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Friday, February 27, 2004
another good article on free trade by virginia postrel.
Wednesday, February 25, 2004
musical things i noticed today:
for my money it doesn't get much better than marvin gaye's "ain't that peculiar." that and george thorogood's "who do you love." listen to those two back to back and you better step back to get a running start. i got a cobra snake for a necktie.
the second track on "lovage: music to make love to your old lady by" is called "pit stop." it's a good song, but wouldn't you want that to go somewhere in the middle of the album?
steve and i noticed that shivaree is listed in the chronicle as playing sxsw, but the site doesn't mention them. it got me to thinking about their first album, which did ok, but not great. i think it was the name. "i ought to give you a hole in the head for making me live in this dump." that doesn't exactly roll off the tongue.
my friend nick (aka dj nicknack) is playing this saturday at the elephant room with blaze. i asked him out for a drink before, but he told me drinking and scratching don't go so well together. something about impairing your motor skills. now you really have to stop and think about that for a second. maybe djs are like the deacons of rap. they've got to keep their shit straight while everyone else (the choir, the choir director, the congregation, the preacher) around them is losing it.
the new norah jones album (yeah, i bought it) has a tom waits remake, "the long way home." i have to say, she knows how to pick 'em. her first album had hank william's "cold, cold heart." that song would melt ice in antarctica.
i've looked at the list for some time and here are the sxsw bands i'll most likely sit through five other godawful bands for: modest mouse, broken social scene, the hives, and dizzee rascal. i'm sure i'm leaving plenty of worthy bands out, but i don't care. focus and determination are the only things that will get you through this bacchanalia.
i wanted to have some sort of angle on this year's festival for another semi-musical review. i thought perhaps a gonzo take on mike dickenson was in order. "record mogul: the life and times of mike dickinson" i could follow him around and stage interviews with various people. we could run from the cops and hide out in the private bar at the hilton, swilling polar ice and counting the money from his gold-plated chicken ranch briefcase. what do you think? or shall we try to bleed one more razor-tongued gush from that dried-up magnuson turnip? let's hear it.
Tuesday, February 24, 2004
ok, i'm not saying that it's a good thing, but why are bush's comments regarding the constitutionalization of the defense of marriage act, a law signed by clinton eight years ago and endorsed by dozens of states in their own legislatures, why is this suddenly such a big deal? clinton effectively said the same things. i'm not for it (really, even though a strong majority seems to be, i could care less if two gay people want to marry each other) but why didn't clinton get the sort of "i wish he would die" comments? why doesn't kerry who voted for the same damn act? it just seems to be more of the "bush is evil and look...look! see? he's doing more evil!!!" arguments. i mean if you read his statement, he'd basically be doing the same level of nothing that the DOMA did, since even before this act, states didn't have to recognize each other's marriages. again, sign me up to the party of the confused.
is this a conservative rag?
Sunday, February 22, 2004
the economist (no mudville gazette mind you) weighs in on the jobless recovery myth and other progressive/protectionist fallacies.
old habits die hard
good article on the end of blockbuster. honestly, who hasn't seen this coming? i read that they're considering getting in on the netflix action, but they'd be going head-to-head with wal-mart, who is already in. of course, i still go to blockbuster. we use the i-control sporadically. there aren't a lot of movies on there. that obviously seems to be the future. everything coming to you in 1s and 0s. vulcan and i love video are nice in that offbeat, "there's still an austin here" way, but they never have what i want, unless what i wanted was thai teenage girls w/mopeds fetish flicks. we probably drop $20 per month on movies so i should go with the netflix thing. i talked about it with a clerk at blockbuster.
me: "aren't you worried about netflix and i-control pretty much putting you out of business?"
her: "you're here."
Saturday, February 21, 2004
here's the original spot for the spongmonkeys. this is the same crew doing the recent quizno's commercials.
turns out i'm 90% dixie
Thursday, February 19, 2004
looking forward to poker tonight. i'm about even for five weeks of play. i think it's been five weeks. tonight we're going to be playing over at brian's on a real poker table. i'll miss kevin's place, though. that wasn't a dig on you, kevin. i like the sound of boozer sucking on that doll and looking at naked steve pictures.
geek corner
i guess paul allen finally did something decent with his $$$$$$$. unless you're kyle and you want to count the portland jailblazers.
Wednesday, February 18, 2004
it was bound to happen. spam poetry.
american patriots,
how can we serve you better?
Saturday, February 14, 2004
it snowed last night. or this morning. there was snow. on the ground. since this happens once every ten years, i took a picture.
i took lonanne out last night for her bday/valentine's day. we went out for drinks and then i managed to swing a reservation at crimson, despite the fact that they and everywhere else downtown were booked solid [full disclosure: i work with the guy who owns crimson]. these 2/1 offers work great in theory, but i suspect lonanne was treating it as valentine's day. her birthday is next tues. and by then she'll have forgotten the lovely dinner at crimson and the j crew wool slacks that i had to beg, borrow and steal for.
actually, i waited too long on the slacks (winter catalog) so i rolled up to the only j crew store in town to see if they had 'em on the clearance racks. that's me. always looking to save a buck on $160 pants. of course, they didn't have them. but what they did have was the J CREW RED PHONE. i shit you not. they have this bat phone-looking set up in the middle of the store. the sales woman walked me over to it and picked it up for me. there weren't any buttons on it. she said it automatically dials the catalog 1-800 number. so i gave the guy the SKU over the phone and they had 1 pair left in lonanne's size. i often wonder if they don't lie to you about these things, but when you're talking on a red bat phone in the middle of a j crew store in the crappiest (or next to crappiest) mall in austin, you don't have time to quibble over details. you brain is simply relaying the message, "BUY IT...BUY IT...BUY IT NOW YOU POOR SAP." so i did. lonanne wore 'em last night and today which i think is a good sign. they look damn good on her.
Wednesday, February 11, 2004
a good review of the facts in the bush went awol meme. not that it matters. michael moore's made his mind up. there'll be a documentary about it soon i'm sure.
awwwwwww
Tuesday, February 10, 2004
can you spot the fake smile? i got 16/20 correct. i guess i fake smile so much that i just know what it looks like :-)
wow. i'd heard norah jones sold over 17 million records on the radio, but i didn't believe it. looks like it's actually 18 million. jeez. to give you some idea, justin timberlake's last album sold roughly 3 million copies. britney? 2 million.
Monday, February 09, 2004
and that's just our womenfolk. this news story has at least five great quotes. see if you can spot them all.
Sunday, February 08, 2004
hitchens takes on the democrat contenders.
I'm a single-issue person at present, and the single issue in case you are wondering is the tenacious and unapologetic defense of civilized societies against the intensifying menace of clerical barbarism. If in the smallest doubt about this, I would suggest a vote for the re-election of George Bush, precisely because he himself isn't prey to any doubt on the point. There are worse things than simple mindedness - pseudo-intellectuality, for example. Civil unions for homosexuals, or prescription-drug programs, are not even going to be in second or third place if we get this wrong. And presidents can't make much difference to the stock market or the employment rate or to income distribution. But they can and must uphold their oath to defend the country.
Saturday, February 07, 2004
valentine's day cards for the twisted...er...rest of us...
Wednesday, February 04, 2004
also, brooklyn open brawl viii.
it's smoker time?
this is plain freaky.
Tuesday, February 03, 2004
why your movable type blog must die and the scripts that can do it.
it is true. you can spot the movable typers from a mile away. not only the bad design, but also the near fetishization with wedding low and high culture. i'm sorry. lo and hi culture. comic books can't be 14-year old wet dreams. nooooo. they're graphic novels. spray painting isn't what you and i did to the side of a bridge because there weren't any cows to tip. it's blazing a new trail (never mind that it's over thirty fucking years old) in art and the [insert made up word here] of [another word...not made up, but appropriated from everyday speech to mean something else]!
Monday, February 02, 2004
no comment. on any of it.
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