Signs
These pictures of hand-painted/hand-crafted signs made me feel like I did when I first read Chris Ware's Jimmy Corrigan - heartbroken and nostalgic for a past that lives only in someone else's imagination.
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January 25, 2004
Proof that I am easily impressed
So, one minor celebrity sighting - Tom Douglas, local restauranteur and author of several cookbooks was seen exiting one of his downtown establishments. I was on my way to the new flagship Top Pot Doughnuts cafe, and I saw this sketchy guy wearing an REI fleece jacket hanging outside the Palace Kitchen. He wasn't sketchy because of the fleece jacket ('cause this is Seattle, and there's a lot of fleece here), but he just looked furtive, like he was doing something untoward. But, I think I just mistook annoyance for unseemliness. When I finally figured out who it was, I was pretty excited. It's not like Douglas is any big celebrity (although, I have seen him on the Food Network several times), it's just that I have low celeb-sighting standards. Unlike my friends who run into Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service every five minutes, I have to be content with minor celebrities, like John Curley (the host of a local news magazine show), who I saw last year doing a segment on the UW's quad.
Another celebrity sighting - this time at the co-op:
Finally, a cartoon-endorsed product I can get behind!Best line in tonight's episode of The Surreal Life? Rob "Don't Call Me Vanilla Ice" Van Winkle yelling to Ron Jeremy, "Don't pull a Garry Coleman!"
January 23, 2004
Lend me some sugar, I am your neighbor!
January 20, 2004
Again with America's Next Top Model
Some choice quotes:
- "Really, don't play me...you have a better chance of playing the lotto and that's like one in a million." - Camille
- "I know you're going for a sexy, strong look, but it looks like you're on the toilet." - Eric Nicholson
- "Girl, you walk like you're on crack." - The runway guy (this week's guest judge)
Oh my...I'm beginning to show my party affiliation
I can't believe that GWB spent time discussing the "sancity of marriage" in his State of the Union address. Why, oh why, is this even an issue? You'd think that the GOP would love the fact that homosexuals want to get married, since they're usually going on and on about the importance of family values. But, Bush decided to rail against it in his speech:
A strong America must also value the institution of marriage....Activist judges, however, have begun redefining marriage by court order, without regard for the will of the people and their elected representatives. On an issue of such great consequence, the people's voice must be heard. If judges insist on forcing their arbitrary will upon the people, the only alternative left to the people would be the constitutional process. Our Nation must defend the sanctity of marriage.He also called for more funding for abstinence programs. Shouldn't we be spending money on things that actually take into account the fact that according to a 2001 survey conducted by the CDC, over 45% of teenagers reported having had sexual intercourse and 33% admitted to being sexually active currently? (At least, those are the ones who actually admit to having had sex in the last few months, and it's interesting to note that this number varies dramatically depending on the race and ethnicity of the individuals surveyed. Also, I'm guessing that a lot of teens are engaging in other risky sexual behavior besides intercourse - something else to which we seem to be turning a blind eye.) Shouldn't we give them the information they need to protect themselves and their partners from STDs and pregnancies? Again, you'd think GOP would be all over this since it would likely mean fewer abortions, but...I guess not.
Also, his reference to a child's letter he had received recently was ridiculously trite:
Last month a girl in Lincoln, Rhode Island, sent me a letter. It began, "Dear George W. Bush." "If there is anything you know, I Ashley Pearson age 10 can do to help anyone, please send me a letter and tell me what I can do to save our country." She added this P.S.: "If you can send a letter to the troops ... please put, 'Ashley Pearson believes in you.'" Tonight, Ashley, your message to our troops has just been conveyed. And yes, you have some duties yourself. Study hard in school, listen to your mom and dad, help someone in need, and when you and your friends see a man or woman in uniform, say "thank you." And while you do your part, all of us here in this great chamber will do our best to keep you and the rest of America safe and free.(I did sort of enjoy how he accidentally referred to Ashley as being 2 rather than 10 years old - that would be one precocious two-year-old. I also loved how Peter Jennings characterized GWB as being a much better speaker than he was three years ago. Of course, in the pre-show coverage Jennings kept referring to John Kerry as Secretary John Kerry...guess you can't win 'em all.)
I'll be curious to hear how the Democrats respond to Bush's speech.
Update: Tom Brokaw apparently talked to Jon Stewart (The Daily Show) after the Address to get his response, but I only caught the last 10 seconds of the interview - did anyone else see it? What happened?
January 19, 2004
I am Jack's complete waste of time
- I am Jack's worst house compilation.
- I am Jack's State of the Union Address Drinking Game.
- I am Jack's special blogging awards for special people.
- I am Jack's cute tofu mascots.
- I am Jack's awesome article about stitch 'n bitch sessions in this week's Newsweek.
January 17, 2004
Which SLC Punk are you?
"To be an anarchist in Salt Lake City was certainly no easy task, especially in 1985. And having no money, no job, no plans for the future, the true anarchist position, was in itself a strenuous job."
I'm finally punk rock!
Purchased
and...
1 copy of the Revolutionary Worker with an article about Howard Dean.
There's some synergy here, I swear.
I'm not really "revolutionary" or even a "worker" in the traditional sense (more like a "smartass and sometimes disenfranchised student"), but I'm increasingly interested in publications that are outside of the mainstream - especially those that are self-produced. The people who sold me the paper also gave me a flyer for Revolution Books, which I might check out on the off chance that there are some engaging Marxist-Leninist-Maoist (their words) 'zines that I can use for my research project in my History of Recorded Information class.
January 15, 2004
Some stuff
I can't keep up with anything these days - teaching every morning makes my weblog take a back seat. (Not that it ever has a front seat, 'cause to admit that would be like I was admitting to being the BIGGEST GEEK ON THE PLANET, but occasionally my blog is in a more privileged position - like sometimes it sits in the hump part of the back seat, which, while it's not the most comfortable area of the proverbial car, is better than hangin' out in the trunk where it just so happens to be right now....)
Anyway, the comics on this site rock the house. "Remember when Bush flew that fighter jet onto the aircraft carrier after we accomplished the mission? Wouldn't it be awesome if he landed a rocket ship on the Capitol Dome and delivered the State of the Union speech dressed like an astronaut?" And, yes, folks, we now have official proof that life imitates Sealab 2021.
Check out some ephemera from the 1800s and a bunch of miniature books.
Listen to a bunch of people from around the world read a short paragraph about Stella and her quest to procure several "slabs of blue cheese and maybe a snack for her brother Bob." Exciting!
January 13, 2004
Overheard
"It's not so much religion...I'm just trying to be Christ-like."
Source: Anna, the only model who refused to participate in a photo shoot where she would be nude but covered with body paint, during tonight's episode of America's Next Top Model.
(Oh, and Tyra Banks continually referred to said model throughout the show as "plus sized." Can someone please explain to me how being 5'8" and weighing 130 pounds makes you plus sized?)
January 11, 2004
McDonald's Advisory System
"McDanger - Mayor McCheese Taken to Secret Place" is the highest rating on the new Homeland Security Advisory scale proposed by Banterist.
This reminds me - why isn't Grimace mentioned on their scale? He was my favorite McDonald's character, but I never really understood his koan-like utterances. For example, why do they have him saying "Duh, hi there!" at his portion of the McDonald's site, Grimace's Garage? Is he really that dumb? And what is Grimace, anyway? I mean, I know what it means to grimace, but who at McDonald's decided to call a McDonaldland character "Grimace?" And, is that his brother in The Darkness' I Believe in a Thing Called Love video? Is he related to that Timer guy who made the wagon wheel snacks on Saturday morning? Ok, ok, so they look nothing alike (although they are both pudgy), but Timer is equally unidentifiable.
Blogging
Note one: I went to a party this weekend and was teased mercilessly (but in good humor) for having a weblog. Everyone kept asking me if the evening's activities were "blogworthy." I smiled silently, but secretly thought about the digital camera that I've been obsessively keeping in my bag ever since I received it for Christmas.
Note two: One of my friends read my weblog recently and mentioned that the person on it is not the one he knows. When I asked for some clarification, he said that he was just glad for the context of real life. Another friend told me that my postings are in keeping with my "RL" identity. They're both interesting observations (and both made by individuals who study communication and culture and know about this stuff), but at some point all of this gets very Turkle-esque and the debate about online/offline identity formation rages on. However, I find the roots of this discussion fascinating, so I purchased (finally!) a used copy of Erving Goffman's The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life in the hopes that I could get some clarity. (Side note: Apparently, the person who owned this book before me was somewhat obsessive - the underlining looks as though it was completed using a ruler. Also, I've never seen such neat-looking braces!) (Side-side note: I wonder if I tend to be much more parenthetical on my weblog than I do in the "real world." I'm not sure what that statement means, but it sounds good. I need coffee.)
Note three: In keeping with the propensity for bloggers to comment on and link to articles about blogging, I offer a piece from the NYT - My So-Called Blog.
If this new technology has provided a million ways to stay in touch, it has also acted as both an amplifier and a distortion device for human intimacy. The new forms of communication are madly contradictory: anonymous, but traceable; instantaneous, then saved forever (unless deleted in a snit). In such an unstable environment, it's no wonder that distinctions between healthy candor and ''too much information'' are in flux and that so many find themselves helplessly confessing, as if a generation were given a massive technological truth serum...Diary writers compete for attention, then fret when they get it. And everything parents fear is true. (For one thing, their children view them as stupid and insane, with terrible musical taste.) But the linked journals also form a community, an intriguing, unchecked experiment in silent group therapy -- a hive mind in which everyone commiserates about how it feels to be an outsider, in perfect choral unison.For some reason, this article reminds me of Michael Weiss' The Clustered World in which he outlines 62 demographic clusters (with names like, "Kids & Cul-de-sacs," whose members read Golf Digest, listen to soft-rock radio, and like eating low-fat sour cream) - but instead of occuring in the real world, the "clustering" happens all online. Ok, so maybe that isn't the most profound statement; I mean, cliques are a part of the "real life" experience of any high schooler, but there's something else going on here. And, in my inimitable fashion, I can't really articulate it - at least, not right now. Perhaps you can.
I really do need some coffee.
January 08, 2004
GWB Ads
Check out the Bush in 30 Seconds ads on Moveon.org. Good stuff - vote for your favorite.
January 07, 2004
2003
Stuff I listened to this year that I thought was worthwhile (in no particular order)
Movies I saw that were worth the price of evening admission
Honorable mention: Donnie Darko, which I know came out a couple of years ago, but which I hadn't seen yet - it blew me away
Movies I wish I had seen
Hmm...I think I should have seen more movies.
Movies that I am not sorry I didn't see
Some things that I plan to do this year
Anything else I should add to my lists? Any book or movie recommendations?
January 04, 2004
The night before classes
Something to think about
US to fingerprint most visitors - "New United States security regulations introduced on Monday mean foreign visitors may have their photographs taken and fingerprints checked."
Something to watch
Bring It On. And OMG...they're making a sequel, Bring It On Again. (That brilliant title almost rivals the sequel to Dude, Where's My Car? called, Seriously Dude, Where's My Car?).
Something to drink
Charles Shaw - the quality "Two Buck Chuck."
Proof that the world is coming to an end
The upcoming season of The Surreal Life stars Vanilla Ice, Erik Estrada, Ron Jeremy...and Tammy Faye, among others.
Something to read while you're waiting for the Rapture
Pricing and Architecture of the Internet: Historical Perspectives from Telecommunications and Transportation
"...Historical precedents from telecommunications for introduction of differentiated services and sophisticated charging methods on the Internet are discouraging. The almost universal trend has been towards decreasing price discrimination and simpler pricing.
The history of transportation presents a different picture, with frequent movements towards increasing price discrimination and more complicated pricing (although with many noteworthy reversals). Charging according to the nature of the goods being transported has been and continues to be the norm. Since the incentives to price discriminate are increasing, and the ability to do so is also growing, it is conceivable that telecommunications might break with its historical record and follow the example of transportation. It is therefore of interest to examine the evolution of pricing and quality differentiation in transportation..."
Read more (PDF)
January 03, 2004
Xmas gifts
Some of you may have received (or will receive) a copy of my two CD mixes for this year. I'm providing the track listing for those of you (like me) who will lose the little piece of paper I included in the jewel case.
Lo(wer) fi
1. The Golden Age - Beck and The Flaming Lips
2. Waltz #1 - Elliott Smith
3. Vigils and Matins - Oceanographer
4. Encantamiento Inuitil - Cafe Tacuba
5. Off the Rail - Notwist
6. 1995 - The Radio Dept
7. The Late Great Libido - Menomena
8. For the Widows in Paradise - Sufjan Stevens
9. See You Soon - Coldplay
10. Dearest Forsaken - Iron & Wine
11. Mansion on the Hill - Bruce Springsteen
12. Young Winds (I'll See You) - Ryan Adams
13. Good Woman - Cat Power
14. Tears are in Your Eyes - Yo La Tengo
15. Hurt - Johnny Cash
16. Anthems for a Seventeen Year-Old Girl - Broken Social Scene
Hi(gher) fi
1. Stars and Sons - Broken Social Scene
2. Still in Love Song - The Stills
3. Kissing the Lipless - The Shins
4. 12:51 - The Strokes
5. Growing on Me - The Darkness
6. The Seed (2.0) - The Roots
7. Rock Your Body - Justin Timberlake
8. GhettoMusick - Outkast
9. Take it Off - The Donnas
10. Hate to Say I Told You So - The Hives
11. Listen - Singapore Sling
12. Black Math - The White Stripes
13. Have Love Will Travel - The Black Keys
14. Marry Me - Drive-By Truckers
15. I'm Gonna Run - The Fiery Furnaces
16. The Grandmother Wolf - Pretty Girls Make Graves
17. The Laws Have Changed - The New Pornographers
18. Scared Straight - The Long Winters
19. Clark Gable - The Postal Service
20. Washington, D.C. - The Magnetic Fields
21. Billy Liar - The Decemberists
Yes, yes, I know not all of these tracks were released in 2003, and my Hi(gher) fi CD is especially guilty-pleasure ridden. But my guess is that it kicks the crap out of the 90210 soundtrack.
Oh, and the idea for the CD wallet I made for some of you is courtesy of Jen Hook. She has a great PDF on her site that lists the step-by-step directions.
New year...new photos
A few selected photos from the last week of the 2003 (minus those of recognizable people and those that are more incriminating):
The bright neon of the Muckleshoot called our names on Christmas Day eve
A very dark and grainy pict inside the casino - I didn't really want to get caught taking photos, but I had to have proof that the place was packed!
Walking in the snow with a couple of friends
L rides a garbage can lid on the street
Blurred shopping cart
Idyllic snow scene
You'll have to forgive the numerous snow pictures I took, but it's pretty rare here in Seattle, and I was excited.
January 02, 2004
Eating well in the New Year
A couple of foodie sites that I've been reading:
- I'm loving FuckCorporateGroceries.net, a Chicago weblog about buying from independent stores, farmers' markets and CSAs rather than nationwide chains. The recipe for mangos and port sounds rad. I happen to get a mango in last week's box from Pioneer Organics, and I've got some port that's just burning hole on my counter (not really).
- More grocery goodness - the Online Museum of Shopping Lists and The Grocery List Collection - thanks for the link, M. (Oh, and just so you're not confused, neither Rotten Tomatoes nor The Red Meat Construction Set have anything to do with food.)
- Of course, I'm always trolling the Chowhound message boards for new leads on yummy food in the Pacific NW.
- Some recipe weblogs and sites - The Red Kitchen, elise.com Simply Recipes, eGullet.com (which happens to have an interview with Ted Allen, the QEftSG foodie), 101 Cookbooks which has great recipes and great photos, and i was just really very hungry.
January 01, 2004
Lost in Translation...for real
In Lost in Translation, Bill Murray's character endorses Suntory whiskey(?) in some famously brillliant ads. On Japander.com, you can check out other actors who have used their fame to promote various products - like Nicholas Cage who's all about pakchino, and Ben Stiller who only says "Fresh" in his commercial for Chu Hi soda.