August 2008
34 posts
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2008-8-24) →
Bloc Party
CSS
Cat Power
Girl Talk
Róisín Murphy
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
Zooma-Zooma-Zooma? Hmm. →
The source of all that is alt, Hipster Runoff, said that “The only reason people like Paper Planes is cuz of the gun shots” and I agree, but it seems not everyone does. A guy called Josh Jones has covered the song, and there isn’t a gun-shot or cash-register sound to be heard! He’s replaced them with ‘Zooma zooma’ and a very apathetic ‘boom boom’.
...
Fellow Traveller →
How long have I been on the mountain? I’m not sure, to tell the truth. Many days, certainly. Most likely weeks. And time isn’t the only thing I find problematic. I’m wrestling with all the big questions. Meaning. Identity. I’m a foreigner, which may have something to do with it. I’m a guest at the State Hotel on the summit of Queer Stone Mountain. My room number is...
On Ways of Dealing with Tripping in Public →
My father died in fire. And his father. My aunt, my father’s sister, died in fire. We had a cockatoo, but it died in fire. It has become apparent that my family are prone to burning.
Nicely written piece by Crispin Bent.
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Remix of Flaming Lips’ Yeah Yeah Yeah Song...
MABELs and ANABELs
Back in June I linked to pieces from the Observer Music Monthly covering what they hesitatingly referred to as World Music. They, and others, seem to be aware of the term’s usefulness, but regard it as being far too wide-reaching to do justice to the artists it seeks to encompass.
The Believer, in their 2008 Music Issue, present the terms MABEL and ANABEL to refer, respectively, to...
Hollywood or Bust?
I came across two completely unrelated articles in my reading just now, but both carry what’s essentially the same message when it comes to releasing software products. Aaron Schwarz takes issue with 37Signals’ recommended ”Hollywood launch”:
you release a few hints about your product to build buzz, slowly revealing more and more until the big day, when you throw open the...
1 tag
Der Baader Meinhof Komplex →
In order to attend a preview screening this week of Baader Meinhof, journalists had to sign a contract with terms that, despite both companies’ protestations, can only be described as unprecedented. The film opens on September 25; if a journalist writes about the movie or even speaksabout it with a third party - friends, colleagues, what have you - before September 17, a fine will be...
Vitamins →
I had a job and Patti didn’t. I worked a few hours a night for the hospital. It was a nothing job. I did some work, signed the card for eight hours, went drinking with the nurses. After a while Patti wanted a job. She said she needed a job for her self-respect. So she started selling multiple vitamins and minerals door-to-door.
For a while she was just another girl who went up and down blocks in...
Intimacy →
There was a time when album releases were like seasons. We would sit around and think, “Oh, the leaves are falling from the trees – isn’t it time for a new Radiohead album?” And, indeed, there would be some rumours, a few interviews, a press release and, six months later, a CD to buy in the shops. These days, however, album releases are like El Niño-skewed weather. Clear skies,...
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2008-8-17) →
Diplo & Santogold
CSS
The Presets
M83
Lykke Li
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
People Who Don't Like Noel Gallagher →
Noel Gallagher said I should ‘learn three chords on the guitar and go write a tune’ so I just wanted him to know that I’m actually taking guitar lessons from Jay-Z right now and he’s already taught me both chords to Wonderwall.
Mark Ronson joins the list of people who dislike, and who are disliked by, Noel Gallagher.
Testing OMEGA's Timekeepers →
OMEGA touch pads and starting blocks are part of an integrated timing system capable of recording times to the nearest 1/1000th of a second. However, because it is not possible to build swimming pools in which each lane is guaranteed to be precisely the same length, Olympic and World Records are still recorded to the nearest 1/100th of a second.
A look at how the time-recording pads placed in...
Malcontents Need Not Apply →
To put a smiley face on its image during the Olympics, the Chinese government set aside three “protest zones” in Beijing. Officials explained that so long as protesters obtained approval in advance, demonstrations would be allowed. So I decided to test the system.
14 Ways to Use Twitter Politely →
Technically, this isn’t an article about the things Twitter does, it’s an article about the ways in which you can accidentally annoy people with Twitter. Should you choose to avoid Twitter, that’s fine. Enjoy your coffee. Ours is cold now because we were photographing the latté art to share with all our friends, but you can drink yours in solitude.
Margaret Mason at TMN on some ways you can Tweet...
It's the great taste of risk →
I think children are idiots. But even I find that statement a tad unfair and sweeping. I used to have a spud gun when I was a kid. In case you’re not familiar with that concept either, it was a small metal pistol that fired chunks of potato. Not once did I aim the potato at anyone. Or try to deep-fry the gun.
The amusing Charlie Brooker, on the Germans’ decision to ban Kinder Eggs, and...
Internet Abbreviations that Never Gained Currency →
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2008-8-10) →
Diplo & Santogold
CSS
The Presets
M83
Simian Mobile Disco
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
The Driest of Tinder →
The situation in Georgia, in quite a lot of detail.
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Unbelievable, really. →
Petit was a teenager in Paris browsing magazines in a dentist’s office when he saw a rendering of the then-unbuilt World Trade Center. He was electrified. He was already an obsessed magician, juggler, and high wire artist. To an aspiring tightrope walker, the idea of two 110-story towers, side by side, suggested only one thing. Petit drew a line between the image of the two towers. All...
What would Principal Belding say? →
Saved by the Bell is being revisited and this time it’s all about extra-curricular activities. Dustin Diamond, or to give him his real name, Screech, is writing a tell-all book about the show and is promising to leave nothing out. Details are sparse but tales of “sexual escapades among cast members, drug use and hardcore partying” are promised.
I don’t think I’ll be...
Go! Team Free Stuff →
In exchange for an email address, you’re given access to download a number of tracks including their first EP, Get It Together; some remixed tracks of theirs and some tracks they’ve remixed.
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Why do we capitalize the word “I”? →
So what effect has capitalizing “I” but not “you” — or any other pronoun — had on English speakers? It’s impossible to know, but perhaps our individualistic, workaholic society would be more rooted in community and quality and less focused on money and success if we each thought of ourselves as a small “i” with a sweet little dot.
Hmm. Possibly just an attempt to get the word Majascule twice into...
The Rain Before It Falls
‘Your favourite sort of rain?’ said Thea. I remember that she was frowning, and pondering these words and then announced: ‘Well, I like the rain before it falls.’ Rebecca smiled at that, but I said (very pedantically, I suppose): ‘Before it falls, though, darling, it isn’t really rain.’ Thea said: ‘What is it, then?’ And I explained:...
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2008-8-3) →
CSS
The Presets
Ratatat
Girl Talk
Bonde do Role
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
