Silly people

Well, didn't take me long to find misinformation within the new Windows Live Local. Apparently Brucemore is now the Hoover Birthplace national historic trust which, as I recall, isn't even in Cedar Rapids. They aren't even in the same county.

Google and Yahoo got it right.

-Brandon

Southpark me

http://spstudio.elena.hosting-friends.de/sp-studio.swf

I don't know why. Just because.

-Brandon

Discoveries

I woke from a very early sleep at about 9pm today with a huge cramp in my left calf. This is not a pleasant feeling. I spent a few seconds trying to figure out what was going on, and the next minute or so swearing as I tried to will the charlie horse away.

A coworker lent me The Mothers of Invention - Freak Out. I haven't listened to much Frank Zappa. What I had before this I didn't care for. I didn't hate it, I just couldn't get into it. This album has made me curious again. Very wierd, and very fun.

-Brandon

Wow

Mitch Clem, author of Nothing Nice to Say has made a really outstanding strip on the sexism still rampant in todays music.

-Brandon

Soundtrack of Life... Again

Because I'm bored and I listen to different stuff then when I did this months ago I've remade a "Soundtrack to my life."

Your Life: The Soundtrack
Opening credits:	The Books - Take Time
Waking up:	The Books - Tokyo
Average day:	Brian Eno and David Byrne - America is Waiting
First date:	Prefuse 73 - One Word Extinguisher
Falling in love:	Blur - Sing
Love scene:	Jamiroquai - Virtual Insanity
Fight scene:	Death From Above 1979 - Cold War
Breaking up:	Devotchka - Such a Lovely Thing
Getting back together:	Scissor Sisters - Get it Get it
Secret love:	The Herbalizer - Song for Mary
Life's okay:	Broken Social Scene - 7/4 (Shoreline)
Mental breakdown:	Pilotdrift - Elephant Island
Driving:	Hot Hot Heat - In Cairo
Learning a lesson:	The Go! Team - Friendship Update
Deep thought:	Fiery Furnaces - Quay Cur
Flashback:	Jon Brion - Phone Call
Partying:	LCD Soundsystem - Daft Punk is Playing at my House
Happy dance:	The Go! Team - Feel Good by Numbers
Regreting:	Super Furry Animals - Run! Christian, Run!
Long night alone:	Madlib - Montara
Death scene:	Jon Brion - Over Our Head
Closing credits:	The Moldy Peaches - Jorge Regula
Take this survey | Find more surveys You've been totally Bzoink*d

-Brandon

Ze Frank is a funny funny man.

Love Letter to Condi
Dramatization of Spam
Valentine's day monologue
Cause
Pre-date confidence booster
Design Rejection Therapy
Important Life Lessons

-Brandon

Fiery Furnaces Kick Ass

I don't care what everybody else says, Rehearsing my Choir is out-fucking-standing. On par with Blueberry Boat. The Fiery Furnaces have my complete and total respect. They are probably my current favorite still active band.

-Brandon

I just lost the game.

1. To know The Game is to play The Game. One can never stop playing.
2. To think of The Game is to lose The Game.
3. When one loses The Game, one must announce to all present that one has lost. (For example, "I just lost The Game!", or "I thought about The Game." or simply, "I lost.")

I'm posting this everywhere I can. You can't not play the game.

-Brandon

Well. Public support for the president is lower then it has ever been before. What's caused the loss of support? Is it his awful foreign policy? No. Is it the massive defecit? No. Is it budget cuts for vital domestic programs? No. Is it his bigoted and backwards religious views? No. It's rising gas prices and natural disasters, two things he has little or no control over. People are so fucking stupid.

-Brandon

Operation Eden

This blog has beautiful photgraphy and commentary of post-Katrina Lousiana and Missippi. I'm reminded of a complaint from Steven about how he was bothered by someone in his class remarking at the beauty of Katrina destruction photos. I couldn't remark on the quality of those photos, as I wasn't there, but if they were beautiful I can't imagine why it shouldn't be talked about. I'm always sort of bothered by the idea of any sort of art, statement or joke being "too soon." If something is pretty, interesting, or funny, it deserves the credit for being so. Regardless of context these photographs are outstanding. If anything their association with the disaster adds to their effect.

More photos by Clayton Cubitt are available here.

-Brandon

Mocking Jack Chick never gets old.

Hilarious anti-goth Chick tract parody.
http://www.epsilonminus.com/godhatesthescene/
If you don't know who Jack Chick is, you should probably check out some of his mind numbingly ignorant comics. Some (like myself) find them hilarious. Others are merely shocked that this sort of thing exists.

A few suggestions for Chick newbies
-Good deeds don't get you into heaven.
-Muslims are damned as well.
-Apparently hell isn't one big party.
-Public education is damning children to hell as well.
-Those who don't support Israel are damned as well. Apparently the reason that so many African nations are in such dire situations is becaue they don't support Israel. Supposedly England is now in danger of the same fate.

-Brandon

Theme Punks

I first discovered Cory Doctorow because I saw Eastern Standard Tribe (or read it online here) on the recent arrivals rack at my local library. I grabbed it purely because the cover was well designed and I've had good luck judging books by their covers (it provides a good way to find new authors). It was pretty good. The central story wasn't great but some of the sociological and technical ideas involved within were really clever. I finished it and quickly forgot his name, until I got hooked on BoingBoing. Boing Boing is one of many blogs out there that regurgitate links they recieve. It is also one of the more popular blogs of this sort. It's a hub of sorts so other blogs that do exactly the same thing (myself included) can re-re-link what they liked. Cory Doctorow is 1/3 of BoingBoing and provides a strong copyleft viewpoint in a lot of his posts. Most of his work is available online, as well as in print and he allows people to do other projects based off of, and using his work (something I have a lot of respect for). I've since read other works by him, and it's my opinion that he is one of a few thought provoking Science Fiction authors left. While most Sci Fi authors write mindless action with little of the inteligence of the stories published decades ago, Cory Doctorow is writing thought provoking clever works, and better yet, he makes them all freely available online.

There was recently a link on BoingBoing to a novella he has been writing for Salon. Themepunks is a really good speculative Sci Fi at the next big revolution in business. There is some interesting comparison between the decline of industrialism and its effect on communities (primarily Detroit) and a possible similiar decline of technological service based economy. The likilihood of all this is debatable, but that is hardly the point. It's an intelligent, and entertaining look at the near future. The nature of the story probably won't have much timelessness unless it proves prophetic, but it is very interesting in the now. Read it if you have the time. I'm eagerly awaiting the next installment.

-Brandon

Pity me

If it turns out I'm wrong, and there truly is a God. The fucker's gonna pay. Any intelligent being who would create something as vile as the common cold deserves no worship. I'll hunt God down myself and make the bastard taste my snot. Due punishment for being forced to hack up phlegm all day. He's gonna rue the day I die and he has to deal with me.

On a slightly related note. I don't know if it really helps my immune system or if it is simply hippy propaganda, but Naked Juice is goddamn delicious. Why has it taken this long for someone to figure out how to bottle a smoothie? Sure it's a tad pricey, but it is totally worth it. Plus they list the ingredients and measurements to make your own! Talk about unconventional marketing.

-Brandon

Brandon is a Nerd

Now that my money flow is more stable. I've been using some of my spare cash from tip sharing to keep up on some comic series. Most recently, Brian Michael Bendis has single handedly dragged my attention back to the Marvel Universe. This is something that hasn't happened since Middle School. Alias was so well done, I had to continue with Pulse, and when I learned he was also writing Ultimate Spiderman (My childhood favorite Superhero) I knew I had to pick that up too. I soon learned he'd written a little Ultimate XMen as well. From there, I've become immersed in the ultimate universe. I'm working on catching up with the Ultimates (I've read the first 13 and am already in love with it). Because the Ultimate universe is more directed towards older audiences (About time Marvel!), the author's personal politics tend to shine through to their series a bit more. Nick Fury is made into a respectable figure of sorts, and the author seems to advocate the policing of global affairs through whatever force is necessary. The contradictory nature of Professor Xaviar's pacifism through violent enforcement is focused upon heavily in XMen. Professor X's character is far less saintly then he's appeared in the past. It's a very nice touch.

Outside of Marvel, I've also discovered Powers, after my dive into Marvel's ultimate universe. This is another Brian Michael Bendis series and it makes his work in the Marvel universe look pathetic. Powers is a great story with simple cartoony artwork that I absolutely love. The series frequently uses very original and clever layouts (something I've found myself noticing more and more the past couple years). This is definitely work to aspire to.

I'm also hooked on Robert Kirkman's "Walking Dead." I love zombie horror when it's done right. The first two Romero movies are perfect. A great zombie film should focus on the psychological and social status of the survivors, not the mindless masses outside. Kirkman does this wonderfully. He uses a fairly predictable formula of terrible disaster followed by wonderful miracle which eventually leads to the next terrible disaster. It works well to keep the characters psychologically damaged enough to change, but hopeful enough to carry on. His main character is undergoing some interesting changes in ethics as he becomes more and more responsible for the group of survivors. My only complaint about Kirkman's writing is that he relies far too much and totally improbable occurrences but it is unimportant enough to not detract from the story.

Bill Willingham's "Fables" is another great series. It's the story of a bunch of characters out of European folklore who have fled their homeland and set up a small community in New York. Don't let the fairy tale characters put you off. This is not a series for kids. It's very dark and deals commonly with violence, sex, and various other taboo subject matters. The story is usually unpredictable, and even when you can see it coming, the process of getting there is entertaining enough to make it not matter. My biggest complaint is the issues are just too damn short.

Warren Ellis's "Desolation Jones" has only had three issues so far. Releases are slow and issues are short, which is very VERY frustrating because this series is so well done. Warren Ellis has a sick sense of humor that has yet to get old. Transmetropolitan was great, and "Global Frequency" makes for fun and short adventure Sci. Fi. His newest series, "Fell", is creepy, surreal, and hilarious, plus each issue is designed to stand alone. The first issue should still be on the shelves. I am quickly coming to believe that whatever this guy touches is gold.

-Brandon

Comments

I'm turning word verification on comments backoff . It's annoying and stupid. I'm sure you are smart enough to figure out what's spam and what isn't if you happen to catch it before I do.-Brandon

Musical Brandon

It has been a while since I've discussed music here, and since I am always listening to something when I'm home (and sometimes when I'm out), it seems an appropriate topic.

I've been listening to the "Best Best of Fela Kuti" quite a bit lately. I'm sort of ashamed that I haven't discovered this apparently legendary musician sooner. This stuff is great. Nice jazzy instrumentals with pretty repetitive vocals that add to the rhythm and melody.

I've also been thoroughly enjoying the "Stubbs the Zombie" soundtrack. It's a mixture of 50's and 60's bubblegum pop songs covered by an assortment of Indie and alternative bands. It's really fun, particularly if you are like me and love covers.

I'm also enjoying the new Atmosphere album. It's a huge improvement over his "7even's Travels". The backing music is great, and the lyrics are very enjoyable.

During a semi-recent Atmosphere show I attended I got to see two other MC's (opening) who I am also currently listening to heavily. Blueprint and RJD2's collaboration "8 Million Stories" as "Soul Position" is outstanding. Fun and clever lyrics and beautiful instrumentals make for a near perfect album. And POS's album "Ipecac Neat" has some more entertaining Hip Hop. A few song's lyrics fall flat, but for the most part, the CD is very entertaining.

Wolf Parade's debut album "Apologies to Queen Mary" is amazing. The vocals remind me of early Modest Mouse. This is backed by complex keyboard dominated instrumentals. I hope to hear more from these guys in the future.

Danger Doom's (Danger Mouse and MF Doom) "The Mouse and the Mask;" Adult Swim themed album is also very good. Surprisingly, the theme doesn't grow old and the dialogue between songs has yet to grow old. I'd say that Meatwad's cover of MF Doom's "MMM Food" is downright adorable.

-Brandon

Diesel Sweeties - 50 states, 50 slogans

http://www.dieselsweeties.com/archive.php?s=1310

That is all.

-Brandon

Presidents of the United States of America apparently still exist.

The minds behind "Peaches" "Lump" and my personal favorite "Kitty" have released a music video made entirely with camera phones. The video looks awesome. Pity the song is kinda mediocre. It isn't terrible, just mediocre. Actually, in retrospect, so was all their other music.

-Brandon

I know Jack Thompson was nuts, but not this nuts.

Apparently Jack Thompson ran against Janet Reno for district attorney of Wade County in 1988. During his campaign he claimed that Reno was a closer lesbian and because of this she was apparently a prime target for blackmail and thus couldn't be trusted. He also made the claim that she was suffering from some form of "Parkinsons dementia"that made her act crazy and play steel drums in her office at night with a pitchfork.
CRAZY!

The wikipedia article on Thompson has all sorts of fun tidbits as well.

As well as propagating the "video games made me do it" defense, Thompson has also attempted to predict which violent crimes will be caused by specific video games; in the Washington Sniper case, he was the first individual to suggest to the press that video games may have been the source of the sniper's skills, a conjecture vindicated by the discovery of a ubiquitous PlayStation in the van used as a "mobile hideout" by the two men responsible. Dateline NBC reported that Malvo "trained" extensively on the Xbox game Halo. Because of this report, Thompson believes that "Microsoft should be sued and held liable for money damages by the victims of the Beltway Snipers." [6] It is important to note, however, that John Allen Muhammad was a former soldier with significant rifle training, as predicted by the police, and that Lee Boyd Malvo's shooting skills could have easily been the result of instruction by Muhammad.

I remember being outraged that anyone honestly believed you could learn to shoot from a FPS game at the time. I was not aware of who had started the rumors.

In one of a series of "video game violence" interviews by CBS, he compared Doug Lowenstein of the Entertainment Software Association to Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels, although the response has since been edited [12]. Months thereafter, Thompson instead compared Lowenstein to Adolf Hitler, in a wordy personal attack nominally veiled as an open letter [13]. In the June 2005 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly, Thompson was interviewed and again discussed Lowenstein, this time implying he was worse than Saddam Hussein.

On July 22, 2005, after the Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas case was settled, Thompson sought after The Sims 2, citing, oxymoronically, that "This is no different than what is in San Andreas, although worse.", due to the availability of a mod that removes the censorship fields from all characters when they are nude, which he says allows "pedophiles" to see computer-rendered nude children [15]. In another instance, he claimed "Sims 2, the latest version of the Sims video game franchise...contains, according to video game news sites, full frontal nudity, including nipples, penises, labia, and pubic hair." He added an accusation that Electronic Arts (EA) and Maxis were cooperating with the mod community to "peddle vile smut to minors."

In reality, even with the "blur" removed, The Sims 2 contains no such details; the characters have no visible reproductive organs or pubic hair whatsoever, similar to children's dolls, and female models lack both nipples and areolae. Thompson further accused EA and Will Wright of supporting adult custom content specifically. In reality, Will Wright has historically supported all user-created game content universally, on the principle of endorsing personal creativity, innovation, and personalization. Although there are user-created content packages available on the Internet many would consider adult material, they are neither created nor specifically endorsed by Maxis or EA and thus are not a factor in the ESRB's rating of the software.

Although I was aware of this. What I wasn't aware of was that his entire attack against Sims began with a GTA modder deliberatly misinforming him to see if he would act on the information without doing his own research. Apparently he did. He later did an interview with Chatterbox radio (a show I remember listening to) in which he retracts some of his statements but still claims that the Sims is somehow worse then GTA. He goes on to say that by supporting a mod community, gamemakers lose their rights to defend their copyright.

* He has been commonly accused of, and many times proven to, use half-truths and misinformation to persuade others to accept his views.
* He frequently utilizes ad hominem attacks and slanderous "low blows" against those who disagree with him, as well as simply insulting his detractors, be they politely-worded or otherwise, with a variety of invectives.
* He frequently will either imply or blatantly insult those that express dissenting opinions as being mentally ill, mentally deficient, brain damaged, or on drugs.
* Accusations by him that those he disagrees with suffer from Tourette's syndrome, made without any substantiating proof or even the suggested condition's relevancy to the subject being discussed, are especially common.
* He has ignored individuals who point out factual errors or misstatements made by him and who supply substantiating proof or references, or has responded with the above described behaviors while intentionally failing to acknowledge or respond to the individual's mention of his (Thompson's) errors.
* He has provoked several people who have e-mailed him by telling them that they should enter treatment facilities. When they respond to his comments, he invokes the protection of the Florida Cyberstalker Law and threatened legal action against them. He will not hesitate to threaten legal action against people replying to negative and often hateful emails which he himself sent in the first place.
* He often invokes broad negative stereotypes against gamers in general. For example, in an e-mail correspondence with Scott Ramsoomair, he questions: "HOnestly [sic], are all of you gamers on drugs, or what?"[23]. In a correspondence with Ryan Acheson (Gaming writer for The Horror Channel’s Dread Central), where Ryan Acheson is supporting Thompson's intentions to make games rate M inaccesible to children, he identifies "gamers' ideas" as "the latest oxymoron"[24].

And apparently buddy icons can be percieved as death threats.

All this I've found recently from reading about Jack Thompson's latest offer to donate $10,000 to a charity of Paul Eibeler's (Take-Two Interactive) choice if someone makes a game where you play as a father who goes on a murdering spree of gaming figureheads to avenge the violent death of his family.

The video game industry says Sticks and stones can break my bones, but games can never hurt me. Fine. I have a modest proposal for the video game industry. I'll write a check for $10,000 to the favorite charity of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc's chairman, Paul Eibeler - a man Bernard Goldberg ranks as #43 in his book 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America - if any video game company will create, manufacture, distribute, and sell a video game in 2006 like the following:

Osaki Kim is the father of a high school boy beaten to death with a baseball bat by a 14-year-old gamer. The killer obsessively played a violent video game in which one of the favored ways of killing is with a bat. The opening scene, before the interactive game play begins, is the Los Angeles courtroom in which the killer is sentenced "only" to life in prison after the judge and the jury have heard experts explain the connection between the game and the murder.

Osaki Kim (O.K.) exits the courtroom swearing revenge upon the video game industry whom he is convinced contributed to his son's murder. "Vengeance is mine, I will repay" he says. And boy, is O.K. not kidding.

O.K. is provided in his virtual reality playpen a panoply of weapons: machetes, Uzis, revolvers, shotguns, sniper rifles, Molotov cocktails, you name it. Even baseball bats. Especially baseball bats.

O.K. first hops a plane from LAX to New York to reach the Long Island home of the CEO of the company (Take This) that made the murder simulator on which his son's killer trained. O.K. gets "justice" by taking out this female CEO, whose name is Paula Eibel, along with her husband and kids. "An eye for an eye," says O.K., as he urinates onto the severed brain stems of the Eibel family victims, just as you do on the decapitated cops in the real video game Postal2.

O.K. then works his way, methodically back to LA by car, but on his way makes a stop at the Philadelphia law firm of Blank, Stare and goes floor by floor to wipe out the lawyers who protect Take This in its wrongful death law suits. "So sue me" O.K. spits, with singer Jackson Brown's 1980's hit Lawyers in Love blaring.

With the FBI now after him, O.K. keeps moving westward, shooting up high-tech video arcades called GameWerks. "Game over," O.K. laughs.

Of course, O.K. makes the obligatory runs to virtual versions of brick and mortar retailers Best Buy, Circuit City, Target, and Wal-Mart to steal supplies and bludgeon store managers and cash register clerks. "You should have checked kids' IDs!"

O.K. pushes on to Los Angeles. He must get there by May 10, 2006. That is the beginning of "E3" -- the Electronic Entertainment Expo -- the Super Bowl of the video game industry. O.K. must get to E3 to massacre all the video game industry execs with one final, monstrously delicious rampage.

How about it, video game industry? I've got the check and you've got the tech. It's all a fantasy, right? No harm can come from such a game, right? Go ahead, video game moguls. Target yourselves as you target others. I dare you.

What a jackass. I hope someone makes it.

And one last amusing link before I take off.
http://croqaudile.com/?article_id=10299

-Brandon

SPOILERS!!!

At the end of Serenity, Captain Kirk dies.

-Brandon

Ha!

Nothing warms my heart like a chance to shout "I fucking told you so.".
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/printFriendly/0,,1-2-1798944-2,00.html

On a totally unrelated subject. National Geographics Wildcam is awesome. I've been sitting by my pc, reading, with this running and looking over from time to time. It's such a cool idea, and there's something captivating about watching and listening to it.

-Brandon

Lackluster conclusion to wierd IM

[18:57] SNRemoved: im srry.im tryin to find starses adresses.i dont have many friends and i wnt some stars as friends.u dont know me so i dnt wnt u to think im hacking or anything.i did read ur link.srry for any inconveinince
[18:57] *** Auto-response sent to SNRemoved: If you are the guy who keeps asking if I am from some Disney Channel TV show I have a message for you at the link below.

Feel free to respond here or on my blog. I eagerly await your answer.
http://tsgarp.blogspot.com/2005/09/message-to-guy-who-thinks-i-am-from.html

Ok, apparently he hasn't made an attempt to improve his grammar. If anything, it's now worse.

I can't decide whether the message itself is sad or hilarious. Apparently he really is randomly messaging people in the hopes that they are one of the few stars he is looking for. Listen kid, this is not the way to go about finding friends. The internet should not be your primary source for social interaction. Messaging strangers in the hope that you can become friends with them is not only foolish, its dangerous. If you have trouble finding friends in real life, it probably has something to do with how you act. When I was in elementary school I didn't have many friends either. At the time, I thought it was something to do with poor luck or the world being unfair. In reality I either didn't socialize with people, or when I did, it was me having emotional outbursts that either led to me being mocked, or avoided. If you don't have friends, try talking to people in real life. No one is going to take you seriously if you just search randomly for friends online. And no one online is going to take you seriously if you can't write properly.

-Brandon

A message to the guy who thinks I am from "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody"

I've received a few perplexing messages this week. Unfortunately he/she is gone by the time I find them. This is understandable. I've been out quite a bit and I've been leaving my PC on to share downloaded files.

[19:47] FakeScreenName: im not tryin to hack but my friend thinks ur from the suite life of zack and cody.am i correct?
[19:47] *** Auto-response sent to FakeScreenName: I am currently away from the computer.

and

[20:29] FakeScreenName: are u from the suite life of zack and cody?
[20:29] *** Auto-response sent to FakeScreenName:...

What confused me first was just poor sentence structure. It's typical internet kiddie stuff, like no caps and "ur". Then I was trying to figure out who Zack and Cody were and if I was ever friends with them. Was I part of their sweet (I mistook suite as a weird misspelling of sweet) life? A friend had to inform me that "Suite life of Zack and Cody" (see the capitalization there buddy? and those quotes help me to differentiate a title from the rest of the sentence) was in fact a Disney channel TV show.

Now I want to know a few things. First of all, why does said kid suspect me of being part of this show? Second of all, does this kid really think that he/she is hacking by asking random people personal questions?

Now, perhaps the actor or actress he/she thinks I am, is in fact a very large fan of Stalin, and this being a rare occurrence, could likely suspect that someone with the SN StalinFan101 was the sought after actor and not someone who takes too much enjoyment out of the unlikely idea that anyone would be his fan. Doesn't seem too likely, but you never know.

I'm posting a link to this post in my away message so that the next time he/she contacts me I can perhaps get an answer to some of these questions.

If you are the person asking my, and you haven't understood, I am not who you think I am. Although I would also be curious if you could tell me the name of the actor or actress you have mistaken me for. As an added bonus I have decided to correct your atrocious grammar in the hopes that you will one day successfully master the English language. I'm not looking for perfection (I certainly don't have it) but an attempt at presentation would be nice.

[19:47] FakeScreenName: im not tryin to hack but my friend thinks ur from the suite life of zack and cody.am i correct?

Should read...

[19:47] FakeScreenName: I'm not tryin to hack but my friend thinks you're from the "Suite Life of Zack and Cody." Am I correct?

-Brandon

Spam

This spam is simultaneously amusing and annoying. It's apparent that it only pops up on new posts. Blogger seemed to do a decent job of blocking it before but somebody found a way around it. I don't want to turn off the ability to comment anonymously, as I don't think people should be forced to make a blogger accound if they want to comment. So I won't. So far the amount of spam I get hadn't exceded 10 comments on a post, so it isn't a huge deal to delete.

-Brandon

Christ...

If half of the things in this boing boing post are true, someone in charge needs to be brought down. There are all sorts of scary stories popping up about negligence in the part of government workers. If authorities aren't even able to keep the astrodome under control, something needs (probably someone) needs to change.

-Brandon

I'm not sure why but I find the fact that Amazon sells bologna incredibly amusing.

In totally unrelated news, Broken Flowers is awesome. The movie relies heavily on subtle actions in order to define each charecter and Jarmusch does such a good job at making sure the viewer notices it. Bill Murray plays pretty much the same role he has had for the last few movies. Which isn't necessarily good or bad. The camerawork is beautiful and the pacing is slow and relaxing without getting boring.

-Brandon

Upcoming concerts I am going to/want to see.

4-Sep Tell Julia Gabe's Oasis, IC

20-Sep Atmosphere Scope Ballroom,IC

22-Sep Tilly and The Wall Gabe's Oasis, IC

7-Oct Fiery Furnaces Chicago

26-Nov Andrew Bird w/Head of Femur Chicago

-Brandon

I've been catching up on the trailers at apple. Like usual, there are a few upcoming films that you couldn't drag me too. As well as a few others that look awful, but I will probably enjoy despite/because of their quality.

I'm pretty hyped up about Jarhead. Plus this trailer got me hooked on Kanye West's "Jesus Walks."

I think that Lord of War looks awesome. It seems like a fun and intentionally rediculous action. And cliche as it may be, I always love me a good anti-hero.

Surprisingly, Oliver Twist looks pretty good too. I am not a fan of the story, or anything Dicken's for that matter, but I am curious.

And as a huge fan of City of God I'm also pretty excited about The Constant Gardener.

King Kong looks like it might be a winner as well. I'll definatly fork over some cash to see it.

I'm not quite sure how it will be, but I am curious about Everything is Illuminated.

The new Serenity trailer has me even more excited then the first one.

School starts next week. I am not looking forward to it.

-Brandon

Atmosphere coming to IC

+08.09.2005+ ATMOSPHERE: POUR ME ANOTHER TOUR PRESS RELEASE

ATMOSPHERE: POUR ME ANOTHER TOUR 2005

- Tuesday, August 9, 2005

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Atmosphere will go back on the road in support of their new album You Can’t Imagine How Much Fun We’re Having due in-stores on October 4, 2005. The Pour Me Another Tour will feature Atmosphere, Blueprint, DJ Rare Groove and P.O.S & Turbo Nemesis.

Atmosphere started out 2005 by performing eight sold out shows in a row at the 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis for the CD reissue of Headshots: Se7en beating the original (five) sold out shows record held by the Replacements in 1986. On January 21, Atmosphere joined the lineup on the Big Day Out Tour of Australia and New Zealand along with artists: Beastie Boys, System of a Down, Slipknot, The Streets and more. Starting March 1 in Madison, WI Atmosphere hit the road in the U.S for their two-month tour that sold out 49 of the 52 shows.

The Pour Me Another Tour takes on 56 shows in 66 days. Atmosphere will kick things off with two intimate exclusive shows in Duluth, MN at Luce before starting the official tour in Cleveland, OH on September 13, 2005 at House of Blues. The tour features two music festival dates, September 16 at CMJ Music Marathon and October 29 at the Las Vegoose festival in Las Vegas, NV. Also, it’s been over a year since Atmosphere has played in Canada, this tour we return for seven shows. The tour starts one month from today- imagine the fun…

09/09- Duluth, MN @ Luce (w/ out Blueprint)
09/10- Duluth, MN @ Luce (w/ out Blueprint)
09/13- Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues
09/14- Buffalo, NY @ Buffalo Icon
09/15- New Haven, CT @ Toad’s Place
09/16- New York, NY @ CMJ Music Marathon
09/18- Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr. Smalls
09/19- Bloomington, IN @ Rhino’s
09/20- Iowa City, IA @ Scope Memorial Ballroom
09/22- Omaha, NE @ Sokol Ballroom
09/23- Menomonie, WI @ University of WI Stout
09/24- Fargo, ND @ Playmaker’s Pavilion
09/26- Bozeman, MT @ Zebra Lounge
09/27- Missoula, MT @ University of Montana
09/28- Calgary, AB @ Mac Ewan Hall
09/29- Edmonton, AB @ Red’s
09/30- Saskatoon, SK @ Louis’ Pub (U of S)
10/01- Winnipeg, MB @ Ramada Marlborough
10/04- Milwaukee, WI @ Pabst Theatre
10/05- Chicago, IL @ Vic Theatre
10/06- Detroit, MI @ St. Andrews Hall
10/07- Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall
10/08- Toronto, ON @ Opera House
10/10- Montreal, QC @ TBA
10/11- Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground
10/12- Providence, RI @ Lupos
10/13- Boston, MA @ The Roxy Theatre
10/14- New York, NY @ TBA
10/15- Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero
10/17- Baltimore, MD @ Recher Theatre
10/18- Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
10/19- Chapel Hill, NC @ Cat’s Cradle
10/20- Atlanta, GA @ TBA
10/21- Gainesville, FL @ Common Grounds
10/22- Orlando, FL @ Pavilion
10/24- New Orleans, LA @ House Of Blues
10/25- Austin, TX @ Emo’s
10/26- Dallas, TX @ Gypsy Ballroom
10/27- Albuquerque, NM @ TBA
10/28- Phoenix, AZ @ Marquee Theatre
10/29- Las Vegas, NV @ Las Vegoose Festival
10/30- Long Beach, CA @ The Vault
11/01- Los Angeles, CA @ Wiltern Theatre
11/02- San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
11/03- San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
11/04- Eugene, OR @ McDonald Theatre
11/05- Portland, OR @ Roseland Theatre
11/06- Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
11/07- Seattle, WA @ Showbox Theatre
11/09- Salt Lake City, UT @ Clubland Theater
11/10- Denver, CO @ Fillmore Auditorium
11/11- Lawrence, KS @ Granada
11/12- Columbia, MO @ Bluenote Theater
11/13- Madison, WI @ The Orpheum
11/14- Minneapolis, MN @ First Ave
11/15- Minneapolis, MN @ First Ave

Tour updates and ticket information posted in events section at www.rhymesayers.com

-Brandon

I am having fun making ridiculous mixes. I made a fun covers mix that I enjoy, and seemed to go over well at work. Now I've been inspired by this awesome song, to make a Nerd mix. So far I have:

Mostly Harmless – Start Over
Say Hi to Your Mom – The Fritz
Say Hi to Your Mom – Unless the Laker Game was on
Peanut Butter Wolf – My 2600 – Captain Funkaho
Logan Whitehurst and the Junior Science Crew – Robot Cat
Logan Whitehurst and the Junior Science Crew – Happy Noodle versus Sad Noodle
Logan Whitehurst and the Junior Science Crew – Audubon Society
Logan Whitehurst and the Junior Science Crew – Why Don’t They Call it Art?
Logan Whitehurst and the Junior Science Crew – Volcano Song
They Might be Giants – Istanbul
They Might be Giants – Doctor Worm
They Might be Giants - Particle Man
They Might be Giants - A series of “Planet of the Apes” inspired songs(Debating these too, mostly here now just to add some time to my mix)
Freezepop – Junior Science Girl
Bullfrog – Reverse Psychology (still debating this one)
Devo – Mongoloid
Moldy Peaches – Nothing Came Out

I’m looking for something by Wesley Willis now, and still trying to think of more to add. Part of me thinks having so many artist repeats might be cheating, but I don't know.

EDIT
Here's the mix I have now. Only thing I'm unhappy with is the beginning of Particle Man really doesn't sound right in transition from any previous song. I don't want to place it first, as I prefer to start with the song that made me want to start this mix in the first place. I could also use some more songs. Other then that, I'm happy with the mix. I still have almost 20 minutes to spare so if anyone has any suggestions, throw them out here.

-Brandon

Although no one actually reads this anymore, I am going to make an effort to begin regularly posting again.

-Brandon

more photos

The Go! Team also put on an awesome live show. Their live-only MC Ninja adds fun vocals to their instrumental music and really succeeds at pumping up the crowd. I want a Go! Team album with their new MC. I really wish I could have been closer.


Martin: scanning the crowd


Martin: contemplating life


Waiting for the El


The necessary cliche picture of train tracks.


Some backs of heads I photographed for fun while messing with focus and aperture.




The bearded man you can barely see on stage would open for each band with an awful and nonsensical poem that was intended to be amusing. It was the first couple of times, then it was just wierd.


An interesting phenomenon. As can be expected, the lines for food and drink were really long. There were also booths set up so sponsors could advertise and some political groups could attempt to recruit. One of these was a giant XBox mobile. I never saw any more then 4 people at the Xbox mobile.
A quick shot of the crowds at foodand the lack of crowds at the Xbox van right next to them.

-Brandon

Intonation: Diplo

We camped out Diplo's show 40 minutes before he started. I was sitting on the stage holding a front spot. So I got some pretty decent pictures. His set was awesome, even with the interuption in the middle when they had to replace the mixer and some bizzaare sound problems afterwards.

-Brandon

Intonation was awesome!

Some Intonation Photos. More to come.

Out Hud
Out Hud
Out Hud
Out Hud
Out Hud
OutHud puts on an awesome live show. I was really lucky to be so close to the stage. I was right in front of the stage left speakers. My hearing was temporarily gone but my photographs turned out awesome.

The masses are assembled
The Crowd at the Out Hud show

Broken Social Scene
Broken Social Scene was a pretty mediocre live show, but their announcement about a band member getting beaten up by four New York cops for buying weed was certainly surprising. As was the next announcement that they are now sueing the New York police department. The crowd cheered, but the crowd is retarded and would probably cheer at anything.

-Brandon

I just grabbed this from Martins's blog. I don't know why I enjoy these stupid quiz things, but this one seemed to be fairly accurate. Of course that isn't difficult when there are 126 questions, but it's still fun to do.

Advanced Global Personality Test Results Extraversion || 10% Stability |||||||||||| 43% Orderliness |||||||||| 40% Altruism |||||| 30% Interdependence |||||||||| 36% Intellectual |||||||||||||| 56% Mystical |||||| 23% Artistic |||||||||||| 50% Religious || 10% Hedonism |||| 16% Materialism |||||| 30% Narcissism || 10% Adventurousness || 10% Work ethic |||||| 30% Self absorbed |||||||||||| 50% Conflict seeking |||||| 30% Need to dominate |||||| 30% Romantic |||||| 23% Avoidant |||||||||||||| 56% Anti-authority |||||| 30% Wealth |||| 16% Dependency |||||||||| 36% Change averse |||||||||||||||| 70% Cautiousness |||||||||| 36% Individuality |||||| 30% Sexuality |||||||||| 36% Peter pan complex |||||||||||||||| 70% Physical security |||||||||||||||| 63% Physical Fitness |||||||||||| 44% Histrionic || 10% Paranoia |||||||||||||||| 63% Vanity |||||||||||| 43% Hypersensitivity |||||| 30% Female cliche |||||| 23%

Take Free Advanced Global Personality Test
personality tests by similarminds.com

Stability results were moderately low which suggests you are worrying, insecure, emotional, and anxious.

Orderliness results were moderately low which suggests you are, at times, overly flexible, improvised, and fun seeking at the expense of reliability, work ethic, and long term accomplishment.

Extraversion results were very low which suggests you are extremely reclusive, quiet, unassertive, and secretive.

trait snapshot:
introverted, secretive, messy, depressed, does not like leadership, somewhat nihilistic, observer, does not make friends easily, unassertive, feels invisible, feels undesirable, hates large parties, does not like to stand out, leisurely, suspicious, submissive, abstract, unpredictable, intellectual, likes rain, likes the unknown, negative, weird, not a risk taker, unadventurous, avoidant, strange

I went to Chicago with Martin for the Intonation Music Fest with and stayed with an acquintance from high school. It was a lot of fun, and hopefully I'll have pictures to share in the next couple days.

-Brandon

Doctor Who inspired thoughts

I've been downloading, watching, and thoroughly enjoying the new Doctor Who. After watching episode 3 (The unquiet dead) I have decided that this world really needs more Victorian era zombie horror.

Thank you

-Brandon

DC loses Alan Moore.

My respect for Alan Moore has increased a lot today.

First I encountered an interesting interview that Alan Moore did of Brian Eno on a Bittorrent site I frequent. I thought it was an odd combo so I felt compelled to download it. It was apparently from a BBC radio 4 show called Chain Reaction in which a figure from the entertainment industry is interviewed and then has the responsibility of conducting their own interview for the next show. Really neat concept. I tried to find a recording of the show where Alan Moore was interviewed but could only find a clip where he claimed that the Killing Joke was his worst work. Which surprised me, but other statements I've read imply that he finds the whole concept of Batman ridiculous.

Then, today, an article on Boing Boing popped up that claimed that Alan Moore has sworn off DC and has pulled the third volume of the League of Extraordinary Gentleman from the publisher. In fact, the article they link to has a lot more interesting information as well. I knew that he had decided to have his name removed from all film adaptations, but apparently he has refused all money they offer him as well. Through this article I found a transcript of his Chain Reaction interview (without the Killing Joke statements I had listened to earlier)

To make things even more interesting, He was apparently sued by 20th century fox because they felt his LoEG was ripping off some America screenwriter.

From the article -

"after the films came out, I began to feel increasingly uneasy, I have a dwindling respect for cinema as it is currently expressed." This came to a head when Alan Moore was sued as part of a suit against 20th Century Fox for plagiarism of the screenplay "Cast Of Characters" which bore heavy resemblance to the movie version of "The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen" starring Sean Connery.

From the interview transcript -

So, I said, right, that's it, no more Hollywood films. And if they do make films of my work, then I want my name taken off them and I want all the money given to the artists. I thought, God, that sounds principled (audience laughs) and almost heroic! (audience laughs) Then I got a phone call from Karen Berger the next Monday, she's an editor at DC Comics, and she said, "Yeah, we're going to be sending you a huge amount of money before the end of the year because they're making this film if your Constantine character with Keanu Reeves." I said, "Right, OK. (audience laughs) Well, take my name off of it and distribute my money amongst the other artists. I felt, well, that was difficult, but I did it and I feel pretty good about meself. Then I saw David Gibbons who I had done "Watchmen" with and he was saying, "Oh Alan, guess what, they're making the 'Watchmen' film." And I said, with tears streaming down my face, "Take my name off of it David. (sniffles)" (audience laughs) "You have all the money." Then I got a check for the "V for Vendetta" film. It was just, this was within three days!

Despite his noble efforts. He is still having trouble stopping his name from becoming a Hollywood selling point.
From article -

Earlier in the year, Moore received a call from "V For Vendetta" writer/producer and "Matrix" director Larry Wachowski, but told him politely, "I didn't want anything to do with films and had no time this year, being in the middle of work, my day job, writing, I wasn't interested in Hollywood."

Shortly afterwards, Alan Moore was made aware of a press release sent out covering a press conference producer Joel Silver and the cast had held.

In this press release, Joel Silver, as well as announcing that the release date November the 5th 2005 was the 100th anniversary of Guy Fawkes attempt on Parliament, instead of the 400th anniversary, also said of Alan, "he was very excited about what Larry had to say and Larry sent the script, so we hope to see him sometime before we're in the UK. We'd just like him to know what we're doing and to be involved in what we're trying to do together"

Alan felt, basically, that his name was being used in vain. Not only had he expressed the opposite to Larry, but his endorsement was being used as a selling point for a movie - the reason he'd requested his credit and association be dropped from all of these movies.

Poor guy. I will make it a point not to pay money and add to the box office statistics for any of these upcoming films. Of course, that doesn't mean that my curiosity won't compel me to view them through slightly less legal means.

EDIT A mysterious anonymous person pointed out that I had misread the article. Moore wasn't sued by 20th cen fox. He was sued with them. My mistake. The error above will remain because I don't want to seem like I was hiding the fact I made a mistake.

-Brandon

I think I may be becoming a Uwe Boll Fan

I loved the SciFi channel when I had access to cable. I really enjoyed watching the awful films they would put on in order to fill up airspace between Star Trek, canceled 80's action shows and their limited original series selection. They were filled with terrible "science" and awful acting. There was something captivating about them. I can't say why exactly. Perhaps it's the comedy value, like an mst3k episode minus the wit (my fault). Or perhaps it's some sort of "I could do better" feeling I get that makes me feel superior to these creators.

I saw House of the Dead a while after it was in theatres. I'd heard about his "brilliant" idea to splice in shots from the video game into action scenes and knew I had to see it. The film was exactly what I love about terrible sci. fi. The acting was atrocious, the plot was filled with holes. The premise alone is enough to get it nominated for a razzie. A bunch of kids go to a rave, on an abandoned island in the middle of the Caribean and are forced to battle their way through hordes of zombies, while ignoring multiple chances for escape. The ending highlight? The hero purposefully zombifies his dead girlfriend so that he doesn't have to lose her. That is wonderfully retarded.

I decided after seeing Rotten Tomatoes 0% rating that I had to see Alone in the Dark. It was so worth it. First of all, the plot only makes the vaguest sort of sense. A crazy historian unleashes demons upon the world, and for some never explained reason he is able to control them. He also has control over a group of grown up orphans with worms surgically implanted onto their spine to make them... um... more... controllable. These are apparently Uwe Boll's interpretation of the creatures who attack you in the video game. That is about the only tie into the classic game that I can figure out. Everything about this movie is terribly done. The soundtrack switches, seemingly randomly, from a nonoffensive simple mood sound that could fit in the background of an Enya song, to hard screaming rock. There is not a decent actor in the entire film. The love interest is supposed to be some 80's sexy librarion stereotype, but the actress only manages to pull off timid moron with glasses. Fortunatly she is a useful charecter. Without her no one would have been able to translate the menacing warning on the ancient cave's walls, "Once you make it down here alive, you're already dead." That is her only useful role in the entire film. The warning later turns out to be meaningless, because down the cave a little farther they find the abandoned laboratory where they put the control worm things into the orphans (unleashing demons on the world isn't evil enough, the bad guy needs to perform experiments on orphans as well). The attempts to be dramatic in this film tend to be far funnier then they are sad. I can say that this is the first film to make me laugh at a dead nun with slit wrists. Or how about the memorable moment when the commander learns that all his men have died for nothing. He shouts something to the effect of "My men have died for nothing." Flips a table, and is okay with it for the rest of the film. Apparently the flipped table made up for the loss of his men. Sorry, I'm rambling, there is just so much about this film. I was captivated from the first fight scene. It was wonderful how every time something broke the movie would go to slow motion. Crash through window? Slow down. Break table? Slow down. Knock over trash can? Slow down. 7 minutes into this film, and I already knew that this would be a winner.

-Brandon

Quick little addition of sorts to my last post. I was just reading an interview with Aronofsky about "The Fountain." He mentioned that he had met and talked with David Bowie to see if he would possibly work with Clint Mansell on the soundtrack of the new film. Apparently the main charecter's name is Tom, after Space Oddity's hero. What was particularly intersting was this...

The funny thing is that when I went to meet Bowie, one of the first things he said was, “Oh, are you doing Watchmen?" It turned out that he was developing an opera out of Watchmen. I was like, “If I do this film and I fuck it up, I'm going to piss David Bowie off.”

A Bowie written opera based on the Watchmen? I can't tell if that is incredibly awesome or incredibly crazy. I wonder if it is still being worked on.

-Brandon

More Alan Moore to be ruined by Hollywood

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0434409/fullcredits#writers

V for Vendetta is apparently being made into a movie. The terrible news is that the directors are the Wachowski's.

There are somethings with that story that I have trouble believing would be acceptable by most major movie studios. What do you want to bet they decide to change the "hero's" pro-anarchy message into something less controversial?

I also worry that they would turn V into a good guy. In the story he was not a good guy. The reader was meant, instead, to see him as one of two opposing evils.

We'll see, I'm currently just making paranoid assumptions and imagining the piece of shit it will be. I'm sure I'll have plenty of real information to discredit it in the future.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0409459/
As I may have mentioned earlier, they are also going to ruin Watchmen. I had some hope for this film originally, as I had read that Terry Gilliam was going to attempt it. He eventually bailed though, saying that it would be impossible to make it into a decent movie. The story was simply too long, and it couldn't afford to cut as much as film length would require. He said he might consider it in a 12 part miniseries.

Sometime later Darren Aronofsky picked up the idea, which certainly had me curious, because it is so different then his past projects. Hebailed because of scheduling conflicts with The Fountain. So now the director is Paul Greengrass. Looking at his past projects, I can't get a feeling for how he has done. The only movie that I have seen on that list was Bourne Supremecy. I enjoyed it, and there were certain aspects of how it was shot that I really liked, but one movie really doesn't give me a feel for his overall style.

-Brandon

Manufacturing a Meme

http://www.thetriforce.com/newblog/?p=53
Alright, this is incredibly cool. A while back a lot of press reported on a new practice called "toothing" in which people would participate in random sexual encounters by contacting people through blue tooth devices. Apparently it was a hoax. The original "Toothing" forum was created, and all posts were written by a few people. They then submitted it to a few major blogs and it took off.

In March of last year two of us were idly messaging about the Stan Collymore dogging scandal, and how this stupid sexual buzzword had (apparently) come from nowhere. We wondered if we could create our own. We wonder a lot of things, and rarely push them past concept, because we’re as collectively creative as we are frustratingly idle. This particularly concept was simple enough to outstrip the temptations of grinning, saying, “Yeahhhhh”, and wandering off to see what was on TV. Merging dogging with Bluejacking, a tech buzzword that had done the rounds a few months earlier, we came up with the idea of Toothing, defined as using bluetooth-equipped mobile phones to find sexual partners in public places.

Despite all the made-up ramblings on websites across the globe, despite the forums and the fan-fiction, the tabloids and the broadsheets, the perverts and the simply curious, no-one has ever ever, ever toothed.

Taken from BoingBoing

-Brandon

This is awesome

Wow, I was just checking Red VS Blue for updates and saw a blog post about a paintball event they are participating in. I wish I was nearby to at least witness this, if not participate. I imagine that ensuring that the players follow the generals orders is difficult, but if everyone plays along it would make for a cool game. Plus vehicles! They have a modified tank to fire paint. That is so incredibly cool.

-Brandon

The Laura K. Krishna case

For the few of you out there who haven't run across this yet, there is an interesting group of blog posts that tell a story of a man being asked to write a term paper for a lazy student, and promptly scamming her, with intent to at least humiliate, if not cause her punishment.
Here are the posts, in order, be aware that at some point he went through and changed her real last name to Krishna at the student's request. I advise reading all the way through before passing judgement on Nate. Feel free to judge the plagerist all you want.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

It it interesting reading through these comments because there seem to be two primary schools of thought. One is that what the blogger has done is good, and that Laura K. deserves whatever is coming to her. The other is that Nate is a horrible human being who is using her one little mistake as an excuse to flay her.

I have to say that at first I was a little hesitent about Nate's actions. I agree that Laura had what was coming to her but learning a lesson that plagiarism is bad will hardly help her when she gets kicked out of school (as this is what I had always heard the punishment was). As I read more of the comments many people claiming experience in the matter said that expulsion is rarely the punishment for a first time offender. A failing grade and a tarnished record were more likely. This seemed far more appropriate. When it turned out that Nate had never actually notified the college, and only intended to if she did hand in the paper, and didn't agree to confess, I gained more respect for him. Unfortunatly for him, and the incredibly stupid student, the blog was linked from some of the most visited websites. People, for some reason beyond my comprehension, decided it was appropriate to track down what school she went to, and call her and her school. This ruined Nate's plans by notifying the officials that were never supposed to be notified in the first place.

Now I happen to think that both of the fringe arguments about the morality of Nate's actions are wrong (as most fringe philosophies tend to be). The bloodthirsy of Nate's "supporters" (who largely complained when they learned of the mild finale) is proof that they have completely missed the point. What was supposed to happen was that she was supposed to be frightened into think her college career was over and then given her "second chance." It wasn't meant to sadistically ruin her life.

The other side who seem to think that Nate is evil and using the suffering of this "innocent girl" for his own amusement are even farther off. Innocent?! This woman is in her third year in college, she has no excuse to think this is okay. Lets go through the story and examine her so called "innocence."

Nate did not ask to write her paper, he in no way implied he did that for anyone, and he didn't even claim knowledge on the subject. Meanwhile this woman has asked a complete stranger to write a five page paper (FIVE PAGE! I CAN PULL THAT OFF IN TWO HOURS!) on Hinduism because his profile mentions that he "eats Hindu statues" as a hobby. Not just lazy, but stupid as well. Then she lies about paying him for the job she thinks he has done (with every intention of not actually following through)(1 lie). She then takes the paper he has written (purposefully designed to be a joke and get her a failing grade) and hands it in without reading it. But her folly doesn't end there. She lies about her school (2), as well as her name (3) and avoids his preferred payment method. He contacts her later and she pretends to be someone else (4), poorly. Meanwhile a reader has notified her college, and she has talked to the Dean, and lied to him. Apparently she did nothing wrong, this random stranger is out to ruin her (5). He gets in contact with her again and she asks for his help. They get in phone contact and he offers to talk to the dean and try to lower her punishment, she says no thanks. She asks him to remove her real name (done, but pointless as it is now posted all over the internet) and then to lie and say it was all a hoax (6). He doesn't agree to that. He continues to offer to help her case with the Dean, and then learns that she actually lied to the dean. This woman seems to be a compulsive liar but if I didn't already despise her enough, she puts on her mother.

Her mother is what one calls an 'enabler.' Nate is under the impression that she is nice. I get the feeling that she is merely a typical mother who mistakingly believes her children are perfectly good. She was also a more succesful manipulator then her daughter. She got Nate.

She also swore to Laura's diligence as a student, and knew that I was not lying about the plagiarism.

She is convinced that her daughter has never tried anything like this before. I on the other hand, have trouble believing that Laura's first time plaigerizaing was on a small five page paper, and that she would go about it by randomly IMing someone and scamming them. Just a hunch. Mother can convince Nate to trust her by saying she trusts him. This obviously isn't completely true when she follows it up with

She asked whether this was for money or personal reasons, and I told her what I told you blog people, which is that I was legitimately offended on behalf of all the people I know who take their education seriously.

She hints at buying him off. She cares more about making sure her daughter goes unpunished, then allowing her daughter to learn her lesson. And if it wasn't clear enough that Mother didn't understand the real problem here...

She expressed her dismay over the thousands of dollars this was costing her every semester for her daughter, and I agreed that that was a shame.

She completely misses his point about how her daughters actions cheapen the educational system. Unfortunatly instead of seeing that said mother is manipulative, and willing to hide the problem, instead of fix it, Nate only sees her as "being nice." I'm willing to bet that she is the same sort of Mother who would call and complain, at the request of her child, when a teacher gives a deserved bad grade. I am certainly making assumption off little information, but what I have seen is infuriating, and shows where Laura gets her morality problems from.

The way I see it, Nate acted with good intention, and his plan ws decent. There was no way he could have predicted that his post would be so popular, and there was no way it would work if he didn't post the story and his written paper online, as he intended that the teacher would search for her paper online and find his blogpost, showing that she had plagiarized. He wanted to urge her to confession, which would lead to her punishment, a possible lesson learned, but a saved school career. Sound logic. Unfortunatly the blog became incredibly popular and the Dean was notified before Laura could be talked to. Laura, not realizing how deep she was in, lied about plagiarizing. I think that Nate was manipulated into being nicer in his conversation then he needed to be, and I believe he misjudged the mothers charecter, but I think that his actions were sound and had the unlikely not happened, thinks may have turned out okay for Laura. I honestly believe that her getting expelled and having a ruined career is preferable to her getting someone else to write a paper for her, and not getting caught.

-Brandon

Misdirected campus politics

I recently got this email from a student group I mistakingly got on the mailing list of.

Kick the military off our campus !!!!

Thurs. Mar. 31
6PM
Michigan State Room (349) IMU

Across the nation, college and university students are shutting down
military recruiting at their schools.
Join us for a discussion about the new student anti-war movement
that's sweeping the country and how you can get involved.

Sponsored by the University of Iowa Anti-War Committee

I am very liberal. I opposed the war in Iraq. I think it's been handled poorly and has now put the country in a perilous and costly position.

I cannot for the life of me figure out why this is a worthy cause. I understand that a stable country needs a stable military and a stable military requires people. Recruitment is a way to get people without a draft. This way those who are willing to fight do and those who don't want to, will only have to in times of crisis. Recruitment is not a bad thing. So this is an anti-war movement? Wars are not the fault of the military. They are the fault of politicians. Should we be sponsoring a "don't participate in politics" rally? Does that make any sense? I wish that the effort that goes into these rediculous movements would be transfered to something more useful.

-Brandon

Apperently artists can contract out their work and still be the artist.

I was reading through this article I grabbed from Fark and this caught my eye.

The new exhibition -- 29 photorealist oil paintings based on photographs of hospital scenes, drug addicts, suicide bombers and his own artwork -- has been fuel for the fire for those who question whether he is an artist or a conman.

The paintings, which have sold for $200,000 to $2 million each, were largely executed by assistants with Hirst stepping in only to add a touch of blood or do the eyes.

"I don't like the idea that it has to be done by the artist, I think it's quite an old fashioned thing," he said.

"Architects don't build their own houses," he said, adding that his assistants are better painters than him anyway. "You'd get an inferior painting if it's done by the artist."

Let me get this straight. You don't actually need to do any work to be an artist. You can pay people to create for you and you can still take the credit. This man is expecting to be praised for work he didn't even do. This is insane. He is using contract workers to do his work for him.

The architect analogy is hardly fair as an architect has an entire building completely planned before construction begins. He has designed everything. When you are paying someone to paint for you you don't have the same complete control that the architect has. Unless the workers are simply doing paint by numbers and every color is prepicked, the actual painters are going to add some amount of personal style to the work. Construction workers building a house don't have that. They are constructing, these painters are creating. There is a difference.

Madness.

-Brandon

One more addition...

This is an interesting bit of North Korean propaganda. Kim Jong Il has been commissioning flash films as a method of sending propaganda outside of NK for a while now. This is apparently his attempt to put a more human face on North Korea. Very interesting attempt...

I must say that the song kicks ass.

-Brandon

This is so awesome!

A British graf artist by the name of Banksy has smuggled his own works into four major art museums in New York and photographed it. He seems to have a pretty decent sense of humor as his paintings, and statements show. There is an official news post on it. Apparently http://www.woostercollective.com is the only press with contact information for Banksy.

-Brandon

EDIT I was browsing through other works by Banksy. Some are on his website linked above, and more are here. This guys art is awesome. I don't agree with all of his philosophies but I can't deny his talent or creativity.

Spring Break Sun.

First place we went was the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center. Throughout the culture center were murals painted by local artists. Actually there were murals all over the city, a very pretty practice that I neglected to mention in my last post. There was an exhibit with old photographs, art, and historical information about the various pueblos. There was also an art exhibit featuring pottery and hide paintings. They were all intended to mimic traditional art styles, but they were about modern topics. The one that springs to mind was of a casino spewing gold coins in all directions.

We next went over to the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History. This was where I began my list of artists. There was a large contemporary art exhibit. In fact there were a couple. One that I believe was a permanent collection, and one which featured local artists. There were also older art pieces featured (a few of which I listed yesterday). The museum was large (probably the largest one I visited down there) and really focused heavily on modern art (something I felt some of the others didn't focus on enough). Some of the neatest exhibits was a collection of lunchboxes through the century. It was silly, but neat. What was really cool, was an exhibit on Clement, Edith and Thatchur Hurd. Clement Hurd is the artist responsible for illustrations in the classic children's book "Goodnight Moon." I didn't realize until this exhibit that the book "Runaway Bunny" were illustrated and written by the same people. Thatchur Hurd is his son. He wrote and drew his own children's books with some original themes. Art Dog (a book I ended up purchasing) is interesting in that it seems to condone graffiti art. The story is that a guard at the local art museum named "Arthur Dog" becomes a mysterious masked character named Art Dog when the moon is full. He goes around town at night and paints beautiful murals throughout the city. He is framed for stealing the "Mona Woof" and uses his art powers to escape and catch the real thieves. It isn't complicated are trying hard to push a message. It's a children's book. The fact that the hero of the book is a graffiti artists is very interesting though.

We had dinner at a little Italian Restaurant. I had a deliciously spicy Italian Sausage sandwich with tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese.

After wards we headed back to the house. We rented "I Heart Huckabees" on the way. I'd seen previews for it and they hadn't seemed that interesting, but I had heard good things so I was curious. I'm very glad we did. This movie is hilarious. A lot of the humor is in the fact that it is just absurd but there is also a lot of mockery of philosophical and political views. The far left and right each are portrayed as incredibly ridiculous and existentialism (already a very odd philosophy) is made more absurd by its connection to the characters who support it and what it does to those who embrace it. The cast is great and the soundtrack is by the ever talented Jon Brion. See it.
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Diane Marsh does beautiful paintings of people. I really like the paintings cut in half with a person on one side and a landscape on the other. They're beautiful.

I like Robert Ellis abstract landscapes.

While searching for the above Robert Ellis I stumbled across this beautiful photography taken by a different Robert Ellis.

Jane Abrams has pretty abstract, as well as more realistic paintings as well as some interesting sculptures
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In a completely unrelated note. I recently learned that NBC is remaking the Office for American audiences. This is infuriating. Why must it be remade? I can think of a few reasons, none of them I like... Because the original actors have accents? Because they are foreigners? Because the humor of "The Office" isn't perfectly dumbed down to what American audiences "want?" It is completely ridiculous and a perfect example of why business dictating art is not a functional system. In their attempt gain audiences and keep mass appeal NBC is going to fund a complete revamp of the show. They liked the show, the just don't like it enough to show it as is. It isn't American enough. It doesn't appeal to the intellectually deficient masses enough.

-Brandon

Spring Break Sat./First impressions

I haven't developed my 13 rolls of film yet. I'm curious to see how they turned out but I think over half of them won't as I was often operating at lower then desired light levels and had to keep shutter speed and aperture lower then I desired.

I arrived in Albuquerque after a fairly uneventful flight from Cedar Rapids to Denver to Albuquerque. The flight from Denver gave me a good chance to see how pretty New Mexico and Colorado are. There is so much undeveloped land. It's something you don't see in Iowa except for a few preserves here and there. Everything here is agriculture or architecture. Nature has been pushed out. This isn't the case in New Mexico. It probably has something to do with the fact that without complicated irrigation systems it is difficult to grow crops in the New Mexico environment. That isn't to say that there aren't native plants that don't have trouble. They just don't have much commercial value. In fact, the valleys between mountains were filled with desert plants. Bushes and cactuses and yucca plants were all over.

The city was pretty neat too. The architecture for almost all of the residential buildings mimiced spanish colonial architecture and the native pueblo building designs. Rectangular buildings made from redish brown stone with smooth curving cornors. Sometimes the top of the walls would have wooden beams poking out and evenly spaced along the sides of the buildings.

Many of the commercial buildings were designed similiarly. I was shocked (and kind of disturbed) to see a Wendy's with the same architural styles. It was like they were trying to pretend they weren't the corporate superpower they were and were really just part of the community. Odd... Other commercial buildings were typical modern designs. Nothing interesting or shocking.

What was interesting was the difference in demographics and how that effected the culture. It is hardly surprising that there would be a large hispanic population in a state that has a long history of Spanish and eventually Mexican rule. It wasn't even surprising that the hispanic population appeared to be the majority. What I thought was interesting was how advertisements were different as well. I wasn't shocked to see ads in Spanish. What I was shocked to see were ads only in Spanish and only targeting Spanish speakers. It is interesting that advertisers have decided that there are so many Spanish speakers in Albuquerque that they can afford to ignore those who can't understand their ads. I don't think it is good or bad, I just think it is interesting.

Another interesting ad campaign were numerous billboards with navy blue backgrounds and large white letters that said "Where's Larry?" or "Where's Diane?" That was all. No explanation, nothing. I found an explanation here and realized it wasn't that interesting anyway.

My grandparents picked me up from the airport. I dropped my stuff of at their house and we headed for Old Town. Old Town is a square of buildings that were the original Albuquerque Spanish colony. The buildings were all still in use by various "art" shops that all magically had the same things in stock. There was a church dominating one side of the square facing inwards towards the small park that stood at the center of these buildings. The church is apparently the oldest church in New Mexico that is still in use today. I went in and took some pictures but felt wierd because people were actually in there praying and I was just some disrespectful tourist.

We drove around for a while seeing the city and then went to the biggest restaurant I have ever been in. El Pinto was a large and beautiful Mexican restaurant. It had multiple rooms and each room was decorated differently and provided a different atmosphere then the others. There was also a large beautiful garden outside that you could eat in (weather permitting). I had a delicious chicken enchilada with green chili on top. It was very good.

We went home and I went to sleep early as I was exhausted.
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Throughout my trip we went to a lot of art museums. I started writing down the names of artists I really liked on various pieces of scrap paper. By the end of the week I had over 50 different names written down. I've been googling and going through and deciding what I artists I really like more then others.

I'll be posting some of them. I suppose (because it's the order I found them in) I'll post a few older artists before I move into my favorite contemporary.

I enjoyed William Penhallow Henderson's work, although I've only been able to find a few of his pieces online that don't require money to view.

Some of Walter Ufer's stuff is interesting as well.

My favorite out of these three would have to be Gene Kloss. She has some beautiful prints here.

-Brandon