In the event that anyone is wondering who that earnest, hopeful voice is on the new MacBook Air ads, here's the artist herself. I see Apple seeking to duplicate their success with Feist, not so much on behalf of the artist, but to maintain their own ouevre as cultural même providers beyond the tech industry. I'd say they did a bang-up job in selecting Yael Naim's "New Soul".
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Lyrical blueprint for 2008 RPM Challenge
I've stepped up to the 2008 RPM Challenge.
To help me visualize the project as it develops from scraps and rags, I've written all my lyrics on a page, overlapping and blending according to their arrangement on the album. Most of this is stream of consciousness based on loose titles I assigned according to the sound of a riff or chord progression. I wrote most of these over the weekend on a plane to Boston, a train to New York City, and a plane back to LA.
This is step one. The album will be called "t3h pwn".
To help me visualize the project as it develops from scraps and rags, I've written all my lyrics on a page, overlapping and blending according to their arrangement on the album. Most of this is stream of consciousness based on loose titles I assigned according to the sound of a riff or chord progression. I wrote most of these over the weekend on a plane to Boston, a train to New York City, and a plane back to LA.
This is step one. The album will be called "t3h pwn".
Frozen Foods in the Boston Phoenix
Writer Ben Westhoff covers some Frozen Food projects old and new in the Boston Phoenix this week, including a photo by our St. Louis friend Benjamin Shepard:
Retro tech lust: unopened Apple //c
Via BoingBoing, here's a Flickr set of a guy opening an unopened Apple //c he won off eBay. This was my first computer too, so I can't help but have a retro tech lust for this pristine bit of computing history. We played everything from Tapper and Lady Tut to Castle Wolfenstein, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, and the text-based Hitchhikers Guide To the Galaxy on that machine. To say nothing of writing innovative BASIC scripts like:10 HOME
20 PRINT "ROB IS THE BEST!!!!!!"
30 FLASH
40 GOTO 10
Looking at the list of games, I'm kind of impressed that all of that was available for those old machines. Look at that brilliant packaging. The polychrome Apple logo. It'd still be as sexy now if they offered it as a brand new product. Over a MacBook Air? Maybe.
Probably not. But maybe.
Probably not. But maybe.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
An artful plagiarism in children's furniture
Here's a good way to give your kid some culture with their need for speed / need for arctic animals: a polar bear rocker. A rocking bear, if you will. The culture aspect comes from the origin of the bear, which incidentally, Netto doesn't mention on their product page: a sculpture by François Pompon in the Musée D'Orsay. I recognized it as I happened to sketch the sculpture in my journal while abroad in college. At the time, it seemed to me that Coca-Cola was quoting Pompon's Ours Blanc in their polar bear ads. Netto's use is less subtle — it's exactly the same. Nice use of fine art, but they should probably give some credit somewhere.
TSA sitting break
I thought this was a funny enough picture to snap with my iPhone. TSA taking a break. Tu lo mereces, as they say in funny talk. But what wasn't funny was the adrenaline rush I got taking the photo, wondering if I was gonna be shaken down or beat down or cited under meaningless codes in the name of homeland security. I've seen enough pathetic police action in the news to know that the authorities like to invent laws regarding camera usage around the authorities. The feeling I got suggested a lot about where our government's positioned itself in regards to security. Surveillance by the citizenry is discouraged or outlawed, while surveillance of the citizenry is mandatory. That sounds like a police state to me.
'Kernel panic' is fun to say.
I had the honor of my first Mac OS X kernel panic yesterday. This screen strikes fear into the technologically faint of heart (and those on deadline), but it was more of a curiosity to me. In four years on this G5 PowerMac, I don't think I've had a kernel panic myself, but I dealt with hundreds when I worked as a Mac Genius.
When my computer tells me "You need to restart your computer," I like to fire back at it, "No, you need to restart your computer!!!" The circumstances were innocuous at best with one app open, Mail. It panicked when I quit. Seeing it freeze was a small thrill. It's almost a challenge to kp Mac OS X. It's like a rush, like when Jay yells "yeeeeeaaaaah!" in Clerks.
Kernel panics aren't the end of your computer, but it probably means your software needs some cleanup. Worst case scenario, you have to boot from your restore disk by holding down the C key at startup and do an archive and install. Or actually, worst case scenario is that your processor needs replacing. But that would only be the case if this was happening again and again after your computer heated up. Which means essentially, ha ha, a new computer. When in doubt, hit up apple.com/support.
It hasn't happened since. It's probably just that the system is over two years old and runs some heavy-duty apps. Most heavy Windows users I know say they have to reinstall every six months, so I'd say one kernel panic in four years isn't so bad. And really, I like saying "kernel panic". I picture popcorn having a neurotic episode.
You need to restart your computer. Hold down the Power button for several seconds or press the Restart button.
When my computer tells me "You need to restart your computer," I like to fire back at it, "No, you need to restart your computer!!!" The circumstances were innocuous at best with one app open, Mail. It panicked when I quit. Seeing it freeze was a small thrill. It's almost a challenge to kp Mac OS X. It's like a rush, like when Jay yells "yeeeeeaaaaah!" in Clerks.
Kernel panics aren't the end of your computer, but it probably means your software needs some cleanup. Worst case scenario, you have to boot from your restore disk by holding down the C key at startup and do an archive and install. Or actually, worst case scenario is that your processor needs replacing. But that would only be the case if this was happening again and again after your computer heated up. Which means essentially, ha ha, a new computer. When in doubt, hit up apple.com/support.
It hasn't happened since. It's probably just that the system is over two years old and runs some heavy-duty apps. Most heavy Windows users I know say they have to reinstall every six months, so I'd say one kernel panic in four years isn't so bad. And really, I like saying "kernel panic". I picture popcorn having a neurotic episode.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Jack Kerouac: "To Harpo Marx"
In preparation for this Beat retrospective tomorrow night, I met Tucker Booth and Colin Campbell down at the Hermosa Beach Historical Society. They've got a great facility down there, and the show should be engaging. Hermosa Beach has a good sense of its own cultural identity, and that makes a place desirable, to know where it's been and where it's going. That identity includes a good deal of Beat culture. Colin told me he used to visit the old bums playing chess in the park out here, one reading Marx while the other moved, and the other reading Sartre while the first moved. Resulting in very long games.
The interesting artifacts in their collection include a full lifeguard station, a variety of significant antique signage, and all kinds of historical Hermosa tchochkes. But what caught my eye was an item by Jack Kerouac in an old Playboy magazine from the 1960s, entitled "To Harpo Marx":
I'm sure I'm not unique in holding Harpo Marx as a personal hero, but to see him celebrated by the king of the Beats is a kind of thrill. Two nights ago around 2 am, I remembered the New Yorker was holding a contest to interpret their foppish dandy mascott, Eustice Tilly. The deadline was 9 am (EST) yesterday. Cursing myself that I had neglected to contribute, I took a few hours and whipped this up before grabbing a few hours' sleep for work. It's not perfect, but that's the story of my bachelor's in studio art. I'm happy with having cast Harpo as an inversion of Tilly. I think there's some nice symmetry to it.
The interesting artifacts in their collection include a full lifeguard station, a variety of significant antique signage, and all kinds of historical Hermosa tchochkes. But what caught my eye was an item by Jack Kerouac in an old Playboy magazine from the 1960s, entitled "To Harpo Marx":
O Harpo! When did you seem like an angel
the last time?
and played the gray harp of gold?
When did you steal the silverware
and bug-spray the guests?
When did your brother find rain
in you sunny courtyard?
When did you chase your last blonde
across the Millionaires' lawn
with a bait hook on a line
protruding from your bicycle?
Or when last you powderpuffed
your white flour face
with fishbarrel cover?
Harpo! Who was that Lion
I saw you with?
How did you treat the midget
and Konk the Giant?
Harpo, in your recent nightclub appearance
in New Orleans were you old?
were you still chiding with your horn
in the cane at your golden belt?
Did you still emerge from your pockets
another Harpo, or screw on
new wrists?
Was your vow of silence an Indian Harp?
I'm sure I'm not unique in holding Harpo Marx as a personal hero, but to see him celebrated by the king of the Beats is a kind of thrill. Two nights ago around 2 am, I remembered the New Yorker was holding a contest to interpret their foppish dandy mascott, Eustice Tilly. The deadline was 9 am (EST) yesterday. Cursing myself that I had neglected to contribute, I took a few hours and whipped this up before grabbing a few hours' sleep for work. It's not perfect, but that's the story of my bachelor's in studio art. I'm happy with having cast Harpo as an inversion of Tilly. I think there's some nice symmetry to it. Thursday, January 24, 2008
Saturday night at Hermosa Beach Historial Society
Come down to Hermosa Beach this Saturday night. Tucker Booth and I will be playing at the Hermosa Beach Historical Society's beat poet retrospective, "The Beat Goes On." Details below!
To whet your appetite, here are a couple of videos from our show last month at the Starfish Learning Center. I play an acoustic rendition of "We The Freaks", from And How They Flew, while Tucker plays a rare piano composition about super heroes.
To whet your appetite, here are a couple of videos from our show last month at the Starfish Learning Center. I play an acoustic rendition of "We The Freaks", from And How They Flew, while Tucker plays a rare piano composition about super heroes.
The Beat Goes On
A night of poetry at the Hermosa Beach Historical Society, 710 Pier Ave, Hermosa Beach, California.
4:30 pm - Dr. Colin Campbell presents "The Beatnik Movement in Southern California"
6:30 - Bob Hare, Founder of the Insomniac presents its history & performs, followed by poetry readings, special exhibits, and live music by Tucker Booth and Rob Getzschman.
A night of poetry at the Hermosa Beach Historical Society, 710 Pier Ave, Hermosa Beach, California.
4:30 pm - Dr. Colin Campbell presents "The Beatnik Movement in Southern California"
6:30 - Bob Hare, Founder of the Insomniac presents its history & performs, followed by poetry readings, special exhibits, and live music by Tucker Booth and Rob Getzschman.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Stealth Burger Reviews: Jack In The Box 100% Sirloin Burger
The alleged 100% sirloin
Tonight, to finish the sad trifecta of oversized mass-market burgers, I took on Jack In The Box's 100% Sirloin Burger. It's clearly set up to compete directly with The Six Dollar Burger at Carl's Jr. and the 2/3 Pound Angus Burger at McDonald's. In fact, it really looks like there's a shared marketing panel between these three that agreed it was time to dress up some fast food into something more like meatloaf, with big picnic toppings and specially designed packaging.
Right off the bat, Jack In The Box tells us they're playing for keeps: their box is hexagonal. Bang! Kind of looks like the big pod where Darth Vader spends his down time, but it's got a remarkable factor to it. Like the others, the burger has the SoCal handwrap on it, and it weighs like a shot put. The pickles were cut long-wise and laid across like bacon, which gets style points. No sesame seeds on the bun. I must say, the 100% Sirloin Burger was the first I physically had trouble taking a bite of. I sort of had to circle it for a few minutes, plan my attack. Even then, it's size resisted consumption. From there, it clearly stood above and beyond Carl's and McDonald's.
Jack's burger has one distinctive advantage in the taste of the meat. Whereas Carl's and McDonald's went for the Angus, which is a breed, Jack just went for sirloin, which is ostensibly steak. Honestly, I could taste the difference. It was kind of like I was eating, ironically, a salisbury steak, which is hamburger made to look like a steak, but either way, there was a distinctive flavor of the beef that sets the 100% Sirloin Burger apart from the others. And if I'm going to bother with fancified fast food, I don't want it to be more of their usual burger. I want a robust bouquet with high notes of citrus and sandalwood.
So hopefully from here on out I'll be eating burgers that you can't eat all across America. Because while burgers are America's best contribution to world cuisine, the best aren't made by international corporations. They're made by people. People: it's what's for dinner.
Right off the bat, Jack In The Box tells us they're playing for keeps: their box is hexagonal. Bang! Kind of looks like the big pod where Darth Vader spends his down time, but it's got a remarkable factor to it. Like the others, the burger has the SoCal handwrap on it, and it weighs like a shot put. The pickles were cut long-wise and laid across like bacon, which gets style points. No sesame seeds on the bun. I must say, the 100% Sirloin Burger was the first I physically had trouble taking a bite of. I sort of had to circle it for a few minutes, plan my attack. Even then, it's size resisted consumption. From there, it clearly stood above and beyond Carl's and McDonald's.
Jack's burger has one distinctive advantage in the taste of the meat. Whereas Carl's and McDonald's went for the Angus, which is a breed, Jack just went for sirloin, which is ostensibly steak. Honestly, I could taste the difference. It was kind of like I was eating, ironically, a salisbury steak, which is hamburger made to look like a steak, but either way, there was a distinctive flavor of the beef that sets the 100% Sirloin Burger apart from the others. And if I'm going to bother with fancified fast food, I don't want it to be more of their usual burger. I want a robust bouquet with high notes of citrus and sandalwood.
So hopefully from here on out I'll be eating burgers that you can't eat all across America. Because while burgers are America's best contribution to world cuisine, the best aren't made by international corporations. They're made by people. People: it's what's for dinner.
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