"I Can Be a Frog"

Among other things...

Staircase bookshelf

A London couple have transformed the staircase in their loft into a staircase bookshelf to save space with their massive book collection. I really like this idea from a standpoint of practicality and uniqueness, although you do lose the benefit of open space and comfortable furnishings, which, in my opinion, are pretty essential to this sort of knowledge environment (via).

Pitchfork's top albums of the decade

This week, Pitchfork is counting down their top 200 albums of the decade, or in other words, a countdown of 199 albums until Kid A. And I agree, Kid A rightly deserves the top spot, for it was for all intents and purposes, the top album of this decade (and most other decades). The problem is that the other three albums Radiohead released this decade are in all likelihood in the top 100 (like the Kid A prediction, I'm speculating, but am pretty damn sure they will be there) as well. In principle, I agree that these albums could probably blow away any album in the top 100, if not the top ten, but where is the critical value in a list like this? Doesn't this simply show what the Pitchfork staff's favorite band is? If you really want to determine the best albums of the decade in a valuable, evaluative way, limit each band to one album, and pick a top ten. We know that Radiohead is really awesome. But we also want to know what else is really awesome.

Piano in fog

(via)

"The International"

I wasn't expecting much going into The International, partly because it seemed like your standard formula of what passes as a thriller these days, and partly because I can't stand Naomi Why-Don't-You-Fix-Those-Chiclets-You-Call-Front-Teeth Watts. And yes, it was formulaic--they didn't even bother with a "twist" this time--and Watts repulsed. However, what I did find interesting was the scene in which Watts is trying to call the wife of a murdered man for information, only the woman won't speak to her on the phone. She is however, willing to text, and her and Watts go back and forth on the BlackBerrys at an inhumanly fast text pace. I think it was supposed to indicate that texting couldn't be tapped or monitored, but in a broader sense, it felt like they just threw that scene in there just so they could show someone texting, because that's how important and ingrained it's becoming.

1,000th Post

My buddy Matt requested that my 1,000th post be about him:

Mike Gordon - Barrymore Theater (9/26/09)

After many years of seeing concerts throughout Wisconsin, this was actually my first trip to the Barrymore Theater. It was, of course, junior-high-school-auditorium-ish in size--with bathrooms that seemed to be designed for little seventh grade boys--but had that quasi-dingy feel that made it seem like a good place for hippies, stoners, and other assorted beings from Madison to gather and watch Mike Gordon. The Barrymore also provided very reasonably priced beer that was served in environmentally-conscious plastic cups. I realize that I am spoiled because I have the Pabst and Riverside Theaters in my backyard, so I look to fringe benefits like cheap beer and high-quality drinking vessels to tip the scales of favor-ability when it comes to seeing shows in dank and feral venues (however, my friend complained that the inner ring of the cup's lip was too sharp, sharp enough to instantly induce adult cleft lip if one were not careful when sipping the Sierra Nevada, so you can't please everyone).

As for the concert itself, those in attendance received a solid performance of all things Green Sparrow, as well as a few choice cuts from Gordon's first solo album, Inside In ("Beltless Buckler" and "Couch Lady"). I would have liked to see Gordon highlighted a bit more within some of the more stretched-out and improvised sections--you know, the whole "get bassed" part of the tour--but the band seemed content to just drive-out his strange, composed narratives with the straight-forward gusto of musicians enjoying themselves and having fun. Sometimes I think that Gordon likes to rest his improvisational chops while outside of Phish, preferring to instead relax and focus on the quality of song during his solo outings.

And to be honest, maybe that was preferable for the audience as well. This was the kind of show that you could just hang out at. You didn't have to be completely fixated on the music at all times, and could easily wander between the seats and standing area in front of the stage to enjoy the people-watching and other extra-musical activities. At one point, while attempting to snap a picture of Gordon's silver Nike Shoxx, I spilled half my beer on the kid in front of me, and proceeded to convince the paranoid stoner that I had thrown up on the back of his leg (he kept checking the back of his leg again and again, claiming that "he wasn't seeing any chunks," but you could tell he was still fairly alarmed). Yes, those are the antics that make non-spectacular concerts into good memories.

Bats drinking water

Some people have strange aspirations, and this curious lunatic wanted to photograph bats as they were swooping down to drink water in his backyard pond. He was very successful...

"Under the Dome"

This November, Stephen King is releasing Under the Dome, a novel he tried to write twice back in the 70s and 80s (that's great, because that's when King was most ghoulish). I read an excerpt recently, and it seems to be about a town that becomes trapped under a giant glass dome, which should make for some scary snow-globe-style story-telling.

Lemur Toss

iTunes LP

The idea of more interactivity with digital music seems like an exciting step forward, especially since the whole physical non-existence of digital music is what, in my opinion, is creating the strongest threads of resistance to the inevitable digital movement. For many, liner notes and cases that line the bookshelf represent an important part of the media experience, and PDFs included with a download are just not cutting it. Digital music needs to offer something else besides nearly unlimited capacity and flexibility before it can truly replace physical music (that sounds extremely demanding, but that's the constant mind-set now).

The iTunes LP--Pearl Jam's Backspacer being one of the first albums released in this format--could be a first step towards a media experience that is properly (and desirably) contextualized in a dynamic and shifting online environment, but what it has brought to the table is basically the equivalent of DVD "extras" and "bonus material." What the iTunes LP needs is 1) to be available outside the constraints of iTunes, and 2) to have the ability to constantly update it's content. I'm not sure how it would work, but I have an unclear vision of a purchased album somehow synching to a band's live shows and other public appearances as the year rolls on. Could purchasing an album act as a direct link into the entire media experience of the group? It sounds far more interesting than sitting at my laptop and listening to Backspacer while watching a hairy cyclops hold a TV showing people's heads.

Burj Dubai in NYC

What the world's tallest building would look like in New York City (via):

"Convergence Culture"

Initially, I was hoping Convergence Culture was going to focus on the technological devices we carry around in our pockets--the giant iPod on the front cover was my first hint--and how we assimilate those devices into Henry Jenkins' thesis: "convergence represents a cultural shift as consumers are encouraged to seek out new information and make connections among dispersed media content." To an extent, Convergence Culture did cover this shift in style of media consumption, but did so in the framework of "participatory culture" and "knowledge communities." I was hoping for a more detailed look into how users of technology are localizing their devices for their own specific, daily purposes, but the bottom line is that the book's publication date (2006; that's so old) and my current interests just did not match up to the age of iPhones, iPod Touches, and BlackBerrys.

Still, Jenkins' analysis on how media and literature inspire fan fiction got me thinking: do we need to shift the focus of high school English classes? If Harry Potter can prompt young people to write, develop stories, explore themes, and harness creativity, why are we still pounding them with Paradise Lost and The Invisible Man, which they probably hate? Certainly, there is a necessity to teach classics in literature and English classes, but with the way media enables networking and text-sharing, I think we need to move beyond the thematic impromptu essays--I had to write three essays on Heart of Darkness in AP English; where's the value in that?--and encourage students to tackle modern works that have already extended into online portals of discussion and criticism. After all, it's not what the story is about, it's what the student can do with it.

Sydney red dust storm

Photos from the recent red dust storm in Sydney:

Pearl Jam - "Backspacer"

I have many bad things to say about this album, but because I've always loved Pearl Jam since the day I "rented" Vs. from the Manitowoc Public Library and for the sake of brevity, I will only elaborate on two of those things. First of all, Backspacer wins this year's award for most horrible album art, no matter what else is released from now until December. Seriously, Pearl Jam, what the fuck? Is that Bobby from King of the Hill being chased by a flaming train? Who thought this was a good idea?

And second, Target is a store where people go to buy shampoo, 2-liter bottles of Pepsi, and cheap Huffy mountain bikes. Backspacer--which was inexplicably released exclusively through Target--sounds like a product that could easily be added to this list. I can just picture it, sitting there sheathed in thick protective plastic and bulky security devices at the corner aisle of the Electronics Department, waiting for some poor kid's mom to toss it into her red cart amongst the other toiletry products and pumpkin-scented candles.

I really can't explain Backspacer, other than it seems that the fine layer of grunge has finally withered away down some dank Seattle sewer. It was so encompassing for so many years, even seeming to grow in strength after Pearl Jam was released in 2006. But this? This sucks. This is Creed-ish at times, for God's sake. Instead of singing about spinning black circles or biting the recess lady's breast, Eddie Vedder is now singing--and going "Hey Hey Hey" a lot--about diplomatic relations and going to see friends. "Just Breathe"--the daintiest song Pearl Jam has ever recorded--is unfortunately the best song on this album. Were the dollar signs just too big? Will Pearl Jam love BlackBerry next? Only time will tell, but I fear that once you sell your soul to Target, the road home is a long and dark one.

Dreams, rushing back

When I was little, I had this vivid dream that I was lying in bed at night and looking out into the dark hallway, when suddenly the hall lights came on in a strange, hazy-yellow color, and this giant, ugly, scary looking kid came down the hall and into my room. He grabbed me by the back of my pajama pants, carried me down the hall, and threw me down the stairs. It's the one dream I always have the most vivid memories of, and this picture brought it all rushing back. I've been in the fetal postion all day with my thumb in my mouth (via).

Infinite Summer over

Infinite Summer officially wrapped up today. For those unaware, Infinite Summer was a blog set up for "endurance bibliophiles" to read and discuss David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest over the course of one summer (June 21st-September 22nd; roughly 75 pages per week). I chose not to participate because 1) I didn't realize the site existed until they were one month into the "exercise," and thus, I was already behind, and 2) the comments invited heavy discussion from plot-predicting first-time readers and spoiler-hinting re-readers. This would have made for an interesting study in intertextuality--with a digital blog post/comment dynamic battling Wallace's physical narrative/footnote dynamic--but after 20 or so pages, I realized this book was meant to be a solitary literary adventure demanding only the influences of my own imagination.

In fact, I would have been more apt to participate had the reading frame been shorter (three months would have been torturous for me, given how quickly and intensely the book grabbed my focus). I feel that this pace would have caused the readers to sacrifice more time and energy on the book, and thus change their thoughts and experiences. That seemed to be the point of Infinite Jest: to be toiled over as quickly as possible. I don't think it was meant to be studied and discussed (at least when being read for the first time), but rather ingested at once in an individual mind.

iPhone home screens

First and 20 has a gallery of developer's, designer's, and tech writer's iPhone home screens. It's pretty self-explanatory upon first glance, but once you dig into the individual descriptions a little deeper, you begin to see a neat little exercise in visual rhetoric (via).

Milwaukee streetcars

I like the idea of Milwaukee developing a streetcar line to connect the downtown with east side neighborhoods. Milwaukee thrives on accessibility, and this could be a unique feature to further pare down the drivers-who-should-be-taking-the-bus-or-walking group of commuters. Plus, I'd really be interested in observing the nervous and indecisive parallel parkers of Prospect Avenue attempting to park with cars, buses, AND streetcars bearing down on them.

Radical Mindlapse, Quantum Evolution

In other words, time-lapse Burning Man footage (via):

Yo La Tengo - "Popular Songs"

What I've always loved most about Yo La Tengo is that they are constantly, consistently, and unwaveringly able to release record after record of quality indie pop without even a wink of popular acclaim or notoriety. Sure, they get some Pitchfork-love and have a solid, albeit content and quiet following, but try bringing up Yo La Tengo in conversation anywhere other than a Mexican Little League infield and see what kind of bewildered, trying-to-think-back-to-high-school-Spanish-look you get.

It's like they exist underneath a veil of mist on the floor of Music, and the only way you might stumble upon them is if you drop your keys and bend below that mist to pick them up. Chances are, you'll want to stay down there to listen, because very few bands are this nice and talented and fun. But then again, how often do you drop your keys when you're standing in shin-deep mist? That's the narrow window of dynamic we're talking about here: it's a pinhole of access that opens to a wide gulf-of-career that will grab you at every turn and morph you into a reflexive mirror of pleasantry. Popular Songs is the latest mist-covered release, and once again Yo La Tengo deliver a great record that will largely go unnoticed in the ebb and flow of mainstream media.

And this is a good thing. Not because more people shouldn't be exposed to their music--I'm not one of those guys who claims to be so indie that I will threaten to kill the members of the band so no one else can hear them but me--but because this is their niche in the overall scheme of American popular music: to be not very popular. Popular Songs feels like a literal joke in this sense. And as long as they inhabit this niche, Georgia Hubley will continue to rip out hearts with subtle, slight changes of chord ("By Two's), Q-tipped guitars will continue to make amicable street-wandering melodies ("Nothing to Hide"), and long-ass instrumentals will continue to be the perfect soundtrack for doing something else ("The Fireside" and "And The Glitter is Gone"). So don't buy this record. Unless...

Fail Phish

Wisconsin loses tons of DNA

The recent news of the the Wisconsin DNA databank losing the DNA of "at least" 12,000 felons shocks me. Why can't they use pretty, color-coded racks like I do? I've never misplaced any DNA using this system.

Dainty tailgating

Burger loyalties

My hamburger loyalties are torn. On the one hand, I feel that I should stay true to the burger that nurtured me with multiple cheeses, jalapeno-kick, and a somehow exquisitely perfect bun during my fledgling days as a college student in Milwaukee. On the other hand, the loins of my mouth now yearn for a burger coupled fantastically with a fried portabello mushroom that runs grease and cheese all over my lap when I bite into it. I would never eat one exclusively over the other, but I feel the need to have a favorite, and it's ravishing the depths of my soul.

Coyne in the mist

(via)

Jump Jump Jump Symmetry

I would guess the average length of time you spend staring at something on the Internet is about 2-3 seconds, or maybe less. However, I must have spent at least 30 seconds watching this. I feel it belongs in some sort of technological anatomy textbook.

On blimps

(via)

Philly library closing

The Philadelphia Public Library is closing:

Come October 2nd, all 53 library buildings throughout the city will close. Books and DVDs will no longer be available for loan. Free internet access will cease. The community programs and meetings held in the libraries will have to find another venue, and the GED and English as a Second Language educational programs will end.

This is really sad news, and although economic factors are certainly the driving force here--the state of Pennsylvania has been operating without a budget since July 1st--I'm wondering what other underlying factors are involved?

Libraries have long been monolithic epi-centers of learning and information, and 15-20 years ago, this type of news would have been apocalyptic in nature: people would have brought pitchforks and flaming torches to City Hall. But it seems we've finally grown comfortable with the fact that the knowledge is readily available elsewhere online and on Kindles (and why wouldn't we?); that context, that precedent, is in full motion. People, of course, will continue to read and consume, but the importance of a book might become dispensable a lot faster than we thought it would (i.e., it's happening right now). "Read a book" may become the new "plant a tree," so go read a book.

Niner

Supersilent is releasing 9 on October 5th, and every track will be entirely composed with Hammond organs. Over the past few years I've come to anticipate these releases far more than any other band or musician. They push music incredibly far, and while there may be no drums this time around, I'm certain that 9 will take eons to unravel.

Not in my purview

After 973 posts, I've decided to change my blog's name (and address, as you've found). I've always liked the word 'purview,' which Webster's defines as a range of vision, understanding, or cognizance. Of course, this blog is none of these things. In its 17-month existence, it's been a place to express, understand, learn, collect, and create, and putting any range or limit on what transpires here would be to shun the very reasons why I enjoy keeping it.

Here is the inspiration:

Byrne's city

David Byrne has always been obsessed with cities, and here he talks about his perfect city. I like his points on parking:

To be honest, available parking doesn't matter to me. Parking lots and structures are dead real estate—they bring no life into a city and I'd be happy if there were a lot fewer of them in New York. It would be a pain in the neck for a lot of drivers, but unless they can be hidden underground, as they are often in Japan, lots and parking structures are simply dead zones, which hurt the businesses around them. In Japan parking structures are skinny, no wider than a large car, and a robotic system files the cars away. The Italian cities of Florence, Modena, Ferrara, where parking is pretty much relegated to the fringes of the town, are vibrant, though their appeal to pedestrians has turned some of them into tourist hubs.

Renegade Craft Fair

From the penis pillow tent...

Phish - "Joy"

Phish albums have never been known for their musical utility; they simply exist to offer proof that the incredible music the band plays on stage was conceived at some point in time. Phishheads certainly collect the albums along with the multitude of live recordings, but actually sitting down to listen to Phish albums is kind of missing the point of Phish. But that's where Joy--to an extent--changes thinking and direction on how to approach a Phish album. You see, rather than a collection of jam-templates that will inevitably morph into extended exercises of improvisation, here is an album that attempts to stand by itself as a listenable entity with very few live strings attached. I can't decide if the state of present day Phish dictated this album--for it seems that even in concert, most of the choice cuts on Joy don't stray too far from the original--or if Phish simply wanted to make more universally catchy and radio-friendly music.

I could probably go on about this infinitely, choosing to focus on the age-old question of: why do the majority of bands feel it necessary to push towards the commercial and accessible as they progress through their career, rather than trying to write something cool like "Split Open and Melt?" But I'm not going to get into that here, mostly because parts of Joy are extremely likable, and I actually prefer listening to the album versions over the live versions. Plus, I finally have a Phish album that is good for 10-15 minute increments of driving time. Breaking up a 25-minute "You Enjoy Myself" into my short commute or jaunts to the grocery store was unrewarding for me (especially if your trip happened to fall within the vocal jam; pretty bizarre driving to something like that). But with the songs on Joy--for example, "Stealing Time from the Faulty Plan" (which would have absolutely slayed in 1994 and would have become the "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" of Phish)--you get music that is designed to be instantly like-able for a short range of attention-span.

"Seven"

Another perfectly normal video from Fever Ray:

Packers, 2009

When SI's Peter King picked the Packers in the NFC Championship game this year, I was tickled pink. Then, SI's Don Banks picked them in the Super Bowl, and I was tickled several more colors. After all, it was SI who picked the Packers to win it all in 1996, and that came true (they also picked the Chiefs, which is laughable, but it didn't matter that year anyway because the Packers would have cleaned anyone's ass, which they did, when they cleaned the Patriots' asses). But now ESPN's Bill Simmons has come along and picked the Packers to win it all. I was excited about that at first, but I'm starting to think all this hyping and Rodgers-as-MVP-picking is going a little too far. This is entering jinx territory, and is possibly a ploy by Simmons to get revenge for his precious Patriots (although he picked the Steelers this year, but that's also part of the jinx I think). So, I'm going to bring this all back down to Earth and simply pick the Pack to win the NFC Central (and we'll just let the Super Bowl victory unfurl from there).

Life is Good

(via 9000's)

"Die Slow"

An absolute epileptic nightmare of a video:

Monkey speeder

There are probably not many things funnier than a man who dons a monkey mask when he enters a speed enforcement photo zone with his car so he can speed anonymously.

9/11 - Tsunami

Quote in upper right: "The Tsunami killed 100 times more people than 9/11." Although it's not right to compare terrorism to natural disasters, perspective is always interesting (via):

Certainly, I am a little wild

"State of Play"

This was your standard movie with highly-paid actors engaged in a solid, but not spectacular plot of conspiracy. What I really liked, though, was how the film was sort of a homage to the newspaper and the people who create it day in and day out. Twenty years from now (or maybe sooner), we'll look back on this movie in awe of what those people did for a living. Because, you know, there won't be newspapers anymore.

"The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao"

This is the charming story of a fat, Dungeons & Dragons-obsessed nerd who falls madly in love with a Dominican prostitute and is eventually brutally beaten and murdered by her husband because of said love-falling. An entertaining enough story, although the last page was a huge cop-out in terms of the book's stinging emotional message. As Junot Diaz himself would say: Dude didn't deserve no Pulitzer.

Fielder-bomb

Arve Henriksen - "Cartography"

"Migration" is one hell of an intense track, not in the sense that it doubles you over, but mainly because it serves as an anchor piece in Cartography. This kind of singled-out presence on an Arve Henriksen release is fairly unheard of; not usually does this meandering trumpeter place something this solid and concrete among all the other fuzzed-out smatterings of brass-sounding-like-cool-mountain-flutes and natural swoops of indigenous sound. "Migration" has a tribal, cyclical rhythm that puts it above all this, and it grabs your attention early as the third track. There is certainly a reason for this placement, as Cartography has a strong sense of narrative about it. In fact, Henriksen's penchant for vocal utilization takes place directly before "Migration." Here--in "Before and Afterlife"--he speaks (strangely) of resisting the temptation of the city and moving "east into the forest and mountains where life's desires tore us apart." I suppose "Migration" is where we are torn limb from limb.

Once you gather your limbs and move on from this point, you reach familiar territory again. You are back to the Arve Henriksen of the Rune Grammofon label (I suppose the move to ECM is somewhat of a Judas-move, but whatever) and back to an album that is only listenable through a pair of quality headphones. "Migration" sticks with you, though, like a big "X" on an album that is supposedly, if we take the title literally, about the study of maps. Henriksen studies them well, and if all he does here is send us off from track three to fend for ourselves, then perhaps that is enough.

"Dark Side of the Rainbow"

The synching of Dark Side of the Moon with The Wizard of Oz is truly an inexplicable phenomenon--especially the first loop of the album; seriously: what the fuck?--but when you synch Dark Side of the Moon with The Wizard of Oz with people eating piles and piles of fried fish, then you truly have a remarkable thing. That was the scene at Fish Fry and a Flick last night, certainly some sort of record for most people wearing black Dark Side of the Moon t-shirts and eating fried fish and coleslaw at the same time, and certainly the highlight of one of Milwaukee's best new summertime traditions.

Korean advertising

According to my boss, these phone company commericals are the hottest commercials in Korea right now...take note, Verizon:

"Inglorious Basterds"

I was told going into Inglorious Basterds to not expect much plot. That was a fairly accurate assessment, although there certainly was a loosely stretched arc of storyline. But what made Basterds fabulous--like most Tarantino movies I suppose--was the characters. Interesting characters wrapped in even more interesting dialogue drenched with violence and sprinkled with humor. Their personalities and quirks were plots in and of themselves, and made the slow pace so, so savory. In fact, after about 20 hours of letting the movie seep in, I think I might prefer Basterds over Pulp Fiction (that's right, Tarantino fans, come get me).

Third reader definition

On the emerging, third type of reader (via):

Somewhere between the second and third definitions lies the feed reader, the delicious account, the “read later” tag, the favored tweets. The device becomes the tool by which we produce the anthology. But whereas the old readers were constrained by what could fit between two covers, the new ones are infinite—they have neither beginning nor end, only the interminable middle, extending out in all directions, too far for the eye to see.

This reminds me a lot of what Henry Jenkins is talking about in his (thus far) excellent book, Convergence Culture. It's not necessarily the new media that is changing the way we read, but it is the consumer (reader) who is "encouraged to seek out new information and make connections among dispersed media content." I like this approach and style of thinking because it puts power in the hands of the reader. We aren't getting owned by new media; we're learning to harness it and thus developing new ways of learning.

Ride the lightning, monkeys

A study published in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters has found that tamarin monkeys prefer Metallica to other industrial and progressive rock acts (via):

In the study, 14 cotton-top tamarins were played 30-second blasts of music while the researchers noted any changes in their behaviour. The animals were played Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings and a soft piano piece from The Fragile by rock band Nine Inch Nails, followed by Metallica's Of Wolf and Man and an excerpt from The Grudge by rock band Tool...The only human music that elicited any response was the heavy metal band Metallica, whose music had the unexpected effect of calming the monkeys.

One-way Mars mission?

One of the biggest hurdles to a Mars mission is the sheer cost and complexity of getting the astronauts back home. So, why not just leave their asses there?:

We might want to restrict the voyage to older astronauts, whose longevity is limited in any case. Here again, I have found a significant fraction of scientists older than 65 who would be willing to live out their remaining years on the red planet or elsewhere. With older scientists, there would be additional health complications, to be sure, but the necessary medical personnel and equipment would still probably be cheaper than designing a return mission.

This guy does have a point. Wouldn't someone like Richard Branson totally be up for this? I still think, though, that the prospect of developing technologies to extend our resources here on Earth heavily outweighs the potential of colonizing a planet that is 36 million miles away.

Ecological apple

(via):