Archive for November, 2009
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[ Comments Off ]Posted on November 21, 2009 by admin in Technology
Saturday, November 21st, 2009In home, motion-simulator iMax theater, epic marketing failure, and a device that any nerdy gamer guy would love to get his hands on, the BRA CONTROLLER.
 Who wouldn’t want a motion simulator chair like the DreamFlyer right in their own home? Well, anybody who’s not a total freaking nerd, I guess. |
The information highway is littered with the debris of half-baked ideas for interface and input devices. Vintage sci-fi movies like Lawnmower Man
November Holidays: Not EVERYBODY Celebrates The Pilgrims’ Survival
[ Comments Off ]Posted on November 20, 2009 by admin in Holidays
Friday, November 20th, 2009Why we didn’t tell you about William Tell Day, say hello to World Hello Day, and gathering around the Thanksgiving Bush to give thanks for Dickens being relevant again.
  The Press Gobbled Up George’sTurkey Stunt, Now You Can Too, For Just $39.99! |
There are still a couple of holidays worthy of note before you throw that Bacon Turgooduccochiqua in the oven next week. We intentionally didn’t tell you about William Tell Day on the 18th, because November is Child Safety Month (alas, the British do this much better than we do), and we didn’t want to give you any ideas. To clarify the potential horrors of emulating William Tell’s behavior, just remember what happened with William Burroughs’ wife, or try this rather ghastly Flash game. But what we do want you to know about are two November holidays that seem to have their heart in the right place, and have a brief enough history that Hallmark hasn’t ruined them yet. On the 20th, we have Universal Children’s Day, a UN-chartered holiday intended to foster worldwide fraternity and understanding between children. On the 21st, say hello to World Hello Day by saying hello to ten people, which demonstrates the importance of personal communication for preserving peace. A cool concept, and easy to execute. With Thanksgiving on the 25th, the “real” holiday season of course begins in earnest. Thanksgiving means that for one day, we as Americans can express thanks that we can eat more food than any five other world citizens combined. And the next day, we can go shopping for things for people we don’t like, with money we don’t have, so rich bankers can still get their million-dollar bonuses. The bright side of all this is that Dickens is relevant again, and by golly, Disney’s there to remind us, and in breathtaking 3D! For the record, some of us don’t especially celebrate the arrival and continued survival of white folks in North America, and while most of us are gorging ourselves on consumerism with Black Friday, a rebellious few still celebrate AdBuster’s now tired-seeming Buy Nothing Day. Personally, I’m going to commemorate this Turkey Day with the Turkey Dinner George Bush Doll
Why I’m Proclaiming Myself Emperor Of The Known Universe
[ Comments Off ]Posted on November 19, 2009 by admin in Politics
Thursday, November 19th, 2009DEMOCRACY is just an acronym for Deliberate Entitled Manipulation Of Citizens’ Right to Accurately Counted Yearnings
I’d like to propose a new word and a new acronym for use in politics. The word is “pretesident”. In the states, we’re all familiar with that guy who became president for two consecutive terms by actually losing the elections, and who, once in office, had the nerve to not even be in charge, but instead “played Lamb Chop” to his advisors’ Shari Lewis. What we haven’t heard much about are a few other pretesidents around the world. Recently, one took office in Afghanistan without much uproar, in spite of rather clear evidence that the election was rigged. A little ironic, because he was chosen by our former puppet to uphold democracy and replace the Taliban. In Mexico, we have The Legitimate President of Mexico. He’s not actually the legitimate president of Mexico, he’s just another guy who lost what was probably another rigged election, but has the nerve to run around saying “I’m The Legitimate President of Mexico“. For a little more depth, see this Wall Street Journal piece. And soon, we’ll have the President of the European Union. There have been rumors that it’ll be that Bush administration butt-lick Tony Blair, and those ballsy EuroLeaders not only aren’t letting the people vote on it, they’re not even telling how they make the selection. With all these “pretesidents” running around, I’m surprised ol’ Dick hasn’t claimed the title of Emperor or something. I mean, George Lucas already gave it to him, he might as well take it and run with it. Which brings me at last to the acronym I referred to earlier. It’s D.E.M.O.C.R.A.C.Y., and it stands for “Deliberate Entitled Manipulation Of Citizens’ Right to Accurately Counted Yearnings”.
This Headline Is Self-Referential
[ 2 Comments ]Posted on November 18, 2009 by admin in Editorial & Opinion
Wednesday, November 18th, 2009Is There A Word For When You’re Writing About Nothing?
They say that amongst the basic offenses that one might commit when managing a blog, referencing your own blog borders on felonious. The words you’re reading are not a violation of this principle; for one thing, this site is a magazine-style link aggregator with commentary, not a blog. And for another thing, this content is being placed in the Editorial & Opinion section, which in a way actually requires that it be self-referential. The fact is, for the first time since June 11, 2008, I didn’t have anything I felt like writing about today. This reminded me of the last time this happened, which was back in 2005. At the time, I was thankful for The Nonist’s What Everyone Should Know About Blog Depression. Which I’m sharing as a public service today, since if anyone is in fact reading this, they almost certainly have a blog or web site or as many as 137 Twitter followers, and may find some solace themselves. It has great advice like “IF THE SIMPLE ACT OF READING A MAGAZINE FILLS YOU WITH A DEEP SENSE OF DISQUIET, IF YOU BREAK OUT IN HIVES, OR FIND YOURSELF INEXPLICABLY WEEPING, IT MAY BE CONTENT ANXIETY, IN WHICH YOU SUBCONSCIOUSLY EQUATE EVERY PIECE OF INFORMATION AS A POTENTIAL PIECE OF BLOG CONTENT“. And who hasn’t experienced that? I especially like that I put that whole excerpt in caps. It gave it a lot more oomph, don’t you think? Another powerful insight: “Meta-bloggers may experience particularly severe blog depression when they realize everyone is continually posting the same crap, on every other meta-blog, over and over and over. The realization that meta-content is never ‘owned’ can be painful“. Indeed. Read the rest of this entry »
There’s More To Frankie Goes To Hollywood Than Frankie & Hollywood
[ 2 Comments ]Posted on November 17, 2009 by admin in Music
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009Frankie Say: Okay, you can quit relaxing now, it’s time to come up with a new style kids.
  Frankie’s Greatest Hits. There weren’t many, but they left a mark, so to speak. |
Something happened in the 80′s. I’m not sure what, but it hasn’t happened much since then. As easy as it is to make fun of the hair, fashion, and music of the era, the simple fact is that pop music hasn’t changed much since then. I present as evidence Exhibit A, the 2009 25th anniversary remix of Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s Relax. 25 years later, the song is still marketable, and still gets heavy exposure in movies, ads, and clubs. The remix? They raised the tempo about 20 BPM, and electronified the bassline a bit. The casual listener might not notice the difference, except that it feels even less soulful than the original. Even the visuals look 80′s. If you were doing a 60′s tribute in the 80′s it would’ve been obvious from the fashion, but the fact is that frankly, clubbers look the same in 2009 as they did back then. One thing that I think made a big difference is that a lot of genres that popped up in the 80′s (and have been remixed and recombined repeatedly since then) were actually the calculated results of just a few British production teams, specifically Trevor Horn’s label ZTT Records, Factory Records, and 4AD. Almost every pop music trend since then can be traced directly to a band produced by these labels. Frankie Goes To Hollywood, for instance, was a rather hollow-sounding Liverpool club band that Trevor Horn elevated to epic and orchestral levels with an elaborate production method and provocative, politically-driven marketing. Their couple of hits launched an entire movement of gay pride, and a musical style to go with it. Watch this interview (also below) to see FGTH performing Relax prior to Trevor Horn. You’ll also get some background on the controversy about the song’s sexual content, which got them banned from the BBC. Which in turn allowed them to chart in the top 20 on the recording’s release date. They also briefly discuss the Reagan vs Chernenko wrestling match in the song Two Tribes. For those of you who don’t recall, it was a commonly held belief at the time that the nuclear apocalypse would be caused by one of these two doddering old eccentric leaders simply losing it one day. Little did we suspect we’d be watching an aging, Liberace-like Holly Johnson reliving it all 25 years later. Sometimes I wish my 80′s nihilism had been a little more effective 
Read the rest of this entry »