March 02, 2005
Movin' On Up
This is a public service announcement.
I am moving this weekend, so don't expect to hear much from me for a little while. I have much packing to do, a fridge to buy, and lots of furniture to move and otherwise deal with.
I shall return in the near future with many exciting tales of my new house. And its Jacuzzi.
Posted in General Nonsense | 2 March 2005 at 02:14 PM | Comments (0) | | Link
October 15, 2004
It Doesn't Sound Like Samhain
What is this bullshit? I redo the whole site in honor of the best holiday, and not one person can comment on it.
Apparently, opinions are drying up in blogland.
Posted in General Nonsense | 15 October 2004 at 12:22 PM | Comments (0) | | Link
August 06, 2004
Superfreaky No More
All the years of hard living, life finally caught up with Rick James. From CNN.com: "Singer Rick James was found dead in his home Friday by his caretaker, a Los Angeles police department spokesman said."
Update: CNN.com now has the full story. The cause of death has been attributed to "existing medical conditions," but one of James' producers said it was a heart attack.
Earlier this week, Mr James was preceeded into the afterlife by reknowned photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson.
This really isn't a blog about death, but following up on that stupid case where the victim's parents blamed the videogame "Manhunt" for their son's murder, it has been revealed that the game belonged not to the accused, but to the deceased.
Posted in General Nonsense | 6 August 2004 at 12:40 PM | Comments (0) | | Link
June 21, 2004
Bungalow Envy
Architects I would cut off an appendage for if they would design a house for me (death not withstanding); or, how I know Frank Gehry is a no-talent hack:
01. Charles & Henry Greene
02. Richard Neutra
03. Samuel Mockbee
04. Frank Lloyd Wright
05. A. Quincy Jones
06. R.M. Schindler
07. Charles Rennie Mackintosh
08. Pierre Koenig
Posted in General Nonsense | 21 June 2004 at 05:49 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Link
June 11, 2004
Have a Drink on Me
Finally, the riddle of who to vote for is solved!
I doubt the movie would be as funny as the skit, but anything that gives us more Dave Chappelle moments like "I'm Rick James, bitch!" can't be all bad.
The David Levine Gallery is responsible for all of the caricatures featured in the New York Review of Books for the past 40 years, and the gallery has been made available online. There are a few pieces of genius in there, including Picasso as a bull.
Posted in General Nonsense | 11 June 2004 at 03:16 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (27) | Link
June 10, 2004
Social Butterflies
Next week certainly looks busy:
ANDY CRUZ OF HOUSE INDUSTRIES @ MOCA
Wednesday, June 16, 2004 | 7:30PM
AIGA LA is pleased to have Andy Cruz of House Industries speaking at the MOCA on June 16. He will be talking about the challenges and triumphs his company has had and how they broke into such a wide variety of creative endeavors.
Register at aigalosangeles.org/house.
TIKI 'TIL DAWN PARTY @ LACMA
Thursday, June 17—Friday, June 18 | 7PM—7AM
Show up for free entry to the two current exhibits: "Beyond Geometry: Experiments in Form 1940s—1970s" and "Inventing Race: Casta Paintings and 18th Century Mexico," plus bar and BBQ. Oh, and Robbie Conal is going to be there.
Posted in General Nonsense | 10 June 2004 at 06:38 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (1) | Link
June 09, 2004
Be My Decline and Fall
Correction: Clear Channel has not, as previously reported, acquired the patent for DiscLive. It appears that they purchased a patent from a lawyer in Texas, though it is unclear whether the technology has even been tested. According to Immediatek, the company which controls DiscLive, "the patent acquired by Clear Channel does not give it exclusive rights to the business of creating recordings of live performance" as CC has claimed.
You've probably already heard that Morrissey—in his own sweet, charming way—declared on stage that he wished Dubya had died instead of Reagan. Not that I dispute the source of the sentiment, but wishing the President dead is just a bad idea unless you really like guys in black suits crawling up your ass. Then again, with Moz you never know.
Pop goodness now available, courtesy of AC Newman. Clips on his website, two full songs available at the Matador website.
Link of the day: Look, they're making the same face! {Via Anonymous Outsider}
Posted in General Nonsense | 9 June 2004 at 02:20 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Link
May 29, 2004
Drinking Longest, When All Booze Is Gone
For the record, imbibing five shots of vodka within an hour while watching all five (yes, five) hours of Pride & Prejudice isn't nearly as fun as it sounds. Sure, you get to see Colin Firth soaking wet, but that happened in Love, Actually too and nothing could save that pile of crap. Not that the particulars matter—since between the two of us, my roommate and I own the entire collection—but as far as Jane Austen adaptations go, at present I'm all about Persuasion.
Viva la vodka! I'm going to bed.
Posted in General Nonsense | 29 May 2004 at 01:35 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (208) | Link
May 26, 2004
Take One for the Team
There seems to be a sore lack of contention going on around here of late. I know that there is no dearth of opinions floating in the ether (at least among the readers known to me personally), but there is a curious lack of reaction being displayed.
Perhaps I'm going to have to get more forceful and overblown in my writing to force it out of you. I can be hyperbolic and hysterical if I have to.
Posted in General Nonsense | 26 May 2004 at 06:37 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (42) | Link
Run, Rabbit, Run
Upcoming film of potential interest to any horror fans visiting today: Home Sick, starring Bill Moseley (Otis of House of 1000 Corpses fame). He's still creepy in a plaid sportcoat, so hopefully this will turn out to be as enjoyable as House was.
In news with no relation to horror films, there is some new information on the SCO Group's lawsuits over ownership of Linux. Linus Torvalds, creator of Linux, has proposed a new documentation system that will counter any future efforts to dispute the legitimacy of the Linux kernel. This will primarily effect future code that is added, as Torvalds pointed out that he authored much of the code in dispute and what he hadn't authored had been documented for the most part by the other developers.
Posted in General Nonsense | 26 May 2004 at 03:40 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (17) | Link
May 19, 2004
Amusements
The lineup for the LA Film Festival has been announced. Last year they had some really great events—including the sneak preview of (the amazing) 28 Days Later. Unfortunately I didn't do my research and hadn't made arrangements to see some of the other films being shown, including a showing of The Cabinet of Dr Caligari with live orchestra accompaniment. Damn!
But this year...oh, this year there is so much to see I don't know where to begin. Here are some features that look promising (in order of my desire to see them, not my ability to afford the tickets):
GALAS
Garden State
Directed by: Zach Braff
Thursday, June 17, 7:30 p.m.
Zach Braff, star of the TV comedy “Scrubs,” writes, directs, and stars in Garden State, a coming-of-age story that is alternately funny, moving, and sweetly romantic. With Natalie Portman and Peter Sarsgaard.
DOCUMENTARY
Tarnation
Directed by: Jonathan Caouette
Screening TBA
SPECIAL SCREENINGS
Dig!
Directed by: Ondi Timoner
Friday, June 25, 9:45 p.m.
Seven years in the making, this portrait of two rock bands — the Dandy Warhols and the Brian Jonestown Massacre — offers up a heady brew of mad musical geniuses, triumphant world tours, disingenuous death threats, disastrous gigs, and elusive record contracts.
DARK WAVE
Ju-on: The Grudge
Directed by: Shimizu Takashi
Thursday, June 24, 9:45 p.m.
In a quiet Tokyo neighborhood, there lies a house that may be the most terrifying place on Earth and anyone who enters it is marked with a ghostly curse in this Japanese horror sensation.
Haute Tension AKA Switchblade Romance
Directed by: Alexandre Aja
Friday, June 18, 11:45 p.m.
An ominous gray van arrives at the summer home of Alex and Marie and soon the nighttime calm is pierced by screams of terror. This relentlessly violent, astoundingly bloody nerve shredder may test the resolve of even the most ardent horror fan.
Mojave
Directed by: David Kebo and Rudi Liden
Saturday, June 19, 11:45 p.m.
Monday, June 21, 7:15 p.m.
Four friends drive out into the California desert in search of a rave. Nothing could prepare them for what follows, as a night of abandon turns into a day of violence in this thrilling update of Deliverance for a new generation.
PLUS! For those of you who are interested in Beat Takeshi's remake of Zatoichi, it will be showing Monday, May 24 at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood.
Posted in General Nonsense | 19 May 2004 at 10:16 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (48) | Link
May 12, 2004
Foxy. Very Foxy.
Y'all should take a look at the work of one Zach Hobbes, who makes some rather hot posters.
I know I've mentioned him before, but Mike Budai's posters are seriously fucking good. Vaguely reminiscent of the guys at The Bird Machine, but with really cute skulls.
Yes, I said cute skulls.
And here's a book for your wishlist: Panda Meat, edited, with cover illustration and introduction, by Frank Kozik. Some of my favorites aren't on the list to be included, but there are plenty of talented peeps that are.
Plus, soon-to-be-released director's cut of Donnie Darko. Could be really good.
Posted in General Nonsense | 12 May 2004 at 03:56 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (21) | Link
April 14, 2004
Sadistic Tendencies
Trying to design a site and a blog that will appear somewhat the same across browsers and operating systems is a pain in the ass. The new redesign looks great in IE 5+ and absolutely wretched in Safari (my browser of choice), since apparently CSS compatibility is still an elective thing. I won't even discuss Netscape because it is, for most intents and purposes, useless.
Further, I keep my screen resolution at 1024 x 768 or higher at all times, but I feel obliged to design for 800 x 600 for those people who don't want to scroll sideways to see everything. The basic gist of this rant is that designing for the web sucks when you are trying to make one thing that is compatible with a thousand different quirky variables.
Why can't we all just agree to author for 1024 x 768 as a minimum screen resolution using CSS2 and XHTML 1.0? Why can't we force all software developers to make browsers that support those languages? Why, why, why?
I'm done whining now, and yes, I know the world will never have a complete, unifying web standard, or at least not for a long time. But a girl can dream, can't she?
Feel free to report bugs here. I'll be putting up a new design shortly, but this one will have to suffice for now. Happy Spring!
Posted in General Nonsense | 14 April 2004 at 09:49 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (2) | Link
April 12, 2004
Pints of Guinness Make You Strong
From now on whenever anyone gives you trouble about drinking beer (well, Guinness), you can throw this at them. Sobriety be damned; bring me a pint!
Posted in General Nonsense | 12 April 2004 at 05:22 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (40) | Link
April 09, 2004
Anklebiters
I'm a big fan of Cary Tennis, the advice writer on salon.com. He generally gives very thoughtful, insightful advice to people who have serious concerns: adultery, children, engagements, long-distance relationships, etc.
The one area where Mr. Tennis and I regularly disagree is the matter of children. Every now and again he gets a letter which goes something like this: "When my wife and I got married, we both agreed that we didn't want kids. Things have been wonderful, but now she wants kids and I don't. What should I do?" Generally, the advice writer errs on the side of giving in, while I am loathe to ever compromise on an issue as serious as having children.
Mr. Tennis' most recent column is a letter in that very vein, and I wanted to share a passage from it that perfectly echoes my sentiments about having a brood of *shudder* children:
My wife is, understandably, ready to have children. I am not. I don't think it's even a matter of my being ready. I just don't want them. Over the last five years I have, for the first time in my life, spent time with children. I have become the favorite uncle. I love being the favorite uncle. I have fun playing with the kids and taking them to the zoo or aquarium. The thing I like the most about it is being able to go home to my life -- my nice, quiet, orderly life -- at the end of the day. I see how all of my family and friends' lives are with children, and I find it horrifying. I dread having my life turn into that. Amen, bro.
My response in this case would be to tell your wife to suck it up. (Cary Tennis' is that wanting to keep one's life to oneself is selfish and won't provide people to put you in a nursing home when you hit 65, so either end the marriage or give in and have the kids.)
I say that you both agreed on the terms of your marriage; just because she has decided that she wants kids does not mean that you have to change your mind and decide that you want them. She knew how you felt going in, and if she thought that somehow, miraculously, five years into the marriage you would change your mind about it too, that's her problem. Not to imply that women are fickle, but really—there are a great majority of women who hit 30 and want kids. We all know this.
Thankfully, I'm so selfish that this will never be a problem. If I ever feel like the clock is ticking too loudly, I'll get another dog. They listen better anyway, and you have to ask them to speak.
Posted in General Nonsense | 9 April 2004 at 10:05 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Link
April 02, 2004
All and Sundry
I have currently visited 24 of the 50 states, or 47% of the good ol' US of A. What I don't understand is how I have missed Washington and Florida. When you look at a map of my travels, it's obvious that I don't get to the Midwest or Northeast very often, but I've obviously been all over the West and Southeast, somehow completely missing the northernmost and southernmost continental states on each coast. I just don't get it.
Despite missing those two, though, I think my travels have been fairly complete. I've been on buffalo and boar hunts, been rafting on the Flathead River, hiked along (not in) the Grand Canyon, hiked in Sedona...yes, all in all I've been blessed with excellent travels. I've even been to Mexico and Montreal, and I made it back alive and unscathed by the loathing of the French Canadians.
Oddly enough, I've never been to the three states I probably should have: Nebraska, Missouri and Illinois; the birthplaces, respectively, of my grandfather, grandmother and mother.
I might fill out some of the conspicuous gaps on my map soon, though. I'd like to get together the money to attend the Allied Media Conference at Bowling Green this year, but that isn't guaranteed. I'd also love to make it to this year's Paper and Book Intensive in Portland, but I really don't think that will happen either: I've already used up my travel budget for the year. Barring a miracle I will be at home this summer, drinking beer and listening to my records, which really isn't a bad way to spend time.
Posted in General Nonsense | 2 April 2004 at 09:40 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (73) | Link
March 23, 2004
You Live in a Snit and You'll Die in a Huff
So this is the entry you've all been waiting for: the synopsis of my trip to the East Coast.
I set off two Sundays ago with my roommate, bound from Burbank to JFK via Phoenix. Our flight leaving Burbank was an hour-and-a-half late, so we barely made our connection in Phoenix. Nevertheless, we did make it, and arrived at JFK around 5:45AM. From there we took a taxi (which was a harrowing new experience) to Penn Station and boarded a train bound for Philadelphia. The day was beautiful but even the sunshine couldn't do much to make the depressing vista that is New Jersey any better.
Philadelphia was much more attractive and interesting than I was expecting, particularly when we arrived at 30th Street Station—probably the most beautiful train station I've seen. Another taxi to the hotel followed—slightly less harrowing but still enough to make me slightly nauseous—where we were situated on the thirteenth floor. We had an amazing view of the city, the Delaware River and the Ben Franklin Bridge, which we enjoyed immensely during our stay.
Once we had rested we set out on foot to explore the city, wandering down South Street and up Broad, getting a close-up view of the arts district and the Italian market along the way. There were a number of interesting occult shops along South Street, which peaked my interest, though finding a liquor store in Philadelphia turned out to be one of Hercules' great labors. The next day we woke to snow outside our window (a phenomenon which would dog us the whole trip), but we set out anyway to see Independence Park. On the way we stopped, drenched, at a coffee shop to warm up; there we met Rita, our most interesting new friend from the trip. If you're ever in Philadelphia, you should visit Mrs. K's Coffee Shop at 4th and Chestnut. The people there are awesome and helped us out, giving us advice and directions to places all over Philly. After visiting the various landmarks of American history, we concluded the day by visiting a pub—which we discovered had an outstanding jukebox, the most excellent honey mustard dressing on Earth and 100 different types of scotch. Needless to say we were not even close to sober when we left the pub.
Philadelphia turned out to be a great town, and not at all what I was expecting. Unfortunately I didn't have enough time to see and do all the things I wanted to, so a return trip is already in the works.
The next day we hopped a train back to New York, where we were met at the station by Jason, our host and tour guide. Our first experience with the subway occured shortly after, during our trip from Penn Station to Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. I don't recommend riding the subway while carting your luggage, but some things cannot be avoided. After we dropped off our things and settled in at Jason's apartment we headed to BAM (the Brooklyn Academy of Music) for A Midsummer Night's Dream performed by the all-male Propeller Company from England. The play was incredible—one of the highlights of the trip—and we were even treated to a musical performance by the cast during intermission. After the play we headed to Park Slope with Jason and his friends for a late bite, then home to rest up.
The next day we wandered around Bay Ridge to get our bearings and discovered a great little bagel shop and deli at 86th and 3rd. After filling up on some excellent bagels and coffee, we headed for Union Square for a quick peek around. From there it was off to Times Square to meet Jason for drinks and a bite before the night's entertainment, Wintertime, at the Second Stage Theater. The play was mediocre but enjoyable, notable primarily for its set design. The next day we headed way uptown to the Met to browse the exhibit of Italian mythological prints, as well as the Egyptian, Byzantine and Medieval exhibits and the modern art and objects collections. I was terribly impressed with the size and scope of the museum, as well as the current holdings. Some of my favorite pieces are housed there, so it was a treat to be able to see it all up close and personal. Oh, and we took a picture with a mummy! (I'll try to post some photos when we get them developed.)
After the Met we caught up with Jason and headed to a bar so we would be properly sauced for the show that night, Justin Bond: Uncorked! at the Ars Nova. I can best describe the show as a slightly drunken transvestite cabaret act about junkies, hookers and hustlers; I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, and his backing band is very talented. After the show we hurried to the movie theater to catch a midnight showing of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. It seems Friday was a night of surprises, as I am not much of a Charlie Kaufman or Jim Carrey fan, and I wound up enjoying the film very much. I was pleasantly surprised and not at all sorry that we didn't see Dawn of the Dead instead.
Saturday passed in a blur of activity. We woke up late (the curse of going to bed at 4AM) and hurried to get ready to make our 2PM matinee of Avenue Q, the X-rated puppet show musical. I can't remember ever laughing so hard at the theater; I was helpless in the face such truthful songs as "What Do You Do With a BA in English?," a question I have asked myself many times since graduating with one. After the show we headed back to Union Square to catch our last play of the trip, Beautiful Child (playing at the Vineyard Theatre, where Avenue Q premiered off-Broadway). Along the way we accidentally met up with James and his girlfriend, Beth; James had gone to college with Nik, Jason and I, though we didn't know him at the time. They came to see the play with us, then accompanied us to the bar(s) afterward. It was a lovely night out—we saw some enormous urinals and the oldest working dumbwaiter in the city of New York, and were introduced the magic that is Yuengling Lager.
After leaving the bars and heading back to Brooklyn, we stopped for an early breakfast around 3:30AM and took control of another jukebox while enjoying eggs benedict. After what seemed like an incredibly long ride to JFK we made our flight at 7AM, hungover and exhausted, and more than ready to be back in sunny Los Angeles.
Though NYC has a lot to offer, I could never imagine living there. The crowds nearly did me in, and I was close to the point where I was going to start hitting strangers who touched me, even accidentally. Despite the smog and current gloom, I don't think I've ever been quite so glad to be back home, inhabiting my own happy little dominion of personal space.
Posted in General Nonsense | 23 March 2004 at 03:55 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (3) | Link
March 10, 2004
Easy on the Eyes, Hard on the Head
Though there is always plenty to rant about in the world at large, today's post is dedicated to the abnormally large number of really great posters at gigposters.com. I usually find some amazing grain mixed in with the chaff but today had a whole load of awesome work. Observe:
Mindreaders
Ryan Jacob Smith
n8w
Eye Noise
Budai
Ezra Pound
Squad19
Tim Gough: 1, 2
Shad Petosky: 1, 2
Denny Schmickle
Malleus
Attaboy
Go ahead, see what I mean. You won't be sorry.
Posted in General Nonsense | 10 March 2004 at 07:56 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Link
March 05, 2004
Keen to Be Near You
After a long (for this place) round of rainstorms, the weather has turned sunny and warm with impending spring. I use the term "spring" loosely, as the weather in LA generally goes from winter, through a brief turnover period, directly into summer. I only caught the tail end of high summer in the foothills last year, so I'm curious what summer in Pasadena has in store. We'll have to install a screen door on the apartment since our front stoop will be the place to be, beer in hand, in the evenings.
The change in weather seems to be taking place all over—that's great news, since Nik and I will be heading to Philly and NYC next week. It promises to be a fun trip, so please submit your requests for souvenirs or give us your recommendations for things to do while there. You have until next Sunday to get them in!
Posted in General Nonsense | 5 March 2004 at 02:23 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (16) | Link
March 04, 2004
An Agoraphobic Fit
Two really good things happened yesterday:
01. My computer, which has been in the shop for a week being repaired, has been fixed and returned home. She is working fine now; actually, she is working better now than she has in years. Then again she should be, since they wiped the drive and reinstalled OS 9 and 10.
02. I went to a showing of the original Dawn of the Dead, which, if you haven't seen it, you should. I had never seen it projected on a big screen and seeing the movie again reminded me why it is the definitive zombie film.
In more important news, this is why they call it the practice of medicine. No one knows why it works...but it does!
Posted in General Nonsense | 4 March 2004 at 05:23 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Link
February 27, 2004
This Charming Man
My roommate and I spent our evening last night eating some excellent Chinese takeout and watching two, uh, female-oriented films: Sliding Doors (with The Paltrow and her terrible British accent) and Shag (with Phoebe Cates and Bridget Fonda and their rather large breasts). All that estrogen might have jacked my brain, or perhaps it was just remembering how it felt to be a teenage girl, watching maudlin, cheesy movies all night as I did then, but it certainly made me remember how important all those grossly female movies were when I was in high school.
There wasn't much to do in my hometown so my friends and I watched a lot of really terrible movies to pass the time. It never really occured to me then that watching movies like Girls Just Wanna Have Fun or Dirty Dancing did more than just pass the time. For myself in particular, and probably some of my friends (though I never asked them), those movies gave us hope that being shy or overweight or heavily regulated by our parents didn't mean that someday we couldn't be happy or successful or popular. Sure, watching lots of those movies probably encourages unreachable hopes but it doesn't negate the fact that Dirty Dancing is still the best girl movie ever.
Posted in General Nonsense | 27 February 2004 at 02:38 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (2) | Link
February 22, 2004
Lost and Found
The lost Beach Boys album, Smile, has been found and premiered last night in London to rave reviews. Then again, the songs were written and conducted by Brian Wilson; who wouldn't be impressed by that?
Proving once again that politicians have a hard time learning from their—and others'—mistakes, Ralph Nader has announced his candidacy for this year's presidential election. Is he on the Republican payroll or is this a personal vendetta he has against the Democrats?
Posted in General Nonsense | 22 February 2004 at 12:13 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (8) | Link
February 13, 2004
Losers and Loners of the World, Unite!
Despite the fact that it is a cheap commercial holiday meant to sponsor antiquated and idiotic ideas about love, constancy and affection, this is my little post to wish you all a Happy Valentine's Day.
May you all eat too much chocolate, have a little too much to drink and go home with a extraordinarily attractive stranger for a night of wild and unforgettable passion.
Failing that, I hope you get plowed and torment your exes with nasty text messages.
Posted in General Nonsense | 13 February 2004 at 05:56 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (6) | Link
January 30, 2004
It's So...Pink.
Hope you like the redesign, just in time for everyone's favorite commercial holiday!
Posted in General Nonsense | 30 January 2004 at 11:17 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (3) | Link
January 28, 2004
Could You Shut Up Already?
For those of you who, like me, already have all the friends you need and really only use services like Friendster to post ridiculous and/or insulting things about those friends you already have, Introvertster might be for you!
Posted in General Nonsense | 28 January 2004 at 03:08 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (10) | Link
January 22, 2004
I Have Lost My Compass
Ben and J-Lo have broken up! Now what will I do? What will be on the news? How will I know what horrible movies I should see? Whose lives will I discuss at the office? What will I have to motivate me if I can't dissect the lives of the ultimate celebrity couple every single day? This is truly a sad day for me(dia), but there is one final question yet to be resolved: will she give back that enormous, gaudy hunk of mineral that is her engagement ring?
To cheer myself up, I've been staring at a computer screen. It might make you dizzy but it's just really fucking cool: Akiyoshi's Illusion Pages. Who thought peripheral vision could be so interesting?
Further, in real news, PM Ariel Sharon has been implicated in a bribery scandal and may be forced to step down from his position as Israel's premier. I'm not going to pretend this makes me sad; I only hope that if he is indicted for illegal acts that perhaps the new leader will be better able to put an end to the violence between Israel and Palestine.
Posted in General Nonsense | 22 January 2004 at 05:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (59) | Link
January 21, 2004
A Moment of Silence
I'd like to ask for a moment of silence, both for my bookmarks (which I had to trash in order to get my browser to work) and for an old, dear friend: the mix tape.
Posted in General Nonsense | 21 January 2004 at 11:23 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Link
January 14, 2004
Make Friends and Turn a Profit!
Grand Royal Records up for auction!
And, made just for teenage boys with overbearing mothers: Minimal Porn, found courtesy of Fleshbot and BoingBoing!
Posted in General Nonsense | 14 January 2004 at 06:48 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (32) | Link
January 08, 2004
Bust Some Cool Linkage
Not much to be annoyed about today, so here are some links I've been amusing myself with lately:
King Mini Publishing
Bulfinch's Mythology
The Perseus Project
The Alphabet Synthesis Machine
Why I Live Microsoft Free (For my fellow Mac lovers, but not a bad idea for PC users, either!)
Posted in General Nonsense | 8 January 2004 at 05:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (27) | Link
December 29, 2003
Merry Fucking Christmas, Everyone
Another Christmas come and gone, and nearly another year down as well. I've survived—as, I assume, have you. Though it is a wee bit late, I have a Christmas present for all three of my loyal readers. Please view and enjoy, with my warmest Christmas wishes.
...obsessed with the alphabet, and the evolution of the letter form, for as long as I can remember. [For the uninitiated.]
Posted in General Nonsense | 29 December 2003 at 07:12 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (66) | Link
December 16, 2003
Rules! There Should Be Rules for These Things!
Not that I have much respect for the psuedo-journalism that goes on at Rolling Stone, but they do still have some people on staff who know what they are talking about. They lived through a lot of what is today considered "classic" rock, and pretty much everything that has come since. So why, then, when compiling a list of the top 500 albums of all time, would they make so many bloody stupid choices?
Anyone who knows anything about anything, but more particularly, anyone who knows anything about rock 'n' roll knows that—since it is a given that the Beatles will always take the top slot—the white album is far superior to Sgt. Pepper's. That is merely a small complaint, however, compared to the shameful transgressions of the RS staff. They did include Pet Sounds at number two, though, which is a step up from their number one.
However, it is a well known and well respected fact that you do not (nay, cannot), on a list of this nature, include a greatest hits album! That is the worst kind of cowardice. These are albums being ranked, not songs, and songs are all you get on a greatest hits package. When you are ranking great albums, you are ranking the entire thing—good, bad, brilliant and pitiful. Besides that, however, I find it rather sneaky (and I would say it's cheating) to include a compilation of Robert Johnson's songs when he himself never actually recorded an album. There's some sort of dishonesty in that, because much like the greatest hits record, he didn't set out or intend to release it as we have it now. Not to say he doesn't deserve to be on the list, but it seems like there is some manipulation of the rules going on, and that I just don't agree with.
Speaking of which, it's almost time for the top ten of 2003 lists to come out. Who has one ready?
Posted in General Nonsense | 16 December 2003 at 02:54 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (291) | Link
