March 30, 2003
blogging is a bad habit.
I'm in the process of writing a paper, and, thinking I'm hitting hotkeys to Italicize titles, I've got a page full of <i> and </i> tags. The HTML tag has replace Ctrl-I in my mind for "Italics," I suppose.
March 29, 2003
dismissing certain tactics
At first, this New York Times story, which describes how anti-war groups are toning down the civil disobedience, seemed to indicate mainstream outlets are moving away from portraying peace and justice activists as traffic-blocking freaks toward representing us concerned citizens making a statement of conscience. But this Washington Post piece echoes the earlier Broadcasting and Cable piece, which quotes consultants who say covering the opposition is bad for business, so the battle for responsible journalism is far from won.
People write into the papers griping about how civil disobedience actions slow down traffic and - often - commerce. In this case, stopping traffic seems to be an apt metaphor for the impact the war has on our economy. The war is already costing billions of dollars and creating an atmosphere of economic uncertainty that will only continue to drag down our economy as long as we stay in Iraq. The subsquent occupation and rebuilding of the nation will suck resources from the country, enriching the likes of Haliburton, but hurting the common man. If these people are genuinely worried about slowing down the nation's work, they should join us out in the street or simply think about what President Bush is doing to address the economic issues at home.
snow dogs
The Boondocks is probably my favorite comic strip these days (followed closely by Pearls Before Swine.) The comic features a Huey, an elementary school Black Panther; his brother Riley, who aspires to the thug life of rappers; and Huey's best friend from round-the-way, Caesar. Huey frequently goes on tears about politics and American culture that are beyond the sophistication of most grade-school students. In interviews, creator Aaron McGruder has said that Huey is a character and not a mouthpiece for MacGruder's opinions. However today's strip, which says
is signed by the artist, suggesting that statements like the Most Embarrassing Black People Awards (a parody of the Image Awards) and the diatribes against Vivica Fox probably reflect McGruder's own ideas.
March 28, 2003
lost in the supermarket
I just got back from buying groceries at the Hancock Center H-E-B. A young mother was pushing her two children and her five-year-old son had a cookie-monster-blue faux-hawk. It seemed to be the mom's fashion statement more than the kid's and I hoped he wasn't in school yet, since he could take a lot of crap over that.
In my old West Philly neighborhood, there was a mother and daughter I often saw walking together. The mom had short, graying hair, and sported the whole L.L. Bean look with polar fleece and hiking boots. The daughter, who looked 14 or 15, was straight out of 1978 punk culture with the black motorcycle jacket, plaid bondage pants, and, at times, a 4-inch mohawk spiring overhead. I smirked whenever I saw the holding hands and chatting as they walked down the sidewalk.
March 27, 2003
tend to hate seeing them
A story in trade magazine Broadcasting and Cable suggests, "Covering war protesters may be bad for business." Apparently, Joe Six-Pack prefers Nintendo-like footage of Tomahawk missles to people making a statement of conscience - and that's good journalism.
I wanted to seque into some snide remark about my sick crush on NBC White House Correspondent Campbell Brown, but it just ain't happening.
trademark of a monopoly
Bill Moyers has an essay on the way pro war types have hijacked the flag for their anti-democratic goals:
The online comic Diesel Sweeties has what has to be the best flag shirt ever, which, in many ways, represents why I continue to voice my opposition to the war on Iraq. My sister is studying in Berlin, a hotbed of anti-war sentiment, and I'm mulling over whether to get one of these shirts for her.
Readers have been writing into The Austin American-Statesman and UT-Austin's Daily Texan arguing that, now that now the the war has begun, activists are hurting the soldiers in Iraq by voicing their opposition. The protests did not spring up after the bombs were falling: in fact, the anti-war movement was larger than the movement at the height of the Vietnam conflict before the bombs started falling. If it is the case that protests hurt soldiers on the battlefield, these people should hold President Bush responsible for starting a war much of the country doesn't believe in.
March 26, 2003
no one told me about her
Yesterday during All Things Considered they teased a story about Clear Channel's connections to the Bush Adminstration. I went back today to see if they had posted it online, but I couldn't find it. But what I did find was fodder for innumerable snickers: the list of songs Clear Channel pulled from the airwaves in the wake of 9/11. Some of their choices, like "War Pigs" and everything by Rage Against the Machine, are a little infuriating, while others are laugh-out-loud funny such as "Bennie and the Jets," "Burning Down the House," and - my personal favorite - The Zombies' "She's Not There." The list cites Martha and the Vandellas' and Van Halen's renditions of "Dancing in the Streets" as banned songs, but, presumably, the Mick Jagger/David Bowie duet was tame enough for America's ears after the disaster.
oh the pain
For the first time in my life, I'm afraid to eat something I've cooked. I picked up a Thai cookbook, and tonight I decided to try my hand at making red curry paste. My forehead, eyelids, and nostrils are currently ablaze with a chemical burn caused by a blender mishap. Considering what only a minute quantity of said paste has done to my skin, I fear the consequences of a cup or so waiting in my fridge. Philly food suddenly sounds good: like a provolone-iceberg-mayo hoagie on white would hit the spot right now....
re-prioritize the broadcasters
The New York Stock Exchange has barred Al-Jazeera journalists from broadcasting from the trading floor. While NYSE explains this is due to limited space, it comes after the network broadcast images of American POWs held by Iraq, so many infer this is in retaliation. The Bush adminstration has derided Al Jazeera as a distribution system for propaganda, but, if they can't get to sources within the West (and what's a better symbol for the West than NYSE?) they can only portray the views of their audience.
March 25, 2003
just in time for the holiwars
I just found an activist site, clearchannelsucks.org, that catalogs this misdeeds of our fine nation's largest radio broadcaster.
creeps and weirdos
Through bOINGbOING, I learned of an absolutely disgusting ad GM is running in Vancouver. The destination bar of a bus reads "Creep and Weirdos" and the copy underneath reads, "Luckily there's an affordable alternative," and launches into its shill for the Chevy Cavalier. (Indymedia story)
March 24, 2003
can't happen here
Paul Krugman's Tuesday NYTimes column discusses the plight of the endangered prairie chicken Dixie Chicks, and corporate radio's attempts to turn their anti-Bush remarks into promotional material. Here's an excerpt:
In the comments of an earlier post, Prentiss suggested interested Austinites demonstrate at Clear Channel's regional office on South Congress, in reaction to their iron-fisted playlists and conservative politics.
godspeed you! suspected terrorists
International post-rock megastars Godspeed You! Black Emperor were detained at a gas station in rural Oklahoma last week. Suspecting the band were terrorists, station employees called the cops, who brought in the FBI to question the Canadian sensation. While some may see this as an opportunity to bash my home state, I'm sure there are rural places in Pennsylvania and Texas that would behave in similar way. Shoot, there are places in the Philadelphia suburbs that would call the FBI on the Kranky recording stars - just out of spite. I sadly missed them at the Texas Union, but I noticed Southeast PA is notably absent from their tour schedule.
March 22, 2003
soldado razo
Produced by some friends of mine, Luis Valdez' play Soldado Razo will be performed at UT-Austin's University Teaching Center Friday, April 11 at 7pm. Here is some information taken from the press release:
...
The event will also include DJ Toyacoyah, poetry readings, and a local high-school art exhibit. Tickets are $5 presale and $7 at the door-additional donations accepted and appreciated. Contact the Center for Mexican American Studies for presale tickets at (512) 471-4557, or Resistencia Bookstore, (512) 416-8885.
March 21, 2003
hard to be proud of america
Local paper Austin American-Statesman has 50 photos of yesterday's demonstrations in a slide show online. While the cops were complicit in our blocking the Drag yesterday afternoon, they later pepper-sprayed the crowd on the Congress Ave. bridge after I left last night.
March 20, 2003
a friendly reminder
This is not what democracy looks like. Fortunately Jon was able to participate in today's action on the Drag.
democracy is hard work
I've literally been protesting on my feet since noon today, so I'm pretty zonked. I posted an account of the UT-Austin protest today in the comments on Prentiss' site, so you can just read it there.
March 19, 2003
faded handwritten relic
It's heartening to see this Philadelphia Inquirer headline, "Missing Bill of Rights is found." After the efforts of John "Let the Eagles Soar" Ashcroft and John "Total Information Awareness" Poindexter, I thought the "faded, handwritten relic" was lost forever.
On a similar note, I've been following The Progressive magazine's McCarthyism Watch for a while now, and - unfortunately - editor Matthew Rothschild has had a bumper crop of repression to report on in the past few days.
unlimited power married to lifelong privilege
This afternoon I had the pleasure of meeting UT journalism professor Robert Jensen at a discussion on digital copyright he organized for the College of Communications. While we discussed the DCMA and file-sharing, I got the most out of Bob's discussion of his story "Confronting Our Fears So We Can Confront The Empire" which I read in the wee hours of the morning. He says that even his conservative Republican father in North Dakota is so freaked out about the war that his dad is in denial, claiming Bush the younger is simply bluffing. With 20,000 infantry members amassed at the Iraqi border, its too late to think that.
As I was walking to my bus stop after the meeting, a sweater on a construction worker caught my eye. The Mexican-American man was wearing a white sweater with the words "Jenks Trojans" knitted in maroon letters. Its strange enough to see people wearing OU stuff in Austin, so I was pretty surprised to see my high school represented on the UT-Austin campus. I imagine the man picked up at a thrift store.
itchy gringo
Prentiss has some amusing images of bumper stickers he has detourned. I've seen the cut-up Waterloo Records stickers a few times around town, and the late, lamented Sound Exchange had an R-Rated Titty Bingo remix on their counter, but he's opened up a whole new world of bumper sticker mutilation to me.
March 18, 2003
remembering more than the alamo
This is the first year I can remember when everyone wasn't talking about NCAA brackets once they came out. I guess that might have to do with the war on Iraq, but we can all use a little levity in times like these.
On this site, designer Adrian Holovaty offers a comparison critique of various interactive basketball brackets, finally offering his own as an example. On a similar note, NPR aired an interview with a high school math teacher who calculated the probability of a #16 seed beating a #1 seed in the first round. Although this has not happened since the tournament expanded to 64 teams, he says the chances are slightly better than 2% it will happen.
Finally, in what might be the kiss of death for my boys, The New York Times' Joe Drape predicts the Oklahoma Sooners will run the table and win the championship this year.
March 17, 2003
very regrettable accident
The Christian Science Monitor has an image of slain activist Rachel Corrie moments before an Israeli solider ran her down with a bulldozer. In the picture, it looks like she's not standing the path of the construction equipment cum death machine. Here's a Reuters photo from moments afterward. Finally, here's a shot of Corrie from last summer's Burning Man, which shows she was quite an attractive young woman. My heart goes out to her friends and family.
make salsa not war
I decided to make some salsa during Bush' speech tonight, and, perhaps appropriately, I made some good, weapons-grade salsa this evening. Its easy to make and totally delicious.
2 medium grapefruit
2 ripe habañero chiles
.5 red onion
3 medium garlic cloves
.5 teaspoon salt
Cut the rinds off the grapefruit, leaving as much pulp as you can intact. Add to blender with onion and blend at low speed. Be sure to cover the blender during this step or you will have a sticky, sloppy mess. Pull the stems off of the chiles and add to blender. Either crush the garlic into the blender jar with a press or peel and mince the garlic, then add to jar. Add salt, then set the blender to high speed and puree for a minute or two. Chill for a few hours, then enjoy.
March 16, 2003
a brightly colored jacket
Its nice to know that the largest recipient of US foreign aid puts our cash to good use. Today an Israeli soldier ran an American student over with a Bulldozer and then back right over her again killing her. Rachel Corrie, who attended Olympia's Evergreen State University was in was in Rafah to raise her voice against Israel's Apartheid-like treatment of the Palestinians. This comes on the heels of the death of a pregnant woman killed by the Israeli army as they blew up her house. While I don't condone killing civilians in suicide attacks, the Israeli army kills far more civilians in their incursions into the West Bank and Gaza than Hamas kills in its terrorist attacks.
its christmastime for basketball
Whoo-hoo! The Sooners have won the Big XII championship tournament for the third straight year. And they join Kentucky, Arizona, and UT-Austin as #1 seeds in the NCAA championship. I doubt any readers actually watch OU basketball, but these games where OU leads by twenty or more points, then ends in a nail-biter need to stop. That last loss to UT was really, really bad.
March 15, 2003
no reason to get hysterica
Top-selling country act Dixie Tits Chicks has come under fire from fans and the Nashville establishment after member Natalie Maines told a London crowd, "Just so you know, we're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas." Although I am not a native Texan, I can certainly echo that sentiment. In reaction, one Nashville station has stopped spinning the Austin-based band, and Maines later backpedaled and amended the remark, noting her frustration with US foreign policy.
Like others around the world, I joined an anti-war protest at the Texas Capitol and took plenty of pictures. I haven't had them processed yet, but there are pics from previous anti-war demonstrations in downtown Austin here and here.
Finally, cracker-rappers the Beastie Boys have released a protest song "In a World Gone Mad" online in mp3 format. While I appreciate the artists taking a stand, the song itself is kind of weak with lyrics like, "Don't get me wrong: I love America/But that's no reason to get hysterica." Yeah. A quote from Mike D on the site says, "It didn't make sense to us to wait until the entire record was finished to release this song." While I'm sure they wanted to be timely, I wonder if they're also trying to promote themselves during national discussion.
March 14, 2003
and you go back to Ohio
I'm listening to The Brian Jonestown Massacre play live on UT-Austin's KVRX. A song started, then halted after a few bars. I heard band leader Anton Newcombe heard on-air admonishing the band to play together.
After a member retorted, Anton said, "You go back to Missouri! And you go back to Ohio."
"You're not playing together! Come on now and be a band."
Years ago, I saw BJM play at Tip's Tavern, which was a basement if not an underground club in Norman. My neighbor Casey and I got to the show early and greeted the band in their van with a pint of cheap bourbon and a backpack full of beer. We quickly exhausted the beer, so we decided to get some more beer.
Inside the Sooner Superette, we scanned the cheap beer, and I suggested "Milwaukee's Best Light."
Dismayed by my taste in beer, Anton said, "Why don't we get regular - it doesn't look like anyone here needs to worry about their figure."
To this day, I'm still not sure full-flavor Beast was the ideal choice, but I fondly remember sitting in the driver's seat of the Brian Jonestown Massacre, shooting the breeze about art and music.
I think Anton is the only remaining member from that incarnation of the Brian Jonestown Massacre. I haven't listened to Bravery Repetition and Noise, but Their Satanic Majesties' Second Request is one of my favorite indie rock albums of all time.
the poets of my generation
I was flipping through the latest issue of Vice and an ad suddenly made me feel old. Priority Records has reissued classic records from NWA, Ice Cube, and Eazy-E, plus greatest-hits compilations.
March 13, 2003
lugnuts were laced with LSD
One of the many highlights of Monday's Lost Film Festival, was the filmstip-style short "Little Brother Gets Busted." It treats police brutality, mandatory minimums, and many more of the issues facing law enforcement today. (r)(tm)@rk has it online here in nearly every format imaginable. If you like satire - or just need a chuckle - check it out.
Other highlights of the evening included Timothy 'Speed' Levitch performing Weezer's "El Scorcho" and a clip from the Guerrilla News Network. I was also able to meet musician Ben Jacobs, aka Max Tundra, who performed at the AMODA showcase. I asked the Londoner if this was his first time in Texas. He said it was his first time in the States. After visiting Austin during SXSW week and catching a film festival at an anarchist collective, he saw quite a slice of this great nation of ours.
March 11, 2003
machine called "palangana"
Devoted m4dbl0g readers may remember my Zote vignette from a few months back. Both my neighbor and I were sort of mystified by the Mexican laundry soap, which had no directions in either English or Spanish.
Yesterday, a mysterious Mr. Zote added a comment to the entry, explaining the uses of Zote. I sent him an email thanking him for making him the premier English-language Zote resource online. He emailed me back to day, giving even more info:
Hi Chris!
I actually work at the factory where the Zote soap is manufactured. (www.lacorona.com.mx)
To understand the existance of this soap, we need to understand it origin. This soap was used in the past (no washing machines yet) in México, when people used to go to the river and wash their clothes. They simple rub the clothes on a rugged surface (like a rock), and hand wash the clothes. Then consumers started to use a machine called "palangana" that is like the Belly of a turtle (rugged) to wash in home. That´s why no instructions are needed (at least in Mexico) Nowadays, with more washing machines around this technique trends to desapear, but consumers are still finding a way to keep using the Zote soap. We are developing a new Liquid Zote (like a liquid detergent) that you can pour directly to the machine.
Since there are a lot of Mexicans in the USA (Texas), they are demanding this product and that´s the reason you can find it on the shelves in Wal-Mart and other stores.
It is funny, but there are some many alternate uses for this bar, like Mosquito repelent, hair treatment,fishing bite, fabric softener, YOU NAME IT!!
With a 36,000,000 million bars sold last year you can bet we´ll have Zote bar soap for a while.
If you need more information, I´ll be glad to help you!
EDUARDO RUEDA GONZALEZ
INTERNATIONAL SALES
FABRICA DE JABON LA CORONA
I know this seems banal, but I think this a demonstration of the power of the Internet. I posed a question on my site, asking for information that was unavailable in English, and a domain expert found my site and provided the relevant information. He even gave me a little bit of Mexican folklore to further my understanding of Zote's role in the culture. Thank you Mr. Zote!
krt special content
Editor and Publisher, a trade magazine for, well, Editors and Publishers, has a list of questions they wished reporters asked Bush at his "press conference" last week, instead of the softballs he fielded.
I'm surprised to see a business-oriented magazine be so critical of the administration, if not the press.
But what I found more interesting was the banner on the site that advertises canned art and reporting for outlets needing war-related content. Its a house ad for E&P's parent, which puts them in a position where they criticize soft reporting while making money selling stock reporting to media outlets.
broken lens or two
Granted I study media in grad school, but it seems like media - or media-creation devices - are playing a huge role in political action. This story about the NYPD's rough handling of photojournalists during the F15 rally suggests "Some cops viewed anyone with a camera as a target for verbal or physical aggression." I wonder if the plummeting costs of sophisticated digital cameras and increasing ease of desktop publishing has lead more activists to carry cameras to rallys. Certainly the Indymedia project has encouraged activists to publish their own accounts of political action. If both activists and ordained journalists are carrying cameras, maybe cops are scared of all media. Or maybe they're trying to supress the media.
At the Lost Film Fest tonight, we watched footage of demonstrators trampled by police horses, indiscriminately pepper-sprayed, and otherwise beaten at F15 in New York. If our troops are protecting our freedom, they should send them to New York, cause democracy's in danger there.
The troops might be at protests, but nurturing democracy seems to be the last thing on their mind. Here are some downright creepy pictures from F15 in DC where military personnel are shown using cameras. The caption refers to the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 which prohibits soldiers from engaging in civilian surveillance and other law enforcement. State-controlled National Guard units are excepted. DC's not a state, so there maybe different rules there. Regardless, this image of a soldier fighting with a camera reflect the importance of the role of media creation today.
from west philly to east austin
I've been using my spring break to do some artwork. I wish I found more time to be creative or whatever.
When I left Philly, I was trying to make my colors super-smooth, like on this one. On the ones from the weekend, I wondered if making it uneven would get me some depth.
I finished two other pieces, but they were too ugly to put online. Then again, we live in ugly times.
March 10, 2003
trump short-term adversity
While some observers suspect our president's motivation for the war on Iraq lies in wanting to correct mistakes in his father's adminstration, even George Herbert Walker Bush is questioning's W's judgement. In a talk at Tufts University - which is the only school I know of that offers a degree in Peace and Justice Studies - Bush the Elder said unilateral action in Iraq might be bad news. The London Times story says, "Mr Bush Sr even came close to conceding that opponents of his son's case against President Saddam Hussein, who he himself is on record as loathing, have legitimate cause for concern."
it's official
I am a Lee Hazlewood fan.
I heartily recommend the reissues on Smells Like Records, especially Cowboy in Sweden, which introduced me to Hazledom years ago.
March 07, 2003
legal in liberal areas
Here's some rare good news. A Federal Appeals court has said language in the Children's Online Protection Act is unconstitutional, since community standards cannot be applied to the diverse and far-flung audience of the Internet. The Third Circuit in Philly said the language requiring porn site operators to cordon kids off from porn was an undue burden. Too bad they couldn't get rid of the language establishing young kids as a legitimate market.
AMODA's 2nd Anniversary Showcase
As some readers know, I'm the type of dude who regularly listens to his vinyl copy of the Deliverance soundtrack, so a lot of this nefangled "electrica" music is lost on me. But lately I've been involved in a local cultural group, The Austin Museum Of Digital Art, so I've been exposing myself to digital music and its fans.
You might describe AMODA as a "conceptual" or "notional" museum, since they don't have a permanent exhibition space yet, but AMODA has been curating shows of digital music and visual art for two years and will be celebrating their 2nd anniversary with a showcase Tuesday night. Musical artists at the showcase include Stars as Eyes, Freeform, and Max Tundra, whose presence on the bill left Pitchfork practically salivating in cyberspace.
March 06, 2003
misused or disseminated
Oh great. On Sunday, hackers broke into a UT database and stole as many as 59,000 Social Securitynumbers. According to this Houston Chronicle story, UT did not plan to disclose this exploit, until the Austin American-Statesman came calling.
In other campus news, I participated in the die-in pictured in this AAS photo. Before collapsing on the main mall, I snapped a few pictures (which I haven't processed) and it was a fairly strange site to see 100 or so people sprawled out on the pavement. As I lay motionless, I suddenly feared that some frat-boy would come along and kick the crap out of me, but I quickly remembered there was hella media there, so it would worth being kicked just to make hawks - and frat boys - look bad.
commode-ify your discontent
A consistent strain I hear in lectures at UT is how capitalism allows anti-establishment messages to reach "the marketplace of ideas" if swag carrying these messages make money for businesses. The classic example of this phenomenon, of course, is major-label anarcho-rockers Rage Against the Machine. But here's an example of the capitalist system breaking down. A lawyer purchased a T-Shirt bearing the message "Give Peace a Chance" at a New York State mall, donned the T-Shirt, and was subsequently arrested for tresspassing for refusing to remove the shirt.
If your political leanings run toward killing brown babies, capitalism has you covered. The Village Voice reports you can celebrate the resurrection by buying Easter baskets that feature blonde plastic soldiers brandishing a "machine gun, rifle, hand grenade, large knife, pistol, and round of ammunition." One of the baskets sold at Walgreens feature "Super Wrriors," which I suspect is a capitalistic co-optation of the Riot Grrrl movement.
Finally, I wonder if "commode" is the root word for "commodity". Hmmm.
Updae (3/6):Speaking of commodes, New York-based site The Morning News has a photo-essay that features nothing but toilets in Austin. While I don't want to quibble with the photographer's creative vision, two of more notable bathrooms in Austin are excluded. At a recent blogger Meetup, I said, "I've seen subway stations with bathrooms cleaner than Mojo's." And the urinals in the ground floor of UT's Garrison Hall, are raised off the floor with a stone step thingy that gives you no indication of whether you should step up or stand back.
March 05, 2003
tweaked and modified
Good gravy, my pal Quentin's Blue Fish Companion party has hit the big time. The next party in August will feature a film festival with fairly substantial prizes. Here's the entry form for what I'm sure will be Norman, Oklahoma's hottest film festival. Its been years since I've been able to go to a Blue Fish Companion, but there's a slightly terrifying picture of me on this page.
blood from a turnip
Families of the Great White fire victims are filing wrongful death lawsuits against a number of actors in the tragedy. According to this AP wire story, families are suing "club owners Michael and Jeffrey Derderian, members of the band Great White, the band's management company Manic Music Inc., West Warwick Fire Inspector Denis Larocque and American Foam Corp., the company that sold the club highly flammable foam to use for soundproofing." Sounds like they're suing everyone imaginable - except the manufacturers of the fireworks. Why not the people who make the stuff that initially torched the place?
When I first read about this event, I initially thought of Philadelphia's Licensing and Inspections, the unit of the municipal government dedicated to inspecting buildings and enforcing codes. L&I was notoriously corrupt, approving nearly everything for a bribe, yet selectively enforcing code when they wanted to harrass activists. I wondered if this community had a similarly corrupt inspections office, considering Rhode Island is reknown as one of the last strongholds of organized crime in the US. If this the case, I think the blame lies with a community too corrupt or apathetic to clean up their local government.
March 03, 2003
low output moving coil
I am not an audiophile. My motivation for listening to vinyl is part romantic and part pragmatic. Vinyl's tactility and, in some cases, surface noise lend it an aura that makes me feel like I'm toying with artifacts from an ancient era. On the pragmatic side, I can check out a lot of classic music cheaply by buying used vinyl rather than CDs. Just today, I picked up an OK copy of The Songs of Leonard Cohen for $2.98 plus tax.
Its probably not surprising, then, that I have cheap stereo gear. I bought my amp for $50 at a pawn shop and spent less than $100 on my turntable. With this in mind, I was a little mystified by this article, "Dude, Where's My Cartridge?" that describes the ins-and-outs of phonograph cartridges. I think my favorite sentence from the story is, "By the time you reach such cartridges as the $750 Dynavector 17D2 mk.II or the $800 Clearaudio Virtuoso Wood, you're dealing with someone's careful and educated ideas about cartridge design." I should hope so.
gnu's not interesting
I just went to a talk by Free Software Foundation founder Richard Stallman at UT. While I tend to agree with Stallman's ideas about sharing information for the greater good of society, his inflexibility about his ideals lead me at times to label him a "wacko" or a "zealot."
I briefly ran an email newsletter about Linux in large organizations that was an off-shoot of the already-defunct Enterprise Linux magazine. When Microsoft published its .NET specification to the ECMA, FSF announced it would launch the "Dot-GNU" project for an interoperable runtime in Free Software. I called FSF for an interview for a story, and basically got a tongue-lashing from their PR guy, giving me static about how my publication should be called, Enterprise GNU/Linux, rather than Enterprise Linux. I explained that I didn't name the book, and the distinction would be lost on my editor. Brad explained that he wouldn't find me a spokesperson unless I used their nomenclature, which, at the time, seemed very disrespectful to me in my role as a writer/editor. Its surprised me a little that they would rather quibble over nomenclature than publicize their project, but that they the choice they made.
I was looking forward to today's talk, but Stallman, basically rehashed stuff I've heard over and over again: the social good of Free Software, the evils of proprietary software, and the difference between Free Software and open source software. After he spent a good 20-25 ninutes bitching about people who say just "Linux" and not "GNU/Linux," I decided that Stallman was not going to cover any new ground and was wasting my time. Stallman did have an interesting example at one point, but it was so drowned out in the irritating, repetitive stuff that I forgot what it was.
March 01, 2003
certain damage
This piece from The East Bay Express reveals how CMJ (or College Music Journal) has been accused of substituting its money-making comp CDs for little-known artists on its college radio charts. CMJ was once considered an exponent of both college radio and indie production/distribution, but has evolved into a marketing tool for record labels. The story suggests its practices are beginning to conflict directly with the ideals of college radio.
My commuter pal Challey was a DJ at Drexel University's WKDU Her tastes and show ran toward indie noise-pop and psych-pop, but most WKDU DJs played hardcore, so CMJ classified the station as a hardcore station in its publication, discouraging labels from sending more melodic music to the station.
Challey makes sure Philly never stops rockin'.
I found this story, through Edith Frost's blog, who is used as an example in the refiling instructions at UT-Austin's KVRX. I visited the KVRX studios last night during the InDigoM show. The DJ Trey was nice enough to let me go on air, and say "Support Our Troops: Stop the War! w00t!" He later suggested I get a show on the station, which sounds intriguing. What do you m4dbl0g readers think? Should I pollute Austin's airwaves at 3am with my peculiar taste in music?
fractured and incoherent
The phrase "under God," is still unconstitutional in "The Pledge of Allegiance," according to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals who let stand the earlier ruling against the religious language. Having grown up praying at football games and other school events, I'm always pleased happy to see right-wingers stymied in their attempts to hijack public schools for their own agendas.
The original ruling came out this summer, while I was still working among the bigots at Boucher Communications. One woman working there was pretty disgusted when the news came out, and I asked, "That's a good thing, right? What's wrong with taking religion out?"
"But that's what our country was founded on!"
I was all, "Yeah, well, our country was founded on slavery, too, but that doesn't mean we keep it around."
bold citrus sweet taste
Yesterday, I was getting groceries at Sun Harvest, White Folks' Wild Oats' low-rent Texas chain. Behind me in the checkout line was a young woman who was buying only a box of cucumber-avocado facial bisque or whatever, but suddenly saw Mojo Bars were on sale and grabbed a half-dozen. Afraid that she might be in for an unwelcome - and expensive - surprise, I asked, "Oh, have you tried those Mojo bars?"
Her eyes lit up as she said, "Yeah! Have you?"
"Um, yeah, they're, um, different."
"Oh yeah, they're so good."
"If you say so," I thought to myself.
One of the things I picked up at Sun Harvest was a box of SPORTea(r), which Tulsa's late, lamented Gold Coast Coffee Roasters used to serve. Remembering its refreshing citrus-y flavor, I thought it might be a tasty alternative to coffee. (I'm drinking way too much coffee these days.) After my third cup o' java today, I decided I should bust out the SPORTea(r). I was surprised to find the tea wrapped in a brown zip bag, which reminded me of the plastic photographic paper is wrapped in, so I assumed it was to keep out sunlight and keep the tea fresh. The box says its "a special amber colored, resealable SUPER-FRESH(tm) bag," which is "designed to keep the delicate botanicals and Vitamin C stable and fresh." I suppose brown beer bottles are a better analogy to the SUPER-FRESH(tm), but, nonetheless, the folks at SPORTea(r) are serious about freshness.
recent entries
about infobong.com
archives
topics