in lieu of radio ...

a somewhat random collection of pages and thoughts started sept 16 2001. now that i'm not on the radio 6 hours every day, blogger allows all of us to harangue...

Friday, March 29, 2002

While searching for a written transcript for the Codrescu item i went to his "Message du Jour" archive. An old one on Kosovo contains this gem about being a kid in a country where Tito had banned inter-ethnic rivalries...Without knowing it at the time, I had the misfortune of belonging to one of the top-hated categories. I was Jewish, from a Hungarian and Polish background, and my mother, who was Jewish, had remarried a Romanian from a part of the country hated by everyone, including the local Romanians. I didn‚t know that my home town had been subject of territorial disputes between the Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman empires, then between the nations of Romania and Hungary. These facts were relayed to us in a highly comforting version in history class, a version that blamed all misfortune on class relations and tensions within economic systems. And was this version wrong? Not necessarily. The problem with it is that it left out the one unpredictable element that usually renders nonsensical the best theories, namely, people's deep-seated and emotionally unassailable stupidity. (emphasis added)
I guess my question is:
"Why must it be only the poets who use the word "stupidity" in the analysis of current events and history?"

Thursday, March 28, 2002

Andrei Codrescu on ATC. Remarkable, concise, study of light and dark. Audio link: Casanova versus Osama (Real Audio)

Righteous Roger Ebert on crippled ("copy-protected") CDs. I wonder if Universal will let him review their movies now. Link: Don't Confuse Fans With Pirates

Wednesday, March 27, 2002

Librarians first up as witnesses in the anti filtering suit. "Does this look like porn to you...?" Link: Porn-Filter Trial Gets Raunchy (Wired). Librarians attack Internet filters (Salon)


Critics accuse Clear Channel of shady radio deals and nasty concert business. Now the government is starting to pay attention. Comprehensive Boehlert on Clear Channel finally getting noticed by Washington. About bloody time! Washington tunes in (Salon)

Sunday, March 24, 2002

Having problems with your cat bringing "gifts" back home? A simple pattern recognition system can help!

The White House has several great gift idea for you.

Thursday, March 21, 2002

No wonder i'm no good at math! We didn't have The Simpsons when i was in school.

Wednesday, March 20, 2002

Subject: A Classic Teacher's Story

A class of elementary students started a class project to make a planter
to take home and wanted to have a plant in it that was easy to take care
of, so was decided to use cactus plants. The students were given
greenware pottery of a clown planter and they painted them with glaze
and had them professionally fired at a class outing so they could see
the process. It was great fun. They planted the cactus seeds in the
finished planters and they grew nicely but unfortunately were not
allowed to take them home. (click on picture)
Pottery Class Picture
.
The cactus plants were removed and a small ivy used to replace them and
the children were then allowed to take them home. The teacher said
cactus seemed like a good idea at the time... (thanks to L for the story)


(It's pretty funny, but i'm suspicious, don't those clowns look very neatly painted?

Linguist Jeff Nunberg was on Fresh Air, talking about Bernard Goldberg's contention that the US media uses the apellation "conservative" more than "liberal".

*The script of the piecis is here: On the Bias.

*Nunberg's supporting data is here: Use of Political Labels in Major Newspapers.

*Listen to the piece in Real Audio.

Tuesday, March 19, 2002

two recent sales pitches

1) seen on I95: the USP for the South Brooklyn Casket Co. is "discover a whole new world"

2) while walking back to my hotel in Mexico City I was acosted by a chap who told me that he could take me to see a show of "chicas desnudas . . . y todas, casi virgenes!"


contributed by RGP

Decades After Peak, Roots Rocker Has New Generation of Fans Decent, if somewhat scattered and self serving, profile of one of our favourite rockers ever. Link: Wanda Jackson, Rockabilly Queen Redux

MSNBC has a Top Ten from the new Fucked Companies book. Link: Fiercely Stupid (thanks to L for the link)

Monday, March 18, 2002

And here is the post that screwed it up
Long, tough Ani Di franco poem on 9/11. Producing much comment on Usenet. Link: Untitled (work in progress)

nope! oh well. if you want to see the posts from last week you'll have to click the little blu plus sign [+] at the end of the Mark Zip 1:15 AM Ani post

the last post was totally screwed up. it has screwed the code so badly that i can't even edit it! am posting this to see if it might fix it...

Long, tough Ani Di franco poem on 9/11. Producing much comment on Usenet. Link: (Freedland: Guardian UK March 6 2002)

Monday, March 11, 2002

Radio stations, Webcasters and record labels disagree with the rates suggested by an arbitration panel. "Too much for some, not enough for others" is usually a recipe for the thing staying the same, no? Link:Groups Appeal Online Royalties Proposal (LA TImes)

How fluffy bunnies, bouncy kittens, and the Clinton era brought cuteness to an awful climax.
The apotheosis of cute
(SF Bay Guardian)

Saturday, March 09, 2002

Nice to have Anthony Lewis back in the NY Times and still tilting at the windmills in John Ashcroft's mind. I supest that i'm not the only one who misses Lewis more than ever. Link: Taking Our Liberties (Free reg. req.)

Thursday, March 07, 2002

So 4 GP on US network TV, only two of which are live. It's a start I guess. ABC Sports agrees to deal with Formula One (thanks to L for the link)

"Researchers Shocked to Finally Find Virus That Email App Doesn't Like" (I got 3 (!)" FWD: Virus Alert" emails from newbies on this one) Link: FOOT-AND-MOUTH BELIEVED TO BE FIRST VIRUS UNABLE TO SPREAD THROUGH MICROSOFT OUTLOOK Another winner from SatireWire.

Tuesday, March 05, 2002

Steve Ballmer to the states: "be careful what you wish for, you might force us to stop making Windows altogether..." Link: Removing IE would kill Win2k, WinXP, MS, says Redmond Also a very useful U.S vs. Microsoft Timeline from Wash. Post

Sunday, March 03, 2002

Just a little something to brighten your day... Flame of the Millenium (?)
(except that it is too well spelled, a true flame of the millenium should have at least a couple of really bad typos and outright spelling ingorances...)

Saturday, March 02, 2002

And it doesnt help that one company stands astride the American radio scene like some Colossus pissing on listeners from a very great height. (They also own SFX Entertainment Group, which has deals with almost all medium and large performance spaces in US)

Interesting screed and analysis by Steve Albini on Negativeland's site. Article not dated. It is probably more than 3 years old. Still relevant in tone if not exact numbers. No wonder artists are pissed. Link: The Problem With Music (rather overbroad title?)

The Reg (now with a US edition) in fine rabid form on Sen. Hollings' "entertainment industry lapdog" attitude to hardware-cripplig legislation. Link: Senator brutalizes Intel rep for resisting CPRM

Friday, March 01, 2002

For those with a fat pipe connection (like me now!!) Do not try this at home. Link: Tugboat