From the In Box: Music to My Ears V
Thanx for the great review and exposure on your site! It is much appreciated, though I was very disheartened to read that Other Music is now gone. What a huge loss. They were very supportive of us. Hopefully the one in NYC will stay open. -- The Duke of Candied Apples, Freezepop

Flogging Bloggers
Heather Hamilton, an LA-based Web designer, was fired from her job late last month for posting negative comments about her employer in her blog. According to the Feb. 26 entry in Dooce.com, someone anonymously emailed executives at Hamilton's company, telling them that she'd posted critical comments about the organization on her Web site.

Hamilton goes on to ask some very insightful questions about the interplay between her personal and professional lives, particularly on the Web:

Should I lose my job over what I have written on my personal Web site, especially if I have made sure not to mention specific places, persons, or events by name?

At what point does my personal Web site, regardless of what I've published on the site, affect my professional life? If I am not responsible for the two colliding (meaning, an anonymous person tips off my employer that I run a personal weblog), is it right that my employer should condemn me for expressing personal dissatisfaction? Would it be any different if someone found a notepad on which I had scribbled things about my job and turned it in to my boss?

I've been considering similar questions this week because of Fast Company's Web feature on blogging, which links to Media Diet because I'm a staffer there. Traffic here has gone up as a result, and I'm curious what FC readers and regulars think of my personal media- and popcult-related side projects.

While Hamilton continued to analyze her situation in her Feb. 27 entry and pokes fun at termination letters, you'll be happy to know that now that Hamilton has more free time, she's back in stride, cleaning her apartment and considering serious matters such as, well, defecation and gender differences.

Music to My Ears V
A three-pack of new record reviews!

Choo Choo La Rouge: "Wall to Wall" CD
What if Bob Dylan led Slot Machine instead of John Holkeboer? We might get this rootsy indie rock, ably presented at the Upstairs Lounge not too long ago. Kicking off with the cyclical and distortion-ridden "Cards," which features some excellent plaintive yet positively confident vocals, this seven-song CD makes me appreciate Choo Choo La Rouge's live act even more. They were good at the Kendall Cafe. They were good at the Upstairs. And they're good on record. I do have to make fun of the chorus' "Whoo-hoo"'s as a trite songwriting tactic -- as opposed to Naked Raygun's "Whoa-hey-oh"'s -- but Choo Choo quickly redeems itself with its alt.country via Munly de Hardy ballad "Worse Mistakes." There's a little Johnny Cash, Robyn Hitchcock, and Lemonpeelers in here, and this CD makes it clear why Choo Choo would fit in on any Boston-area indie-pop or alt.country bill; had I known, I would've booked them with Clare Burson and Gloria Deluxe. Now that I do know, it's songs like the Weakerthans via Neutral Milk Hotel-like "Ragged Dick" and the Spoilsport-plus-"A Simple Desultory Phillipic"-era Simon and Garfunkel-styled "Hearsed and Rehearsed" that'll keep this in heavy rotation. Choo Choo puts the alt in alt.country. Sunny bubblegum pop, beat pop, alt.country -- Choo Choo has it all. I even remember "In the End" from the show." Kudos.

Freezepop: "Fashion Impression Function" CD
A tongue-in-cheek but true take on early-'80s synth pop music a la early Depeche Mode, Yaz, Human League, and -- dare I say it? -- the Kitchens of Distinction. It's not so much parody as it is selfless homage, and it's much better than also-Boston-based Lifestyle. Freezepop comprises the Duke of Candied Apples, Liz Enthusiasm, and the "other" Sean T. Drinkwater, wth Duke and Enthusiasm seeming to be the true aficionadoes. "Lazy"'s vocals, courtesy of the dreamy Enthusiasm, remind me of Papas Fritas, which is a nice vocal nod, and the overall vibe is rather sleepy and happily sluggish. The beats aren't overly aggressive, the bleeps and swells are tastefully placed, and these songs could easily be twee pop indie-rock anthems were it not for their couching in Yamaha-fueled synth pop. The male vocals on "Shark Attack" are a nice touch, riffing off of Soft Cell and White Town (a modren reference!). Many of the songs are mixes and remixes by Kodomo, Commodore Vic, and others. There's even an All Your Base Are Belong to Us remix, ably taking Freezepop out of the past and into the future. Again, this is much more than a kitschy return to the past. Freezepop's retro reproductions -- even the Pizzicato Five-like remix by Kodomo -- are honest, earnest, and appreciative kicks in the pant of Synthpop. I'll be listening to this a lot. Robotron vs. K-Rad. Servotron vs. Pracky Pranky. Brilliant. Archenemy Record Co., P.O. Box 802, Boston, MA 02134.

Matters & Dunaway: "Midtech" CD EP
Andre Obin and Thomas Gallagher collaborate on this five-song CD of intelligent dance music that's at times reminiscent of Greyboy and other times reflective of Medeski, Martin & Wood. This music was recorded last fall entirely on a Yamaha MD8, bringing together the best of live performance and sequencing. Surprisingly -- to me -- the pieces are all relatively short -- 3-6 minutes -- which helps my attention span immensely. Bass riffs are a big part of the first two tracks, "Movement" and "Spidercheck," and there's a certain Beastie Boys aspect to Matters & Dunaway's compositions -- I could put in the Beastie's DVD and hear Ad Rock freestyling over much of this -- but for the most part it's rather laid back and just on the edge of ambient ("Honduras" is almost all ambient IDM plus some misleading skronk.). DJ Spooky is invoked as the synths swell and the beats kick in. Overall, impressive. But "Stars in the Lake" is most interesting of all. Be sure to wait for its Trans Am-like opening leading into some Sea and Cake-styled guitar noodling. This track leads me to think that these might be suggestions of songs, but there's enough promise that, given a live band and a little more edge and risk, Matters & Dunaway could be a truly great project worth following.

All three of the above records were purchased at the now-closed Other Music in Cambridge. RIP.

Blogging About Blogging XVI
The Media Diet counter has been live for a month as of today. And the stats to date are pretty interesting:

2,080 total visits and 1,571 unique visitors

54 hits a day on average -- not a lot, but I'm proud

Mondays and Tuesdays almost tie for peak days

Media Dieticians also belong to the Late Riser's Club -- traffic begins to pick up at 2 p.m.

People coming in from .com and .net domains are neck and neck

Thanks for coming by!

From the Reading Pile VIII

After School
This tidy little pocket-sized accordion of a comic sports a woodcut-printed cover and is limited to an edition of 100. Bruce Orr considers children's many after-school activities, drawing in a heavily inked rendering of Robert Lewis' style on one side -- and accelerating to adulthood on the other side to show how playful activities contribute to adult behavior. There are few surprises, but the comparisons are valid and quite emotional. An excellent look at how personalities develop. The physical design slightly reminds me of a bus passenger-related comics accordion printed by Pipifax or Bulb in Europe, but I can't find it, so who knows. Worth a look. Maybe Bruce should move up to Boston! $3 to Bruce Orr, 1601 S. 8th St., Philadelphia, PA 19148.

Batjam
The Picnic stocks a lot of Neil's Jam minis, but this is the first issue -- self-published in October 2001 -- that's inspired a Media Diet buy. Obviously and admittedly based on Batman, this 16-page edition presents an interview with the cartoony hero about his job, hobbies, sidekick, frustrations, and abuse at the, um, feet of others. If this is as deep as Neil Jam gets, I'm not sure I need more, but it's a good introduction to Fitzpatrick's artwork, humor, and pacing. I wonder if Neil knows Kevin, who does Supermonster. $1 to Neil Fitzpatrick.

Doris #11
This 36-page issue begins the Doris ABC's, an encyclopedia set, and goes into the C's. Doris is a little self-conscious about writing about "things I'd feel dumb writing about otherwise; like anarchism and Zimbabwe," but the premise is a welcome departure from her usual perzine narratives. She writes about intential community building, the academic nature of some idealist writing (which makes anarchism inaccessible to many), certainty, Murray Bookchin, direct action, polygamy, abortion and the body politic, the definition of pregnancy (quickening), racism in healthcare and how it spawned the American Medical Association, homemade boats, mucus, books and zines Doris has read, the threat of robbery, ladybugs, her sister's farm (an interview that would've been at home in the current issue of Cometbus), human compost, and other topics that don't necessarily start with the letters A, B, and C. Another quality issue of Doris with personal and productive writing. The framing concept works quite well. $1.50 to P.O. Box 1734, Asheville, NC 28802.

Scenery #13
This "examination of some things we've held to be self-evident" and "illustration of ways we shape our identity" combines sketchbook excerpts and handwritten travel-oriented personal writing that reminds me of the work of Jeff Zenick. Mike travels to Spain and tells stories about his crazy friend Eli and his roommate Josepha, makes a mistaken comparison between British lad mags and Esquire and GQ (Maxim is more like it.), and discusses his commute in Granada, feeling lost in a cemetery, language barriers, the horrors of art commissioned by royalty, shoplifting, and rude travelers. The writing is hella better than that in most travel-oriented perzines -- opting for transparent narrative rather than self-aware, self-righteous judgment -- and Mike's sketches? Absolutely beautiful. Be sure to check the small spire on p. 3, the phone booth on p. 21, and the interrupted rooftops on p. 22. Why haven't I seen this before? $3 to Tree of Knowledge, P.O. Box 251766, Little Rock, AR 72225.

Strawbaby
Another relatively overpriced mini -- After School cost $3? -- this 28-pager features cute brut comic art and watercolored sketchbook excerpts featuring angry children, diapered infants, notebook paper animals, heavy use of hash marks, musclebound ducklings, giraffes, plaintive babies, and the Smart Dog. Amy's art reminds me slightly of Gary Panter and Mike Diana, as well as a Paper Radio-influenced Ron Rege, Jr. I'd like to see a proper comic by Amy, but I doubt I'll pick up another sketchbook mini such as this. Good unified idea, but little else. $3 to Amy Lockhart, 585 Eastvale Dr., Gloucester, Ontario K1J 6Z4 Canada.

Supermonster #14
Entitled Gloriana Comics, this 96-page edition of Kevin Huizenga's minicomic is quite a bargain compared to many zines and self-published comics. With a full-color cover, the comic was drawn between the winter of 2000 and summer of 2001. It opens with "At Work," a two-pager featuring Wendy Caramel-Ganges, one of the issue's ensemble cast, who joins Glenn in the 25-page "The Groceries," in which they envision the future of their unborn child. The piece is drawn in a delightfully cartoony style and, while heavy on dialogue, reads quith smoothly, interspersing foreshadowing with conversation about Wendy's sister's relationship ups and downs. The narrative flow is interrupted by "The Sunset," which itself uses an interrupted phone conversation as the framing conceit for a meditation on the setting sun, complete with a foldout that's equal parts Chris Ware and Greg Cook. Nice pratfall ending! An existential appreciation of a blood-red moon -- and another telephone conversation -- couches Huizenga's scientific explanation in some nice Ron Rege, Jr.-esque imagery, as well as some Scott McCloud-like process comics analyzing the physics of vision. "The Moon Rose" even has a punchline! Lastly, "Basketball" evokes John Porcellino as Huizenga portrays the recollection of a game in Illinois. Hella impressive, Supermonster combines solid storytelling, unintentional cute brut imagery, process comics, and other notable elements to weave several pieces together in a narrative whole. One to get. Immediately. $3 to Kevin Huizenga, P.O. Box 12299, St. Louis, MO 63157.

There Is Nothing!
Cheryl tells me that Marc is Amy Lockhart's boyfriend, and besides their residing in the same province, the shared cute brut style indicates that that's not outside the realm of possibility. Marc's art is largely resonant of Robert Crumb by way of Peter Bagge and Ron Rege, Jr., and this half-legal, 40-page comic collects strips from the Coast, an alt.weekly in Halifax, Nova Scotia; Exclaim!; and the titillating Vice. Even Canada's answer to Factsheet Five (RIP), Broken Pencil (organized geographically a la the Hudson Luce F5), has run Marc's stuff. And good stuff it is! His character Saul reminds me of Creem magazine's Boy Howdy beer bottle character, bolstering the Crumb comparisons. "Thar Is Nut'n!" made me laugh out loud with its to-do list containing "Put things into other things" and "Discover inner self" items. "Where!?!" is a surreal nod to Joe Matt and David Lynch's comics. Marc also pokes Big Boy, psychoanalysis, abstract art, love, winter, mythology, meditation, rock 'n' roll, comics artists (hisself!), zinemakers, Japanese pop culture, free stuff, and literature. While the Crumb influence is occasionally jarring, I'd rather read these alt.weekly strips from 1995-2000 than anything ever done by Kaz. "Life Is a Highway" is the best example of Bell's cute brut leanings. Awesome stuff. Amy could take some cues. $4 to Marc Bell, 1016 Dalhousie Dr., London, Ontario N6K 1M7 Canada.

It's an Ad, Ad, Ad, Ad World
Remember when Mad magazine didn't have any ads? Now that AOL-Time-Warner owns the long-running humor magazine, not only does Mad contain ads -- for things like Corn Nuts -- the media conglomerate is starting to license Alfred E. Neuman for use by other businesses, such as Land's End and PepsiCo.

The innocence of childhood has now ended.

Comics with a Cause II
George Bush has become even more of a cartoon in recent days with the advent of an Indian comic strip that portrays our fearless and peerless leader as Dubyaman, a "deranged superhero destined to skid on the banana peel of his own ineptitude."

In an odd bit of self-reference, the Times of India has even reported on the strip, which runs in its very pages. Seems there's an art exhibit featuring examples of the artwork, which I've had trouble finding online.

Rabble Rall-ser II
About 10 days ago, Jim Treacher emailed me a link to several Clip-Art Nonsense comic strips he wrote and drew in response to the recent 911/Ted Rall brouhaha.

"Did you notice the discrepancies in [Rall's] story about the third panel -- with the widow whose husband's throat was slashed -- between his appearance on the O'Reilly Factor on March 7 and the Editor & Publisher article March 8?" Jim wrote. "He still seems to be making up his mind over whether or not he was targeting Daniel Pearl's widow."

One Man's Alternative Media Strategy
Sander Hicks, founder of Soft Skull Press, wrote the following raw, rough first draft as a statement for the Alternative Media primer for the upcoming Version 2.0 conference, scheduled to take place in April in Chicago. Sander is about to go on tour with his band White Collar Crime -- and a new newspaper featuring similar material and reporting. He welcomes your feedback, especially if you are experienced in the subjects addressed.

I'm best known for starting Soft Skull Press, a alternative book publishing company. But you know, the current global situation compares so closely to 1991, the year of my first foray into alt.media. When the Gulf War started, I was part of a collective that formed to publish an alternative newspaper. Our college's official newspaper parroted the complicit position of the corporate media, so creating an alternative was a logical, fun choice. But we didn't stop history from repeating itself. Eleven years later there's a new Bush in the White House, and a similar war for oil going on in Central Asia.

We need to stop the crimes of big business, war and poverty. From "The New Xaymaca" newspaper to Soft Skull Press, I think I've learned a few lessons that amount to a media strategy, so here goes:

If being an anti-war, anti-imperialist thinker is what brought you and your friends into alternative media, then just admit it, you are now a part of that fabled entity called the American Left. This means that your media strategy is also going to also be a political strategy. But instead of being a member of a political entity, it's your role to be a part of a production entity: You're more like a union than a party. That means that a certain degree of ideological diversity and flexibility is a must. So I guess my first political point is that anarchists can learn a lot from socialists, and vice versa. (And this applies to all schools of thought and analysis.) To the anarchist/socialist debate I would say: Rather than divide into sects, let's try to find a balance between spontaneity and discipline, between direct action and committed organization. It's not either/or, it's both.

That said, I think it should be a life-long media strategy of a united left to seize state power. There, I said it. At the same time, I'm an anti-totalitarian leftist. Look, a strain of anarchism has to be included in this worldview. The media has to taken out of the hands of the fat cats, the right wingers, the weak moderates, and the lame-o's. We've got to put it in the hands of the common people and then let them run with it. Can this be done? Am I dreaming?

Yes. In China, the Communist Party actually paid for the industries it took over, through government bonds.

But how can you guarantee that a state-run media won't become a propaganda vehicle for the government, some Soviet joke? Here's a quick example, freshly extricated from real world capitalism. The New York Times is a publicly held company, but the shareholders don't get to have influence over editorial decisions. The Times made rules beforehand saying we want the benefits of public ownership, but we can't have editorial decisions dictated by outside interests. In the same way, the entire corporate media establishment should be transferred into the hands of a new American workers' state. It would have to be a part of its charter that the state did not interfere with content. That workers' state could set up some infrastructure, some funding, and just let it go.

Too risky? Well, what are the alternatives? We have a system right now that is a dictatorship. The Rupert Murdochs, the Roger Ailes, the Bill O'Reilly's, the Heritage Foundation, the Wall Street Journal, the sold-out 60 Minutes, and all the rest show us what a free market gets us: a bunch of puppets. Right-wing mediocrity. Instead of hard-hitting reporting, we get excuses for the crimes of capitalism, we get cheer-leading for oil wars. It's time for the power of the people.

I recently debated this guy, a real rabid anti-communist. I won on points, in a 11 to 9 decision, and then he emailed me all bitter. Said that Marxism was akin to fascism because I called the middle-class values and ruling class "the bourgeoisie." He said I shouldn't use this piece of "hate language." Boy, he was really scared by class struggle analysis, wasn't he? If you crack this code and see history as a long story of class exploitation, then this really gets under certain people's skin. I remember the trend five years ago was to accuse anyone slightly on the Left of "class war" if they brought up issues of poverty or the need for a social safety net. That trend now over, the strategy of the Right has shifted over and become its opposite: They are now trying to appropriate class struggle for their own ends. I guess they realized the power of the analysis; they figured they better appropriate it (before the young North American globalization movement grabs the weapons of class analysis). So now Bill O'Reilly's shtick on Fox is to constantly make reference to the integrity of his "lower middle-class" roots. In a recent appearance at Columbia, I watched Chris Matthews go on about how great the "war" in Afghanistan is, because it's a "real blue-collar war" because "it's so GUT" it's so simple, and Bush is leading us around using emotions anyone can understand.

The simple truth here is that this government is the enemy of the people. Pick an issue. The environment, the recent deregulation of communications, the continued deregulation of the energy industry. The war on terrorism is a sick joke. It would be a better world with media with the ability to be critical, thoughtful, piercing, objective, forthright.

Making viable media alternatives is a must. Offset printing a newspaper on a "web" press is actually pretty damn cheap. Web sites are even cheaper. What's hard is staying alive in a world trying to crush its dissenters. Because once you really get to a scale at which you threaten them, they will stop thinking you're cute and they will try to kill you. I saw this personally when Soft Skull did the Bush biography Fortunate Son.

It's time for self-defense. Let's all get in top physical condition. Let's all study military strategy and tactics. Let's all read voraciously across the spectrum of radical left politics. Let's learn from the mistakes of Stalin and Mao and put together a new American socialist alternative.

How I've Been Spending My Time II
Kewlbox just released a new game that combines extreme sledding with South Park-like character designs. It plays left to right, is quite clever, and is a lot of fun. Because Boston's not had much snow this winter, it's also a good reminder of how fun winter can be -- if there is snow.

The game is available for PC's as well as Mac's.

Life's all downhill from here.

The Best of the Web
I'm a nominating judge for the Webbies again this year, in the Community category. We're starting to discuss candidates for the nominations, and I'd like to pick your brain. If you can recommend any Web sites and services that meet the following description, email me, and I'll consider it for the mix.

Community: Sites creating and facilitating online community, connectedness and/or communication around shared interests. These sites can target either a broad-based or niche audience.

Thanks for your help!

News You Can Abuse II
Media Dietician Clint Schaff encouraged me to let folks know about two new Adbusters campaigns:

Corporate Hot Seat offers an "uncommercial" calling the very existence of Phillip Morris into question. Adbusters' Media Foundation is currently raising funds to run the ad and stage other Phillip Morris protest activities.

Adbusters is also rethinking its plans to stage money-drops April 1 at the world's stockmarkets and is currently brainstorming other direct actions that could take place.