Pieces, Particles XV

The following stories spotted recently in print publications might be worth a look. Heads and decks, only. Heads and decks.

Adieu, Tiny Lawsuits by Cynthia Cotts, Village Voice, Feb. 4, 2004
Lingua Franca freelancers fight back

All My Things Considered by Gillian Kendall, The Sun, February 2004

At McSorley's, Dusty Bones Conjure Ghosts by Dan Barry, New York Times, Feb. 18, 2004

Aural History by Jennifer Baumgardner, Bitch, Winter 2004
With the women's liberation rock bands, second-wave feminists kicked out the jams long before Riot Grrrl.

Automaton City by Steve Ditlea, Daily News, Jan. 25, 2004
New York robots are showing off their skills everywhere from Brooklyn to Mars

Banking on Billyburg's Future by Tiffany Elliott, Greenpoint Star, Jan. 8, 2004

The Beat of Iraqi Insurgency by Borzou Daragahi, Newsday, Jan. 18, 2004
Banned jihad tunes become a hot item

Blah, Blah, Blog by Paul McFedries, IEEE Spectrum, December 2003
Technically speaking

Book Smart by Maureen Shelly, Time Out New York, Feb. 19, 2004
Get the latest literary buzz from these well-read bloggers

Consumed: The Treo 600 by Rob Walker, New York Times Magazine, Jan. 25, 2004
A status gadget implies almost limitless functionality and practicality. This is conspicuous utility.

Designing Men by Keith Mulvihill, Time Out New York, Jan. 22, 2004
Chermayeff & Geismar get a retrospective at Cooper Union

Divers of the Dead Pool by Paul Krassner, New York Press, Feb. 11, 2004
A fantasy league for the morbidly inclined.

Everyone's a Historian by Edward L. Ayers, Newsday, Jan. 25, 2004
Online, the past comes alive in documents that can challenge our very identity

The Evil Geniuses of Kiddie Schlock by Emily Nussbaum, New York Times, Feb. 15, 2004
Recalling the Saturday morning psychedelia of Sid and Marty Krofft

Funny Business by Jon Hanc, Newsday, Jan. 28, 2004
Since capturing the public's fancy in 1934, comic books have been a wellspring of creativity. But with a shrinking audience, where do they go from here?

Gimmick Rock by Mary Huhn, New York Post, Jan. 25, 2004
Meet the most bizarre cover bands in town

Great Brawl of China by Ian Mount, Time Out New York, Feb. 5, 2004

The Green Lama by Kendra Crossen Burroughs and Karen Ready, Tricycle, Spring 2004
"I think I'll go home and meditate... on murder!"

The Help Desk, New York, Feb. 16, 2004
A Friend's Blog... Old, Unpaid Bills... Ex's Leftover Art

Hike on Newtown Creek? It Isn't Quite That Awful by Jim O'Grady, New York Times, Feb. 15, 2004

The Internet School Scam by Todd Oppenheimer, The Nation, Feb. 16, 2004
A questionable plan to wire poor schools has turned into a business boondoggle.

Introducing a Cartoonist Named Crumb by Tessa DeCarlo, New York Times, Feb. 15, 2004

"It's Not News" by Rich Cohen, Harper's, February 2004
What today's high school journalist is taught

Kid Nabbing by Melanie Wells, Forbes, Feb. 2, 2004
Procter & Gamble has assembled a stealth sales force of teenagers -- 280,000 strong -- to push products on friends and family. A brilliant move -- or marketing gone amok?

Labor of Lust by Sara Stewart, New York Post, Jan. 18, 2004
Meet the girls behind "Sweet Action" -- an updated indie version of "Playgirl"

Lingua Bancarupta by Cynthia Cotts, Village Voice, Jan. 14, 2004
Magazine returns from the grave, suing

Lip-Synching Gets Real by Chris Nelson, New York Times, Feb. 1, 2004
The new technology and the etiquette of faking it

Listening Lab by Lisa Sweetingham, Time Out New York, Feb. 5, 2004
Give your favorite yarn-spinner a place in history

Little Murders by Jesse Sunenblick, Columbia Journalism Review, January/February 2004
Thirty years ago, editorial illustration in our mainstream media was provocative and smart, driving the words as often as following them. Today much of it is literal and safe, more decorative than idea-driven. How did this happen in an age where image is everything?

Low Life by L.B. Deyo, Time Out New York, Jan. 8, 2004
A subterranean warren in midtown allows winter-weary urban spelunkers to shop, explore, even admire art, in a balmy springtime climate

Mad Artist Woodbridge Dies, Comics Buyer's Guide, Feb. 13, 2004
Also specialized as military-history illustrator

MediaTalk by David Carr, New York Times, Feb. 2, 2004
New Yorker writer accumulates points in corporate circles

Missionary Positioning by Ed Halter, Village Voice, Jan. 21, 2004
Indie Mormon cinema attempts a mainstream conversion

A Moody, Craggy Majesty, Like That of Lost Ruins by Christopher Gray, New York Times, Jan. 18, 2004
The 1909 structure offers a grand aesthetic experience.

My Big Fat Obnoxious Prank by Joy Press, Village Voice, Feb. 18, 2004
The lawless and ever-expanding world of hidden-camera TV

Native Son by Michael J. Agovino, Time Out New York, Jan. 22, 2004
Tour guide Maurice Valentine alters the public's perception of the Bronx, one van ride at a time

Newsmen and Con Men by Nicholas Stein, Fortune, Feb. 23, 2004
That trustworthy Canadian accent work very well with American TV audiences. But trustworthiness has an evil twin...

The Ombudsman's Ombudsman by Andrew Chaikivsky, Esquire, March 2004
How good is your ombudsman, really?

Once Underground, Ant Farm Burrows Out by Michael Rush, New York Times, Jan. 25, 2004
A collective's activist, in-your-face style set the course not for art, but for TV news.

One "Swede" Park Put More Green in the Point by Tiffany Elliott, Greenpoint Star, Feb. 12, 2004

Orchestrating War by Carter Burwell, Harper's, February 2004
Partita

Queer Eye for the 50s Guy by Michael Bronski, Utne, January-February 2004
The popular fiction of postwar America was -- are you ready for this? -- gay-friendly

Reading the Consumer Mind by Douglas Rushkoff, New York Press, Feb. 18, 2004
The age of neuromarketing has dawned.

The Real Deal on Popeye and His "Goil"?, Newsday, Jan. 18, 2004

Self-Publish and Be Damned? Not Always by Andy Kessler, Wall Street Journal, Jan. 20, 2004

Should Comics End When Creators Die? by Dave Astor, Editor & Publisher, January 2004
Cartoonists debate whether or not strips should be passed down to successor artists, and also comment about "Peanuts" reruns

Some Landmarks Are Just Meant to Be a Problem by Tara Bahrampour, New York Times, Feb. 1, 2004
Neighborhood report: Fulton Ferry

Soulless, Maybe, but Dig the Heavy Metal by Noah Shachtman, New York Times, Feb. 19, 2004

Special Ops by Joshua M. Bernstein, Time Out New York, Feb. 12, 2004
Frugal artists flock to OfficeOps' affordable studios

Strange Find in Iraq by Denis Hamill, Daily News, Jan. 25, 2004
No, not weapons of mass destruction -- but a famous movie location

The Streets Where History Lives by Russell Shorto, New York Times, Feb. 9, 2004
A path would link a Sept. 11 memorial to a nation's past.

Take Neutral Approach to Greenfield's Gravity Hill by Nathan Cobb, Boston Globe, Jan. 31, 2004
Skeptics face an uphill battle at a legendary location in Greenfield

Take the Long Way by Joshua M. Bernstein, New York Press, Feb. 11, 2004
San Keller likes to walk. And walk. And walk...

Theme Park of the Gods? by Eric A. Powell, Archaeology, January/February 2004
Alien astronauts have a new home in the heart of the Swiss Alps.

This Is My Story by Chrissy Persico, Daily News, Feb. 22, 2004
An oral history project in Grand Central Terminal chronicles the lives of ordinary New Yorkers

Toil, Tears and Sweat in Brooklyn by Julie Salamon, New York Times, Feb. 6, 2004
The way people used to work

Trademark Kings by Sara Bonisteel, New York Resident, Jan. 12, 2004
Graphic design firm Chermayeff & Geismar has iconic retrospective at the Cooper Union

Triumph of the Shill by Jennifer L. Pozner, Bitch, Winter 2004
Part One: Advertisers rejoice as Hollywood satirizes product placement.

The Tyranny of Copyright? by Robert S. Boynton, New York Times Magazine, Jan. 25, 2004
A number of influential lawyers, scholars and activists are increasingly concerned that copyright law is curbing our freedoms and making it harder to create anything new. This could be the first new social movement of the century.

United, They Syndicate by Dave Astor, Editor & Publisher, February 2004
A day in the life of a company that traces its roots back to 1902 -- and tries to offer features relevant to 2004

UPP with People by Billie Cohen, Time Out New York, Jan. 29, 2004
The Urban Pioneer Project wants you -- and your living room

Venting, Down East, February 2004
One phone in Lewiston has been ringing off the hook lately.

The Very, Very Personal Is the Political by Jon Gertner, New York Times Magazine, Feb. 15, 2004
Political parties are using enormous databases to learn everything about you so they can tailor their pitches for candidates just for you. Are campaigning and voting becoming just marketing and consumption?

Vintage Radio, Down to Farm Reports and School Menus, Is Signing Off by G. Patrick Pawling, New York Times, Feb. 1, 2004

The Virus Underground by Clive Thompson, New York Times Magazine, Feb. 8, 2004
Philet0ast3r, Second Part to Hell, Vorgon and guys like them around the world spend their Saturday nights writing fiendishly contagious computer viruses and worms. Are they artists, pranksters or techno-saboteurs?

Web Innovator Eyes Print Ads by Barbara Bedway, Editor & Publisher, February 2004
He's about a Mover

A Well-Imagined Star by Neil Strauss, New York Times, Feb. 2, 2004
Unearthing a trove of albums that never existed

The World at Ears' Length by Warren St. John, New York Times, Feb. 15, 2004
IPod's wall of sound puts the city on mute.