Category: observations

Think Progress » Tony Snow On President Bush: ‘An Embarrassment,’ ‘Impotent,’ ‘Doesn’t Seem To Mean What He Says’:

Fox News’ Tony Snow is expected to be named White House Press Secretary. Here’s some of what he’s had to say about the President:

Wow. Some pithy, if not shrill, stuff here.

TV Turnoff Week 2006 : Adbusters.org:

TV Turnoff is no ordinary social ritual. Sure, it’s a statement against the dead-end couch culture. But when millions of people let the screen fade to black, they also help build the Media Carta movement – the human rights battle of our information age.

Fewer and fewer people control the media that shapes our worldview. And nowhere does this play out worse than on our televisions, where the corporate agenda reigns supreme. With TV Turnoff and the Media Carta movement, we’re fighting back – for the right of all citizens to access society’s most powerful forms of communication.

I’m sure there are some who find TV edifying or at least useful. I am not one of them. I know there are things worth watching but they are rarely available without costs (ie, a cable package that comes with a lot of other unwanted junk that supposedly justifies the cost but actually makes it not worth getting).

I can’t say I have watched enough to know if it’s good or bad, but from the conversations I hear and the pop-culture references I catch, I don’t think it’s better. And when I consider how much of the pop-culture japes come from the under 10 set, I’m even less impressed.

Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day – home:

Anyone, anywhere in the world, who makes a pinhole photograph on the last Sunday in April, can scan it and upload it to this website where it will become part of the annual Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day celebration’s online gallery.

Already scouting locations for this. Browsing through the galleries at f295 is quite worthwhile.

It’s the body weight challenge here at Thistle Dew. Two of us are competing to lose weight — 10 pounds for your host and 11 for his worthy competitor — and two are trying gain a few pounds — vegetarian children who have been programmed to avoid junk food are hard to fatten up.

My goal is a more reasonable 180, while my challenger is going for 125. I think if I knock off the essentials like chocolate-covered espresso beans — 22o calories per handful, 110 from fat — I stand a chance.

A Benjamin hangs in the balance for the senior staff: the lower division has a Jackson riding on their outcome.

We Both Go Down Together / The Decemberists / Paste Magazine Sampler 15
Jealous Guy / Roxy Music / Street Life – Greatest Hits
Four Seasons In One Day / Crowded House / Recurring Dream
– Wieder Sehr Breit / Simon Rattle/City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra / Symphony No.2 “Resurrection”
Hey Julie / Fountains Of Wayne / Welcome Interstate Managers
I’m A Man / Jeff Beck / Beckology (Disc 1)
…Dust / Elvis Costello / When I Was Cruel
All the Young Dudes / World Party / Clueless
Gone / U2 / Pop
“Adagio sostenuto” from Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp Minor,No. 2 “Moonlight” / Béla Fleck / Perpetual Motion

Pinhole Camera Kits from Pinhole Solutions:

The BULLDOG 5×4 Self Assembly Camera Kit

This is a new type of camera kit, it is laser cut out of MDF to very precise measurements and you just push out the different parts and glue them together. Also provided are all the metal components that allow you to have a rising front and lateral movement of the front panel. The Bulldog accepts standard double dark slides as well as a Polaroid back in the spring loaded back with a ground glass screen. This camera also accepts a standard Linhof lens panel for regular use with the appropriate lens but it comes complete with a double etched pinhole lens and a Brass dial exposure calculater so once made up it can be used straight away as a large format pinhole camera with a variable focal length, 50 mm to 200mm. The Bulldog is made in the UK and is on offer for £160 as a pinhole camera inc Exposure calculator and carriage.

Looks like US$285. A good deal, I think. But perhaps more than I have any use for, at the moment.

Canon 1Ds:

Tim Burton’s stop-motion movie The Corpse Bride was shot frame-by-frame using modified Canon 1Ds cameras, which were chosen after their image quality was compared with all available alternatives, including motion-picture film. The very subtle tones in that movie are a tribute to Canon electronics.

I haven’t seen the movie, just the trailer. Interesting.

Weblog Mover For Hire:

Moving from one blogging tool to another is a pain in the ass, whether you’ve outgrown Radio, Blogger, Movable Type, Manila or something else.

Moving from MovableType to WordPress was no big deal, and I suspect it’s still trivial. But far be it from me to get in the way of someone making a living.

My niece brought these to me on her last visit: I had read some of the later books in the series, but was content to read them in the order I found them rather than in what passes for chronological order. Can’t recommend them too highly, in or out of order.

“The Color of Magic: A Discworld Novel (A Discworld Novel)” (Terry Pratchett)

“The Light Fantastic: A Discworld Novel (A Discworld Novel)” (Terry Pratchett)

“Mort (Discworld, Book 4)” (Terry Pratchett)

“Equal Rites: A Discworld Novel (Discworld Novels)” (Terry Pratchett)

“Sourcery (Discworld Novels)” (Terry Pratchett)

“Guards! Guards! (Discworld, Book 8)” (Terry Pratchett)

“Wyrd Sisters (Discworld, Book 6)” (Terry Pratchett)

“Small Gods (Discworld, Book 13)” (Terry Pratchett)

Continue reading “recent reading”

The profs at Marginal Revolution sink further in my estimation, assuming they cite this being consistent with their opinions:
Ed Glaeser reviews Richard Florida:

But while I agree with much of Florida’s substantive claims about the real, I end up with doubts about his prescriptions for urban planning. Florida makes the reasonable argument that as cities hinge on creative people, they need to attract creative people. So far, so good. Then he argues that this means attracting bohemian types who like funky, socially free areas with cool downtowns and lots of density. Wait a minute. Where does that come from? I know a lot of creative people. I’ve studied a lot of creative people. Most of them like what most well-off people like—big suburban lots with easy commutes by automobile and safe streets and good schools and low taxes. After all, there is plenty of evidence linking low taxes, sprawl and safety with growth. Plano, Texas was the most successful skilled city in the country in the 1990s (measured by population growth)—it’s not exactly a Bohemian paradise.

So why do creative people live in New York, LA, London, Paris, San Francisco, Seattle? Because those places represent rich concentrations of talent, skill, resources, and the social infrastructure that lets innovation and creativity blossom. I just looked over the Plano, TX, chamber of commerce and wasn’t overwhelmed by what I found. Maybe not the best place to look . . .

I found one computer software/consulting shop, five ad design/graphics shops, one art/theater studio . . . maybe they don’t all sign up with the C of C?

As for “big suburban lots with easy commutes by automobile and safe streets and good schools and low taxes,” yeah, so what? Sounds to me that they like stuff — safe streets and good schools — that they’re not willing to pay for — low taxes.
As for sprawl, this sums it up for me: Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell. I won’t say I agree 100% with Kunstler’s gloomy view of the world, but nor do I think sprawl and everyone to his own 3000 sq ft mini-mansion on an acre of land 30 miles from their job is a great idea. You’d think people would figure out it’s not sustainable.
Continue reading “of what is growth indicative?”