold to enter Wilson's chapel perilous. I wouldn't say the book is mind blowing, but it does make one think.
Pages: 269. Days to read: 1. Rating: Good.
Dancing Barefoot by Wil Wheaton (Monolith, 2003)
These five stories were cut from Wheaton's autobiography Just a Geek because "they didn't fit." Offering a nice companion read to that volume, the golden boy child actor-turned-active blogger who just turned 31 isn't a bad writer. But I hope his fans can keep him afloat because it's his Star Trek experience that helps him stand out the most. Adam Curry:MTV::Wil Wheaton:STTNG. Including "short but true stories about life in the so-called space age," the book might be one of the first published under the Creative Commons. All of the pieces originally appeared in Wil's blog, which makes it a nice Web-to-print project. Sharing short stories about losing an aunt, playing hide and seek, getting a girl's phone number, and walking in the rain, the book is largely a container for the standout selection "The Saga of SpongeBob Vegas Pants." That story, which accounts for about two-thirds of the book, considers the science-fiction convention experience, the cultural progeny of William Fucking Shatner, and the creative risks of sketch comedy. The recollection of Wil's talk at the con is priceless, blending narrative with commentary on his personal experience of the speech. Students of fandom will be fascinated. Throughout the book, several aspects of Wil's life become clear: his helpless geekiness, which is charming; his intense love for his wife, which is enviable; and his adoration of the pop-punk band the Ataris, which I hope was slightly lessened by their most recent record. I believe he even name drops Oingo Boingo. That's rad. Not a brilliant read, but not bad at all. Get it for the convention story.
Pages: 116. Days to read: 4. Rating: Good.
Flying Leap by Judy Budnitz (Picador, 1998)
I bought this collection of short stories because Budnitz blurbed the jacket of another book I read recently -- perhaps Matthew Derby's Super Flat Times -- and I figured like likes like. I quite liked the 23 stories collected in this volume. From the Ben Marcus-like tale about a man in a dog suit to the closing first-person piece about a professional baby maker, Budnitz's simple, surreal stories shine with a concrete sense of impressionistic wonder. Themes include affection and loneliness, difficult choices, the heroism of fashion, the roles place and presence can play, popularity, entrapment, lies, the lowest common denominator and how quickly it can change, accelerated relationships, secrets, the love of leprosy, the stories people carry, and noisy neighbors. Like glimpses into an alternate reality, Budnitz's fiction feels like home yet horrible. I need to read more.
Pages: 244. Days to read: 31. Rating: Excellent.
Hey, Buddy! by Peter Bagge (Fantagraphics, 1993)
Collecting material from the first five issues of the comic book Hate, which was published in the early '90s, the first volume of the "complete Buddy Bradley stories" comprises nine selections. Readers are introduced to Buddy, his living space, his friends, his love life, his lifestyle, his cultural tastes, and his roommates. Those, as well as other people in his life, may be more interesting than Buddy himself, but he serves as an excellent centerpiece for the other characters. Stinky, Buddy's cheap, complaining, and duplicitious roommate, stands out, making Buddy look more mature and responsible by comparison. Conversely, George Cecil Hamilton III is a conspiracy theorist and obsessive martyr who wallows in popular TV programs as "research." Their interactions, in addition to Buddy's relationships with Lisa and Valerie -- much less Buddy's brother -- provide rich material for storytelling and character study. The bonus piece, "Prisoners of Hate Island," is a self-deprecating poke in the ribs of Bagge, Gary Groth, and Kim Thompson, offering some jokey context for the other stories. Reading this book now doesn't feel as epiphanal as reading Hate did when it was first published, but it's still more solid and important than the quaint example of early '90s indy comics that it could be. That speaks well of Bagge's body of work.
Pages: 116. Days to read: 2. Rating: Good.
Keeping Two Part 2 by Jordan Crane (Red Ink)
As the printed version of part two of Jordan's comics story originally published on Highwater Books' Web site, this is more comic book than book, but I read it as a book rather than as part of a batch of comics and zines. So here we go. Perhaps Jordan's most serious work to date, the story includes two intertwining storylines, one in which a young couple experiences a miscarriage, and another in which a second young couple deals with the ups and downs in their relationship, as well as the loss of the man's mother's dog. The ending is foreboding, as the man imagines the passing of his partner, and the overall impression is one of remorse and loneliness, even in the company of others. I can't wait until the entire storyline is collected into a book of its own.
Pages: 48. Days to read: 1. Rating: Excellent.
Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis (Penguin, 1961)
After watching the PBS adaptation of this witty British novel originally published in 1954, I had to read the book. And it is such a good read. Amis' comedy of manners involving the denizens of a second-rate post-war preparatory school is wickedly funny and includes several intriguing characters. Teacher Jim's entanglement with the daft but dedicated Margaret, love of pints, scheduled cigarette smoking, and befuddlement about buffoons adds up to create a forlorn hero out of his element. His love for Christine, who is likewise entangled with the asinine artist Bertrand, is worth cheering for, and while the conclusion of the novel doesn't quite match the TV program's righteous -- though thoroughly ripped -- call for quality education, Jim gets lucky and the ill-suffered fools get their comeuppance in the end. Wonderful.
Pages: 251. Days to read: 8. Rating: Excellent.
Purple Cow by Seth Godin (Portfolio, 2002)
Seth Godin's the greatest guy. He's bald. He's brilliant. He's hyperactively innovative. One Fast Company editor recently described him as a Unit of 20. So it's no surprise that the post-Yahoo marketing maven's most recent manifesto is a quick hit. Focusing on "how to transform your business by being remarkable," Seth ups the ante on his thought virus marketing theories by calling for an increase in quality and character during a downturn economy's days of grey. In about 75 easily digestible chunks, Seth describes the value of vigor, the death of the TV-industrial complex, what's wrong with the Wall Street Journal, the deficits of the attention economy, the mishaps of measurement, the parody paradox, and what it means to be a marketer. Like Chinese food, Seth's writing isn't always filling, but it's still nutritious food for thought. The man's a brand. He's a master of the sound bite. And he walks the talk, supporting the book with a viral marketing campaign and book-mentioned Web that works additional wonders. The airplane ride it takes to read this book, which I nibbled at over time, is well worth yours.
Pages: 145. Days to read: 13. Rating: Good.
Markets, Flash Mobs, and Mayhem II
Brad Searles has done a good job of rounding up the documentation of Boston's first Flash Mob. Today, he offers his description and photographs of the experience, commentary on the resulting media coverage, and pointers to other reports.
I wasn't able to join in on the fun because the Anchormen were stuffing envelopes to send our new CD to zines and magazines for review, but I hope to get in on the next one. Despite the unwise pre-mob attention, it looks as though the gathering was a success. Next time, let's do it right.
I wasn't able to join in on the fun because the Anchormen were stuffing envelopes to send our new CD to zines and magazines for review, but I hope to get in on the next one. Despite the unwise pre-mob attention, it looks as though the gathering was a success. Next time, let's do it right.
Thursday, July 31, 2003
Music to My Eyes XX
Photographs and videos from the Handstand Command residency at the Choppin' Block last month are now available online.
Hiking History X
Last night, I went on a history walk titled "What Makes Harvard Square a Square?" through the Cambridge Center for Adult Education. What follows are my rough notes and photographs taken during the walk and talk. I have not fact checked the dates or names, so there may be some inaccuracies.
Cambridge founded 1630 as capital of Massachusetts Bay Colony... Originally a planned city on a three-by-four grid... Now mostly Harvard dorms... 64 house lots in a one-third mile radius surrounded by a fence... On the Charles so only small craft can access... Elected officials built homes in Boston and Charlestown... Didn't want to move... After a year, only 10 families... By 1635, 500 people, 86 families because of the Great Migration... 1635, Hooker's parishioners all moved to Hartford, Connecticut... Only 11 families remain... Shepard's flock moved into abandoned homes... Founded first college in British America... 400 pounds pledged in 1636... Will be located in Newtowne...
Changed name because of Cambridge, England... Classes start in 1638... Harvard named for minister in Charlestown... Died of consumption and gave half of estate and 300-book library to college... Died 1638... Town 35 miles long from Billerica to Newton... V shaped... Less than a mile wide at Harvard Square... 70 acres dedicated to pasture... Only college in America for 50 years... Even at Revolution, only 12... Attracted first printing press... Provincial Congress met here... Continental army based here... Massachusetts constitution drafted here 1779... Brattle house... Reclaimed by son Thomas in 1776... Street not as wide, formal garden... Also a little creek where sidewalk is...
Brattle Hall built in 1789 as a live theater and meeting space for Cambridge Social Union, now CCAE... 1948 theater converted to movies... Also Architect's Corner built in 1966... Design Research one of first furnishings importer... Also Architects Collaborative... Blacksmith's house... Longfellow lived nearby... Chestnut tree near Cafe of India... 1946 the Window Shop helped European resettlers... Christ Church oldest church still standing... First Parish on other side of burial ground... First church has rooster on top... Puritans weren't separatists, Pilgrims were... Puritans Congregationalist... 1686 Church of England imposed, resulting in King's Chapel...
No Church of England in Cambridge until 1759... Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts... Opened 1761... Originally five windows, split in half, added two... Designed by architect of King's Chapel... East Apthorpe first priest... Fears of Anglican bishop... Apthorpe's house called the Bishop's Palace... Unitarianism started in England, first Unitarian church in Boston 1789, 1810 a major movement... Cambridge's church split, original church in center of square... Burial ground 1635 not the original site... Churches postdate ground by 100-200 years... Vassal family tomb in basement of Anglican church... Cambridge Common shared pasture land...
Originally to Linian Street... Shrunk, fenced in... Need to feed 10,000 soldiers... Slaughterhouses on Charlestown side, cattle would graze on common... Mt. Auburn Cemetery founded 1835... Old milestone 1734... William Dawes' route... Five milestones remain... Originally stood in center of square... Other side 1794 directions to new bridge... Unitarian parish building paid for by Harvard... Used for graduation until Memorial Hall... Emerson gave address in 1837... First bit of Transcendentalism... Churches are 0 Church and Garden Street... Movie theater originally University Theater... Entrance originally on Massachusetts Avenue, cut through...
Known for 1970 live performances, Leonard Bernstein lectures, play "Oh, Calcutta!" banned in Boston but staged in Cambridge, and Bob Dylan/Bruce Springsteen concert... Rolling Stone review.. Used to be one auditorium... 1827 house... Palmer Street originally an alley with stables... Coop built in 60s... Starbucks a carriage house... Nearby firehouse... Abercrombie building on site of 1790 wooden building with posts, 1896 electric street car couldn't make corner with sharp point, so they remodeled it as rounded, removed one post, 1990s debate about demolishment, removed all but 1890 facade, preserving next door brick building...
Brattle Street from a creek leading to a pond in Harvard Yard... Brattle Square originally Creek Lane... Subway opened in 1912, sidewalks 5-6 feet lower originally... Creeks converged at 1 Brattle Square... Tunnel for subway under here no longer used, trains once stored near Kennedy School... Winthrop Street part of original 1630 layout... Ground level behind Charlie's is original level... Stone wall 1700s... Until 1909, Charles was tidal... Newtowne Market 1635-1699... Stone thing only 15 years old... Winthrop Street part of grid... Harvard undergraduate life on original grid... JFK originally Boylston originally Wood...
Harvard didn't have enough dorms until 1920, wealthy didn't live on campus, gold coast apartments along Mount Auburn... No fraternities, but dine in clubs, final clubs... Used to be 12-plus along Mount Auburn... Some still operate, building used otherwise.. Fox Club green shutters on corner... Grendel's Den Pi Eta... Brick with green shutters near For Eyes was Sigma Alpha Epsilon... John Hick's house, white with shutters originally a couple blocks over, killed in British ambush... 1920 Harvard dorms built (called houses)... Still lumberyards, coal docks, subway power plant... Harvard bought up land... ice house with freight dock at end of Dunster...
Houses named after Harvard prexy... Dorms copy historic building elements... Tower has 17 bells bought from Bolshevik monastery, rung Sunday afternoons... Mount Auburn all private dorms, Ridgely Hall, Claverly Hall bought by Harvard... Each dorm had own identity, Adams House with older recycled buildings had fringe elements, theater, leftists, gays... Also dorms in yard itself... Now for first years... Now you don't choose dorms, too cliquey, random assignment... Lampoon building designed by Edwin Wheelright... Ibis pranks with Crimson...
Fly Club, Phoenix SK, Iroquois Club, Spee Club... Nantucket Nectars headquarters used to be in old Delta Upsilon club with ivy... East Apthorp's home 1760 10 Linden St., yellow wood with shutters... Now housing for Adams House master... Fairfax actually three buildings... Gnomon Copy storefront dates to 1907, French art nouveau...
J. August building houses Porcellian Club, top of the line, named after roast pig at inaugural banquet... George Washington didn't want to stay in Wadsworth because of Longfellow house... College house dorm built 1832-1870... Coop was site of courthouse... Lyceum Hall built there, Emerson, Charles Dickens, glee club... Out of Town News is old subway entrance... Old Harvard Yard.
As time allows, I will add links to some of the people, places, and things encountered during the tour.
Cambridge founded 1630 as capital of Massachusetts Bay Colony... Originally a planned city on a three-by-four grid... Now mostly Harvard dorms... 64 house lots in a one-third mile radius surrounded by a fence... On the Charles so only small craft can access... Elected officials built homes in Boston and Charlestown... Didn't want to move... After a year, only 10 families... By 1635, 500 people, 86 families because of the Great Migration... 1635, Hooker's parishioners all moved to Hartford, Connecticut... Only 11 families remain... Shepard's flock moved into abandoned homes... Founded first college in British America... 400 pounds pledged in 1636... Will be located in Newtowne...
Changed name because of Cambridge, England... Classes start in 1638... Harvard named for minister in Charlestown... Died of consumption and gave half of estate and 300-book library to college... Died 1638... Town 35 miles long from Billerica to Newton... V shaped... Less than a mile wide at Harvard Square... 70 acres dedicated to pasture... Only college in America for 50 years... Even at Revolution, only 12... Attracted first printing press... Provincial Congress met here... Continental army based here... Massachusetts constitution drafted here 1779... Brattle house... Reclaimed by son Thomas in 1776... Street not as wide, formal garden... Also a little creek where sidewalk is...
Brattle Hall built in 1789 as a live theater and meeting space for Cambridge Social Union, now CCAE... 1948 theater converted to movies... Also Architect's Corner built in 1966... Design Research one of first furnishings importer... Also Architects Collaborative... Blacksmith's house... Longfellow lived nearby... Chestnut tree near Cafe of India... 1946 the Window Shop helped European resettlers... Christ Church oldest church still standing... First Parish on other side of burial ground... First church has rooster on top... Puritans weren't separatists, Pilgrims were... Puritans Congregationalist... 1686 Church of England imposed, resulting in King's Chapel...
No Church of England in Cambridge until 1759... Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts... Opened 1761... Originally five windows, split in half, added two... Designed by architect of King's Chapel... East Apthorpe first priest... Fears of Anglican bishop... Apthorpe's house called the Bishop's Palace... Unitarianism started in England, first Unitarian church in Boston 1789, 1810 a major movement... Cambridge's church split, original church in center of square... Burial ground 1635 not the original site... Churches postdate ground by 100-200 years... Vassal family tomb in basement of Anglican church... Cambridge Common shared pasture land...
Originally to Linian Street... Shrunk, fenced in... Need to feed 10,000 soldiers... Slaughterhouses on Charlestown side, cattle would graze on common... Mt. Auburn Cemetery founded 1835... Old milestone 1734... William Dawes' route... Five milestones remain... Originally stood in center of square... Other side 1794 directions to new bridge... Unitarian parish building paid for by Harvard... Used for graduation until Memorial Hall... Emerson gave address in 1837... First bit of Transcendentalism... Churches are 0 Church and Garden Street... Movie theater originally University Theater... Entrance originally on Massachusetts Avenue, cut through...
Known for 1970 live performances, Leonard Bernstein lectures, play "Oh, Calcutta!" banned in Boston but staged in Cambridge, and Bob Dylan/Bruce Springsteen concert... Rolling Stone review.. Used to be one auditorium... 1827 house... Palmer Street originally an alley with stables... Coop built in 60s... Starbucks a carriage house... Nearby firehouse... Abercrombie building on site of 1790 wooden building with posts, 1896 electric street car couldn't make corner with sharp point, so they remodeled it as rounded, removed one post, 1990s debate about demolishment, removed all but 1890 facade, preserving next door brick building...
Brattle Street from a creek leading to a pond in Harvard Yard... Brattle Square originally Creek Lane... Subway opened in 1912, sidewalks 5-6 feet lower originally... Creeks converged at 1 Brattle Square... Tunnel for subway under here no longer used, trains once stored near Kennedy School... Winthrop Street part of original 1630 layout... Ground level behind Charlie's is original level... Stone wall 1700s... Until 1909, Charles was tidal... Newtowne Market 1635-1699... Stone thing only 15 years old... Winthrop Street part of grid... Harvard undergraduate life on original grid... JFK originally Boylston originally Wood...
Harvard didn't have enough dorms until 1920, wealthy didn't live on campus, gold coast apartments along Mount Auburn... No fraternities, but dine in clubs, final clubs... Used to be 12-plus along Mount Auburn... Some still operate, building used otherwise.. Fox Club green shutters on corner... Grendel's Den Pi Eta... Brick with green shutters near For Eyes was Sigma Alpha Epsilon... John Hick's house, white with shutters originally a couple blocks over, killed in British ambush... 1920 Harvard dorms built (called houses)... Still lumberyards, coal docks, subway power plant... Harvard bought up land... ice house with freight dock at end of Dunster...
Houses named after Harvard prexy... Dorms copy historic building elements... Tower has 17 bells bought from Bolshevik monastery, rung Sunday afternoons... Mount Auburn all private dorms, Ridgely Hall, Claverly Hall bought by Harvard... Each dorm had own identity, Adams House with older recycled buildings had fringe elements, theater, leftists, gays... Also dorms in yard itself... Now for first years... Now you don't choose dorms, too cliquey, random assignment... Lampoon building designed by Edwin Wheelright... Ibis pranks with Crimson...
Fly Club, Phoenix SK, Iroquois Club, Spee Club... Nantucket Nectars headquarters used to be in old Delta Upsilon club with ivy... East Apthorp's home 1760 10 Linden St., yellow wood with shutters... Now housing for Adams House master... Fairfax actually three buildings... Gnomon Copy storefront dates to 1907, French art nouveau...
J. August building houses Porcellian Club, top of the line, named after roast pig at inaugural banquet... George Washington didn't want to stay in Wadsworth because of Longfellow house... College house dorm built 1832-1870... Coop was site of courthouse... Lyceum Hall built there, Emerson, Charles Dickens, glee club... Out of Town News is old subway entrance... Old Harvard Yard.
As time allows, I will add links to some of the people, places, and things encountered during the tour.
Wednesday, July 30, 2003
Among the Literati XLVI
Mayrav Saar, an old college chum, now has a column in the Orange County Register. The first installment, published yesterday, is a hoot.
Sites on the Side of the Road IX
Kurumi's Web site is a rich resource for road geeks. Tools include a field guide to interchanges, a Java applet that enables you to make your own road signs, and a virtual drive through 1971-style Hartford, Connecticut. But the most interesting part of the site is the section on "secret routes" -- state-maintained roads that are unsigned and usually not visible on maps. Kurumi outlines what the different route numbers mean and offers a brief history of these secret routes. While I need to track down a Massachusetts corollary, Kurumi did turn me onto the book Turnpikes of New England. A fascinating read, I'm sure.
Thanks to Metafilter.
Thanks to Metafilter.
Rock Shows of Note LXXII
Last night was the weirdest. I kept hearing friends' voices through the window outside as people walked past my house -- when they weren't the voices of my friends. I thought I saw a friend walk by talking on her cell phone. It wasn't her -- and she doesn't even have a cell phone. I even thought I heard a friend calling my name at one point. Bizarre. Clearly, I had people on my mind, so I went for a walk around the block to find some.
Stopping by the Middle East to see who was playing, I bumped into Brett Rosenberg, and then I heard some of the music emanating from the back room. Deciding that I liked what I heard even though I didn't know who was playing, I plunked down some money to check out the Fugue. Am I ever glad I did!
They were amazing. And even though I heard just a few songs at the end of their set, I think they are my favorite band of today. Herky-jerky angular guitar stabs punctuating the vocalist's frenetic singing -- and tons of energy. The singer was insane. At one point he leapt off the stage into the crowd, then catapulted himself back on stage in a tuck and roll only to barrel into the guitarist, who collapsed on top of him. They kept playing the whole time, and the guitarist regained his feet without dropping a note, ending the song by throwing his guitar to the floor with a satisfying final squall and thunk. Wow. Well worth seeing live.
I don't remember the name of the next band that played, but they were a five-piece that played energetic alt.rock. The lead singers voice was pretty cool, and the bassist and second guitarist jumped around a lot together. My one gripe was that the band didn't just under-utilize the female vocalist, they pushed her way over to the side so she was almost waiting in the wings. She had a great voice and should be featured more prominently instead of relegated to the edge.
Stopping by the Middle East to see who was playing, I bumped into Brett Rosenberg, and then I heard some of the music emanating from the back room. Deciding that I liked what I heard even though I didn't know who was playing, I plunked down some money to check out the Fugue. Am I ever glad I did!
They were amazing. And even though I heard just a few songs at the end of their set, I think they are my favorite band of today. Herky-jerky angular guitar stabs punctuating the vocalist's frenetic singing -- and tons of energy. The singer was insane. At one point he leapt off the stage into the crowd, then catapulted himself back on stage in a tuck and roll only to barrel into the guitarist, who collapsed on top of him. They kept playing the whole time, and the guitarist regained his feet without dropping a note, ending the song by throwing his guitar to the floor with a satisfying final squall and thunk. Wow. Well worth seeing live.
I don't remember the name of the next band that played, but they were a five-piece that played energetic alt.rock. The lead singers voice was pretty cool, and the bassist and second guitarist jumped around a lot together. My one gripe was that the band didn't just under-utilize the female vocalist, they pushed her way over to the side so she was almost waiting in the wings. She had a great voice and should be featured more prominently instead of relegated to the edge.
Event-O-Dex LXXI
Thursday, July 31: Mittens, Choo Choo la Rouge, and Fearsome Earsome give an ear full at P.A.'s Lounge in Somerville.
Friday, August 1: Mike Tremoulet and Christine Selleck, two Houston-based bloggers, are visiting Boston and convening area Web writers for a meet and greet.
Friday, August 1: Mike Tremoulet and Christine Selleck, two Houston-based bloggers, are visiting Boston and convening area Web writers for a meet and greet.
Tuesday, July 29, 2003
From the In Box: NetWork VIII
What we really need is a common data format for all of these different services to manipulate and "decorate" (in the pattern-language sense).
Well, we have that common data format: FoaF. It would be cool if these sites let you export/import your friends list as an FoaF file. It wouldn't be hard at all.
Well maybe not that cool; I don't really use those sites that much. But it would be the "right way to do it". -- Joe Germuska
I guess I'm not as concerned about porting my networks from social software service to social software service, as I tend to use different ones for different purposes -- and have slightly different networks as a result. But I'd sure like a portable profile -- perhaps with an accompanying FoaF file since you mention it -- that I could swap out instead of signing up anew, creating a new profile page, and otherwise populating each new service as it emerges. Then we could truly navigate by person -- not by service. Even though I just canceled my premium subscription to Ecademy, I'm still a member of Friendster, Ryze, LinkedIn, and the Buddy Network, which I haven't revisited since I signed up in May. That's a lot of disconnected networks. And networks shouldn't be disconnected.
As more and more of these services emerge, the more I think that Duncan Work is onto something with his Net Deva project. In the past, I wasn't convinced I needed a portable profile for the various online communities and discussion forums I frequent, but the more I think about all these new online networking and social software services, the more I want one ID for all my overlapping networks. I said it in May, and I'll say it today: "As more of these services develop, it'll become increasingly important to bridge them."
Who's building that bridge?
Well, we have that common data format: FoaF. It would be cool if these sites let you export/import your friends list as an FoaF file. It wouldn't be hard at all.
Well maybe not that cool; I don't really use those sites that much. But it would be the "right way to do it". -- Joe Germuska
I guess I'm not as concerned about porting my networks from social software service to social software service, as I tend to use different ones for different purposes -- and have slightly different networks as a result. But I'd sure like a portable profile -- perhaps with an accompanying FoaF file since you mention it -- that I could swap out instead of signing up anew, creating a new profile page, and otherwise populating each new service as it emerges. Then we could truly navigate by person -- not by service. Even though I just canceled my premium subscription to Ecademy, I'm still a member of Friendster, Ryze, LinkedIn, and the Buddy Network, which I haven't revisited since I signed up in May. That's a lot of disconnected networks. And networks shouldn't be disconnected.
As more and more of these services emerge, the more I think that Duncan Work is onto something with his Net Deva project. In the past, I wasn't convinced I needed a portable profile for the various online communities and discussion forums I frequent, but the more I think about all these new online networking and social software services, the more I want one ID for all my overlapping networks. I said it in May, and I'll say it today: "As more of these services develop, it'll become increasingly important to bridge them."
Who's building that bridge?
From the Reading Pile XIX
Benjamin Franklin: History's Greatest Time Traveler!
I don't really see the point in billing this as "the story SPX didn't want you to see." I don't self-publish short stories as pieces Eyeshot rejected, and I think it's bad form to grouse about rejection by editors. That said, this eight-page mini by Ron LeBrasseur details a young student's report on how he spent his summer vacation. On the way to Florida, the narrator is joined by a time traveling Benjamin Franklin, whom the boy doesn't recognize and who is there to combat the 50-foot Mecha Lincoln, a rampaging robot brought to ground by a lightning bolt. It's a quick bit of cartoony silliness, and the punchline -- "The assignment was, 'Why I love America!'" -- gives hint to why the piece wasn't accepted for the SPX annual. The SPX pieces were to be biographical comics, not selections merely involving historical figures as characters. Still, punk points for trying, Ron! Also, extra credit for the Gloucester Dogtown snapshot in the beginning of the comic. Contact Ron LeBrasseur for more information.
Drake Marvel, Private Eye
Ron LeBrasseur claims Peter Phelan's character Drake Marvel as his own in this 12-page digest including the eight-page story titled "Roswell That Ends Well." It's a silly, cartoony story in which a stranded grey obtains work as a DJ. LeBrasseur's character designs are clean -- despite some potentially misleading coloring (p. 7, panels 4-5 led me to think a new alien character had been introduced) -- and the punchline pays off. I look forward to an anthology of Drake Marvel stories. The full-color covers add a nice touch. Contact Ron LeBrasseur for more information.
Dust
I feel slightly cheated now that I'm actually reading this 32-page digest. As much as I like the work of P. Shaw, $10 for this photocopied, reflective cover digest? "You cannot afford that," (p. 3) is right! Collecting Shaw's Dust, Kurla, and Sloppa Lee Slapdup strips, inked and watercolored in his characteristic style, the comics involve robots, cooking, nature, music, ninjas, Tinker Toys, revenge, and construction work. In many ways, it's a love story between Dust and the Insuperable Kurla, and the tender tales are more oriented toward process comics and the oblique than Shaw's past work. The Flip n' Read comics gracing the center spread -- one dedicated to Jamaica Plain-based City Feed and Supply -- are a concept worth returning to. You know what? I don't feel ripped off at all. Despite my slight irritation about the item's price, Shaw deserves kudos for this new complexity and direction, as well as the more mature character set. Kudos! $10 to P. Shaw, P.O. Box 425430, Cambridge, MA 02142.
Go-Go Girl #3 (Spring 2002)
Every time I see Craig Bostick, he gives me a hard time for not reading or reviewing any of his comics since the previous issue in this series. This one's for you! Craig's got a fun Maurice Vellekoop and Los Bros. Hernandez by way of Leela Corman and Seth art style, and the four short pieces in this 28-page digest are extremely well paced and timed in their comedy. In the first and longest story, "Specially Marked Boxes," the chain-smoking Go-Go Girl falls under the thumb of a hyperactive child in an attempt to win a date with a pop singer. The two-page "Last Call Close Call" might be the best of the lot with its pratfall, passing time, and apologetic punchline. And "Hypnotized" works well until the overly expositional explanation at the end, which is then redeemed by a well-drawn Pete Bagge-esque pratfall. Craig's art and sense of humor are pleasantly clean and well-paced. I won't hesitate to read #4 when it comes out -- if it hasn't already! $3 to Craig Bostick, 7 Weld Hill St. #2R, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130.
Machievelli
Don MacDonald's watercolor, well-lettered historicomic originally appeared in the 2002 SPX anthology. Scaled down to an almost too-small mini format, the eight-page comic remains a lush, expertly illustrated story even though MacDonald's beautiful cursive, near-calligraphic scripting is practically illegible. The art is wonderful, and it's clear MacDonald has a solid grasp of perspective, his use of reference photographs aside. A beautiful introduction to what will hopefully expand into a longer work. Contact Don MacDonald for more information.
I don't really see the point in billing this as "the story SPX didn't want you to see." I don't self-publish short stories as pieces Eyeshot rejected, and I think it's bad form to grouse about rejection by editors. That said, this eight-page mini by Ron LeBrasseur details a young student's report on how he spent his summer vacation. On the way to Florida, the narrator is joined by a time traveling Benjamin Franklin, whom the boy doesn't recognize and who is there to combat the 50-foot Mecha Lincoln, a rampaging robot brought to ground by a lightning bolt. It's a quick bit of cartoony silliness, and the punchline -- "The assignment was, 'Why I love America!'" -- gives hint to why the piece wasn't accepted for the SPX annual. The SPX pieces were to be biographical comics, not selections merely involving historical figures as characters. Still, punk points for trying, Ron! Also, extra credit for the Gloucester Dogtown snapshot in the beginning of the comic. Contact Ron LeBrasseur for more information.
Drake Marvel, Private Eye
Ron LeBrasseur claims Peter Phelan's character Drake Marvel as his own in this 12-page digest including the eight-page story titled "Roswell That Ends Well." It's a silly, cartoony story in which a stranded grey obtains work as a DJ. LeBrasseur's character designs are clean -- despite some potentially misleading coloring (p. 7, panels 4-5 led me to think a new alien character had been introduced) -- and the punchline pays off. I look forward to an anthology of Drake Marvel stories. The full-color covers add a nice touch. Contact Ron LeBrasseur for more information.
Dust
I feel slightly cheated now that I'm actually reading this 32-page digest. As much as I like the work of P. Shaw, $10 for this photocopied, reflective cover digest? "You cannot afford that," (p. 3) is right! Collecting Shaw's Dust, Kurla, and Sloppa Lee Slapdup strips, inked and watercolored in his characteristic style, the comics involve robots, cooking, nature, music, ninjas, Tinker Toys, revenge, and construction work. In many ways, it's a love story between Dust and the Insuperable Kurla, and the tender tales are more oriented toward process comics and the oblique than Shaw's past work. The Flip n' Read comics gracing the center spread -- one dedicated to Jamaica Plain-based City Feed and Supply -- are a concept worth returning to. You know what? I don't feel ripped off at all. Despite my slight irritation about the item's price, Shaw deserves kudos for this new complexity and direction, as well as the more mature character set. Kudos! $10 to P. Shaw, P.O. Box 425430, Cambridge, MA 02142.
Go-Go Girl #3 (Spring 2002)
Every time I see Craig Bostick, he gives me a hard time for not reading or reviewing any of his comics since the previous issue in this series. This one's for you! Craig's got a fun Maurice Vellekoop and Los Bros. Hernandez by way of Leela Corman and Seth art style, and the four short pieces in this 28-page digest are extremely well paced and timed in their comedy. In the first and longest story, "Specially Marked Boxes," the chain-smoking Go-Go Girl falls under the thumb of a hyperactive child in an attempt to win a date with a pop singer. The two-page "Last Call Close Call" might be the best of the lot with its pratfall, passing time, and apologetic punchline. And "Hypnotized" works well until the overly expositional explanation at the end, which is then redeemed by a well-drawn Pete Bagge-esque pratfall. Craig's art and sense of humor are pleasantly clean and well-paced. I won't hesitate to read #4 when it comes out -- if it hasn't already! $3 to Craig Bostick, 7 Weld Hill St. #2R, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130.
Machievelli
Don MacDonald's watercolor, well-lettered historicomic originally appeared in the 2002 SPX anthology. Scaled down to an almost too-small mini format, the eight-page comic remains a lush, expertly illustrated story even though MacDonald's beautiful cursive, near-calligraphic scripting is practically illegible. The art is wonderful, and it's clear MacDonald has a solid grasp of perspective, his use of reference photographs aside. A beautiful introduction to what will hopefully expand into a longer work. Contact Don MacDonald for more information.
Happy Birthday to Media Dieticians XVII
Doc Searls turns 56 today. And Wil Wheaton turns 31. happy birthday, you two!
Rules for Fools XVII
Tom Hopkins doesn't update his blog frequently, but when he does, it's a doozy. His July 28 entry shares some of the things he's learned lately. I'm right with him on Nos. 2 and 8. I've been skipping breakfast for far too long, and I've been sleeping way too much lately. Thanks for the elbow, Tom!
NetWork VIII
There's a new social software kid on the block! Tribe.net is currently in beta, and it appears to be a combination of Friendster's degrees of separation-based connection making and Craig's List's focus on listings. We'll see how it develops, but how many of these services do we really need? I wonder.
Thanks to Boing Boing.
Thanks to Boing Boing.
Monday, July 28, 2003
Music to My Ears XLIII
The fourth episode of Well-Rounded Radio is now available. The Summer 2003 edition features music and conversation with the Kossoy Sisters, Mark Dwinell of Bright, and Atlas Soul, as well as "raves on their latest favorite CDs from the music instrument store owners in Boston, including Mayflower Music’s Pat McDonald." Kudos, Charlie!
Corollary: Hiking History IX
Boston World Explorers Foundation member Brad Searles also shares some snapshots of Sunday's expedition. If anyone has any idea what the large concrete wall sections with 12 circles cut in them were used for, let me know!
Hiking History IX
Sunday afternoon, six members of the Boston World Explorers Foundation gathered at Sullivan Square in Somerville to explore an abandoned overpass. Despite two connecting overpasses closed to traffic, neither stretch was very long, so we also explored a highway tunnel closed to traffic and the waterfront. Intrepid adventurer David Belson took some excellent photographs of the expedition. Thanks to everyone who participated in the outing!
Saturday, July 26, 2003
Blogging About Blogging LXV
Wait a minute! I can now access a wireless network -- not my own, thank you very much -- from my kitchen table? Whoever you are, thank you very much. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You have no idea.
Friday, July 25, 2003
It's an Ad, Ad, Ad, Ad World XXVIII
NBC's one-minute movies, scheduled to begin airing this fall, could be pretty cool. The idea is that they'd rip through a conflict and resolution in 60 seconds, tucking the minute movies in between adverts. Curious how they'll compare to the BMW films and VW films. Now if only they could improve ads on a more widespread basis.
Thanks to Lost Remote.
Thanks to Lost Remote.
Fonts of Knowledge
Last night, I read Alex Irvine's short story "Reformation" in Live Without a Net. In it, a young man creates an intelligent character set that works its way through the Net. "Brethren is the first language to speak to the totality of the Virt." Rooted in an Islam and the Brethren of Purity, the typeface takes over other font sets, converting all online -- and offline -- communication to esoteric spirituality. Living words.
Yesterday in the New York Times, then, there was an article about a living typeface that changes its form based on ambient information around it. In one application, the letters and numbers on public weather report displays -- time, temperature -- change their form based on what kind of weather front is moving in.
Designed by the Dutch firm LettError, the font set is also fully interactive. By changing the degree to which various characteristics are represented, you can experiment with your own letter forms. Interesting stuff!
Yesterday in the New York Times, then, there was an article about a living typeface that changes its form based on ambient information around it. In one application, the letters and numbers on public weather report displays -- time, temperature -- change their form based on what kind of weather front is moving in.
Designed by the Dutch firm LettError, the font set is also fully interactive. By changing the degree to which various characteristics are represented, you can experiment with your own letter forms. Interesting stuff!
Thursday, July 24, 2003
Corollary: Tele-Phony VI
I just got my second SMS spam. It says:
I'm not going to call Ray, but I am going to look into stopping this new onslaught of SMS spam. It's not just intrusive; it's disappointing.
Add a new line of service and receive a $30 credit! Please call Ray Johnson @617-***-****.
I'm not going to call Ray, but I am going to look into stopping this new onslaught of SMS spam. It's not just intrusive; it's disappointing.
Corollary: Music to My Ears XL
This is fairly old news, a month-plus stale, but Apple is now working with independent labels to offer more independent music in the Music Store. The details are pretty interesting, but the caveats are that Apple works with the labels -- and that each release must have a UPC symbol.
On the Road Again V
I'm not sure, but in 2000, I may have gone to a dance party at an airport in East Berlin now believed to be built on top of fully armed Nazi bombers. I hope the hip-hop DJ's didn't shake things up too much.
Thanks to William Gibson.
Thanks to William Gibson.
Read But Dead XVII
St. Jude, one of the patron saints of the now-defunct Mondo 2000 magazine, died recently. Wired's obit is a good introduction to St. Jude's work, but I'd like to see an appreciation written by co-conspirator R.U. Sirius, if he's written one.
Since Mondo 2000, Sirius, who is now a senior editor for Dig It magazine, has had his hand in projects including Revolting, Getting It, and the Thresher. I've long held Sirius and St. Jude as inseparable. Now that we're separated from St. Jude, he's about as close as we can get. Geek media just lost one of the good ones.
Since Mondo 2000, Sirius, who is now a senior editor for Dig It magazine, has had his hand in projects including Revolting, Getting It, and the Thresher. I've long held Sirius and St. Jude as inseparable. Now that we're separated from St. Jude, he's about as close as we can get. Geek media just lost one of the good ones.
Life Imitates Art?
Not too long ago, Brad blogged the Hipster Bingo card that's been making the rounds. Yesterday, Matt mentioned that some people have replicated the card using real-world examples. It's funny because it's true. "Believe it or not, we did run into some resistant hipsters," the site organizers write. Join the Hipster Resistance. The revolution will not be Bingo-ized.
The Movie I Watched Last Night LXXII
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
Written and directed by Guy Ritchie, this 1999 movie is a neo-noir British comedy of errors involving four working-class chums who get way too involved in some of London's seedier activities. One friend is extremely good at reading people's reactions and emotions, so he enters a high-stakes card game, which he loses. Now he and his friends need to come up with half a million pounds in a week's time. They conspire to steal the money from some other thieves, and this catalyzes a clumsy circle of crime in which everyone's stealing from each other to pay each other back: money, pot, and guns. In the end, the foursome get off relatively scot free but are in no way redeemed of their opportunism, as the final scene attests. Some of the best vignettes involved Lenny McLean's character Barry the Baptist and the pairing of father-son street toughs Big Chris and Little Chris. And I was thrilled that Sting's role was as down played as it was. Interesting in a British Quentin Tarantino kind of way, but not overly impressive in terms of story or cinematography.
Written and directed by Guy Ritchie, this 1999 movie is a neo-noir British comedy of errors involving four working-class chums who get way too involved in some of London's seedier activities. One friend is extremely good at reading people's reactions and emotions, so he enters a high-stakes card game, which he loses. Now he and his friends need to come up with half a million pounds in a week's time. They conspire to steal the money from some other thieves, and this catalyzes a clumsy circle of crime in which everyone's stealing from each other to pay each other back: money, pot, and guns. In the end, the foursome get off relatively scot free but are in no way redeemed of their opportunism, as the final scene attests. Some of the best vignettes involved Lenny McLean's character Barry the Baptist and the pairing of father-son street toughs Big Chris and Little Chris. And I was thrilled that Sting's role was as down played as it was. Interesting in a British Quentin Tarantino kind of way, but not overly impressive in terms of story or cinematography.
Event-O-Dex LXX
Thursday, July 24: The Anchormen count down to the rock with Big Digits and Asian Babe Alert at P.A.'s Lounge in Union Square in Somerville. (Update)
Saturday, July 26: The Rock & Roll Library is holding a benefit reception at 33 Restaurant in the Back Bay.
Sunday, July 27: The Boston World Explorers Foundation is organizing an urban hike of an abandoned overpass near Sullivan Square in Somerville.
Saturday, July 26: The Rock & Roll Library is holding a benefit reception at 33 Restaurant in the Back Bay.
Sunday, July 27: The Boston World Explorers Foundation is organizing an urban hike of an abandoned overpass near Sullivan Square in Somerville.
Wednesday, July 23, 2003
Tele-Phony VI
Speaking of spam, I just got my first SMS spam. It says:
Guess what I just did? Seems to me that this is something people should have to sign up for, not opt out of. I was delighted when my phone beeped just now, and crestfallen when I saw it was an advert. Also, at 10 cents an outgoing SMS, this could get pretty expensive quite quickly, no? To my surprise, AT&T offers all sorts of SMS games. I can even change my ring tone by SMS.
But what I really want to do is figure out how to adjust the phone's volume.
AT&T Wireless: Test your knowledge with text trivia. Type A for Music, B for Entertainmant, C for Sports & send to 2003. To stop msgs reply with END at no cost.
Guess what I just did? Seems to me that this is something people should have to sign up for, not opt out of. I was delighted when my phone beeped just now, and crestfallen when I saw it was an advert. Also, at 10 cents an outgoing SMS, this could get pretty expensive quite quickly, no? To my surprise, AT&T offers all sorts of SMS games. I can even change my ring tone by SMS.
But what I really want to do is figure out how to adjust the phone's volume.
Newsletters of Note XI
EIntelligence is the online version of the newsletter Intelligence, which has been published monthly by Ed Rosenfeld since 1984. Rosenfeld was founding articles editor of Omni magazine and has published several books on neurocomputing, neural networks, and Gestalt therapy. Currently, he's working as a consultant with Columbia University's technology transfer office on science and technology IP. Not much is accessible by non-subscribers, and several of the links are inaccurate, but it's interesting to see what an Omni alumnus is up to these days. Much of the same, it seems!
Science-Fiction Spam II
In December, I received one of the better spams I've ever seen. This morning, I received another version of the spam from an E.J. Jansen:
The reference to the dimensional warp generator wrist watch is a clear riff on the previous spam, as well as a longer version. Googling for "dimensional warp generator," there's a lot of information about the email. You can buy a mock generator online in the Alien Technology Online Catalog. One blogger even sent a reply to the time traveler, and there seem to be several variations of the spam. Nikke analyzes the emails, and Dave Hill, who operates the Alien Technology Online Catalog, exchanged emails with the spammer earlier this month.
Turns out the guy is in Woburn, Massachusetts! And that he might be taking this seriously.
I'm a time traveler stuck here in 2003. Since nobody here seems to be able to get me what I need (safely here to me), I will have to build a simple time travel circut to get where I need myself. I am going to need an easy to follow picture diagram for a simple time travel circut, which can be built out of (readily available) parts here in 2003. Please email me any schematics you have. I will pay good money for anything you send me I can use Or if you have the rechargeable AMD dimensional warp generator wrist watch unit available, and are 100% certain you have a (secure) means of delivering it to me please also reply. Send a separate email to me.
Do not reply back directly to this email as it will only be bounced back to you.
Thank You
The reference to the dimensional warp generator wrist watch is a clear riff on the previous spam, as well as a longer version. Googling for "dimensional warp generator," there's a lot of information about the email. You can buy a mock generator online in the Alien Technology Online Catalog. One blogger even sent a reply to the time traveler, and there seem to be several variations of the spam. Nikke analyzes the emails, and Dave Hill, who operates the Alien Technology Online Catalog, exchanged emails with the spammer earlier this month.
Turns out the guy is in Woburn, Massachusetts! And that he might be taking this seriously.
Music to My Ears XLII
At least two songwriters have written songs about New Hampshire's Old Man of the Mountain, which collapsed in May. Ken Sheldon's slow-paced country-tinged ode "Good-bye, Old Man" is rather dirge-like, and the rest of his music seems to be educational in nature. "Sing Along and Learn Wonderful Math" even includes a song called "Saving My Money."
Tuesday, July 22, 2003
From the Reading Pile XVIII
Alligator
In this screenprinted wordless, 32-page minicomic, Brian Ralph cribs from Greg Cook something fierce. Even Greg's girlfriend thinks so! An artistic alligator (hence my guesswork title for the title-free item) prepares to paint some baby chicks when a Baby Huey-scale behemoth arrives on the scene, scaring the chicks away. The alligator decides to paint it instead, but it indifferently flies away. More inspired by Richard Scarry than much of Brian's work, this piece is bittersweet, sad, and slightly cruel. The page-spread, wide-angle view approach to setting the largely static scene is a welcome innovation. Very nice despite its brevity. A perfect little item. Contact Brian Ralph for more information.
Mixtape (December 2001)
This sewn binding photocopied comic combines a glimpse of Jeff Zenick-like architecture comics with the predominant wispy simplicity of artists such as John Porcellino. Music is the major metaphor for these short, borderless strips about memory, correspondence, completion, distance, and loss. Largely dissatisfying given its slim nature -- and despite the high quality of the work itself -- the 12-page digest is a peek at a new talent in our midst. Or at least on my radar. The cassette diagram diary (p. 5) is particularly interesting. Contact Susie Ghahremani for more information.
Paper Rodeo #14 (April-March 2003)
Another wonderful 28-page tabloid edition self-published by my favorite cryptic comics kids. Amazing, and I never quite know what to make of it. Not all of the artists are credited, but I can detect Ron Rege, Jr., who shares the first comic he drew after moving back from California; Matthew Thurber; Erin Rosenthal; Casper; Brian Chippendale, who (if it is indeed him) appears to be branching out into less process comics-oriented work; Gary Panter; and Ben Jones. There's plenty of clip art and psychedelic art-inspired comics in this issue, which is mysteriously themed "Magick." Highlights include Rege's piece, "Still Inside the Stupid Cave Rave" (the Garfield vs. Heathcliff bit is a nice touch), Thurber's "A Trilogy of Misery," "Zissy and Rita," the cute brut "Don't You Think It's Weird" strip on p. 16, "Thugvillage," G.I. Comics 12, and the advertisements for local businesses. As always, brilliant and indispensable. $1 to Paper Rodeo, P.O. Box 321, Providence, RI 02901.
Reinventing Everything
James Kochalka loves his Gameboy, and a play session in a South Carolina state park brings on a 28-page minicomic musing about bits, simplification, the emotions and physical reactions brought on by playing video games, the "always on" generation, connecting with nature, and beauty. It's one of James' more didactic pieces -- "Technology is not in opposition to nature," and the twin towers of 911 indeed -- but, as with almost everything James does, it carries a gentle whimsy and a self-effacing punchline that makes the near-lecture worthwhile. The title makes me wonder how inspired this mini was by Scott McCloud, and it's nice to see more of the thought behind James' deceptively simple comics -- as well as comics-based conversations among comics makers. This may in fact be an ashcan that's part of a longer forthcoming work. Contact James Kochalka for more information.
Shipwreck!
This 24-hour minicomic project tells the tale of two space explorers who crash on a distant planet, encounter aliens, and then belly up to a bar. At 36 pages, it's impressively long for a one-off joke containing all of six or seven discrete scenes, but the art is solid (especially p. 9, panel 1; p. 20, panels 1-2; p. 28, panels 1-2; and p. 33, panel 1) and there are some nice scripting moments ("Oh, that was sweet," "Well, it's a space worm," and "It's an energy bar!"). Not a bad effort, but far from brilliant. $2 to Dick Troutman, Jasen Lex, and Aweful Books, P.O. Box 4517, Pittsburgh, PA 15205.
Street Angel #1
What a fun comic. Quite different than Dick Troutman's 24-hour comic project, this 28-page digest collaboration with Brian Maruca reminds me of Jim Mahfood by way of Warren Ellis, almost. Dr. Pangea escapes from prison and kidnaps the mayor's daughter. The mayor enlists Jesse Sanchez, Street Angel, an orphan skate rat ninja, to save her. She reluctantly takes the case, outwits some basketball-playing ninjas -- the spread on pp. 14-15 is a key scene featuring some wonderful artwork -- and infiltrates Pangea's lair to save the day. Shades of Hopeles Savages, this comic shows some real promise. And I think Troutman should work with Ellis. $3 to Aweful Books, P.O. Box 4517, Pittsburgh, PA 15205.
Who's Who
Produced specifically by Kaz, Gary Leib, and John K. as a short-run one-off for the recent 2003 Museum of Contemporary Cartoon Art Festival in New York City, this 52-page all-star digest sketchbook contains caricatures of almost 200 of the convention's guests and participants. While I can't quite tell who did what, there are many highlights: Dave Kiersh, Craig Bostick, Tomer Hanuka, Phoebe Gloeckner, Phil Yeh, Kim Deitch, Marc Bell, Prentis Rollins, and Evan Dorkin. Incorporating clip art, celebratory photos, and newsprint, there's a bit of an E.C. Segar by way of Basil Wolverton flair to these funny animal-ridden scatological portrayals that look next to nothing like their subjects. A conference rarity best appreciated by attendees on site -- or small-press completists -- perhaps. Contact Gary Leib for more information.
You're Great
Produced as part of a print run of only 60 in June 2003, this 48-page "collaborative fictional effort" by Dave Kiersh and a friend recounts high school happenings between September 1996 and August 1997. Resonant of Ariel Schrag's Potential, the book shares the story of a classroom crush turned confusion involving drugs, goals, disapproval, drinking, the questionable gift of suicide, love, adventure, and sorrow. It's a touching tribute to lost love, a love lost to mental illness, and it's more in depth than Ron Rege's work with Joan Reidy. Kiersh's art elucidates his friend's writing well, and this might be his most mature work yet. Kudos to both. Contact Dave Kiersh for more information.
In this screenprinted wordless, 32-page minicomic, Brian Ralph cribs from Greg Cook something fierce. Even Greg's girlfriend thinks so! An artistic alligator (hence my guesswork title for the title-free item) prepares to paint some baby chicks when a Baby Huey-scale behemoth arrives on the scene, scaring the chicks away. The alligator decides to paint it instead, but it indifferently flies away. More inspired by Richard Scarry than much of Brian's work, this piece is bittersweet, sad, and slightly cruel. The page-spread, wide-angle view approach to setting the largely static scene is a welcome innovation. Very nice despite its brevity. A perfect little item. Contact Brian Ralph for more information.
Mixtape (December 2001)
This sewn binding photocopied comic combines a glimpse of Jeff Zenick-like architecture comics with the predominant wispy simplicity of artists such as John Porcellino. Music is the major metaphor for these short, borderless strips about memory, correspondence, completion, distance, and loss. Largely dissatisfying given its slim nature -- and despite the high quality of the work itself -- the 12-page digest is a peek at a new talent in our midst. Or at least on my radar. The cassette diagram diary (p. 5) is particularly interesting. Contact Susie Ghahremani for more information.
Paper Rodeo #14 (April-March 2003)
Another wonderful 28-page tabloid edition self-published by my favorite cryptic comics kids. Amazing, and I never quite know what to make of it. Not all of the artists are credited, but I can detect Ron Rege, Jr., who shares the first comic he drew after moving back from California; Matthew Thurber; Erin Rosenthal; Casper; Brian Chippendale, who (if it is indeed him) appears to be branching out into less process comics-oriented work; Gary Panter; and Ben Jones. There's plenty of clip art and psychedelic art-inspired comics in this issue, which is mysteriously themed "Magick." Highlights include Rege's piece, "Still Inside the Stupid Cave Rave" (the Garfield vs. Heathcliff bit is a nice touch), Thurber's "A Trilogy of Misery," "Zissy and Rita," the cute brut "Don't You Think It's Weird" strip on p. 16, "Thugvillage," G.I. Comics 12, and the advertisements for local businesses. As always, brilliant and indispensable. $1 to Paper Rodeo, P.O. Box 321, Providence, RI 02901.
Reinventing Everything
James Kochalka loves his Gameboy, and a play session in a South Carolina state park brings on a 28-page minicomic musing about bits, simplification, the emotions and physical reactions brought on by playing video games, the "always on" generation, connecting with nature, and beauty. It's one of James' more didactic pieces -- "Technology is not in opposition to nature," and the twin towers of 911 indeed -- but, as with almost everything James does, it carries a gentle whimsy and a self-effacing punchline that makes the near-lecture worthwhile. The title makes me wonder how inspired this mini was by Scott McCloud, and it's nice to see more of the thought behind James' deceptively simple comics -- as well as comics-based conversations among comics makers. This may in fact be an ashcan that's part of a longer forthcoming work. Contact James Kochalka for more information.
Shipwreck!
This 24-hour minicomic project tells the tale of two space explorers who crash on a distant planet, encounter aliens, and then belly up to a bar. At 36 pages, it's impressively long for a one-off joke containing all of six or seven discrete scenes, but the art is solid (especially p. 9, panel 1; p. 20, panels 1-2; p. 28, panels 1-2; and p. 33, panel 1) and there are some nice scripting moments ("Oh, that was sweet," "Well, it's a space worm," and "It's an energy bar!"). Not a bad effort, but far from brilliant. $2 to Dick Troutman, Jasen Lex, and Aweful Books, P.O. Box 4517, Pittsburgh, PA 15205.
Street Angel #1
What a fun comic. Quite different than Dick Troutman's 24-hour comic project, this 28-page digest collaboration with Brian Maruca reminds me of Jim Mahfood by way of Warren Ellis, almost. Dr. Pangea escapes from prison and kidnaps the mayor's daughter. The mayor enlists Jesse Sanchez, Street Angel, an orphan skate rat ninja, to save her. She reluctantly takes the case, outwits some basketball-playing ninjas -- the spread on pp. 14-15 is a key scene featuring some wonderful artwork -- and infiltrates Pangea's lair to save the day. Shades of Hopeles Savages, this comic shows some real promise. And I think Troutman should work with Ellis. $3 to Aweful Books, P.O. Box 4517, Pittsburgh, PA 15205.
Who's Who
Produced specifically by Kaz, Gary Leib, and John K. as a short-run one-off for the recent 2003 Museum of Contemporary Cartoon Art Festival in New York City, this 52-page all-star digest sketchbook contains caricatures of almost 200 of the convention's guests and participants. While I can't quite tell who did what, there are many highlights: Dave Kiersh, Craig Bostick, Tomer Hanuka, Phoebe Gloeckner, Phil Yeh, Kim Deitch, Marc Bell, Prentis Rollins, and Evan Dorkin. Incorporating clip art, celebratory photos, and newsprint, there's a bit of an E.C. Segar by way of Basil Wolverton flair to these funny animal-ridden scatological portrayals that look next to nothing like their subjects. A conference rarity best appreciated by attendees on site -- or small-press completists -- perhaps. Contact Gary Leib for more information.
You're Great
Produced as part of a print run of only 60 in June 2003, this 48-page "collaborative fictional effort" by Dave Kiersh and a friend recounts high school happenings between September 1996 and August 1997. Resonant of Ariel Schrag's Potential, the book shares the story of a classroom crush turned confusion involving drugs, goals, disapproval, drinking, the questionable gift of suicide, love, adventure, and sorrow. It's a touching tribute to lost love, a love lost to mental illness, and it's more in depth than Ron Rege's work with Joan Reidy. Kiersh's art elucidates his friend's writing well, and this might be his most mature work yet. Kudos to both. Contact Dave Kiersh for more information.
Hiking History VIII
I've started a new mailing list dedicated to use by members of the Boston World Explorers Foundation. If you live in the Boston area and would like to be involved in future history hikes, join the Foundation today.
Music to My Ears XLI
Free Speech for Sale is a slightly confusing Web project that in effect offers more than 30 songs and sound collage pieces that remind me of Negativland, the Tape-Beatles, John Oswald, and Stay Free!'s Illegal Art compilation. I've only downloaded two songs so far, but it's amazing, thought-worthy, and entertaining stuff.
Now that I've spent some more time poking around the site, it's less confusing -- and more impressive in its concept. Basically, it's a spoof of online and TV shopping services, and each product listed is a track on the compilation. The individual song-based pages feature more information about the sound artist, as well as links to their own respective project Web sites. An inspiring effort that reminds me of the sound art tape trading networks I used to participate in. Anyone remember the Screaming Popeyes?
Now that I've spent some more time poking around the site, it's less confusing -- and more impressive in its concept. Basically, it's a spoof of online and TV shopping services, and each product listed is a track on the compilation. The individual song-based pages feature more information about the sound artist, as well as links to their own respective project Web sites. An inspiring effort that reminds me of the sound art tape trading networks I used to participate in. Anyone remember the Screaming Popeyes?
Among the Literati XLV
Kathy Biehl now writes a monthly food column for LLRX, the "online power of law." Her first installment of After Hours concentrates on the Fancy Food Show in New York City, where she encounters the fine folks behind the Switch Beverage Co., which I visited during the 2002 CoF Roadshow.
Weather Report XIII
What's up with this? It's overcast and threatening rain all morning. I go to the dentist -- good check up, thanks for asking -- and it doesn't start raining until I step outside. Then it's cats and dogs. Buckets. The rain lightens up, and I walk to the office in a drizzle. Now, 15 minutes later, the sun is out and the clouds are starting to part. It had to rain during the exact window of time I was walking to work, didn't it? Yes. It seems it did. Nice to see the sun!
Monday, July 21, 2003
Event-O-Dex LXIX
Thursday, July 24: The Anchormen count down to the rock with Big Digits and the Count Me Outs at P.A.'s Lounge in Union Square in Somerville.
Read But Dead XVI
Penthouse soon to be homeless? Staff receive 25% of their pay. The mansion is about to be foreclosed. No issues of the magazine were published between April and July. Yet a spokeswoman insists the magazine has no cash flow problems. If the skin mag goes down, whatever will Pud read?
Thanks to Fucked Company.
Thanks to Fucked Company.
Rock Shows of Note LXXI
Friday night after work, after catching up on mail at home, I walked to the Zeitgeist Gallery to see Paul, Jef, and Jen perform as Sinkcharmer. I was running a little late, and I thought I'd miss some of the other bands performing, but the show started late, as well, so I didn't. Static Films opened. A three piece led by a bearded man wearing a trucker's hat, Static Films specializes in sleepy Elephant Six- and Orso-like post-rock, bordering on alt.country. The frontman had a resonating voice, and their use of clarinet, electronic drums and other recordings, mandolin, melodica, piano, and miniature steel drum made for a wonderful set. A member of the next band, Elephant Micah, who also worked the sound board, joined them to add a fourth harmony part on one song. Well done.
I missed most of Elephant Micah's set, though, because Jef, Jen, and I hustled over to the Druid for a quick beer and conversation. But what I heard when we returned, I enjoyed. Some of the material reminded me of Static Films, but their later pieces were more straight-forward indie rock-meets-alt.country trio work featuring traditional instruments. I picked up a cassette that they self-produced, complete with spraypaint-stenciled cover, and look forward to a deeper listen.
Lastly, Sinkcharmer. Paul's written several new songs and debuted them Friday night. One was a slower, more ambient number featuring an electronic drum track. Another was more indie rock in nature. Overall, the set was energetic, the three-part vocals were well placed, and Sinkcharmer delivered another solid performance. The crowd seemed to particularly enjoy the increasing intensity throughout the show, and the band ended on a delightfully high note, with Paul turning his back to the crowd and really putting his guitar through the paces. I look forward to more new songs!
I missed most of Elephant Micah's set, though, because Jef, Jen, and I hustled over to the Druid for a quick beer and conversation. But what I heard when we returned, I enjoyed. Some of the material reminded me of Static Films, but their later pieces were more straight-forward indie rock-meets-alt.country trio work featuring traditional instruments. I picked up a cassette that they self-produced, complete with spraypaint-stenciled cover, and look forward to a deeper listen.
Lastly, Sinkcharmer. Paul's written several new songs and debuted them Friday night. One was a slower, more ambient number featuring an electronic drum track. Another was more indie rock in nature. Overall, the set was energetic, the three-part vocals were well placed, and Sinkcharmer delivered another solid performance. The crowd seemed to particularly enjoy the increasing intensity throughout the show, and the band ended on a delightfully high note, with Paul turning his back to the crowd and really putting his guitar through the paces. I look forward to more new songs!
Comics and Community XIV
I spent much of Saturday at the Somerville Arts Council's annual ArtBeat festival volunteering at the Somerville Comics Collaborative table.
Jef Czekaj, Dan Moynihan, and I provided paper and drawing supplies to help the entire city draw a comic.
More than 40 people of all ages contributed panels to a collectively developed story about a dog-turned-cat that took over the world, a flying turtle, the Hulk, and banana pirates. One boy sat at the table for most of the day working on his own 24-page story about "snow goons." We plan to compile the contributions into a booklet to distribute to participants, as well as publish the collaborative comic online. Working title: "The ArtBeat Monkey Eat."
Jef Czekaj, Dan Moynihan, and I provided paper and drawing supplies to help the entire city draw a comic.
More than 40 people of all ages contributed panels to a collectively developed story about a dog-turned-cat that took over the world, a flying turtle, the Hulk, and banana pirates. One boy sat at the table for most of the day working on his own 24-page story about "snow goons." We plan to compile the contributions into a booklet to distribute to participants, as well as publish the collaborative comic online. Working title: "The ArtBeat Monkey Eat."
Among the Literati XLIV
Poetic Inhalation Vol. 2, No. 6 features the stories and drawings of Mission of Burma's Roger Miller. The pieces included date between 1993 and 2002, and examples of Miller's graphite rubbings, or frottage. This edition also includes writing by Benjamin Miller, Roger's brother and a musician in his own right.
Friday, July 18, 2003
Corollary: Signs of the Times
As previously mentioned in Media Diet, the security guard at 601 Montgomery St. in San Francisco is a bit of a wordsmith. Here is an article that a friend wrote about him. It's an amazing story.
The story was submitted to the San Francisco Chronicle but declined. Silly, silly Chronic. Herb Caen would've been all over this.
Did you hear the one about the croissant?
One San Francisco security guard's commentary on life, the universe, and everything.
By Alison Overholt
Everyone has a morning ritual: for some it's coffee, for others a jog through the park. Mine is a little different. I think about the sign -- the one that sits next to the security guard station in my office lobby. Sometimes it makes me laugh, sometimes I just shake my head in confusion -- but I always feel that the day hasn't begun until I get the joke on that sign.
Take the day that it read, "Beware croissants of dubious origin." Usually the topic relates to current events (my personal favorite, from the week after the Enron scandal broke: "Note to Congress: Lay off Dick Cheney about Enron so he can get back to being President."), but this one had me stumped. My fellow nine-to-fivers tried to figure it out in the elevator -- had there been an International Croissant Incident of some sort that we'd missed in the morning news? When a second reading of the newspaper yielded nothing, I went straight to the source.
The source is Steve Kiernan, the 50-year-old site supervisor of security at 601 Montgomery. He's been sitting watch from behind the guard's desk from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day since 1987. Kiernan is a stout guy with close-cropped salt and pepper hair, wire glasses, and a tendency to stare just slightly off to the side of you when you're having a conversation with him. Even when he's sharing his life story, he doesn't take his eyes off the front doors of the building, and glances now and then at the security monitor set into the desk at his station.
I ask him about the croissants of dubious origin. "It's true, I usually aim for one of the 'Big Three' -- news, sports, weather -- but anything is fair game, even if it only makes sense to me," Kiernan says. It turns out that on this particular day, the line for breakfast at the Bush Street McDonald's was halfway down the block, so Kiernan bought food at a local bakery instead. Their croissants tasted foul, and the sign went up as soon as Kiernan arrived at work. "Above all, this entertains me," he says with a chuckle. "It's my intention to make people do double takes. Often they do triple takes." I got lucky with this straightforward explanation. People ask Kiernan what his jokes mean all the time, and he's often known to smile and answer vaguely with a comment such as, "Sorry, this is no-explanation Thursday."
The signs started appearing about eight years ago when the building manager gave Kiernan the board to advertise outside meetings on the 4th floor. The meetings business never took off, but Kiernan still had the sign - and suddenly, he was hit with the muse. "I had this board, and they gave me all these letters," he says, "so one day I decided to put up something totally off the wall."
That first message wasn't off the wall enough for Kiernan to remember it now, but he does have a few favorites from over the years, like this choice comment from the day that the O.J. Simpson verdict was announced: "Double homicide in CA is now punishable by a really big fine." Or this note from when the Unabomber's hermit cabin was discovered: "Also found in Unabomber cabin was O.J. knife, Amelia Earhardt & the 49ers pass rush." The messages, which began as occasional comments when something particularly funny struck Kiernan, are the talk of the building and have become a daily affair. You can even win compilations of his jokes from over the years by joining an annual holiday raffle.
Occasionally, Kiernan's signs take a serious turn. After September 11th when many struggled to find a reason to show up for work, Kiernan encouraged with postings such as, "Rally caps on, people!" More importantly, when anti-Arab propaganda appeared in the building's elevators, he responded immediately with a sign proclaiming that "Willful stupidity never did anything good for anyone." His familiar sign was a peculiar source of comfort as we tried to get back to the business of doing business.
Occasionally, Kiernan has tried his hand at longer writing styles. In 1981 the Examiner ran a weekly writing contest that lasted for 24 weeks and culminated in a serialized novel, and Kiernan won two of the segments. He's toyed with the idea of writing an entire novel, but says, "I don't have the discipline to sit down and do it. Being a security guard has a better stress-to-pay ratio." It seems that his creativity works best on a 12" X 12" sign, with a stash of white letters. His favorite form is the haiku, or what Kiernan called an "M-Stew-ku" a few weeks ago when he posted this gem: "Today on Martha/I'll teach you how to build a/nice legal stonewall."
The story was submitted to the San Francisco Chronicle but declined. Silly, silly Chronic. Herb Caen would've been all over this.
Geocache Me If You Can III
Oddly, my Geko stopped working. I let the batteries run out and left the device in my bag for several days. Even when I tried several sets of new batteries, the on button wouldn't respond, and I couldn't the device to work. So I contacted Garmin, and they requested that I send it in for repair under warranty. Even though I can't use my Geko to determine where it is, I can use FedEx to track its location. And FedEx says that it arrived at Garmin in Kansas this morning. I should get it back in 7-10 days.
Corollary: Virtual Book Tour XII
Inkblots' conclusion to the Virtual Book Tour is an excerpt of the first 1,000 words of the book. Huh. The tour ends where the book begins.
Well, it's been a good run, I guess. I may share some of the feedback I plan to offer Kevin in the future -- perhaps mapping out my own design for a virtual book tour.
Well, it's been a good run, I guess. I may share some of the feedback I plan to offer Kevin in the future -- perhaps mapping out my own design for a virtual book tour.
Event-O-Dex LXVIII
Friday and Saturday, July 18-19: The Somerville Arts Council's ArtBeat takes place on Davis Square in Somerville. Some friends organized the Pajama Soul Dance Party on Saturday night, and I'll be volunteering at the Somerville Comics Collaborative table, where we plan to once again help the entire city draw a comic.
These Links Were Made for Breaking? XI
Thanks to our country's current administration, here's to a less responsive -- and responsible, it seems -- government. So much for a representative democracy, much less participatory government and serving the American citizenry. You can no longer email the White House. You have to follow a multi-page process, assigning various qualifiers to your communication before it can be sent. Those qualifiers include indicating whether you're for or against a policy. Guess which messages will actually be read? Attempting to access the White House's new "user-friendly" Web mail form just now, it timed out while attempting to connect. I'm sure it's struggling because people are sending in letters of concern and complaint today, but wow. Way to make it harder to access our "elected" leaders. Boo? Meet Hiss.
Thanks to Slashdot.
Thanks to Slashdot.
Sites for Sore Eyes II
Looks like Media Diet has a little friendly competition! The Haas Culture Review is a Web zine featuring bar, book, movie, record, and restaurant reviews. Meghan Haas' writing is relatively brief and balances fangirl giddiness with clever commentary. But the neatest thing is that occasionally, she reviews something when she's only seen the trailer, hasn't seen the movie at all, and is halfway through a book. Funny stuff. Some samples:
The material currently available is labeled Vol. 1, No. 1, and I'm not sure how frequently Meghan will update this, but it's good, good stuff.
I really really want to see this movie…I've seen the previews where Jon Cusack is all wet from being in the rain and he looks really concerned and scared and I could watch that preview over and over again…but I'd rather actually see the whole movie.
I didn't see this movie, but I am so tired of seeing Hilary Swank on talk shows saying over and over again, "this movie really puts the science back in science fiction."
I'm actually only half way thru this book at this point, but I'm loving every word in it.
Any band that can keep a serious groove going with all the passion of a Baptist preacher, while singing about wet paint, for 4 1⁄2 minutes is pretty damned good in my book.
I drink two beers here once a week.
The material currently available is labeled Vol. 1, No. 1, and I'm not sure how frequently Meghan will update this, but it's good, good stuff.
Virtual Book Tour XII
Mary Roach, author of Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers -- and the Virtual Book Tour -- have moved on to their tenth and final stop.
At some point today, Roach will be featured in the July 18 edition of Geoffrey Long's Web magazine Inkblots. I'm not sure when, where, or how, but given that the upcoming edition will also feature work by Kevin Smokler, Ben Brown, Derek Powazek, and Heather Champ, it's sure to be a doozy.
At some point today, Roach will be featured in the July 18 edition of Geoffrey Long's Web magazine Inkblots. I'm not sure when, where, or how, but given that the upcoming edition will also feature work by Kevin Smokler, Ben Brown, Derek Powazek, and Heather Champ, it's sure to be a doozy.
Thursday, July 17, 2003
Markets, Flash Mobs, and Mayhem
I adore the idea of flash mobs, well-coordinated, inexplicable sudden critical masses of people participating in a shared activity for 10 minutes and then gracefully dispersing. What a beautiful, beautiful concept. Makes the city dance. So imagine my delight that the project has come to Boston. Yes, oh, yes, it has.
From the In Box: Rock Shows of Note LXVIII
Via the Boss Improv mailing list, more news about the Berwick Research Institute:
Kudos to the Berwick staff for downplaying dissing Boston's lack of arts friendliness in lieu of highlighting the institute's contributions to the local arts and business community. That's a good strategy to seek support!
ISD Inspires New Era for Non-Profit Art Space in Boston
Boston is not particularly well known for being a safe haven for experimental art. But as the Berwick Research Institute approaches its fourth year of operation, Berwick artists and all-volunteer staff are working diligently to ensure that the non-profit visual and performance art space will continue to provide a sanctuary for community-based film, dance, robotics, sound, performance, conceptual and new media art in Dudley Square.
Recent months have seen great victories for the organization, bringing respect and accolades from important members of the Boston arts community. The Berwick has seen a notable increase in favorable press attention since January, when the artists' space won the largest monetary award given to an arts organization by the prestigious LEF Foundation. The grant was given to develop the Berwick's innovative Artist in Research residency program. Since receiving the award, the Berwick has hosted three site-specific artist's projects, while simultaneously expanding its footprint to include affordable studio space for artists working in new media. One of the artists in residence, Aliza Shapiro and her group of architectural designers, PodLab, spent the month of May developing new plans for the exhibition space, which will improve the safety and handicap-accessibility of the gallery.
The growing strength and notoriety that the Berwick has gained over the past year is sure to help the group manage a new challenge that presented itself on Friday when the gallery was temporarily closed by officials from Boston's Inspectional Services Department. The ISD informed the artists that the building in which they rent a space had fire-code, zoning, and occupancy issues that needed to be addressed. Several violations were immediately rectified upon the arrival of the ISD officials, and a full inspection of the building on Wednesday will determine what other changes the building's owner, Nicholas Spelios, needs to make in order to bring the building into compliance with the city's code.
In addition to the Berwick, the building is also home to a number of artist studios, grass-roots community activist organizations, religious groups, and neighborhood businesses. Spelios has made a conscious effort to provide these burgeoning community-oriented enterprises with a comfortable and supportive space. "This building has always had an important place in Dudley Square's history, but its current role is just as vital," points out Katya Gorker, a founding member of the Berwick. "It's a multi-use space that serves a variety of purposes and a variety of audiences. Mr. Spelios could make a fortune renting or selling this property to commercial interests but he chooses to rent to us instead because of his dedication to the community."
Spelios and members of the Berwick attended a hearing with the ISD on Tuesday to discuss the zoning and fire-code breaches in the former cake factory. Berwick members feel optimistic about the outcome of the hearing and their interaction with city officials. The timing of the ISD hearing may actually be auspicious for the organization, which has been preparing to gather resources and funds to implement the new PodLab plans. As news of the city's pressure on the space spreads, the community is showing their support for the organization. "In the past few days I've received many phone calls from city officials, artists, producers, other art spaces, community organizers, and audience members asking how they can help," says Meg Rotzel, the Berwick's Director. "We need to raise money for our improvements, and we always welcome volunteers, especially assistance from people with special expertise. This is an opportunity to become involved in the arts community and have a direct impact on the cultural climate of Boston."
All Berwick programming scheduled for the month of July will be re-located or postponed, including a performance by the internationally regarded sound artist Francisco Lopez, curated by local experimental music series, Non-Event; "Effigy," a new stage production by renowned artist/activist Nomy Lamm; and a sound and video exhibition by Dudley Square-based youth program, Arts in Progress. For updates on the status of Berwick events, please refer to the organization's website. Anyone interested in donating funds to complete the new architectural design, please contact the Berwick Programming Director, Meg Rotzel.
Kudos to the Berwick staff for downplaying dissing Boston's lack of arts friendliness in lieu of highlighting the institute's contributions to the local arts and business community. That's a good strategy to seek support!
Read But Dead XV
Just received this via email from a Media Dietician:
Thanks to Media Dietician Sady Sullivan for bringing this to my attention. Bitch is an amazing read that combines straight-up media studies-style critique and analysis with a healthy, forthright feminist bent. Think Bust plus Stay Free. If Bitch folds, the media world is the lesser for it. And the staff does good work, so supprt their efforts and spread the word!
One of my favorite magazines, Bitch: Feminist Response to Pop Culture, is about to go the way of many other feminist outlets recently (Sojourner, New Words) and succumb to a struggling budget... but you could save it.
We all know we need more independent media.
Subscribing to Bitch is only $15/year, and your support could make or break them. (See letter from the editor below.) -- Sady Sullivan
Dear friends:
As many of you know, Bitch has always functioned on a shoestring budget, especially in the spreading-the-word department. Well, our mid-year financial statements show that the shoestring has gotten even stringier of late. We're falling pretty short of our projected magazine sales for the year, and to ensure that there's a Bitch next year and for many years to come, we need your help now. To put it bluntly, we need more subscribers. About 3,000 more.
Here's why subscriptions are so crucial to our financial health: When people buy Bitch at a bookstore, we eventually (four to five months later) get between $1.77 and $1.98 of the $4.95 plus tax that it costs. When people subscribe, they pay only $3.75 per issue (better for them), and we get all of the money right away (better for us).
A lot of people think that buying Bitch on the newsstand supports us just as much as subscribing. Some even think it's more helpful because it convinces bookstores that Bitch is worth carrying. But the bottom line is that Bitch is much better off having you as a subscriber than as a newsstand buyer. (Of course we'd rather have people buying it in the bookstore than not buying it at all, but I promise that stores will continue to stock the magazine, and new newsstand buyers will always come along.)
And then there are all those folks out there who say, "Oh, yeah, Bitch, I've thumbed through that in the bookstore/been to the website/read a friend's copy, and I always meant to subscribe." Now is the time to get all of these people to actually sign up!
Here's what you can do to help:
If you are not a subscriber right now, become one today. Go to the Web, call us toll-free at 877-21-BITCH, or send a check for $15 to Bitch, 1611 Telegraph Ave Ste. 515, Oakland CA 94612. Buy gifts for your friends and family. Multiple subscriptions are even cheaper: $15 for the first and $12 for each additional. See info above, and please note: If you are ordering online, the discount for multiple subscriptions will not show up automatically. Write a note in the comments field about it (along with the other addresses, of course) and we will manually adjust the price. Pass this message along. This e-mail is going out to about 700 or so people. To meet our goal, every one of you would need to buy 4.3 subscriptions -- or we would collectively need to reach out to a whole bunch more than 700 of Bitch's closest friends. So please send this to anyone you know who likes the magazine or who you think would like the magazine. Help us get the word out! Tell people about Bitch. Read it on public transportation. Leave a copy in places where people will discover it (your local coffee house, your college's student center, the waiting room at your friendly women's health clinic, etc.). If you want to take part in a more formal effort to do this, e-mail publicity director Marisa Meltzer at and tell her you're interested in helping to promote the magazine in your area. Buy a t-shirt, too. We have a bunch of styles now and they're super-cute. If you're an exhibitionist, we also have very happenin' underwear for sale. (Pictures and descriptions are online.) Pester your local library to buy a subscription (they really do listen to patron requests). Donate a subscription to your local campus women's center, community resource center, or the like.
Anything you can do to get us further toward the goal of 3,000 subscriptions will help Bitch be strong and healthy!
With gratitude,
Lisa Jervis
Thanks to Media Dietician Sady Sullivan for bringing this to my attention. Bitch is an amazing read that combines straight-up media studies-style critique and analysis with a healthy, forthright feminist bent. Think Bust plus Stay Free. If Bitch folds, the media world is the lesser for it. And the staff does good work, so supprt their efforts and spread the word!
Bait? Meet Switch.
This email, received today, cracks me up:
I laughed out loud because of the misleading marketing speak in the opening sentence. That line, in effect, says, "We are no longer offering a used service, and somehow, taking it away makes Evite better." Ceasing the support of wireless services neither improves Evite's tool set nor increases the range of services they offer. It takes something away from customers. Something customers might use and appreciate.
That said, I also laughed at the closing sentence, which pairs the recognition that they're taking a service away from users -- while reminding them that it is, in fact, free, so what are you complaining about? Fair enough. I don't pay to use Evite, so you can scale it back all you want. Maybe you could remove the occasionally pesky @'s from your Evite URL's.
But this is particularly interesting because it strikes me that wireless services are on the rise writ large, not on the wane. And isn't Evite a possible tool to support moblogging and on-the-street mobilization of people using wireless devices for ad hoc events and gatherings? How can the company not see that potential?
Whatever. It's their free service.
Dear Evite-On-The-Go Users,
Due to our efforts to improve our most popular tools as well as grow our gallery of designs, Evite will no longer offer wireless services. Suspension of Evite-On-The-Go will take place July 22, 2003. Please make a note of it.
You can still access all of your event and calendaring information on your MyEvite homepage.
We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your continued support of our free service.
Sincerely,
The Evite Team
I laughed out loud because of the misleading marketing speak in the opening sentence. That line, in effect, says, "We are no longer offering a used service, and somehow, taking it away makes Evite better." Ceasing the support of wireless services neither improves Evite's tool set nor increases the range of services they offer. It takes something away from customers. Something customers might use and appreciate.
That said, I also laughed at the closing sentence, which pairs the recognition that they're taking a service away from users -- while reminding them that it is, in fact, free, so what are you complaining about? Fair enough. I don't pay to use Evite, so you can scale it back all you want. Maybe you could remove the occasionally pesky @'s from your Evite URL's.
But this is particularly interesting because it strikes me that wireless services are on the rise writ large, not on the wane. And isn't Evite a possible tool to support moblogging and on-the-street mobilization of people using wireless devices for ad hoc events and gatherings? How can the company not see that potential?
Whatever. It's their free service.
Virtual Book Tour XI
Even Doc Searls is cracking wise about the dead. His idea is certainly an intriguing use for the dearly departed.
Everything's Coming Out, Rosie III
This is interesting. Even though Rosie O'Donnell and former publisher of Rosie magazine Gruner + Jahr USA filed motions to dismiss their lawsuits against each other, a judge has denied them, pushing the two parties into a court trial. What part of "We don't want to sue each other," did the judge miss? It's fascinating -- and sad -- that the legal system can force people into court cases.
Thanks to I Want Media.
Thanks to I Want Media.
Read But Dead XIV
The Oxford American is folding again. This is the second time they've had to shut up shop, doing so previously just more than a year ago. This time, relatively new investor At Home Media Group says that advertising revenue isn't meeting expectations. Huh? You buy a magazine that folded because of low ad revenue, and then you're surprised when a year later, ad revenue is low? Go figure. More coverage available in Media Life.
Thanks to I Want Media.
Thanks to I Want Media.
Rock Shows of Note LXX
Met Geraldine for dinner at the Middle East last night so we could go see the Kills play downstairs. They're Geraldine's sister Meghan's favorite band of the moment, and word was they put on a stellar live show. They do. But first, we caught the end of a set by the Horrors, an intense three piece that specializes in sludgy, blues-tinged swamp garage rock. Or something. Sometimes, the wall of guitar sound would get so dense, my ears would trick me into hearing trumpets or some sort of keyboards. Maybe the guitarist was using some effects. Relatively run of the mill, their sound was still fun, and I'm glad we caught a little of their performance.
Then the Kills! They were amazing. A two piece featuring dual guitarists and electronic drum tracks, their sound reminded me a little of PJ Harvey by way of Mecca Normal or Lois. Extremely distraught, intense singing by the woman. Such presence and danger. Her stringy black hair obscured her face, her skinny frame convulsed and enveloped the microphone stand. Her bandmate was also wonderful, playing sludgy groove-oriented swamp rock accompanied by occasional herky-jerk contortions of his body and sharp guitar stabs. Their interplay was interesting. He was relatively confrontational -- to the audience as well as his bandmate. And when they focused on each other while playing, the intensity increased immensely. An extremely moving, visceral experience. Wonder how it translates to record?
Lastly, the Dirtbombs. With a go-go band-like gimmick (They dub themselves a "dance combo.") of having two bassists (one a diminuitive Asian woman) and two trap set players, the band had straight-ahead R&B-meets-garage rock energy. Yet they were a little too clean for me, falling somewhere between the Estrus roster and the Get Hip back catalog. Perhaps it was the lead singer's vocals -- or the frat party nature of their playlist and songwriting style. We left before the end of their set.
Interesting bits of tour trivia: The Kills' road manager Dave was in a band with Geraldine's sister Meghan. It was fun to meet him -- good luck with your new job! And while the Dirtbombs were playing downstairs, the High Strung was playing upstairs with Squirtgun and a band featuring members of Screeching Weasel. Just the night before, the Dirtbombs and the High Strung played a show together at the Bug Jar in Rochester, New York. Small world, and intersecting tour schedules!
Then the Kills! They were amazing. A two piece featuring dual guitarists and electronic drum tracks, their sound reminded me a little of PJ Harvey by way of Mecca Normal or Lois. Extremely distraught, intense singing by the woman. Such presence and danger. Her stringy black hair obscured her face, her skinny frame convulsed and enveloped the microphone stand. Her bandmate was also wonderful, playing sludgy groove-oriented swamp rock accompanied by occasional herky-jerk contortions of his body and sharp guitar stabs. Their interplay was interesting. He was relatively confrontational -- to the audience as well as his bandmate. And when they focused on each other while playing, the intensity increased immensely. An extremely moving, visceral experience. Wonder how it translates to record?
Lastly, the Dirtbombs. With a go-go band-like gimmick (They dub themselves a "dance combo.") of having two bassists (one a diminuitive Asian woman) and two trap set players, the band had straight-ahead R&B-meets-garage rock energy. Yet they were a little too clean for me, falling somewhere between the Estrus roster and the Get Hip back catalog. Perhaps it was the lead singer's vocals -- or the frat party nature of their playlist and songwriting style. We left before the end of their set.
Interesting bits of tour trivia: The Kills' road manager Dave was in a band with Geraldine's sister Meghan. It was fun to meet him -- good luck with your new job! And while the Dirtbombs were playing downstairs, the High Strung was playing upstairs with Squirtgun and a band featuring members of Screeching Weasel. Just the night before, the Dirtbombs and the High Strung played a show together at the Bug Jar in Rochester, New York. Small world, and intersecting tour schedules!
Virtual Book Tour XI
Mary Roach, author of Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers -- and the Virtual Book Tour -- have moved on to their ninth stop.
In his blog Crabwalk, Joshua Benton interviews Roach about the writing process behind Stiff: the book proposal process, the book's inspiration by her Salon column, her pacing and use of the first person, and other books similar to hers. It's an in-depth conversation that reads as witty as Roach writes.
Good to see Virtual Book Tour participants increasing the amount of content they offer during their stops! Roach's post to Jason Kottke's Undesign yesterday sparked a lively conversation among readers. And Erik Benson's interview with Roach is also well worth reading. It's interesting how participants' questions overlapped -- or didn't. Once you've done one interview, you've done them all, I suppose.
In his blog Crabwalk, Joshua Benton interviews Roach about the writing process behind Stiff: the book proposal process, the book's inspiration by her Salon column, her pacing and use of the first person, and other books similar to hers. It's an in-depth conversation that reads as witty as Roach writes.
Good to see Virtual Book Tour participants increasing the amount of content they offer during their stops! Roach's post to Jason Kottke's Undesign yesterday sparked a lively conversation among readers. And Erik Benson's interview with Roach is also well worth reading. It's interesting how participants' questions overlapped -- or didn't. Once you've done one interview, you've done them all, I suppose.
Wednesday, July 16, 2003
Blogging About Blogging LXIV
I'm going to take the day off from Media Diet today. You can continue to follow Mary Roach and the Virtual Book tour at Jason Kottke's Undesign. Or see what I cared about a year ago.
Tuesday, July 15, 2003
Rock Shows of Note LXIX
Last night, after watching "Murder at Harvard" on television, I felt a little bored and antsy. It wasn't too late yet and I wasn't really tired enough for bed yet, so I decided to go to the Middle East to check out some new bands. Usually, when I go to shows, I know at least one of the groups performing. Not last night. I decided to go to a show not having ever heard -- or heard of -- any of the bands playing. And you know what? It was fun, and I think people should do it more often.
I arrived a couple of songs before the end of Elad Love Affair's set. They play rather intense, dark rock featuring dense guitar washes and a female singer, Nola, who can really belt out the vocals. Songs such as "On Wifeburning" include some nice angular guitar stabs, as well, but given the neo-gothic nature of their lyrics, this really isn't my cup my cup of tea. Regardless, the band played well, and Nola was a kick to watch.
Next up, the Call Up. This band struck me as your typical suburban punk rock band. High school kids weaned on records from Epitaph and Fat. It was energetic enough, and they were having fun enough, but nothing really stood out beyond the singer's shouted vocals and the guitarist sitting in because the band's original guitarist had broken his arm. He joined them on stage to sing a Jawbreaker cover. Oh, the bassist was really skinny and jumped around a lot, too. Fun, but forgetable.
Lastly, the Broken Word. I only stuck around for a little of their set because I was feeling like I shouldn't stay out too late on a school night. And, similar to the Call up before them, they didn't leave much of an impression. Regardless, like Moose Taverns of the Weekly Dig, I'm now a fan of Monday night shows. It's a good start to the week, they're usually less crowded, and you can absorb some interesting music -- even if you know nothing about the bands playing.
Go see a band you've never heard of soon, Media Dieticians.
I arrived a couple of songs before the end of Elad Love Affair's set. They play rather intense, dark rock featuring dense guitar washes and a female singer, Nola, who can really belt out the vocals. Songs such as "On Wifeburning" include some nice angular guitar stabs, as well, but given the neo-gothic nature of their lyrics, this really isn't my cup my cup of tea. Regardless, the band played well, and Nola was a kick to watch.
Next up, the Call Up. This band struck me as your typical suburban punk rock band. High school kids weaned on records from Epitaph and Fat. It was energetic enough, and they were having fun enough, but nothing really stood out beyond the singer's shouted vocals and the guitarist sitting in because the band's original guitarist had broken his arm. He joined them on stage to sing a Jawbreaker cover. Oh, the bassist was really skinny and jumped around a lot, too. Fun, but forgetable.
Lastly, the Broken Word. I only stuck around for a little of their set because I was feeling like I shouldn't stay out too late on a school night. And, similar to the Call up before them, they didn't leave much of an impression. Regardless, like Moose Taverns of the Weekly Dig, I'm now a fan of Monday night shows. It's a good start to the week, they're usually less crowded, and you can absorb some interesting music -- even if you know nothing about the bands playing.
Go see a band you've never heard of soon, Media Dieticians.
Virtual Book Tour X
Mary Roach, author of Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers -- and the Virtual Book Tour -- have moved on to their seventh stop.
Later today, Erik Benson will publish an interview with Mary. He also reports that there will be some new material available in All Consuming, as well.
I'll continue to follow the tour as it progresses.
Later today, Erik Benson will publish an interview with Mary. He also reports that there will be some new material available in All Consuming, as well.
I'll continue to follow the tour as it progresses.
Monday, July 14, 2003
Pranks People Play
In a disturbing bit of synchronicity, the fine minds behind Reason magazine and the Boston Herald report on a couple of innocent pranks gone awry. July 8, the Herald included a short piece on a parade goer in Dixon, Illinois, who was arrested, charged with felony aggravated battery, and charged $25,000 bail -- for throwing a water balloon at an antique fire truck during the Dixon Petunia Festival parade.
His crime? U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert -- third in line to the presidency of the United States -- was behind the wheel. Hastert got wet but was not injured. Now, the fun-loving "felon" didn't know Hastert was driving the truck. Don't you think the speaker could have been a little more understanding given that it was a holiday weekend? This is not the kind of man I want to be my president.
Meanwhile, in Florida, a 12-year-old boy was -- as reported by Reason -- cuffed and hauled off to jail by police after stomping in a puddle to splash classmates and school officials. The boy was charged with misdemeanor disruption of school activities.
Remember: It's all fun and games until somebody gets a little wet.
His crime? U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert -- third in line to the presidency of the United States -- was behind the wheel. Hastert got wet but was not injured. Now, the fun-loving "felon" didn't know Hastert was driving the truck. Don't you think the speaker could have been a little more understanding given that it was a holiday weekend? This is not the kind of man I want to be my president.
Meanwhile, in Florida, a 12-year-old boy was -- as reported by Reason -- cuffed and hauled off to jail by police after stomping in a puddle to splash classmates and school officials. The boy was charged with misdemeanor disruption of school activities.
Remember: It's all fun and games until somebody gets a little wet.
Music to My Ears XL
I am listening to some of the more fascinating sounds I've ever heard. Further afield than John Oswald's Plunderphonics and mash ups, the "songs" created by Jason Freeman's Network Auralization for Gnutella application are a shadowy snapshot of the sounds between songs. What we'd hear in the narrow spaces between parallel planes of existence. The songs that shadows and static sing.
The New York Times quotes Freeman as describing the program as an instrument that plays the Internet. Wow. My ears are bleeding.
N.A.G. (Network Auralization for Gnutella) is interactive software art for Mac OS X and Windows 2000/XP which turns the process of searching for and downloading MP3 files into a chaotic musical collage. Type in one or more search keywords, and N.A.G. looks for matches on the Gnutella peer-to-peer file sharing network. The software then downloads MP3 files which match the search keyword(s) and remixes these audio files in real time based on the structure of the Gnutella network itself.
The New York Times quotes Freeman as describing the program as an instrument that plays the Internet. Wow. My ears are bleeding.
Corollary: Event-O-Dex XXII
The Globe today also keys in to the Illegal Art exhibit curated by Stay Free! publisher Carrie McLaren. Media Dieticians, you read it here first.
Event-O-Dex LXVII
Friday, July 18: Sinkcharmer works its musical magic with Elephant Micah and Static Films at the Zeitgeist Gallery in Cambridge.
Conferences and Community VIII
Dave Winer just added me to the invitation list for BloggerCon 2003, scheduled for early October at the Harvard Law School. That is, oh, so long away, but I'm already excited about going.
Virtual Book Tour IX
British poet laureate Andrew Motion has written a handbook about writing eulogies. Responsible for writing the funeral speeches when a member of the royal family dies, Motion collaborated with Co-operative Funeralcare to develop the book, which is titled Well Chosen Words. So far, 100,000 free copies of the guide have been distributed.
Thanks to Bookslut.
Thanks to Bookslut.
Virtual Book Tour VIII
Mary Roach, author of Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers -- and the Virtual Book Tour -- have moved on to their sixth stop.
In his site Consolation Champs, Toronto-based blogger James McNally remarks on the black humor and scatology that I've referred to previously, cites Six Feet Under, and offers a brief excerpt.
I'll continue to follow the tour as it progresses.
In his site Consolation Champs, Toronto-based blogger James McNally remarks on the black humor and scatology that I've referred to previously, cites Six Feet Under, and offers a brief excerpt.
I'll continue to follow the tour as it progresses.
Rock Shows of Note LXVIII
Last night, Jef, Mac, Dave, and I met up at the Middle East to hang out and soak of the sounds spun by our friend TD, who's been DJ'ing most Sunday nights lately. It was a quiet evening, with very few people in the restaurant, and TD's set impressed me as quite different than the other sets he's played. Lots of international music, some long-playing funk, and an ample selection of dance music. One Blondie 45 was so warped that it sounded like a dub remix. Fun!
Not so fun was the fate of two local shows this past weekend. First, a Friday night show at the Berwick Research Institute was shut down by police. According to the institute's online calendar:
Then, Saturday night, a show at the Oni Gallery was interrupted by police. During the first couple of songs performed by Laughing Light, which I'm told were primarily a cappella vocal noise -- read: screaming -- plain-clothes police officers in Chinatown were concerned that someone was being attacked. Word is that the windows had been left open and that much of the sound was making it to the street. What police found on the fifth floor was a musical performance.
They warned the organizers about charging admission and closed down the show, which was shut down just as I called Jef to see if Plunge into Death had played yet. They hadn't, but it was unclear what would happen next, so I stayed home. Turns out that Travers performed his video piece without a microphone, and then the show relocated to the Choppin' Block so the Japanese band Peelander Z could play. Word is that their set was amazing, involving hand-drawn signs, costumes, and loads of audience performance. You can access a video online. Plunge into Death did not play.
Is this the start of a Boston-wide police crackdown on musical performances? In Cambridge, the Zeitgeist Gallery has had its own troubles in the past because of not having the appropriate permits -- and instead of charging admission at the door, soliciting "donations." Perhaps we'll see a similar stifling of independent music venues in Boston? I hope not.
Not so fun was the fate of two local shows this past weekend. First, a Friday night show at the Berwick Research Institute was shut down by police. According to the institute's online calendar:
The Berwick is temporarily closed this week due to a visit from the City’s Inspectional Services. We are working with the City to put in place the proper licensing so we can continue to bring you quality programming. In the coming weeks, we need your support to make this process go as smoothly as possible. If you can help with legal council, relocation of events, or monetary assistance, please contact us! We are confident that with support and resources we will be up and running in no time.
Then, Saturday night, a show at the Oni Gallery was interrupted by police. During the first couple of songs performed by Laughing Light, which I'm told were primarily a cappella vocal noise -- read: screaming -- plain-clothes police officers in Chinatown were concerned that someone was being attacked. Word is that the windows had been left open and that much of the sound was making it to the street. What police found on the fifth floor was a musical performance.
They warned the organizers about charging admission and closed down the show, which was shut down just as I called Jef to see if Plunge into Death had played yet. They hadn't, but it was unclear what would happen next, so I stayed home. Turns out that Travers performed his video piece without a microphone, and then the show relocated to the Choppin' Block so the Japanese band Peelander Z could play. Word is that their set was amazing, involving hand-drawn signs, costumes, and loads of audience performance. You can access a video online. Plunge into Death did not play.
Is this the start of a Boston-wide police crackdown on musical performances? In Cambridge, the Zeitgeist Gallery has had its own troubles in the past because of not having the appropriate permits -- and instead of charging admission at the door, soliciting "donations." Perhaps we'll see a similar stifling of independent music venues in Boston? I hope not.
Sunday, July 13, 2003
The Free-Range Comic Book Project XXX
This is an installment of Media Diet's Free-Range Comic Book Project:
For more information on this project, please refer to this Media Diet entry.
The Dirty Pair: Run from the Future #4 (Dark Horse, April 2000). Writer and artist: Adam Warren. Location: On the floor outside the Million Year Picnic.
For more information on this project, please refer to this Media Diet entry.
Friday, July 11, 2003
Event-O-Dex LXVI
Saturday, July 12: Plunge Into Death dives in with Peelander Z, Laughing Light, and Travers at the Oni Gallery in Boston.
Sunday, July 13: The Fully Celebrated Orchestra parties hearty at the Hatch Shell on the Esplanade.
Sunday, July 13: The Fully Celebrated Orchestra parties hearty at the Hatch Shell on the Esplanade.
Virtual Book Tour: Corpses and Conversation II
Even though Mary Roach and the Virtual Book Tour have moved on from Media Diet, Mary agreed to a brief follow-up interview via email.
Media Diet: Yesterday, when we were talking on the phone, you said something intriguing. I had just told you which pages have made me queasy so far -- pp. 48 and 68, the sections involving the "dead houses" of Scottish churches and the process of bloat and putrefaction -- and you said something to the effect of "You get used to it after awhile." Are you at all queasy or squeamish by nature?
Mary Roach: Oh, quite the opposite. I'm happy in an O.R., standing at a surgeon's elbow as he's operating. In fact, on the several occasions I've done just that, they've had to politely ask me to step back. Bloating or putrefying bodies are about as queasy-making as life gets, but even then, my curiosity outweighed my revulsion, and it wasn't really hard for me. It's possible there's something wrong with me.
MD: Did you encounter anything that made you wonder whether you should keep going, though?
Roach: My first research excursion was to a local mortuary college to sit in on a student embalming. The guy had been autopsied before he got there, so all his organs were taken out and put in a plastic bag like giblets, and his body cavity was all hollowed out and meaty and wide open. The image stayed with me for a couple days and kept intruding in my thoughts. I'd be having a pleasant conversation with an officemate about the plants on the roof or something, and then FLASH! there's the ghoul from the embalming lab. I worried that it was a permanent condition. And that I might have made a serious mistake deciding to do this book.
MD: What helped you keep focused and driven?
Roach: The flashbacks went away after a day, and I calmed down and carried on. I'm a workaholic. I love reporting and writing. No problems there.
MD: On pp. 13-14 you mention what it was like to have the project come up in polite conversation. What drove you to write such a book in the first place?
Roach: The book grew out of a Salon column I did, which had to do with medicine and the body. As a writer, I tend to gravitate to the less-explored fringes of a subject. And I enjoy writing about topics that seem to be taboo in mainstream publications. Anyway, two or three columns had to do with cadaver research. These were among the most interesting and certainly got some of the highest hit rates. I found the topics fascinating, and clearly others did too. And it struck me as one of the very last subjects that hadn't been written about in a book. Honestly, it was either cadavers, or, I don't know, squirrels.
MD: Last year, something akin to the Scottish dead houses hit the news when a Georgia crematorium was charged with discarding corpses it was paid to cremate. What's your take on that case?
Roach: It's actually in there, in chapter 11. [I'm currently on chapter 10. -- MD] My take is that Ray Brent Marsh is either extraordinarily, unfathomably cheap (I mean, it doesn't cost that much to keep a crematory retort burning.) or he's nuts. Marsh's antics gave a real boost to a new disposition process that's waiting in the wings. It's called water reduction -- or, less euphemistically, tissue digestion. Basically, a pressure cooker with lye. Reduces bodies to liquid and a couple pounds of bone hulls. Right now, it's just used on livestock, but ever since the Marsh brouhaha, the company that makes the machinery has been getting calls about building a mortuary edition. In other words, Marsh was mondo bad PR for cremation.
Media Diet: Yesterday, when we were talking on the phone, you said something intriguing. I had just told you which pages have made me queasy so far -- pp. 48 and 68, the sections involving the "dead houses" of Scottish churches and the process of bloat and putrefaction -- and you said something to the effect of "You get used to it after awhile." Are you at all queasy or squeamish by nature?
Mary Roach: Oh, quite the opposite. I'm happy in an O.R., standing at a surgeon's elbow as he's operating. In fact, on the several occasions I've done just that, they've had to politely ask me to step back. Bloating or putrefying bodies are about as queasy-making as life gets, but even then, my curiosity outweighed my revulsion, and it wasn't really hard for me. It's possible there's something wrong with me.
MD: Did you encounter anything that made you wonder whether you should keep going, though?
Roach: My first research excursion was to a local mortuary college to sit in on a student embalming. The guy had been autopsied before he got there, so all his organs were taken out and put in a plastic bag like giblets, and his body cavity was all hollowed out and meaty and wide open. The image stayed with me for a couple days and kept intruding in my thoughts. I'd be having a pleasant conversation with an officemate about the plants on the roof or something, and then FLASH! there's the ghoul from the embalming lab. I worried that it was a permanent condition. And that I might have made a serious mistake deciding to do this book.
MD: What helped you keep focused and driven?
Roach: The flashbacks went away after a day, and I calmed down and carried on. I'm a workaholic. I love reporting and writing. No problems there.
MD: On pp. 13-14 you mention what it was like to have the project come up in polite conversation. What drove you to write such a book in the first place?
Roach: The book grew out of a Salon column I did, which had to do with medicine and the body. As a writer, I tend to gravitate to the less-explored fringes of a subject. And I enjoy writing about topics that seem to be taboo in mainstream publications. Anyway, two or three columns had to do with cadaver research. These were among the most interesting and certainly got some of the highest hit rates. I found the topics fascinating, and clearly others did too. And it struck me as one of the very last subjects that hadn't been written about in a book. Honestly, it was either cadavers, or, I don't know, squirrels.
MD: Last year, something akin to the Scottish dead houses hit the news when a Georgia crematorium was charged with discarding corpses it was paid to cremate. What's your take on that case?
Roach: It's actually in there, in chapter 11. [I'm currently on chapter 10. -- MD] My take is that Ray Brent Marsh is either extraordinarily, unfathomably cheap (I mean, it doesn't cost that much to keep a crematory retort burning.) or he's nuts. Marsh's antics gave a real boost to a new disposition process that's waiting in the wings. It's called water reduction -- or, less euphemistically, tissue digestion. Basically, a pressure cooker with lye. Reduces bodies to liquid and a couple pounds of bone hulls. Right now, it's just used on livestock, but ever since the Marsh brouhaha, the company that makes the machinery has been getting calls about building a mortuary edition. In other words, Marsh was mondo bad PR for cremation.
It's an Ad, Ad, Ad, Ad World XXVII
I don't know whether Andrew Keller and his team at Crispin Porter + Bogusky are behind the BMW Mini print advertising campaign, but they keep trotting out some fine innovations. If any Media Dieticians ever visit the Big Blue Couch on Church Corner, you'll see that I've punched out and assembled the perforated paper-board Minis inserted in some magazines in recent months. And while I'm not too convinced of the practicality of this month's "Mini Guide to Tranquility, Bliss and Utopia" insert -- a map indicating mileage counts between American cities such as Allgood, Alaska; Difficult, Tennessee; Loyal, Wisconsin; and Soso, Mississippi -- I am thrilled silly by another recent ad insert.
Headed by the phrase "Let's embrace Evel," the Mini advert is an iron-on transfer featuring daredevil Evel Knievel illustrated in classic '70s fashion design style. The insert even includes a quick how-to to ease your iron-on pain. "Jumping iron over image will not be effective," BMW warns. I know I own an ironing board, but I wonder: Do I own an iron?
Headed by the phrase "Let's embrace Evel," the Mini advert is an iron-on transfer featuring daredevil Evel Knievel illustrated in classic '70s fashion design style. The insert even includes a quick how-to to ease your iron-on pain. "Jumping iron over image will not be effective," BMW warns. I know I own an ironing board, but I wonder: Do I own an iron?
Magazine Me XXXVIII
Last night, the August 2003 issue of Details magazine almost restored my faith in a periodical I've had trouble pinning down for more than a decade. While I breezed -- breezed! -- through the current issue of Men's Journal paying attention to next to nothing, the current edition of Details is quite impressive and interesting.
Despite Details's contention that it's not oriented toward gay men -- while Men's Journal is published by Wenner Media, a company chaired by a gay man -- its sexual orientation continues to confuse me. On the cover, Tobey Maguire is touted to take off his tights. Whitney McNally dissects gays and guidos, claiming that the Italian stallion and Chelsea boy are indistinguishable. (p. 32) Augusten Burroughs touches on the risks of checking out other men's endowments while standing at the urinal. (p. 60) And Lee Smith considers whether the Taliban were gay. (p. 62). Yet people continue to debate which side of the bed Details sleeps on.
What impressed me? Steve Kurutz blurbs It's a Man's World, a new book from Feral House celebrating pulp adventure magazines. (p. 40) His quickie Q&A with editor Bruce Jay Friedman is a nice thing to see in the usually ho-hum, edge-free magazine. Jeff Gordinier's page-long look at what he -- and others, it turns out -- terms "dadrock" is a welcome consideration of "music performed by aging rock stars; also, music that is strongly influenced by groups from the '60s and '70s." (p. 49) Go back to school, old school. And local literati Pagan Kennedy queries "Can a Car Run on Corn Oil?" in her profile of alternative fuel advocate Justin Carven. (p. 84) Another nice, on-the-edge piece for Details.
That said, it might be Kevin Gray's feature, "The Bone Collectors," that clinched the deal for me. (p. 140) His extremely well-photographed (by Reuben Cox) article about a team of U.S. soldiers and scientists exhuming corpses in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia resonates well with my reading Mary Roach's Stiff. In fact, I need to recommend the article to her.
***
To Esquire's credit, its August issue also pushed some buttons. First there's the Q&A between Paul Giamatti and cantankerous comics creator Harvey Pekar, whom Giamatti portrays in the forthcoming movie American Splendor. (p. 22) Best quote from Pekar: "I didn't hold it against you that you played an orangutan." Dirty monkeys. Then there's this little item:
I might have skimmed past that had I not been reading Stiff. Funny how you see stuff you're not looking for just because it's on your mind!
Despite Details's contention that it's not oriented toward gay men -- while Men's Journal is published by Wenner Media, a company chaired by a gay man -- its sexual orientation continues to confuse me. On the cover, Tobey Maguire is touted to take off his tights. Whitney McNally dissects gays and guidos, claiming that the Italian stallion and Chelsea boy are indistinguishable. (p. 32) Augusten Burroughs touches on the risks of checking out other men's endowments while standing at the urinal. (p. 60) And Lee Smith considers whether the Taliban were gay. (p. 62). Yet people continue to debate which side of the bed Details sleeps on.
What impressed me? Steve Kurutz blurbs It's a Man's World, a new book from Feral House celebrating pulp adventure magazines. (p. 40) His quickie Q&A with editor Bruce Jay Friedman is a nice thing to see in the usually ho-hum, edge-free magazine. Jeff Gordinier's page-long look at what he -- and others, it turns out -- terms "dadrock" is a welcome consideration of "music performed by aging rock stars; also, music that is strongly influenced by groups from the '60s and '70s." (p. 49) Go back to school, old school. And local literati Pagan Kennedy queries "Can a Car Run on Corn Oil?" in her profile of alternative fuel advocate Justin Carven. (p. 84) Another nice, on-the-edge piece for Details.
That said, it might be Kevin Gray's feature, "The Bone Collectors," that clinched the deal for me. (p. 140) His extremely well-photographed (by Reuben Cox) article about a team of U.S. soldiers and scientists exhuming corpses in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia resonates well with my reading Mary Roach's Stiff. In fact, I need to recommend the article to her.
To Esquire's credit, its August issue also pushed some buttons. First there's the Q&A between Paul Giamatti and cantankerous comics creator Harvey Pekar, whom Giamatti portrays in the forthcoming movie American Splendor. (p. 22) Best quote from Pekar: "I didn't hold it against you that you played an orangutan." Dirty monkeys. Then there's this little item:
Best Execution Scene
"Her mantle trimmed with ermine -- she had worn a royal fur to the last -- was removed. Then she took off her headdress herself. ... She knelt and, for decency's sake, tucked her dress tight about her feet. Then one of her women blindfolded her.
"Immediately, before she had time to register what was happening, the executioner swung his sword and her head was off." -- from Six Wives, a new book about the fate of Anne Boleyn and five other wives of Henry VIII, by David Starkey (p. 20)
I might have skimmed past that had I not been reading Stiff. Funny how you see stuff you're not looking for just because it's on your mind!
Virtual Book Tour VII
Mary Roach, author of Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers -- and the Virtual Book Tour -- have moved on to their fifth stop.
In Min Jung Kim's blog Brain Dump, Kim likens reading the book to watching television programs such as CSI and Dead Like Me, citing the shows' witty dialogue and humor as reasons why their subject matter is so palatable. Kim also mixes in a bit of scatological humor.
Both are present in Roach's book -- humor and scatology. Roach approaches the subject matter with a keen mind and a sharp wit, perhaps using humor to distance herself somewhat from the people and places she encountered while researching and reporting the book. We laugh at what makes us uncomfortable. Similarly, Stiff shows a deep interest in the solids and fluids our bodies produce while living and dead: bile, blood, feces, saliva, sweat, tears, urine, and vomit.
In fact, I've felt queasy twice so far while reading the book. On p. 48, Roach details the "dead houses" of Scottish churches, structures in which bodies were locked until they had decomposed past the point of usefulness to anatomists, who would rob graves for research subjects. And on p. 68, Roach expands on the process of bloat and putrefaction, which I mentioned Tuesday.
Roach's fascination with fluids isn't as strong as, say, that exhibited by Paul Spinrad's book Bodily Fluids. But there are enough crying decapitated dogs (p. 207-208) and excretion-based medical remedies (chapter 10) mentioned in the book that if it's gore you want, it's gore you'll get.
***
Special thanks to Mary for being such a Media Diet sport yesterday. Wanting to up the ante in the Virtual Book Tour a little, I kind of put her through the paces. She rose to the occasion in fine style.
I'll continue to follow the tour as it progresses.
In Min Jung Kim's blog Brain Dump, Kim likens reading the book to watching television programs such as CSI and Dead Like Me, citing the shows' witty dialogue and humor as reasons why their subject matter is so palatable. Kim also mixes in a bit of scatological humor.
Both are present in Roach's book -- humor and scatology. Roach approaches the subject matter with a keen mind and a sharp wit, perhaps using humor to distance herself somewhat from the people and places she encountered while researching and reporting the book. We laugh at what makes us uncomfortable. Similarly, Stiff shows a deep interest in the solids and fluids our bodies produce while living and dead: bile, blood, feces, saliva, sweat, tears, urine, and vomit.
In fact, I've felt queasy twice so far while reading the book. On p. 48, Roach details the "dead houses" of Scottish churches, structures in which bodies were locked until they had decomposed past the point of usefulness to anatomists, who would rob graves for research subjects. And on p. 68, Roach expands on the process of bloat and putrefaction, which I mentioned Tuesday.
Roach's fascination with fluids isn't as strong as, say, that exhibited by Paul Spinrad's book Bodily Fluids. But there are enough crying decapitated dogs (p. 207-208) and excretion-based medical remedies (chapter 10) mentioned in the book that if it's gore you want, it's gore you'll get.
Special thanks to Mary for being such a Media Diet sport yesterday. Wanting to up the ante in the Virtual Book Tour a little, I kind of put her through the paces. She rose to the occasion in fine style.
I'll continue to follow the tour as it progresses.
Thursday, July 10, 2003
Virtual Book Tour: Products I Love
Funeral directors and other professionals who work with the dead have a wide array of products and tools available to them. Here are two of the leading suppliers in such goods:
Amra Instruments: This maker of disposable medical instruments for pathologists and morticians offers eye caps, dental simulators, and "natural expression formers" in its catalog
Kelco Supply Co.: A provider of cremation urns, embalming fluids, drainage tubes, body and feature positioning supplies, body bags, cemetery flag holders, and other chapel and funeral home furnishings. Customers must be validated licensed deathcare practitioners, funeral directors, crematories, or cremation societies
Virtual Book Tour: Magazine Me
Subscriptions to the now-defunct Casket and Sunnyside and other trade publications are costly and hardly worth it for rubberneckers like myself. The simply curious [morbidly curious, or curiously morbid? -- MD] are better off browsing the Web. Here are a few eye-opening online selections:
Funeral industry magazines: Includes links to titles such as Embalmer, Mortuary Law & Business Quarterly, and Death Care Business Advisor
Canadian Funeral Director Magazine: The trade publication for Canadian funeral service professionals
Forensic Nurse Magazine: "Advancing the frontiers of the forensic nursing community"
Mortuary Management: The Arizona Highways of these eerie-odicals covers strategies and tactics to help increase productivity and reduce overhead, industry news, legal advice, and coverage of trends in cremation, low-cost funeral providers, and retail casket sales
Alliance: Information about the business of funeral service, trends in funeral planning, burial customs, burial rituals, mortuary science, mortuary schools, cremation, cremation laws, and grief and loss
International Journal of Crashworthiness: "Devoted to all aspects of the crash behaviour of structures and materials and impact biomechanics"
The Journal of Trauma: Clinical applications, techniques, and new developments in trauma care
Virtual Book Tour: Corpses and Conversation
As part of the Virtual Book Tour, Media Diet conducted a brief interview with author Mary Roach via email.
Media Diet: Early in the book, you find yourself in a University of California, San Francisco, medical school anatomy lab to witness head dissections. Yvonne, the lab manager, gives you a hard time: "Does publications know you're here? If you're not cleared through the publications office, you'll have to leave." Did this exchange surprise or worry you?
Mary Roach: Both. I'd had a hell of a time getting into that lab. The surgeons who were running it turned me down -- not that I blame them. If you were a plastic surgeon giving a nose job to the severed head of someone who'd donated their body to science, would you want a journalist there? Not likely. I'd even considered paying the $500 fee and showing up as an ersatz surgeon, hoping no one would notice that I was dissecting my head with a pickle fork and an Exacto knife. In the end, I'd had to call in a favor from a plastic surgeon I knew. I was cleared, though not through publications.
MD: When organizing your interviews with the various sources and at the different facilities, did you regularly have to seek permission and clearance? From people and departments other than your direct source?
Roach: Yep. I'd wanted to visit a military plane/helicopter crash site, because the military routinely does injury analysis of the bodies, and I had a chapter on that. The pathologists were fine with it, but the legal department turned me down, saying they had to protect the privacy of the deceased and their families. No way around that one. With all the military sources, I had to get permission from highers up. Meant of a lot of letter writing, assurances, and stating my case -- followed by out-and-out pleading. Definitely the hardest part of doing the book.
MD: In chapter four, you describe how cadaver UM 006, which was used at the University of Michigan to research side-impact car crash damage, was masked and gloved to obscure his identity. How careful were sources to disguise cadavers' identities in your presence? How careful did you have to be to ensure anonymity?
Roach: In most cases, the faces were not covered. They explained the importance of my not revealing identifying features, and they pretty much trusted me. (Except for the military folks.) In one case, the researcher had the identity card lying out on a table. But I had no reason or wish to reveal anyone's identity, and I think they knew that.
MD: What kind of fact checking did you do with sources and others involved in the book? Did anyone request to clear what you wrote about them before the book went to press?
Roach: I did a round of fact checking, double checking my notes and sources. Ideally, you want a hired fact checker to do this, but it's an enormous and costly undertaking, and few authors do it. (Magazine pieces, on the other hand, are almost always fact checked.) People often ask to be shown what you've written. Usually they phrase it as an offer to read the manuscript over for accuracy. You never say yes to this. They may intend to read for accuracy, but invariably they want you to emphasize something else, change what they said, or omit something that might get them into hot water. Your job would never be over.
MD: Without giving up too much of the ghost, what would have liked to include in the book -- but couldn't because you didn't get permission or approval? What interviews did you miss out on because you couldn't get clearance?
Roach: I wanted to visit Gunther Von Hagens' cadaver sweat shop in China. He's the guy who did that plastination exhibit of preserved, flayed humans that caused the big furor in London last year. His technique is time- and labor-intensive, and he hires a lot of Chinese to do the work. His staff stalled me for weeks, and I finally decided that they were never going to grant permission anyway. To be fair, though, if it were my operation, I wouldn't want a writer coming to visit either.
Media Diet: Early in the book, you find yourself in a University of California, San Francisco, medical school anatomy lab to witness head dissections. Yvonne, the lab manager, gives you a hard time: "Does publications know you're here? If you're not cleared through the publications office, you'll have to leave." Did this exchange surprise or worry you?
Mary Roach: Both. I'd had a hell of a time getting into that lab. The surgeons who were running it turned me down -- not that I blame them. If you were a plastic surgeon giving a nose job to the severed head of someone who'd donated their body to science, would you want a journalist there? Not likely. I'd even considered paying the $500 fee and showing up as an ersatz surgeon, hoping no one would notice that I was dissecting my head with a pickle fork and an Exacto knife. In the end, I'd had to call in a favor from a plastic surgeon I knew. I was cleared, though not through publications.
MD: When organizing your interviews with the various sources and at the different facilities, did you regularly have to seek permission and clearance? From people and departments other than your direct source?
Roach: Yep. I'd wanted to visit a military plane/helicopter crash site, because the military routinely does injury analysis of the bodies, and I had a chapter on that. The pathologists were fine with it, but the legal department turned me down, saying they had to protect the privacy of the deceased and their families. No way around that one. With all the military sources, I had to get permission from highers up. Meant of a lot of letter writing, assurances, and stating my case -- followed by out-and-out pleading. Definitely the hardest part of doing the book.
MD: In chapter four, you describe how cadaver UM 006, which was used at the University of Michigan to research side-impact car crash damage, was masked and gloved to obscure his identity. How careful were sources to disguise cadavers' identities in your presence? How careful did you have to be to ensure anonymity?
Roach: In most cases, the faces were not covered. They explained the importance of my not revealing identifying features, and they pretty much trusted me. (Except for the military folks.) In one case, the researcher had the identity card lying out on a table. But I had no reason or wish to reveal anyone's identity, and I think they knew that.
MD: What kind of fact checking did you do with sources and others involved in the book? Did anyone request to clear what you wrote about them before the book went to press?
Roach: I did a round of fact checking, double checking my notes and sources. Ideally, you want a hired fact checker to do this, but it's an enormous and costly undertaking, and few authors do it. (Magazine pieces, on the other hand, are almost always fact checked.) People often ask to be shown what you've written. Usually they phrase it as an offer to read the manuscript over for accuracy. You never say yes to this. They may intend to read for accuracy, but invariably they want you to emphasize something else, change what they said, or omit something that might get them into hot water. Your job would never be over.
MD: Without giving up too much of the ghost, what would have liked to include in the book -- but couldn't because you didn't get permission or approval? What interviews did you miss out on because you couldn't get clearance?
Roach: I wanted to visit Gunther Von Hagens' cadaver sweat shop in China. He's the guy who did that plastination exhibit of preserved, flayed humans that caused the big furor in London last year. His technique is time- and labor-intensive, and he hires a lot of Chinese to do the work. His staff stalled me for weeks, and I finally decided that they were never going to grant permission anyway. To be fair, though, if it were my operation, I wouldn't want a writer coming to visit either.
Virtual Book Tour: Books Worth a Look
Welsh medical historian Jan Bondeson wrote an entire book about live burial. It's called, no surprise, Buried Alive. Came out about three years ago. Bondeson not only knows everything about the subject, but he owns a private collection of old (i.e., pre-stethoscope and EEG) medical devices designed to determine for certain that a patient was dead: nipple pincers, hand-cranked tongue pullers, and a rococo bagpipe-like affair designed to administer tobacco enemas up the -- as Bondeson genteely calls it -- "rear passage." If they weren't dead yet, they probably longed to be.
Virtual Book Tour: Sites for Sore Eyes II
This is hard for me, because what I really want to be doing this morning is reading Autopsy Report. The hardest thing about writing Stiff was the constant distractions in the form of peculiar and wonderful Web sites I came across. Here are some of them. Now you, too, can become distracted and nonproductive.
The Web archive of Frederick T. Zugibe's Pierre Barbet Revisited offers photographic proof that the cadaver hoisted upon a homemade cross in Dr. Barbet's lab in 1931 does indeed, as I say in the book, look like Spalding Gray. Barbet was attempting to use his anatomical savvy to prove the authenticity of the blood stains on the Shroud of Turin. The site contains a paper by medical examiner and contemporary Shroud researcher Frederick Zugibe, refuting Barbet's theory. Zugibe puts volunteers up on a cross of his own (using straps, not nails), which is housed in his garage in upstate New York.
This document is the official report of the Medical/Forensic Group that examined the bodies of the victims of TWA Flight 800. To solve the mystery of why the plane went down (missile? bomb?), the government brought in injury analyst Dennis Shanahan, who makes his living examining the bodies of crash victims to try to figure out what happened during a crash and why. The cadavers, contrary to the conspiracy theorists, say a fuel tank exploded. Warning: The report is quite detailed ("Code Red = loss of 3 or more extremities or complete transection of body" etc.).
Then there's the official Web site of the Swedish human composting movement, which I talk about in chapter 11 of Stiff. Human remains -- but not cremains -- make excellent fertilizer. The plants to be fertilized would be memorial trees or shrubs, not pole beans or a crop of corn. The movement's founder has the King of Sweden and the Church of Sweden on board. Rest in pieces.
That's it for now. More soon.
The Web archive of Frederick T. Zugibe's Pierre Barbet Revisited offers photographic proof that the cadaver hoisted upon a homemade cross in Dr. Barbet's lab in 1931 does indeed, as I say in the book, look like Spalding Gray. Barbet was attempting to use his anatomical savvy to prove the authenticity of the blood stains on the Shroud of Turin. The site contains a paper by medical examiner and contemporary Shroud researcher Frederick Zugibe, refuting Barbet's theory. Zugibe puts volunteers up on a cross of his own (using straps, not nails), which is housed in his garage in upstate New York.
This document is the official report of the Medical/Forensic Group that examined the bodies of the victims of TWA Flight 800. To solve the mystery of why the plane went down (missile? bomb?), the government brought in injury analyst Dennis Shanahan, who makes his living examining the bodies of crash victims to try to figure out what happened during a crash and why. The cadavers, contrary to the conspiracy theorists, say a fuel tank exploded. Warning: The report is quite detailed ("Code Red = loss of 3 or more extremities or complete transection of body" etc.).
Then there's the official Web site of the Swedish human composting movement, which I talk about in chapter 11 of Stiff. Human remains -- but not cremains -- make excellent fertilizer. The plants to be fertilized would be memorial trees or shrubs, not pole beans or a crop of corn. The movement's founder has the King of Sweden and the Church of Sweden on board. Rest in pieces.
That's it for now. More soon.
Virtual Book Tour: Sites for Sore Eyes
Autopsy Report is a "log of experiences as a medical examiner intern" published by Brian. Seemingly launched in mid-May of this year, the blog shares stories about plane crashes, stillborn babies, visiting morgues, the lack of current research in forensic pathology, and other day-to-day encounters as part of Brian's internship.
Brian's writing is a mix of reportage on how people died, as well as the medical underpinnings and analyses of the autopsies performed. He also offers a range of medical and forensic links. The blog is an in-depth, personal peek at the life of a medical examiner. Readers of Mary Roach's Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers might find it an intriguing parallel read.
Thanks to Metafilter.
Brian's writing is a mix of reportage on how people died, as well as the medical underpinnings and analyses of the autopsies performed. He also offers a range of medical and forensic links. The blog is an in-depth, personal peek at the life of a medical examiner. Readers of Mary Roach's Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers might find it an intriguing parallel read.
Thanks to Metafilter.
Virtual Book Tour VI
Mary Roach, author of Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers -- and the Virtual Book Tour -- have moved on to their fourth stop.
At some point today, Mary will join me as a contributor to Media Diet, offering pointers to and commentary on magazines, books, movies, music, and other media items and artifacts related to the subject of her book.
At some point today, Mary will join me as a contributor to Media Diet, offering pointers to and commentary on magazines, books, movies, music, and other media items and artifacts related to the subject of her book.
Nervy, Pervy XVIII
Media Dietician Noah shares this "more pervy" Web resource: Mobile Asses. Perhaps not the most inspiring application of moblogging, the site claims that it is the "real reason mobile phones have cameras."
Basically, it's a Hot or Not?-style rating site in which you can grade cell phone snaps of people's hind quarters. The photos are of varying degrees of quality and resolution, and the occasional horizontal shots will bring on a crick in your neck if you're not careful. Despite the silly fun of the idea -- they even offer T-shirts! -- I won't be revisiting the service. Still, it's nice to see the photographer credits, locations of the shots, and other information.
Basically, it's a Hot or Not?-style rating site in which you can grade cell phone snaps of people's hind quarters. The photos are of varying degrees of quality and resolution, and the occasional horizontal shots will bring on a crick in your neck if you're not careful. Despite the silly fun of the idea -- they even offer T-shirts! -- I won't be revisiting the service. Still, it's nice to see the photographer credits, locations of the shots, and other information.
Wednesday, July 09, 2003
From the In Box: Music to My Ears XXXIX
Special thanks to Media Dieticians Joe Germuska, Andre Torrez, and Sean Kennedy for the dub pointers. Andre even asked, "Reggae dub or like techno trip-hop dub?" There's a techno trip-hop dub? Let the learning begin!
Technofetishism XL
It's been a good PowerBook day. I downloaded and installed Eudora 5.2.1 so I could access my personal email in OSX instead of using Classic. I started running a mail server on my laptop so I could do email without depending on the off-and-on auxiliary mail server at work. And I installed Fugu, a fun little GUI SFTP client that's been helping me snag all sorts of wonderful dub music from a friend.
Music to My Ears XXXIX
Lately, I've been jonesing for some dub, but I don't really know where to start. If any Media Dieticians can recommend any necessary dub recordings, let me know.
That said, a friend in Chicago suggested I check out Urban Funk Ordinance. Listening to their song "Da Da Da," I'm stuck by memories of other largely white funk bands: the Red Hot Chili Peppers and their copycats, natch; Billy's Sandbox; and Uptighty (which doesn't really fit this list). UFO's no Trouble Funk, and there's a little Digital Underground thread running through their music, but it's fun stuff. Perfect for a slightly rainy Wednesday.
That said, a friend in Chicago suggested I check out Urban Funk Ordinance. Listening to their song "Da Da Da," I'm stuck by memories of other largely white funk bands: the Red Hot Chili Peppers and their copycats, natch; Billy's Sandbox; and Uptighty (which doesn't really fit this list). UFO's no Trouble Funk, and there's a little Digital Underground thread running through their music, but it's fun stuff. Perfect for a slightly rainy Wednesday.
Corollary: Conferences and Community IV
I decided not to go to the first international moblogging conference in Tokyo earlier this month so I could take some vacation time in northern Wisconsin. Luckily, Justin Hall and others helped document the event. Yesterday in the Feature, Justin reported on the proceedings.
Among the Literati XLIII
Dude. Ben Weasel, former frontman for Screeching Weasel, a wonderful Chicago-area punk band, slags Norman Mailer in his blog this past weekend.
This is neat on several levels. One, I had no idea Ben blogged -- I'll have to add him to my frequent reads. And two, while I've yet to read his book's Like Hell or Punk Is a Four-Letter Word, I'm quite delighted that the author of such lyrics as "Why don't you beat it? Why don't you go away, you smelly butt? Why don't you go away? You're just a turd. Why don't you go away? Sit on it, nerd? Why don't you go away? Dummy, dummy, dummy, dummy, dummy, dummy," is ripping into Mailer.
"Why don't you write properly?" Pot. Kettle.
Thanks to Dr. Frank's Blogs of War.
This is neat on several levels. One, I had no idea Ben blogged -- I'll have to add him to my frequent reads. And two, while I've yet to read his book's Like Hell or Punk Is a Four-Letter Word, I'm quite delighted that the author of such lyrics as "Why don't you beat it? Why don't you go away, you smelly butt? Why don't you go away? You're just a turd. Why don't you go away? Sit on it, nerd? Why don't you go away? Dummy, dummy, dummy, dummy, dummy, dummy," is ripping into Mailer.
"Why don't you write properly?" Pot. Kettle.
Thanks to Dr. Frank's Blogs of War.
Magazine Me XXXVII
A former CNN reporter and producer is launching a new magazine aimed at women who travel. Atlanta-based Stephanie Oswald's title Travelgirl hits the stands this week, entering a niche crowded by heavy hitters already reaching a sizable female readership. How will Travelgirl stand out?
Media Life quotes Oswald characterizing the new magazine as a lifestyle title with a travel bent. I'll have to check it out!
Travelgirl attempts to lighten the load with articles on how to survive a road trip with small children and how to travel safely and comfortably during pregnancy. There are also stories on planning a bachelorette party, financing a child’s college education, and cooking exotic meals. Each article falls into one of five core areas: family, finance, health, humor and spirituality.
Media Life quotes Oswald characterizing the new magazine as a lifestyle title with a travel bent. I'll have to check it out!
Virtual Book Tour V
Jessa Crispin of Bookslut has some valid criticism of the Virtual Book Tour to date.
Some of her comments hit rather close to my own responses so far as a participant, and I'm looking forward to tomorrow, when Mary Roach, author of Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers contributes to Media Diet.
Roach will also be "taking over" Jason Kottke's blog for a day later in the tour. I think those two tour stops will shine. Yes, Kevin is still working out the process and format for the tour. Stick with us! And Jessa's instinct to start her own virtual book tour is right on in fine DIY style.
Some of her comments hit rather close to my own responses so far as a participant, and I'm looking forward to tomorrow, when Mary Roach, author of Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers contributes to Media Diet.
Roach will also be "taking over" Jason Kottke's blog for a day later in the tour. I think those two tour stops will shine. Yes, Kevin is still working out the process and format for the tour. Stick with us! And Jessa's instinct to start her own virtual book tour is right on in fine DIY style.
Technofetishism XXXIX
Awesome. After two months of frustration trying to figure out why they couldn't get the Ergo Audrey I sent them to work again, my mom and dad decided that it was their ISP. When my dad dials in from the desktop, it can take several tries before a connection is made. Because Audrey doesn't indicate the status of your dial in or connection, they had no way of telling what was happening -- or whether they needed to try again. Then, their ISP announced that it was shutting down its local office and that no local dial-in numbers would be available any more. So they switched ISP's. And the new service provider rocks.
Audrey works. My mom's back online in the kitchen. And she's been peppering me with emails -- one chastising me when I suggested she tweak her settings somewhat. "Give me a break!" she wrote. "I'm lucky to do Audrey at all!" I'm lucky to get emails like that. Audrey rocks.
Audrey works. My mom's back online in the kitchen. And she's been peppering me with emails -- one chastising me when I suggested she tweak her settings somewhat. "Give me a break!" she wrote. "I'm lucky to do Audrey at all!" I'm lucky to get emails like that. Audrey rocks.
Nervy, Pervy XVII
Media Dietician Richard Lawrence turned me onto a new "public art apparatus" titled I Shot Myself.
Think Suicide Girls by way of Hot or Not?. Think the Mirror Project via Natacha Merritt's Digital Diaries. The concept of selfploitation is interesting. On one hand, it's a new way to seek microstardom. On the other, it's a nice experiment in DIY media making and self-documentation, albeit on the softporn tip.
With just over 100 "artists" -- read: models -- submitting more than 1,500 photographs in almost 60 folios, the service is still relatively young. I had some trouble accessing the site using Explorer, and I can't log into the discussion forums with my username and password, so there might still be some technical kinks Richard needs to work out. However, based in Australia, the project was inspired by American photographer Spencer Tunick's visit to the Melbourne Fringe Festival. Tunick photographs people naked in public places. The project has an intriguing lineage and shows promise.
Besides, it's nice to see so many people uncovered down under.
Each day we exhibit a new folio in which the artist presents herself in a bold statement about nudity, fame and the Internet. This is Selfploitation. It can make you look, make you think, make you jelly-kneed, and if you want, it can even make you famous.
Think Suicide Girls by way of Hot or Not?. Think the Mirror Project via Natacha Merritt's Digital Diaries. The concept of selfploitation is interesting. On one hand, it's a new way to seek microstardom. On the other, it's a nice experiment in DIY media making and self-documentation, albeit on the softporn tip.
With just over 100 "artists" -- read: models -- submitting more than 1,500 photographs in almost 60 folios, the service is still relatively young. I had some trouble accessing the site using Explorer, and I can't log into the discussion forums with my username and password, so there might still be some technical kinks Richard needs to work out. However, based in Australia, the project was inspired by American photographer Spencer Tunick's visit to the Melbourne Fringe Festival. Tunick photographs people naked in public places. The project has an intriguing lineage and shows promise.
Besides, it's nice to see so many people uncovered down under.
Virtual Book Tour IV
Mary Roach, author of Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers -- and the Virtual Book Tour -- have moved on to their third stop.
In her blog Rogue Librarian, Carrie Bickner considers the contributions that cadavers have made to automobile safety research -- and offers a personal comment on the impact of the book: "I'll never look at my own flesh quite the same way."
On the T this morning, I reached page 92, just into the fourth chapter that Bickner discusses in her post today. I've been making ample notes on the books, magazines and journals, and other media mentions that Roach makes throughout the book. There are some fascinating resources available. And Monday evening, while reading on the T ride home, I saw a woman sitting across from me reading Michael Paterniti's Driving Mr. Albert: A Trip Across America with Einstein's Brain. While Roach doesn't include the book in her bibliography, I'm sure it'd be an interesting parallel read. From Amazon.com:
I'll continue to follow the tour as it progresses, and this week Thursday, July 10 -- tomorrow! -- Mary will join me as a contributor to Media Diet, offering pointers to and commentary on magazines, books, movies, music, and other media items and artifacts related to the subject of her book.
In her blog Rogue Librarian, Carrie Bickner considers the contributions that cadavers have made to automobile safety research -- and offers a personal comment on the impact of the book: "I'll never look at my own flesh quite the same way."
On the T this morning, I reached page 92, just into the fourth chapter that Bickner discusses in her post today. I've been making ample notes on the books, magazines and journals, and other media mentions that Roach makes throughout the book. There are some fascinating resources available. And Monday evening, while reading on the T ride home, I saw a woman sitting across from me reading Michael Paterniti's Driving Mr. Albert: A Trip Across America with Einstein's Brain. While Roach doesn't include the book in her bibliography, I'm sure it'd be an interesting parallel read. From Amazon.com:
After Thomas Harvey performed Einstein's autopsy in 1955, he made off with the key body part. His claims that he was studying the specimen and would publish his findings never bore fruit, and the doctor fell from grace. The brain, though, became the subject of many an urban legend, and Harvey was transformed into a modern Robin Hood, having snatched neurological riches from the establishment and distributed them piecemeal to the curious and the faithful around the world.
I'll continue to follow the tour as it progresses, and this week Thursday, July 10 -- tomorrow! -- Mary will join me as a contributor to Media Diet, offering pointers to and commentary on magazines, books, movies, music, and other media items and artifacts related to the subject of her book.
Tuesday, July 08, 2003
Virtual Book Tour III
While I thought I was participating in the first ever Virtual Book Tour, it turns out that there's a precedent. Last spring, Jason Kottke participated in a virtual book tour to promote Greg Knauss' book Rainy Day Fun and Games for Toddler and Total Bastard.
Virtual Book Tour II
Mary Roach, author of Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers -- and the Virtual Book Tour -- has moved on to its second stop.
Kristin Garrity's blog Booboolina includes a brief excerpt of the book, focusing on a vignette in chapter three about the University of Tennessee Medical Center's forensic anthropology facility. It's a poignant part of the book -- the second bit that made me feel queasy while reading last night -- and ground already well covered. The facility has been featured by Popular Science, Newsweek, and CNN.
Regardless, Roach's juxtaposition of the facility and the photograph taken from The Wizard of Oz that leads off the chapter is clever.
I'll continue to follow the tour as it progresses, and this week Thursday, July 10, Mary will be joining me as a contributor to Media Diet, offering pointers to and commentary on magazines, books, movies, music, and other media items and artifacts related to the subject of her book.
Kristin Garrity's blog Booboolina includes a brief excerpt of the book, focusing on a vignette in chapter three about the University of Tennessee Medical Center's forensic anthropology facility. It's a poignant part of the book -- the second bit that made me feel queasy while reading last night -- and ground already well covered. The facility has been featured by Popular Science, Newsweek, and CNN.
Regardless, Roach's juxtaposition of the facility and the photograph taken from The Wizard of Oz that leads off the chapter is clever.
Do you recall the Margaret Hamilton death scene in The Wizard of Oz? ("I'm melting!") Putrefaction is more or less a slowed-down version of this. The woman lies in a mud of her own making. (p. 68)
I'll continue to follow the tour as it progresses, and this week Thursday, July 10, Mary will be joining me as a contributor to Media Diet, offering pointers to and commentary on magazines, books, movies, music, and other media items and artifacts related to the subject of her book.
Among the Literati XLII
Former Fast Company contributor and Iowa Writer's Workshop grad Curtis Sittenfeld just sold her first novel. The book's titled Cheer, and Publishers Lunch describes it as a "humorously observant and uncannily realistic story of a fourteen-year-old girl who chooses to attend a prestigious East coast boarding school and soon realizes how different from her romantic illusions the reality of her new home is." The book is slated to be published by Random House. Congratulations, Curtis!
Street Art VII
Cabbing into Fast Company's New York office from LaGuardia this morning, I was struck by some paint work on the barrier wall along the highway near the airport. Initially thinking that I was seeing some sort of postmodern, abstract art akin to zebra or giraffe spots dotting the red barrier wall, I soon realized that it was in fact spray paint marking stress fractures, cracks, and chips in the wall -- areas that require repair. Boy, was I disappointed. Still, we take our art where we find it!
Then, the taxi was driving a couple of car lengths behind a tricked-out van with a full-body graffiti-like wrapper that said, "Are You Hip-Hop?" along with a URL for the WonderTwinZ, which seems to be a radio program produced in Long Island -- or "Strong Island." Sonic and Lord Vader appear to be the heads of "All Time Flava," a DJ and graf crew that specializes in hip-hop and R&B theme parties. They also publish a magazine called the Connex List, which features a resource listing of media shows, support services, producers, and retailers for the hip-hop industry, as well as articles and editorials.
The TwinZ also do radio promotion. Wow. More vehicles should have URL's on them. That'd get us even closer to hybrid moblogging and mapblogging.
Then, the taxi was driving a couple of car lengths behind a tricked-out van with a full-body graffiti-like wrapper that said, "Are You Hip-Hop?" along with a URL for the WonderTwinZ, which seems to be a radio program produced in Long Island -- or "Strong Island." Sonic and Lord Vader appear to be the heads of "All Time Flava," a DJ and graf crew that specializes in hip-hop and R&B theme parties. They also publish a magazine called the Connex List, which features a resource listing of media shows, support services, producers, and retailers for the hip-hop industry, as well as articles and editorials.
The TwinZ also do radio promotion. Wow. More vehicles should have URL's on them. That'd get us even closer to hybrid moblogging and mapblogging.
Monday, July 07, 2003
Corollary: Auto-Numismatic
It is the H.E. Harris & Co. folders that include the additional contextual history, not the Littleton Coin Co. editions. Clarification made, stick to the coins, please, regardless of my interest in coins as touchstones of history.
[This entry was transmitted via Sidekick Hiptop.]
[This entry was transmitted via Sidekick Hiptop.]
Comics and Computers IV
Blogging About Blogging LXIII
Bryan, proprietor of Arguing with Signposts, recently stepped up as the new lead editor of MediaReview. Founder Kevin will remain an active contributor. Additionally, after a year and a half of active publishing, MediaMinded is shutting up shop. I've never really followed either site, but with the new energy and insight Bryan is sure to bring MediaReview, it might be worth Media Dieticians' attention.
Mikey Dee, Deceased
I hardly knew Mikey Dee, a long-time local music supporter, show organizer, and radio DJ. But I know how important he was to -- and how influential he was in -- the Boston music scene. I felt a loss when he was hospitalized following a stroke in 2000, andf I feel an even greater loss today. Mikey Dee passed away early Sunday morning.
Area musicians, friends, and family are posting memories and testimonials to his Web site, and people -- including Media Dietician Brad Searles are posting appreciations on their respective blogs and Web pages. Boston has missed Mikey Dee. I've missed Mikey Dee. And now we will miss him more.
Rest in peace, Mikey Dee. And rock on.
Area musicians, friends, and family are posting memories and testimonials to his Web site, and people -- including Media Dietician Brad Searles are posting appreciations on their respective blogs and Web pages. Boston has missed Mikey Dee. I've missed Mikey Dee. And now we will miss him more.
Rest in peace, Mikey Dee. And rock on.
Auto-Numismatic
Don't worry, I'm not such a geek that I've become a coin collector (just kidding, coin collectors). But I have recently become fascinated by money. Part of this stems from my parents' interest in the 50 State Quarters Program of the United States Mint. And part of it stems from the coffee cans full of wheat cents we used to store in our basement when I was growing up.
In any event, I've recently acquired several coin folders, and I've started sorting my big bag of change by year and mint location. Once I go through the bag, I'll take the remaining change to a Coinstar machine to cash it in. In any event, this is a surprisingly fun hobby. For one, there's something soothing about the manual labor involved in sorting and organizing one's change. I don't have many projects in my life with such repetition, much less clear goals and progress. Secondly, the connection between coins and history is amazing. When I come across a 1968 penny, I think about what happened in 1968 -- politically and culturally. When I discovered a 1978 nickel, I thought about grade school. We carry touchstones to the past in our pockets every day, and we handle them without thinking.
It's also interesting because of the accoutrements of numismatics. Several publishers offer coin folders, and they're all different. I know which kind I like the most, and it might be useful to share my comparisons and commentary with you. H.E. Harris & Co.'s coin folders are my least favorite. Even though they've been in the business since 1916, the cover paper -- and backing to the coin slots -- is much too thin. Will it rip? In addition, the cover designs are rather garish. I much prefer the mottled covers used by other coin folder manufacturers.
Of those, the custom coin folders made by the Littleton Coin Co., which has been in business since 1945, are a close second. With an austere mottled green cover, these folders offer a much better backing. That said, the coins almost fit in too easily. Will they fall out? While the Littleton folders offer as much historical information about the coins in question as H.E. Harris & Co.'s wares, they also include somewhat distracting corollary history about current events of the time. Stick to the coins, please.
Lastly, my clear favorite, the Whitman coin folders supplied by St. Martin's Press. With their classic mottled blue covers, ample backing, occasionally too-snug coin slots, and coin-related history, these are my pick of the litter. To my surprise, H.E. Harris & Co. acquired the Whitman line of numismatic products from St. Martin's early this year. Ouch. If president Mary Counts isn't lying when she says, "We are committed to continuing the Whitman legacy," H.E. Harris & Co. would be well advised to follow in the footsteps of Whitman and drastically improve their product line. When I was shopping for the folders, H.E. Harris & Co.'s folders dominated the shelves. Whitman's quality is, oh, so much higher.
Sheesh. You know you're a geek when you complain about the quality of coin collecting folders. I think I've crossed a line, Media Dieticians.
In any event, I've recently acquired several coin folders, and I've started sorting my big bag of change by year and mint location. Once I go through the bag, I'll take the remaining change to a Coinstar machine to cash it in. In any event, this is a surprisingly fun hobby. For one, there's something soothing about the manual labor involved in sorting and organizing one's change. I don't have many projects in my life with such repetition, much less clear goals and progress. Secondly, the connection between coins and history is amazing. When I come across a 1968 penny, I think about what happened in 1968 -- politically and culturally. When I discovered a 1978 nickel, I thought about grade school. We carry touchstones to the past in our pockets every day, and we handle them without thinking.
It's also interesting because of the accoutrements of numismatics. Several publishers offer coin folders, and they're all different. I know which kind I like the most, and it might be useful to share my comparisons and commentary with you. H.E. Harris & Co.'s coin folders are my least favorite. Even though they've been in the business since 1916, the cover paper -- and backing to the coin slots -- is much too thin. Will it rip? In addition, the cover designs are rather garish. I much prefer the mottled covers used by other coin folder manufacturers.
Of those, the custom coin folders made by the Littleton Coin Co., which has been in business since 1945, are a close second. With an austere mottled green cover, these folders offer a much better backing. That said, the coins almost fit in too easily. Will they fall out? While the Littleton folders offer as much historical information about the coins in question as H.E. Harris & Co.'s wares, they also include somewhat distracting corollary history about current events of the time. Stick to the coins, please.
Lastly, my clear favorite, the Whitman coin folders supplied by St. Martin's Press. With their classic mottled blue covers, ample backing, occasionally too-snug coin slots, and coin-related history, these are my pick of the litter. To my surprise, H.E. Harris & Co. acquired the Whitman line of numismatic products from St. Martin's early this year. Ouch. If president Mary Counts isn't lying when she says, "We are committed to continuing the Whitman legacy," H.E. Harris & Co. would be well advised to follow in the footsteps of Whitman and drastically improve their product line. When I was shopping for the folders, H.E. Harris & Co.'s folders dominated the shelves. Whitman's quality is, oh, so much higher.
Sheesh. You know you're a geek when you complain about the quality of coin collecting folders. I think I've crossed a line, Media Dieticians.
Hiking History VII
Saturday, before leaving for my week in Wisconsin, I went on a historical walk and talk through the South End of Boston. Offered through the Cambridge Center for Adult Education and organized by Mytown, the two-hour walk included several interesting labor organizing-, multicultural-, and counterculture-related sites, many of which I wasn't familiar with previously.
Starting at the Back Bay T station, we gathered at the statue of A. Philip Randolph, an African-American civil rights leader who helped organize the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. After walking through Tent City, an affordable housing complex now located on the site of a protest against urban renewal that involved 100 neighborhood activists, including Mel King, we continued to the original location of Harriet Tubman's house.
From there, we walked through the Southwest Corridor Park, a 4.7 mile-long green belt between Back Bay and Forest Hills that was originally planned to be an 8-12 lane highway. That took us to Charlie's Sandwich Shoppe, originally opened in 1927. Owner Charlie Poulos served blacks and whites before many establishments in the Boston area, and his restaurant also served as a hang out for jazz musicians and labor organizers. If you go, look for the dice set in the sidewalk in front of the entrance. Lore has it that local craps players left one set -- a lucky 7 -- so Charlie would always have good luck. That set sank, so they left another. The original set rose again, and now there are two sets of lucky 7 gracing the pavement.
Leaving Charlie's we went to the Lucy Parsons Center, a long-running radical bookstore and community center that's also had homes in Central and Davis squares. What I didn't know was that it's now located at the original site of the Academy of Musical Arts, an educational facility run by a Native-American woman who wanted to provide affordable arts programming to disadvantaged area youth. From there, we passed the former residence of Martin Luther King, Jr., who lived in Boston in the early '50s while attending Boston University.
The final stop was Wally's Jazz Cafe, which opened in 1947 across the street from where it is now -- and was part of the Chitlin Circuit of jazz clubs that supported African-American musicans. After the tour ended, I swung back by Lucy Parsons to see if it had opened. It hadn't. Regardless, what a wonderful way to start my vacation!
Starting at the Back Bay T station, we gathered at the statue of A. Philip Randolph, an African-American civil rights leader who helped organize the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. After walking through Tent City, an affordable housing complex now located on the site of a protest against urban renewal that involved 100 neighborhood activists, including Mel King, we continued to the original location of Harriet Tubman's house.
From there, we walked through the Southwest Corridor Park, a 4.7 mile-long green belt between Back Bay and Forest Hills that was originally planned to be an 8-12 lane highway. That took us to Charlie's Sandwich Shoppe, originally opened in 1927. Owner Charlie Poulos served blacks and whites before many establishments in the Boston area, and his restaurant also served as a hang out for jazz musicians and labor organizers. If you go, look for the dice set in the sidewalk in front of the entrance. Lore has it that local craps players left one set -- a lucky 7 -- so Charlie would always have good luck. That set sank, so they left another. The original set rose again, and now there are two sets of lucky 7 gracing the pavement.
Leaving Charlie's we went to the Lucy Parsons Center, a long-running radical bookstore and community center that's also had homes in Central and Davis squares. What I didn't know was that it's now located at the original site of the Academy of Musical Arts, an educational facility run by a Native-American woman who wanted to provide affordable arts programming to disadvantaged area youth. From there, we passed the former residence of Martin Luther King, Jr., who lived in Boston in the early '50s while attending Boston University.
The final stop was Wally's Jazz Cafe, which opened in 1947 across the street from where it is now -- and was part of the Chitlin Circuit of jazz clubs that supported African-American musicans. After the tour ended, I swung back by Lucy Parsons to see if it had opened. It hadn't. Regardless, what a wonderful way to start my vacation!
Anchormen, Aweigh! XXVI
Virtual Book Tour
Media Diet is a member of the Virtual Book Tour, which starts today. Over the course of the next two weeks, Mary Roach, author of Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, will be making her way to and through 10 different blogs -- including Media Diet.
Today, you can read Mike Carvalho's impressions of the book in his blog Barking Moose.
I'll continue to follow the tour as it progresses, and this week Thursday, July 10, Mary will be joining me as a contributor to Media Diet, offering pointers to and commentary on magazines, books, movies, music, and other media items and artifacts related to the subject of her book.
Today, you can read Mike Carvalho's impressions of the book in his blog Barking Moose.
I'll continue to follow the tour as it progresses, and this week Thursday, July 10, Mary will be joining me as a contributor to Media Diet, offering pointers to and commentary on magazines, books, movies, music, and other media items and artifacts related to the subject of her book.
The Free-Range Comic Book Project XXIX
This is an installment of Media Diet's Free-Range Comic Book Project:
For more information on this project, please refer to this Media Diet entry.
Detective Comics #743 (DC, April 2000). Writer: Greg Rucka. Artist: Shawn Martinbrough. Location: On a bench at Downtown Crossing on the Red Line.
For more information on this project, please refer to this Media Diet entry.
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