infobong.com

questions of volume and locale

I've been meaning to post this Pitchfork feature, "Castoffs and Cutouts: The Top 50 Most Common Used CDs" for some time now, but I just haven't had the inspiration to blog much these days. The feature is enjoyable and informative, and I got a little bit of gratification of guessing the #1 most common used CD. Check it out, and you may get some good tunes on the cheap.

Today, Pitchfork has one of the funniest news items I've read in along time. This story relates how bubblegrunge producer Butch Vig suffered $50,000 in damage after a runaway backhoe collided with his recording studio. Although its not quite as tragic as the losses Sonic Youth suffered when their studio and gear were destroyed in the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks, the story notes Garbage's next album may be delayed as a result of the incident.

Finally, as the proprietor of infobong.com, I would be remiss in not pointing readers to this story about an Australian schoolgirl who, as a show-and-tell presentation, demonstrated how to build a bong out of a coke bottle.

altamont of bad vibes

Tonight I fired up my truck, and I was pleasantly surprised to hear The Warlocks' "Shake the Dope Out" broadcast on KROX, Austin's "New Rock Alternative." As the song played, I wondered why the corporate station would be playing a relatively obscure indie band. The record's been out for a year, I thought, maybe the label's making a push for commercial airplay. The song ended, and DJ Andy Langer announced he was hosting "The Next Big Thing," a show dedicated to playing the newest and hottest artists in alternative music. After some patter, he played "Soldier Girl" off The Beginning Stages of The Polyphonic Spree," an even older record.

I know KROX is not unique in describing their format as "New Rock Alternative," but whenever I hear "Rock Alternative," I think of "Pasteurized Processed Cheese Food," as if federal labeling requirements prevent KROX from calling the commercial music they ply as genuine "Rock." Of course if there were media labeling laws, Fox News would certainly have to drop the "News" from their name.

wear into a counterbranding

This may be old news to readers, but I just ran across Adbusters' Black Spot Sneaker project, which attempts to mass produce sneakers in a unionized factory in South Korea. The project simultaneously supports social justice and attacks the image-laden marketing campaigns of Nike and other shoe vendors.

The catch is Adbusters needs 5,000 people to pre-order a pair at $60 before they can place an order. Right now they have 1,074 pre-orders, so its your job, dear reader, to place an order and recruit 3,925 of your closest friends to place an order too. I'm going to place one soon, so you're already down to 3,924.

the whole fruit basket

Congrats to austinbloggers.org for winning The Austin Chronicle's coveted "Best Local Weblog" award. Looking at other localized blogs, it seems to be a singular project.

In the same feature, the paper deems Mojo's Daily Grind the "best place to scope sexy TAs." I find this a little flattering, since I spend a fair amount of time working at that coffeeshop, but I suppose it flawed logic to assume that since I'm a TA and I hang out at the "best place to scope sexy TAs," that I am a sexy TA. This designation strikes me as a little strange, because I go to Mojo's to since I'm less likely to run into other grad students there than at their competition down the street, Little City. Little City seems to be where the other RTF grad students congregate, but maybe this is peculiar to my department.

terrible visual hiccoughs

The Museum of Modern Art is working to redesign its "MoMA" logo to make it easier to print with desktop publishing application, The New York Times reports. The redesign has not been welcomed by all; typography geeks have declared the new logo - which uses the exact same font - as "soulless" and downright "hideous."

epileptic since my

I haven't blogged much since I was working at Dell this summer. I thought I would get back in the habit once school started, but it hasn't worked out that way. (I feel way too busy.) My old pal Jordan has started up a blog at twitchgamer.net, and hopefull it will inspire me to post more here.

conducted in the future tense

Here's a story from The Chronicle of Higher Education that describes a new research center in my hometown, The Tulsa Center for Gay and Lesbian History. Although I'm not gay, Tulsa seems to have a fairly visible gay community (Compared to Austin or OKC, rather than, say, New York or San Francisco.) So I'm inclined to think the story's lead engages in a little hixploitation, overstating intolerant attitudes for rhetorical effect. Regardless, this seems to be a positive development both for Tulsa and for queer studies. I'm sure there are plenty of scholars and activists outside T-Town interested in queer life outside the cultural hubs.

miss your bread

Oh, wow. The Pixies are getting back together for a reunion tour.

I'm getting wistful for the day in eighth grade when I first saw the video for "Here Come Your Man." Or riding around the brown Fairmont, while Casey played "Crackity Jones" on that yellow mono Sony Sports boombox. Or putting "Cactus" on a mix-tape for my Internet girlfriend in Oregon. Sniff. The Pixies were the music of my youth. I hope they come to Austin.

exist completely separate

Philadelphia City Paper has a story this week on Magnet magazine's tenth anniversary, which it is celebrating this week. Although I've heard a few people in the RTF department slag Magnet, I think its the best music magazine in the US. Yeah, its not The Wire, and they tend to gloss over electronica and other non-indie rock genres, but its reviews are largley reliable and they do a good job of explaining phenomena like "Power Pop" that might elude people from my background. I was a little surprised thatt Magnet was based in Philly when I moved there from Norman, since it didn't seem to have much of an indie community.

twee to be you and me

The New York Times Fashion section has a story on "rejuveniles," adults with a penchant for culture aimed at children. Citing trends like fashionable sneakers, the widespread Hello Kitty Fetish, and bubblegum music, the story suggests a new trend in infantile lifestyles is emerging. This doesn't strike me as news: I think of the pacifiers and glow-sticks sported at raves a decade ago, or the rise of twee-pop among indie rockers a few years back. I thought, perhaps, that these tastes may have been sufficiently underground to escape the Gray Lady's notice, but I then thought of the 70's rerun craze documented in Reality Bites, and decided this is not news.

Its an interesting read, nonetheless. I went home to Oklahoma the week before last, and my mom inquired about the "Birdhouse" folder I was using, and it explained that its a skateboard company owned by Tony Hawk, who the article name checks. I've participated in other aspects of rejuvenalia cited in the story. I ride my bicycle as transportation nearly every day; when I hung out in Norman last weekend, I played a game of kickball with an adult-proportioned rubber ball; and, of course, I'm addicted to my threadbare pair of Puma sneakers.