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Link log
8.12.2004
God I Love Vonnegut
Kurt Vonnegut, always one of my favorite writers, has another excellent essay in In These Times, I Love You, Madame Librarian
8.6.2004
Nuts! Bunghole
Here is yet another reason why LBJ is my favorite modern president (via)
Lemons! For Everyone!
Harper has a really well-written post up over at Lemons.
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[LEMONS]
7.25.2004
IT'S SIX!
Armstrong Did It!
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7.24.2004
Meet Frank Chu
Four years ago, when I was writing for the Bay Guardian's Best of issue, I named Frank Chu (Chiu? Chu?) San Francisco's best protester. Since then, Frank has hit the big time, with more media appearances than Michael Jackson. There are numerous Websites in his honor. All in all, he is perhaps the most iconic San Franciscan since the fabled Emperor Norton. Were Frank to mint his own currency, like Norton, I can guarantee you it would be accepted all over town.
Today, while testing DV cameras out, I stumbled across Frank at the North of the Panhandle block party. (Oddly enough, I wrote up a NoPa neighborhood guide in the same issue of the Bay Guardian.) He saw me filming, and asked if I wanted an interview. How could I say no?
So for those of you reading the site who aren't locals, and for those of you who are, I present Frank Chu:
click to play
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7.22.2004
The Problem With iChat Status
Several of my friends use a plugin called iChat Status that displays the song currently playing in iTunes as your AIM status. So do I. It's a good way to find out what bands people are listening to, and, hopefully, find some music that you otherwise might not have been into.
For example, today I saw that Matt had a track playing by The Hives. Now, I've seen The Hives on a lot of magazine covers, heard the buzz, and bought the soda. But I haven't ever heard a single song by them. Not one. I just assumed that I wouldn't like them, largely because of the hair. And the whole European thing. And the European hair thing. But, I also know that I like a lot of the same bands Matt does, so I logged onto the iTunes Music store and bought a track (as far as you know). And guess what? I liked it. It was great. It made me want to dance and punch things, which is generally what I look for in a song.
But there's a flipside as well.
When I logged into iChat this afternoon, I noticed that Andre was listening to "99 Luftballons." So, of course, I began to mock him. To poke fun and act generally smug. He later denied listening to Linda Ronstadt, but I know what I saw.
And that's the thing. A lot of times I don't really want anyone to know what I'm listening to. I mean, does everyone really need to know about my secret love for Collins-era Genesis*? Or that I really fucking dig Nelly*? Or that when the dawn is breaking, I just like to sit at my desk with a cup of herbal tea and enjoy the soft, sweet, sounds of Bread*?
I have a reputation to keep up, you know? Or, rather, a front to maintain, at least. It can't all be Melt Banana, Lightning Bolt, and The Assterhoids all day long. All Deerhoof and no Donovan* might make me hip, but it don't make me happy. Sometimes, I get a hankering to hear Stairway to Heaven, word?
And so what are you going to do? Log off? Not that I typically do, but I have. When it's time for the Joni Mitchell*, and I don't feel like having Rob mock me, you betcha I've logged off. Goodbye. Seeya. I'm not online right now. Um, and I'm definitely not listening to Dennis Coffey and the Detroit Guitar Experience**. No sir. Not me.
Interestingly, as I finish this post, Andre just messaged me to ask what my deal is with Iron & Wine (probably in heavier rotation than anything else in my iTunes playlist).
It's the beard, Andre***. It's the beard.
*Names changed to protect my fragile, fragile self-esteem.
**Okay, so I am, I am. My mom gave me this album, and Dennis is the grooviest cat this side of a Dr. Seuss book. Go figure.
***Upon it being pointed out to me, I should point out that Andre was also listening to Helmet.
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7.13.2004
Outfoxed - Your Pants Are Burning, Mr. Murdoch
"Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism," the new, not-in-theaters, down-under, documentary on the most truth-averse "news" organization in history (screw you, Pravda! I'm talking to you, Xinhua!) looks to be a hell of a good time. It's nice to see FoxNews being taken to the mat, even if it's in a small-potatoes documentary like Outfoxed. The movie is, apparently, little more than a collection of clips from FoxNews itself, letting Murdoch's own doings be his damnation. I haven't seen it yet, and am not sure when I will have the chance thanks to its funky distribution system. But until it appears on a TeeVee near me, or you, here are a few choice
Salon:
As media critic Robert McChesney says in the film, it is much easier to propagandize a public that believes in its own freedom, and does not expect propaganda, than it was in a Soviet-style system where people were always suspicious of official pronouncements. (snipped)
Rather than politics, Fox News offers only lockstep ideology. It does not present arguments; it blends fearmongering and happy talk, rinses in red, white and blue, and pours the mixture down our throats. Instead of challenging its audience, it simultaneously terrifies and comforts them, painting a hostile world constantly in need of good, old-fashioned Republican-style American might.
New York Times:
It is not exactly earth-shattering, of course, to learn that Fox is more conservative than other news networks. What ''Outfoxed'' does is detail the specific ways, both onscreen and behind the scenes, in which the network's conservatism shapes its news and opinion programs. The most stinging blow that ''Outfoxed'' delivers to Fox's ''fair and balanced'' claim comes in a segment of the film on the daily memos apparently sent to the entire Fox news operation by John Moody, Fox News's senior vice president for news and editorial. The memos, which Greenwald says were provided by two unnamed employees at the network, set the agenda for how events will be covered. One memo, thought to have been circulated at Fox in April, instructs employees how to report on the increasing number of American fatalities in Iraq: ''Do not fall into the easy trap of mourning the loss of U.S. lives."
New York Daily News
Rupert Murdoch's Fox News Channel likes to say that it is "fair and balanced." But four people who used to work for the channel said yesterday that executives directed them to slant their coverage to the mogul's conservative liking. At a press conference at the Ritz-Carlton, Murdoch's former employees - Fox News terrorism expert Larry Johnson, Fox News Washington reporter Alexander Kippen, Fox News booker Clara Frenk and Fox News freelance writer David Korb - stood with Robert Greenwald, the director of "Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism," a documentary on FNC that screens tonight at the New School University downtown.
And there's plenty more on Google.
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7.12.2004
Yet Another Reason to Vote for Kerry
The Bush administration said yesterday it plans to overturn a Clinton-era rule that made nearly 60 million acres of national forest off-limits to road-building and logging, setting aside one of the most sweeping land preservation measures in decades.
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7.2.2004
Dude, Where's My Dictionary?
I wanted to lookup a word today to make sure I wasn't misusing it, and as I always do, I typed it in my Google tooolbar as a shortcut to dictionary.com. But when I did, I discovered Gooogle has removed definitions from it's search results. After the last redesign, they were moved up to the top right of the page, in the light-blue colored band that appears just above the search results. But as of today, they have vanished altogether.
What gives?
I guess I have to start using my customized version of supersuch now...
Update: It's back:
16 comments | +
7.1.2004
But What I Really Want is a Pony
So far, today, I've scored the following items on gmail swap:
- A Live Motley Crue DVD
- A personal tour of a Dublin's drinking den
- A picture of my name in front of Manchester United Football Club
- My own MIDI theme
Stay tuned...
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