Archive for 2009

« Older Entries | Newer Entries »

Shibuya-kei: Rediscovering Japanese Pop

[ 1 Comment ]Posted on April 2, 2009 by admin in Music

Thursday, April 2nd, 2009

So WTF is TNX and H!P ?

Great. Just when I thought I was safe from more hours of mind-numbing searches, downloads, and quick listens on YouTube, I have to go and discover Shibuya-kei. It all started with a relatively innocuous but upbeat video by Kahimi Karie that my photographer friend Terry Osterhout shared on Facebook, which led me to look up the artist, which led me to Wikipedia, which led me to rediscover some old favorites like Pizzicato Five and Cibo Matto, and before I knew it I had spent yet another hour of my life on YouTube, in 3-5 minute segments. You’ve probably at least seen Pizzicato Five’s Twiggy Twiggy at some point (if you haven’t, you’ll pick up some smooth dance moves from watching Brother Konishi doing the “Tighten Up”) or their whacked out rendition of Girl From Ipanema. You may have also heard some Cibo Matto because of their Beastie Boys connection. What you may have missed back in the early 90′s was stuff like Flipper’s Guitar, a band that, if they went back and dubbed the songs with a Norwegian accent, could easily pass for one of the slew of Northern Europop bands of the last few years. There’s so much fun stuff in this genre I’m not even going to try to point you in the right direction, but YouTube user PizzicatoMania has a ton of Flipper’s Guitar, Cornelius, and Pizzicato Five to get you rolling, and the Shibuya-kei page on Wikipedia has a good list to start with too. One band I just discovered that I hadn’t heard of is Buffalo Daughter. That linked video has the excellent tune “Daisy” for some reason playing over a slightly pervy Japanese schoolgirl video by Canario Club. Whatever. Can someone please tell me though, WTF is TNX and H!P ? Read the rest of this entry »

Pop Media Writer Ian Gray Dies

[ 3 Comments ]Posted on April 1, 2009 by admin in Editorial & Opinion

Wednesday, April 1st, 2009

Ian Gray 1980-2009

This will regrettably be the last post on Dissociated Press. The site’s writer and developer, Ian Gray, passed away early this morning, he was 29. He is survived by his mother, numerous siblings and their miscreant offspring, and an incredibly small number of imaginary friends on Facebook. Known for his witty but poorly-written (and even more poorly-edited) observations about pop culture, Gray was also a philanthropist, providing massively underbilled services to a variety of small businesses in the Ann Arbor, MI area. Although garbled by a mouthful of chocolate as he took a final drag from a Dunhill, his last words were believed to be “[Expletive Deleted] Google Adsense is [Expletive Deleted]! People could’ve at least [Expletive Deleted] donated through PayPal, [Expletive Deleted]!!!” To honor Mr. Gray’s deathbed words, feel free to donate to the Ian Gray Memorial Fund via PayPal. No, we’re not [Expletive Deleted] joking. That link works, and you don’t need a PayPal account. Read the rest of this entry »

Peeps Got To Represent

[ 2 Comments ]Posted on March 31, 2009 by admin in Holidays

Tuesday, March 31st, 2009

Yeah, they’ve got to represent SOMETHING, I’m just not sure what.


This is what happens when
your Peeps don’t represent

I don’t quite get America’s fascination with Peeps, the toxic yellow Easter candy that vaguely resembles a baby chicken. Maybe it’s some weird expression of the same impulse that drives the French to eat Ortolan. Or maybe it’s just part of America’s natural appetite for strange-smelling plastic representations of actual foods, like Circus Peanuts. In any case, there’s enough interest in them that Millikin University of Decatur, IL devotes a section of their web site specifically to Peeps Research. Their study is focused more on Peeps behavior; if you’re looking for basic scientific information about Peeps, see PeepResearch.org. Although I’d like to think that Peeps fans would stop eating them if they saw how they were made, they probably wouldn’t. Which may be bacause they’re somehow sacred and have magic powers that inspire blind devotion. After all they’re made in Bethlehem by a company called “Just Born”. Peeps may even have something to do with newspaper failures nationwide. Maybe if papers spent less time on annual peeps diorama contests, they could channel more energy into profitability. So I don’t love Peeps enough to spend hours in the studio photographing them, but I don’t hate them enough to think of 100 ways to kill them either. People who think that way have obviously never seen the horrors of Peep War. Read the rest of this entry »

If You Don’t Read The Newspaper, You’re Uninformed

[ 5 Comments ]Posted on March 29, 2009 by admin in Popular Media

Sunday, March 29th, 2009

If you DO read the newspaper, you’re misinformed.


Is This News?

I’ve always loved Mark Twain’s saying “If you don’t read the newspaper, you’re uninformed; if you do read the newspaper, you’re misinformed“. Sitting down this Sunday morning to not read the Sunday paper – something I used to love to do – I was really struck by this change in my behavior over the years. Living in a town where the local newspaper is failing as a business, I’m surprised by the way people talk about the topic. Some seem almost shocked, as if the news were some public utility, like electric power. I find that level of ignorance strange, because aside from the fact that the trend away from print has clearly been in motion for over a decade (I even used it as a sales pitch on this dated page in 2005 in the sidebar), newspapers in general have struggled since the 1970′s. Those who like to think they’re more informed show an interesting ignorance of their own. They’ll say things like “this is no surprise, the blogosphere has shown that we don’t need newspapers“. Which is a REALLY scary level of ignorance, as this Guardian UK interview with David Simon, creator of The Wire points out. As he puts it: “The internet does froth and commentary very well, but you don’t meet many internet reporters down at the courthouse.” Another argument that Simon (a former crime reporter for the Baltimore Sun) puts forth is that the failure of local newspapers will allow unprecedented political corruption. Which I think shows a certain insider ignorance all its own. The ownership of newspapers by large media companies effectively killed the Woodward & Bernstein style of reporting years ago, as pointed out by journalism professionals themselves in the excellent book The Elements of Journalism: What Newspeople Should Know and the Public Should Expect, which is a great read, if you’re not familiar with it. In any case, the bottom line is that these days, news is business. In spite of sites like newspaperdeathwatch.com that track the carnage, there are still people who see a business opportunity. And some on line news sources understand that there are things you can do to attract visitors that you just can’t do in print, like photo features on cheerleaders wrestling in Hershey’s Syrup.

Whatever Happened To Righteous Indignation?

[ 3 Comments ]Posted on March 28, 2009 by admin in Politics

Saturday, March 28th, 2009

AIG stands for Avarice, Insolence, Greed.


Go ahead. Think about butterflies.

As I shopped at a resale clothes shop yesterday, I was mostly thinking about how cool it was that I spent less than twenty bucks and managed to buy 4 shirts and 2 jackets. It wasn’t until this morning – when I was assembling some tax documents – that it came back. There it was, welling up inside me. Righteous Indignation. I’m not going to try to sound intelligent here (something many of my friends would say is a lost cause), because as far as I’m concerned this series of images explains the TARP program well enough. It’s so incredibly obvious that in simple terms, the American public is directly paying for the outrageous speculative wealth-building of a very small group of people. Even the beneficiaries of the current bailout plans know they’re creeps; see this internal AIG memo that advises employees on how not to fall victim to the populist horde calling for their heads. In America, the protests have been a little feeble. Small groups have protested at AIG executives’ homes, and there have been under-reported and isolated Tea Parties across the country. In the UK, things have been a little edgier, with acts of vandalism against bankers’ homes. And although millions protested in the streets in France about a week ago, you have to go to sites like AlJazeera.net to find images and reporting. So tell me. Where’s your indignation? I really want to know what you think. If you want to leave an anonymous comment, use the name “Guest” and the email “dissociatedguest@gmail.com”. Read the rest of this entry »

« Older Entries | Newer Entries »