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2/28/03:
This feels exactly like the end of a quarter in college as I've spent the past seven days on occupations work, art work, going to Rio work, trying to fit a blind date or two around it work - seven days and maybe six hours of sleep in there, and maybe only five occasions where I've actually eaten. But I'm not complaining. Most of this is good work. And if this were college, then today would be the day that I wake up body-aching and wandering off shower-less to a critique. But this isn't college, so instead of the critique, tonight is the opening of the first show I've done in almost two years, and instead of sitting through inane student suggestions of what I've should've done or ought to've done I get to get massively drunk with many many good old friends (this is my last weekend in Chicago) and hear some decent little rock bands filling the empty decibels around the big ol' photos. Nice stuff. So if you're reading this from Chicago (or vicinity - and by that I mean 'tween here and Detroit) and you find yourself up North in the Andersonville part of town, please stop by the Leadway, look at the art, and steal some food. And if you're reading this from farther away (and by that, I mean 'tween Spain and Italy), I'll hopefully have a little online presentation of mine and Renae's photos from the show. And with that I'm off to the weekend. I've a special challenge this weekend to go through all my negatives to find frames of four or five of my favourite place in Chicago and make some really nice little prints from them as representative gifts for my host family in Rio. After Monday March 5th, this little blognapse will be firing off from Brazil and I'm assuming it's less linking and more stories. Good stuff. Stay tuned... posted by jeremy @ 2:54 PM 2/25/03:hyde park, madrid, lahore, sydney, reykjavik, mexico city, buenos aires, bangkok, jakarta, barcelona, rio de janeiro, santo domingo, costa rica, guatemala city, london, istanbul, dublin, vienna, new dehli, kiev, hong kong, johannesburg, tel aviv, cape town, toronto, wellington, rome, taiwan, montevideo, la paz, stockholm, andalucia, kuala lampur, bern, sao paulo, antarctica, caracas, stuttgart, damascus, baghdad, raleigh, montreal, cairo, amsterdam, bombay, prague, thessaloniki,berlin, leipzig, rome, managua, lima, athens, paris, ankara, brussels, melbourne, canberra, lisbon, glasgow, santiago,ramallah, nice, ottawa, philadelphia, seattle, chicago, austin, davenport, las vegas, santa fe, los angeles, sacramento, detroit, durham, new york, houston, eugene, anchorage, lansing, san francisco, ann arbor A collection of press photos of February 15 peace demonstrations from each of the above cities. A long download, but a very moving wave of images, to be sure. posted by jeremy @ 2:30 PM 2/24/03:
posted by jeremy @ 3:56 PM :Some Michigan mentions [image]
So yeah, check those for more from Michigan than bad monuments to Iggy Pop or an oddly charismatic misogynist that you might've seen in a Grammy ceremony or two. posted by jeremy @ 3:32 PM 2/22/03:
Neither have I, but fortunately it doesn't make this spoof site from Idle Words any less hilarious. A sampling of alterative measures - 1. Beware of falling debris, especially if you have a really old computer. 2. Do not lie in smoking rubble. 3. When no one is looking, it's OK to curl up and cry. There's plenty of nice airplane safety-inspired images to sift through too. [via modernWorld]
posted by jeremy @ 2:03 PM :More toy camera images from old plastic Brownie Hawkeye and Diana cameras. [via conscientious]
See also Kodak Girls, a repository of semi-critical history and nostalgia for the "fashionable, young, vibrant and independent woman who... roamed the world freely taking pictures as she went."
[via dublog]
posted by jeremy @ 1:40 PM 2/21/03:
[via nosenseofPlace]
Kinky's readers include George W Bush and Bill Clinton; he's readily namedropped by past collaborators like Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and Iggy Pop; and another huge fan Billy Bob Thornton is thought by most to be the perfect star for a planned film about Kinky' life. It's nice to be refreshed with reminders that a.) in this dark era of half-baked GW("Asshole From El Paso" )Bush doctrines, there's plenty of true coolness leftover in big, wierd Texas and b.) that there's still some brilliant country music eschewing sugary Nashville packaging for a romp back through country's stoned and rambling mad days of yore. For more of what I'm referring to, try a sampling of QDK Record's kitschily packaged but well-selected comp. Yee-Haw: The other side of country (an easy top 20 entry). And of course Lee Hazlewood's less-overdone albums like Requiem for an almost lady (though I can't vouch for authenticity) fit this aesthetic perfectly.
posted by jeremy @ 5:26 PM :For some middle-american Onion-ness have a look at Wierd Harold - "Omaha's Finest Satire" - whose better offerings include "Ninth Circuit Court Of Appeals Rules Pledge Of Allegiance Discriminates Against Satan
posted by jeremy @ 5:25 PM :Adventures in Pencam - a quick burst of sweet little jpegs of wintery skies taken with a Pencam, my current source of great covetting. If any deep-pocketed altruists out there would like to give my broke ass the most perfect going away present in the world (with a Mac OSX driver), consider this post to be a big, clumsy hint. posted by jeremy @ 3:54 PM :
[via ghostRocket]
posted by jeremy @ 3:26 PM 2/20/03:More Pixies popping up after finally (almost tearfully) finding my long lost copy of Surfer Rosa - "Black's Tracks" - a very thorough and delightful Washington Post profile on Frank Black and his current late-30s vantage, sure to inform even the obsessive. [via noMatter]
posted by jeremy @ 10:16 PM :
Here's a particularly delightful read on savouring lovely words - Suave. It?s a word that is what it means. It?s a suave sound, a suave spelling, a cool, genteel, super-spy word...
Flounce. Say it while standing on the balls of your feet, and you?ll swear the room bobbles. It?s one of very few words I know with no hard sounds that nevertheless has impact... Consider the clever-bar raised some more. posted by jeremy @ 10:02 PM 2/18/03:
See also The Idea Barn with "A hundred ways & more to convince yourself life is better" featuring outsider art, Jack Chick parodies, roadside art, "eccentric environments" and loads more... posted by jeremy @ 3:58 PM :
[via cheesedip]
Apparently, this seemingly innocuous action has come with some police repercussions for some. These images are freely downloadable for repeating this quite moving public gesture in your own locale. Plus - posted by jeremy @ 3:56 PM :Chicago readers - Orfeu Negro - the 1959 Brazilian film that introduced the Bossa Nova sound to the world - also a landmark in that country's cinema history - will be showing at the Cultural Centre twice tonight. Say "hi" if you see me... Bonus - from Rootsworld, a quite detailed profile of Bahian singer Carlinhos Brown. posted by jeremy @ 2:59 PM :
There may be a lot going on in February, but it's the WORST month for cycling.
posted by jeremy @ 2:18 PM 2/16/03:Great stuff - Parking spots is a site devoted to quite charming photos of lots with well-placed toy cars and a good hand at perspective and proportion. Kenneth Josephson would be proud. [via superfluous] posted by jeremy @ 3:59 AM :From This Modern World
posted by jeremy @ 3:37 AM :Ahh, isn't this is a neat little GIF from Neal Pollack's site. posted by jeremy @ 3:30 AM :Dammit!... here goes again...
And if you're able to give me any feedback, I'd really appreciate it. Okay, I'm passing out now... tomorrow I'm going to go get a freakin' life! posted by jeremy @ 2:38 AM :'kay so it's about 11:30pm Saturday. While millions 'round the world were protesting the decisions of a small handful of American government elites, I spent another 18 hours on Betacorpo.net (making that a total of 3,495) but the basic structure is finally there, there's a couple of series of photos in the visual section and much more to come. Enjoy and please posted by jeremy @ 2:34 AM 2/15/03:In case you hadn't heard yet, Michael Moore will be on 60 Minutes this Sunday. posted by jeremy @ 2:34 PM 2/14/03:Gigantic!... And now for an October 2002 memory... From the (well-named) Vancourier - Death to the Pixies From the sleepy west of the woody east comes Wave of Mutilation-an exceptionally rockin' tribute to the late great Pixies. With 35 or so songs spanning the Bostonians' entire back catalogue, a chubby Black Francis lookalike screaming his lungs out and a chainsmoking bass player who would make Kim Deal proud, WOM are not just kids, to say the least. Clover Honey and My Project: Blue open up this trip down memory lane Oct. 5 [2002] at the Piccadilly Pub. Call 604-682-3221 for info. I went to this groovy little show on a short trip last fall to visit UBC, tired and cranky from earlier standing in line in Canadian customs for three hours!! (behind hunters checking in their guns, someone bringing in a caged animal, and an old man with a suitcase full of other people's tax forms - yeah I dunno). But relieving that strange tedium with one of the most fun shows I've ever been to (and six Coronas) did the cheering up trick. (I'm not quite old enough to have known about the Pixies when they were still around - in fact, I probably knew about the Breeders first (sorry)) Like it says in the afore-quoted article, Wave of Mutilation's singer has the perfect thick waist and shaved dome of Frank Black and the bass player is good enough to stand there with a cigarette clouding her face throughout. The band also recreates the Black and Deal's cheeky dialogue between songs and the sing-along crowd practically drowns out faux-Francis's well-studied squeals. A truly brilliant show. Why hasn't anyone else thought of this?If you're ever lucky enough to find yourself in Vancouver (or Victoria - apparently that's where WOM are from) look these guys up. Also well worth mentioning - the opening band that night - Clover Honey - were a brilliant bit of three sparkling personalities chugging through some boozey riff-rock. A few of their moodier Sleater-Kinney-ish songs were just kinda average, but the tracks that still smell like the garage are really quite good - check out this (free and permitted) MP3 Dirty Honey [1.3Mbs] or their quite strong EP Go Horse Go. posted by jeremy @ 2:29 PM :
posted by jeremy @ 2:13 PM :This graph illustrates the number of prosecutions for terrorism or espionage suspects from 1998-2002. Between 2000 and 2002 the number of prosecutions jumps from 75 to 1,208! An article from Tracreports describing the statistics sums up with the following - The question remains: with no indications that the number of terrorists and spies operating in the United States increased ten times in the last year, why was there a ten-fold increase in such prosecutions? The examination of the department data indicates that one big factor -- and this is hardly surprising -- was a basic change in how the government thinks about this area of enforcement. [Graph and article via
spittingImage] posted by jeremy @ 3:04 AM :[Okay, a break from the politics which this weblog was never supposed to be about] A dig back in the beta sack #2
My current chapter of long, lonely working hours and a budget-choked personal music embargo is still turning up some odd finds from that shit-pile of CDs tucked behind the stereo that either record stores never buy or I somehow can't sell but can't quite put out on the shelf for semi-public display. This week, aside from (thankfully!) turning up a misplaced loose copy of the Pixies' Surfer Rosa, I managed to curiously pop in Future Sound of London's Far out Son of Lung and the Rambling of a Madman to interesting effect. These four tracks, pulled from the far weaker full-length ISDN, are all a quite intersting montage of sack-rattling hip hop beats (cut -up in an immovable odd metre) and skankier bass sections all layered over with that familiarly shimmery synth texture that generally characterise FSOL. It's also nice, in retrospect, to recognise the iconic 23 Skidoo sample in the first track. I think I'll put this slim little number back on the shelf, but respectfully away from Fennesz or Slicker so as not to offend any visitor's piously updated tastes. Another interesting find - the first Stone Roses album that was shoved in the same ersatz jewel case as the Pixies - speaking of high school. I gave it a run through and "I am the Resurrection" is way more astounding than I remember. The rest of it lowers the CD to the status of coaster or hand mirror. And a final dig - Freescha's tearfully gorgeous unititled 6-track disc from 2000 - not because it has somehow lost relevance, but its packaging - an impossibly light blue snowflake disc in a transparent jewel case - causes the precious little thing to disappear when you stop thinking about it. Bonus: songs from This American Life which I'm sure uses Freescha to great effect. The site lists real audio tracks of zoned-out faves like Ida, American Analog Set, and Air. posted by jeremy @ 1:06 AM :As long as I'm admitting that I've been spending waaaaay too much time at Nerve.com lately, take an enlightening idiomatic gander at "Foreign Slanguage" for useful lists of utterly offensive expressions in Dutch and French. A personal favourite - English - a pious person. Dutch - zo fijn als gemalen poppenstront Translation - as fine as ground doll's shit posted by jeremy @ 12:26 AM 2/13/03:Streamer and Peercast - P2P Internet radio broadcasting that dodge the recent royalty restrictions placed on Internet radio streaming [via noMatter] . See also, Millions of Flying Insects
on the unforseen banality of rapidly proliferating web media. posted by jeremy @ 1:58 AM :From unitedforpeace.org - emergency anti-war actions for the day that the US attacks Iraq. posted by jeremy @ 1:39 AM :MidEastLog - daily posts from an American peace activist currently in Bagdad. [via tomTomorrow]
posted by jeremy @ 1:19 AM 2/10/03:Oops,... that last post was supposed to say - What are you doing this weekend? posted by jeremy @ 4:02 PM :posted by jeremy @ 3:45 PM :Could anything be more sad or true than
posted by jeremy @ 3:42 PM 2/8/03:The term may have its origins in modern Tarot: it appears on the card of The Fool. It signifies a certain blessed carelessness, a freedom from inhibition that sparks and inspires creativity. If you possess it, as visionary artists often do, than you too may be one of the Divine Nonchalants. BUT BEWARE: like any other gift, it comes with a price. The special power of Divine Nonchalance is not found on the card of the King, or of the Sun... it is found on the card of The Fool. Clowns, wise guys, drunks and musicians are the salty sort of down-trodden folk who usually possess this super power in spades. And of course; cartoon characters. This special breed of people all share the wonderful attribute. It's a shame they'll never quite know what to do with it. Find out more on the various public space acivities of Oakland's Nonchalance Collective using this afore-quoted sensibility to sustain a viable DIY street culture within their often overlooked city. posted by jeremy @ 2:40 PM :I finally recieved my free trial issue of Readymade, a quarterly magazine wherein both professional designers and industrious amateurs write in various step-by-step instructions for making highly useful household items out of all the crap you'd otherwise throw out. Go get your free issue too. Quite relevant to me is a whole centre section on furniture made out of corrugated cardboard (the lab that I work at throws out at least ten 40" paper boxes a week). Maybe it's just my winter mood, but I'm already imagining groups of hip young urbanites, settling into cozy late-20s domesticity, hosting Saturday afternoon craft recyclng parties to go with Friday potlucks at the bar and Sunday evening knitting sessions. Maybe a protracted recession won't be all bad. posted by jeremy @ 2:26 PM 2/7/03:From the New York Sun (which I'd never really heard of before today, but sounds to be a lot like local Hollinger-owned tabloid the Chicago Sun-Times) - Comfort and the Protesters - speciously calls for using consitutional language against treason for supressing and prosecuting any civil disobedience against war on Iraq. It also goes far in twisting Thomas Friedman's views on civil liberties and quotes from Saddam Hussein's recent interview to cast American dissent as an asset to Hussein - a re-articulation of the dangerously simplistic "either with us or against us" part of the Bush doctrine. Related - Spinsanity's commentary on the aformentioned editorial and, from Salon, survey results that show large numbers of Americans answering that most of the 11 September terrorists were Iraqi. posted by jeremy @ 11:01 PM :A message from the Department of Overwhelming Ambivalence - An Army for Sustainability
Two key points in this article that most of us needn't bother disputing - (1.) when the US military points in a particular direction, it goes there immediately and (2.), as the Interstate highway-based organisation of this country will clearly attest, where the US military space goes, so goes its civilian space. As I read this, the little unattributable factoid that I have stuck in my head is that the US, which consumes 25-30% of the world's fossil fuels, splits these almost in half between military use and civilian automobiles. Other uses like heat or plastics create only a slim fraction (please comment if I happen to be way off). So why am I not encouraged? posted by jeremy @ 4:03 PM :This week's state of the Beta Allo all.... The author of this humble little blognode is finally second-winded and quickly, frantically tagging-scripting-tagging-scripting away at Betacorpo.net and really seriously thinks that it will finally be ready this weekend (though intended to be ready two weekends ago). The domain name and the new imagemap at the top will finally be integrated and making good sense with a nice smattering of portfolios and writing for your digital enjoyment with more to come. Any readers who happen to know me in real life know full well that you can expect me to be late for my own funeral. Why should my damn website be any different?posted by jeremy @ 3:41 PM 2/6/03:
American place names have supplanted offerings like Jade Dragon Apartments and East Lake Villa, reflecting Chinese consumers' increasingly Western aspirations. "Especially in Beijing, it's a kind of fashion and if you don't chose a Western concept right now you're really out of it," said Victor Yuan, whose Horizon Market Research advises developers on how to set their buildings apart. In surveys, his company found that 70 percent of developers were emphasizing Western style as a marketing tool.... Landscaped backyards sport barbecues, fountains and kidney-shaped pools. Girls' rooms are decorated with beach sets from Old Navy. Even though fire trucks are nonexistent here in the Chinese countryside, the toddler's room in one home is furnished in a fire engine theme. So far, Orange County is a suburb without suburbia, surrounded by villages and fields. But that is sure to change. It is less than 10 miles from the site of the 2008 Olympic Games, and the area is scheduled for rapid development. Already, two newly completed six-lane superhighways that run nearby are giving it more of that L.A. feel, with just one difference: there is no traffic yet.
[Thanks, Renae] I can't help but be reminded of the Detroit suburbs where I grew up where vapid auto commuters would go home to their "country estates" with oddly Anglophilic names like "Nottingham Village" and "Buckingham Manor." So is the new empire rising from the displaced tropes of the old? posted by jeremy @ 1:43 AM 2/2/03:
Some witty remarks to add to your arsenal - JJ: Sweet Jesus! Something wicker this way comes! Does anyone have a flame thrower? (or at least a vacuum.) JJ: If you have a chair that has become so disgusting nobody wants to sit on it - kindly ask it to leave and don't ever invite it over to another party again. MB: This looks like a tag sale in Alabama. Whose garage is this? Tanya Hardings?
posted by jeremy @ 12:39 PM :God Bless Americana - a traveling celebration of kitsch featuring vintage readymade slides found in thrift shops and flea markets. The site isn't much unfortunately, but a slide-of-the-week e-mail list is hardly a bad thing. posted by jeremy @ 12:22 PM :Some relevant wisdom from today's Doonesbury. posted by jeremy @ 12:01 PM |
portfolios:jeremy wellsla mujer gallinapalomarQ:
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From Monday's New York Times - 
![[image]](http://www.kinkyfriedman.com/gifs/author.gif){kind=link}
