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Friday, July 18, 2003
Corollary: Signs of the Times As previously mentioned in Media Diet, the security guard at 601 Montgomery St. in San Francisco is a bit of a wordsmith. Here is an article that a friend wrote about him. It's an amazing story. Did you hear the one about the croissant? The story was submitted to the San Francisco Chronicle but declined. Silly, silly Chronic. Herb Caen would've been all over this. Geocache Me If You Can III Oddly, my Geko stopped working. I let the batteries run out and left the device in my bag for several days. Even when I tried several sets of new batteries, the on button wouldn't respond, and I couldn't the device to work. So I contacted Garmin, and they requested that I send it in for repair under warranty. Even though I can't use my Geko to determine where it is, I can use FedEx to track its location. And FedEx says that it arrived at Garmin in Kansas this morning. I should get it back in 7-10 days. Corollary: Virtual Book Tour XII Inkblots' conclusion to the Virtual Book Tour is an excerpt of the first 1,000 words of the book. Huh. The tour ends where the book begins. Well, it's been a good run, I guess. I may share some of the feedback I plan to offer Kevin in the future -- perhaps mapping out my own design for a virtual book tour. Event-O-Dex LXVIII Friday and Saturday, July 18-19: The Somerville Arts Council's ArtBeat takes place on Davis Square in Somerville. Some friends organized the Pajama Soul Dance Party on Saturday night, and I'll be volunteering at the Somerville Comics Collaborative table, where we plan to once again help the entire city draw a comic. These Links Were Made for Breaking? XI Thanks to our country's current administration, here's to a less responsive -- and responsible, it seems -- government. So much for a representative democracy, much less participatory government and serving the American citizenry. You can no longer email the White House. You have to follow a multi-page process, assigning various qualifiers to your communication before it can be sent. Those qualifiers include indicating whether you're for or against a policy. Guess which messages will actually be read? Attempting to access the White House's new "user-friendly" Web mail form just now, it timed out while attempting to connect. I'm sure it's struggling because people are sending in letters of concern and complaint today, but wow. Way to make it harder to access our "elected" leaders. Boo? Meet Hiss. Thanks to Slashdot. Sites for Sore Eyes II Looks like Media Diet has a little friendly competition! The Haas Culture Review is a Web zine featuring bar, book, movie, record, and restaurant reviews. Meghan Haas' writing is relatively brief and balances fangirl giddiness with clever commentary. But the neatest thing is that occasionally, she reviews something when she's only seen the trailer, hasn't seen the movie at all, and is halfway through a book. Funny stuff. Some samples: I really really want to see this movie…I've seen the previews where Jon Cusack is all wet from being in the rain and he looks really concerned and scared and I could watch that preview over and over again…but I'd rather actually see the whole movie. The material currently available is labeled Vol. 1, No. 1, and I'm not sure how frequently Meghan will update this, but it's good, good stuff. Virtual Book Tour XII Mary Roach, author of Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers -- and the Virtual Book Tour -- have moved on to their tenth and final stop. At some point today, Roach will be featured in the July 18 edition of Geoffrey Long's Web magazine Inkblots. I'm not sure when, where, or how, but given that the upcoming edition will also feature work by Kevin Smokler, Ben Brown, Derek Powazek, and Heather Champ, it's sure to be a doozy. Thursday, July 17, 2003
Markets, Flash Mobs, and Mayhem I adore the idea of flash mobs, well-coordinated, inexplicable sudden critical masses of people participating in a shared activity for 10 minutes and then gracefully dispersing. What a beautiful, beautiful concept. Makes the city dance. So imagine my delight that the project has come to Boston. Yes, oh, yes, it has. From the In Box: Rock Shows of Note LXVIII Via the Boss Improv mailing list, more news about the Berwick Research Institute: ISD Inspires New Era for Non-Profit Art Space in Boston Kudos to the Berwick staff for downplaying dissing Boston's lack of arts friendliness in lieu of highlighting the institute's contributions to the local arts and business community. That's a good strategy to seek support! Read But Dead XV Just received this via email from a Media Dietician: One of my favorite magazines, Bitch: Feminist Response to Pop Culture, is about to go the way of many other feminist outlets recently (Sojourner, New Words) and succumb to a struggling budget... but you could save it. Thanks to Media Dietician Sady Sullivan for bringing this to my attention. Bitch is an amazing read that combines straight-up media studies-style critique and analysis with a healthy, forthright feminist bent. Think Bust plus Stay Free. If Bitch folds, the media world is the lesser for it. And the staff does good work, so supprt their efforts and spread the word! Bait? Meet Switch. This email, received today, cracks me up: Dear Evite-On-The-Go Users, I laughed out loud because of the misleading marketing speak in the opening sentence. That line, in effect, says, "We are no longer offering a used service, and somehow, taking it away makes Evite better." Ceasing the support of wireless services neither improves Evite's tool set nor increases the range of services they offer. It takes something away from customers. Something customers might use and appreciate. That said, I also laughed at the closing sentence, which pairs the recognition that they're taking a service away from users -- while reminding them that it is, in fact, free, so what are you complaining about? Fair enough. I don't pay to use Evite, so you can scale it back all you want. Maybe you could remove the occasionally pesky @'s from your Evite URL's. But this is particularly interesting because it strikes me that wireless services are on the rise writ large, not on the wane. And isn't Evite a possible tool to support moblogging and on-the-street mobilization of people using wireless devices for ad hoc events and gatherings? How can the company not see that potential? Whatever. It's their free service. Virtual Book Tour XI Even Doc Searls is cracking wise about the dead. His idea is certainly an intriguing use for the dearly departed. Everything's Coming Out, Rosie III This is interesting. Even though Rosie O'Donnell and former publisher of Rosie magazine Gruner + Jahr USA filed motions to dismiss their lawsuits against each other, a judge has denied them, pushing the two parties into a court trial. What part of "We don't want to sue each other," did the judge miss? It's fascinating -- and sad -- that the legal system can force people into court cases. Thanks to I Want Media. Read But Dead XIV The Oxford American is folding again. This is the second time they've had to shut up shop, doing so previously just more than a year ago. This time, relatively new investor At Home Media Group says that advertising revenue isn't meeting expectations. Huh? You buy a magazine that folded because of low ad revenue, and then you're surprised when a year later, ad revenue is low? Go figure. More coverage available in Media Life. Thanks to I Want Media. Rock Shows of Note LXX Met Geraldine for dinner at the Middle East last night so we could go see the Kills play downstairs. They're Geraldine's sister Meghan's favorite band of the moment, and word was they put on a stellar live show. They do. But first, we caught the end of a set by the Horrors, an intense three piece that specializes in sludgy, blues-tinged swamp garage rock. Or something. Sometimes, the wall of guitar sound would get so dense, my ears would trick me into hearing trumpets or some sort of keyboards. Maybe the guitarist was using some effects. Relatively run of the mill, their sound was still fun, and I'm glad we caught a little of their performance. Then the Kills! They were amazing. A two piece featuring dual guitarists and electronic drum tracks, their sound reminded me a little of PJ Harvey by way of Mecca Normal or Lois. Extremely distraught, intense singing by the woman. Such presence and danger. Her stringy black hair obscured her face, her skinny frame convulsed and enveloped the microphone stand. Her bandmate was also wonderful, playing sludgy groove-oriented swamp rock accompanied by occasional herky-jerk contortions of his body and sharp guitar stabs. Their interplay was interesting. He was relatively confrontational -- to the audience as well as his bandmate. And when they focused on each other while playing, the intensity increased immensely. An extremely moving, visceral experience. Wonder how it translates to record? Lastly, the Dirtbombs. With a go-go band-like gimmick (They dub themselves a "dance combo.") of having two bassists (one a diminuitive Asian woman) and two trap set players, the band had straight-ahead R&B-meets-garage rock energy. Yet they were a little too clean for me, falling somewhere between the Estrus roster and the Get Hip back catalog. Perhaps it was the lead singer's vocals -- or the frat party nature of their playlist and songwriting style. We left before the end of their set. Interesting bits of tour trivia: The Kills' road manager Dave was in a band with Geraldine's sister Meghan. It was fun to meet him -- good luck with your new job! And while the Dirtbombs were playing downstairs, the High Strung was playing upstairs with Squirtgun and a band featuring members of Screeching Weasel. Just the night before, the Dirtbombs and the High Strung played a show together at the Bug Jar in Rochester, New York. Small world, and intersecting tour schedules! Virtual Book Tour XI Mary Roach, author of Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers -- and the Virtual Book Tour -- have moved on to their ninth stop. In his blog Crabwalk, Joshua Benton interviews Roach about the writing process behind Stiff: the book proposal process, the book's inspiration by her Salon column, her pacing and use of the first person, and other books similar to hers. It's an in-depth conversation that reads as witty as Roach writes. Good to see Virtual Book Tour participants increasing the amount of content they offer during their stops! Roach's post to Jason Kottke's Undesign yesterday sparked a lively conversation among readers. And Erik Benson's interview with Roach is also well worth reading. It's interesting how participants' questions overlapped -- or didn't. Once you've done one interview, you've done them all, I suppose. Wednesday, July 16, 2003
Blogging About Blogging LXIV I'm going to take the day off from Media Diet today. You can continue to follow Mary Roach and the Virtual Book tour at Jason Kottke's Undesign. Or see what I cared about a year ago. Tuesday, July 15, 2003
Rock Shows of Note LXIX Last night, after watching "Murder at Harvard" on television, I felt a little bored and antsy. It wasn't too late yet and I wasn't really tired enough for bed yet, so I decided to go to the Middle East to check out some new bands. Usually, when I go to shows, I know at least one of the groups performing. Not last night. I decided to go to a show not having ever heard -- or heard of -- any of the bands playing. And you know what? It was fun, and I think people should do it more often. I arrived a couple of songs before the end of Elad Love Affair's set. They play rather intense, dark rock featuring dense guitar washes and a female singer, Nola, who can really belt out the vocals. Songs such as "On Wifeburning" include some nice angular guitar stabs, as well, but given the neo-gothic nature of their lyrics, this really isn't my cup my cup of tea. Regardless, the band played well, and Nola was a kick to watch. Next up, the Call Up. This band struck me as your typical suburban punk rock band. High school kids weaned on records from Epitaph and Fat. It was energetic enough, and they were having fun enough, but nothing really stood out beyond the singer's shouted vocals and the guitarist sitting in because the band's original guitarist had broken his arm. He joined them on stage to sing a Jawbreaker cover. Oh, the bassist was really skinny and jumped around a lot, too. Fun, but forgetable. Lastly, the Broken Word. I only stuck around for a little of their set because I was feeling like I shouldn't stay out too late on a school night. And, similar to the Call up before them, they didn't leave much of an impression. Regardless, like Moose Taverns of the Weekly Dig, I'm now a fan of Monday night shows. It's a good start to the week, they're usually less crowded, and you can absorb some interesting music -- even if you know nothing about the bands playing. Go see a band you've never heard of soon, Media Dieticians. Virtual Book Tour X Mary Roach, author of Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers -- and the Virtual Book Tour -- have moved on to their seventh stop. Later today, Erik Benson will publish an interview with Mary. He also reports that there will be some new material available in All Consuming, as well. I'll continue to follow the tour as it progresses. Monday, July 14, 2003
Pranks People Play In a disturbing bit of synchronicity, the fine minds behind Reason magazine and the Boston Herald report on a couple of innocent pranks gone awry. July 8, the Herald included a short piece on a parade goer in Dixon, Illinois, who was arrested, charged with felony aggravated battery, and charged $25,000 bail -- for throwing a water balloon at an antique fire truck during the Dixon Petunia Festival parade. His crime? U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert -- third in line to the presidency of the United States -- was behind the wheel. Hastert got wet but was not injured. Now, the fun-loving "felon" didn't know Hastert was driving the truck. Don't you think the speaker could have been a little more understanding given that it was a holiday weekend? This is not the kind of man I want to be my president. Meanwhile, in Florida, a 12-year-old boy was -- as reported by Reason -- cuffed and hauled off to jail by police after stomping in a puddle to splash classmates and school officials. The boy was charged with misdemeanor disruption of school activities. Remember: It's all fun and games until somebody gets a little wet. Music to My Ears XL I am listening to some of the more fascinating sounds I've ever heard. Further afield than John Oswald's Plunderphonics and mash ups, the "songs" created by Jason Freeman's Network Auralization for Gnutella application are a shadowy snapshot of the sounds between songs. What we'd hear in the narrow spaces between parallel planes of existence. The songs that shadows and static sing. N.A.G. (Network Auralization for Gnutella) is interactive software art for Mac OS X and Windows 2000/XP which turns the process of searching for and downloading MP3 files into a chaotic musical collage. Type in one or more search keywords, and N.A.G. looks for matches on the Gnutella peer-to-peer file sharing network. The software then downloads MP3 files which match the search keyword(s) and remixes these audio files in real time based on the structure of the Gnutella network itself. The New York Times quotes Freeman as describing the program as an instrument that plays the Internet. Wow. My ears are bleeding. Corollary: Event-O-Dex XXII The Globe today also keys in to the Illegal Art exhibit curated by Stay Free! publisher Carrie McLaren. Media Dieticians, you read it here first. Corollary: Factsheet Life II The Boston Globe gets hip to Found Magazine. Media Dieticians, you read it here first. Event-O-Dex LXVII Friday, July 18: Sinkcharmer works its musical magic with Elephant Micah and Static Films at the Zeitgeist Gallery in Cambridge. Conferences and Community VIII Dave Winer just added me to the invitation list for BloggerCon 2003, scheduled for early October at the Harvard Law School. That is, oh, so long away, but I'm already excited about going. Virtual Book Tour IX British poet laureate Andrew Motion has written a handbook about writing eulogies. Responsible for writing the funeral speeches when a member of the royal family dies, Motion collaborated with Co-operative Funeralcare to develop the book, which is titled Well Chosen Words. So far, 100,000 free copies of the guide have been distributed. Thanks to Bookslut. Virtual Book Tour VIII Mary Roach, author of Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers -- and the Virtual Book Tour -- have moved on to their sixth stop. In his site Consolation Champs, Toronto-based blogger James McNally remarks on the black humor and scatology that I've referred to previously, cites Six Feet Under, and offers a brief excerpt. I'll continue to follow the tour as it progresses. Rock Shows of Note LXVIII Last night, Jef, Mac, Dave, and I met up at the Middle East to hang out and soak of the sounds spun by our friend TD, who's been DJ'ing most Sunday nights lately. It was a quiet evening, with very few people in the restaurant, and TD's set impressed me as quite different than the other sets he's played. Lots of international music, some long-playing funk, and an ample selection of dance music. One Blondie 45 was so warped that it sounded like a dub remix. Fun! Not so fun was the fate of two local shows this past weekend. First, a Friday night show at the Berwick Research Institute was shut down by police. According to the institute's online calendar: The Berwick is temporarily closed this week due to a visit from the City’s Inspectional Services. We are working with the City to put in place the proper licensing so we can continue to bring you quality programming. In the coming weeks, we need your support to make this process go as smoothly as possible. If you can help with legal council, relocation of events, or monetary assistance, please contact us! We are confident that with support and resources we will be up and running in no time. Then, Saturday night, a show at the Oni Gallery was interrupted by police. During the first couple of songs performed by Laughing Light, which I'm told were primarily a cappella vocal noise -- read: screaming -- plain-clothes police officers in Chinatown were concerned that someone was being attacked. Word is that the windows had been left open and that much of the sound was making it to the street. What police found on the fifth floor was a musical performance. They warned the organizers about charging admission and closed down the show, which was shut down just as I called Jef to see if Plunge into Death had played yet. They hadn't, but it was unclear what would happen next, so I stayed home. Turns out that Travers performed his video piece without a microphone, and then the show relocated to the Choppin' Block so the Japanese band Peelander Z could play. Word is that their set was amazing, involving hand-drawn signs, costumes, and loads of audience performance. You can access a video online. Plunge into Death did not play. Is this the start of a Boston-wide police crackdown on musical performances? In Cambridge, the Zeitgeist Gallery has had its own troubles in the past because of not having the appropriate permits -- and instead of charging admission at the door, soliciting "donations." Perhaps we'll see a similar stifling of independent music venues in Boston? I hope not. Sunday, July 13, 2003
The Free-Range Comic Book Project XXX This is an installment of Media Diet's Free-Range Comic Book Project: The Dirty Pair: Run from the Future #4 (Dark Horse, April 2000). Writer and artist: Adam Warren. Location: On the floor outside the Million Year Picnic. For more information on this project, please refer to this Media Diet entry. |
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