Music to My Eyes XVIII

In the fall of 2001, James Kochalka Superstar took to a rooftop in Burlington, Vermont, for an impromptu concert that was almost shut down by the police. Austin Sipes caught some of the shenanigans on video and word from Icebox Records is that more footage is yet to come. Lesson: People falling down are funny.

This Saturday, May 10, James opens for Mike Watt at Higher Ground. You can catch a live Webcast of the performance around 9 p.m. courtesy of the Digital Club Network.

Magazine Me XXXII

The American Society of Magazine Editors announced the winners of the National Magazine Awards today. Kudos to our upstairs neighbor, the Atlantic Monthly!

Newsletters of Note VIII

I've known Steve O'Keefe for as long as I've been involved in publishing, professionally and otherwise. Formerly of Loompanics, Steve now interacts with me occasionally because of his online book promotion work. With 20 years of publishing experience, Steve has launched online marketing campaigns for more than 1,000 books. As the head of Patron Saint Productions, Steve also publishes a newsletter entitled the Beautiful Plan. It's quite different than the last newsletter-cum-zine Steve published, Piano, which focused on piano playing and instruction. But, similar to everything else he's done, it's worth reading.

The Spring 2003 edition, the seventh issue, leads with the article "Why Authors Hate You." He draws on the experiences of folks such as Steve Roth, Richard Hoy, Katharine Harmon, and Glenn Fleishman to explore the failings of author-publisher interaction -- and how an author-focused publishing cooperative might be a viable option. Edwin Colyer looks at whether books are bound by the brands of their publishers. And Steve suggests that publishers should offer the writers they work with an outline and plan for the publishing process, identifying the responsible parties at each step.

It's a slim read at eight pages, but there are a lot of ideas here worth pursuing -- some of which remind me of the work Ben Brown and Dave Eggers are doing with their respective projects. One of the better newsletters I've come across in a while. It's not available online, but you can subscribe by sending your request on company letterhead to the Beautiful Plan, Patron Saint Productions, 741 Saint Philip St. #241, New Orleans, LA 70116.

Workaday World XXX

I've spent a couple of hours tidying up my office so far today, weeding out stuff I don't need on hand, boxing up books I don't need at work to ship home, and otherwise getting my Fast Company house in order. It's interesting how a manic cleaning binge -- and clutter purge -- can lighten one's mood. It's also interesting how this exercise is almost an exercise in professional anthropology or archaeology. Piles of stuff contain stratified layers of our past, and going through them brings back memories, reminds us of opportunities lost and experiences lived, and refocuses our attention and energy.

I was planning on enacting a similar manic cleaning binge at home tonight, but now we've got Anchormen practice. It's early, which is good because I still need to get my apartment in order for my mother's visit this weekend. I also need to practice my saxophone part in the Velvet Underground's "Rock 'n' Roll" for Kurt and Geraldine's wedding this weekend.

Back to work! Cleaning breeds clarity.

Comics and Community XI

The Cambridge Comix Festival kicks off this month. A convention will take place from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, May 17, at Hannum Hall, 7 Temple St. on Central Square in Cambridge. The convention will feature artists' and publishers' exhibits, guest speakers, and video demonstrations. The festival also includes exhibits at four different locations:

1369 Coffeehouse, 1757 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, May 5 to June 2 (Opening reception: 7-9 p.m., Sunday, May 11)

1369 Coffeehouse, 1369 Cambridge St., Cambridge, May 5 to June 2 (Opening reception: 7-9 p.m., Sunday, May 11)

Middle East Restaurant, 472 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, May 5 to June 2 (Opening reception: 3-5 p.m., Sunday, May 11)

Zeitgeist Gallery, 1353 Cambridge St., Cambridge, May 13-25 (Opening reception: 3-6 p.m., Sunday, May 18)

Exhibitors include Rick Altergott, Ariel Bordeaux, Craig Bostick, Doug Chapel, Dan Moynihan, and others. For more information, email Hans Rickheit. I won't be going to any of the openings May 11, but I hope to be at the con May 17 -- and perhaps the Zeitgeist opening May 18.

Technofetishism XXXVI

Mmm. I just ordered a Geko 201. With spring and summer coming, I'm quite looking forward to Geocaching.

Ravaging Radio VIII

It's being hyped as Tivo for your radio, and PoGo! Product's Radio YourWay digital AM/FM radio recorder looks promising. Combining a digital voice recorder, MP3 player, and on-the-fly or scheduled digital recording of radio broadcasts, the YourWay might work well for people who don't like sticking near their stereos. Scheduled to ship later this month, the YourWay is available for pre-order now.

While I like the idea of regularly recording radio shows such as WMBR's Breakfast of Champions or Pipeline! without having to be home or aware of the time, I'm slightly skeptical of the YourWay's portable radio stature. The quality of the recordings will be totally dependent on the device's location while recording, and the assumed mindfulness required to make sure you're getting good reception while recording seems to indicate that you can't just carry this with you all the time. I wonder whether a more stereo peripheral-based, streaming radio computer-based, or satellite radio recording approach might not be more promising.

Regardless, it's interesting to think about saving radio broadcasts on my laptop, and I must admit that I'm tempted. I just emailed them to see if the device is Mac compatible. It is not. Well, that's that. Maybe I should just get the Garmin Geko GPS device I've been coveting instead.

Thanks to Lockergnome.

Technofetishism XXXV

Just when my Sidekick is starting to crap out -- the navigation wheel is increasingly difficult to use, and it sounds like there are pieces of something rattling around inside the device -- Danger is coming out with a new color Sidekick. I was going to stop by T-Mobile to swap my Sidekick for a new one because I take good care of things like this and doubt it should break so soon after buying it -- I've only had it four months! -- but maybe I'll trade up. Mmm, color.

Thanks to Gizmodo.

Magazine Me XXXI

According to the New York Times, Wal-Mart has decided not to stock lad mags such as Maxim, Stuff, and FHM on its newsstands. Seems that customers and employees complained that the magazines were to racy. Also seems out that Wal-Mart can account for 15% of all single-copy magazine sales. If you get bumped by Wal-Mart, it can bruise indeed. For the lad mags, however, it's just a glancing blow because Wal-Mart only accounts for 3% of their newsstand sell through.

Thanks to Media Dietician Jodie Peotter.

Corollary: These Links Were Made for Breaking? VIII

Maybe I was too early an adopter of Friendster when I first wrote about it in December. I was initially frustrated by the Web service because there weren't enough people in the system for me to connect to many. Now, however, I'm starting to reach some sort of critical mass. With only 15 friends, I'm connected to more than 15,500 people. Already, I've had a conversation with Jen about how Friendster oddly formalizes connections and friendships that have pre-existed for years: "It's official!" And I just learned now that someone I just met online recently -- Gregory Blake, who helped me get my RSS feed up and running -- and I are connected 10 different ways to three degrees of separation. We would've met eventually anyway! I'm slowly warming to the service despite my early snarkiness.

Digesting the Daily XIII

Recent editions of the Daily Northwestern, the student newspaper of my alma mater, featured several media-, technology-, and activism-related items that might be of interest to Media Dieticians.

Decades of dissent
On-campus activism evolves since first Gulf War
(April 21, 2003)

Library to conform to policy
NU librarians fear new plan to comply with Patriot Act could violate patrons' privacy
(April 21, 2003)

Students, Web stalkers benefit from search services
Google offers information, amusement to users in 88 countries, 53 languages
(April 21, 2003)

Wherehouse store not where it's at anymore
Soon-to-close establishment tries its best to unload the last of its music, but nyou finds plenty of crap left.
(April 24, 2003)

Harvard urges punishment for illegal file-sharing cases
Although NU receives complaints, it evaluates the charges individually
(April 25, 2003)

Keeping face, baring more: Playboy at NU
(April 25, 2003)

Playboy to seek NU students for "Girls of the Big Ten" issue
(April 25, 2003)

Video didn't kill WNUR radio drama stars
Student actors, producers keep tradition of on-air theater alive with new show on Sunday afternoons.
(April 29, 2003)

If you work for a college newspaper and would like to sign me up for a complimentary subscription, please feel free to do so. My address is in the grey bar over on the left.

The Free-Range Comic Book Project XXI

This is an installment of Media Diet's Free-Range Comic Book Project.

Yesterday: Booster Gold #19 (DC, August 1987). Writer and artist: Dan Jurgens. Location: On the Red Line between Park Street and Central Square.

Today: Brave Old World #1 (DC/Vertigo, February 2000). Writer: William Messner-Loebs. Artists: Guy Davis and Phil Hester. Location: On the Green Line between Park Street and Haymarket.

For more information on this project, please refer to this Media Diet entry.