I keep thinking about the tragedy in Japan and a scene from Akira Kurosawa's Dreams called Mount Fuji in Red. A nuclear plant worker says, "They told us human error was the only thing we needed to worry about..."
Posts from September 1999
I've deranged things a bit here. It feels good to get some more space. I'm under construction. I wish I had a little yellow animated gif.
A live view of Lincoln.
Here's a new book of photographs of Nebraska. "...this book captures all that is Nebraska-the people, places and events that make this state our home." I think this is a limited printing by a publisher in Lincoln.
I'm moving this site over to a new server. Things could get wacky around here. send email here.
Speaking of desensitization and movies, I saw American Beauty this weekend. It's a thought provoking film. I highly recommend it.
I agree with Meg's view of heartless language in journalism to describe violent events. ("...blew her away.") I think it's a shortcut for lazy journalists, and a way for them to distance themselves (and their readers) from the horror.
commute 1, pb 0.
Today's M*P*III: Even Better Than The Real Thing by U2.
A quick search for "simulacra coca-cola" on google turned up this paper and several others. I think the real meaning of their slogan lies within.Suddenly I believe Coca-Cola to be a mass illusion. The real soft drink is Mountain Dew. (You can taste it.)
I just noticed the slogan on cans of Coke. It says, "so real you can taste it!" What does this mean?
This weblog is so real you can read it!
Salon: "In the hierarchy of contemporary business cool, there are big companies (uncool), little companies on the bleeding edge of technology (cool), successful companies (cool), companies whose stock has taken a nosedive (uncool), start-ups on the verge of going public (very cool) and finally, at the pinnacle, the sine qua non of Silicon Valley cool, the "raw start-up" -- the start-up that's still working on its final business plan, the start-up that is just about to get its first millions from professional investors, the start-up that has a three-room office with four desks in each room."
I'd like to see an MP3 site that has older non-music audio. (eg. Martin Luther King speeches, radio programs, Alexander Graham Bell recordings, Steve Martin records, etc.) Akin to the American Memory project.
not imagining
dust over sebastopol's
perpetual spring
dust over sebastopol's
perpetual spring
Good music to code by: Shack Man by Medeski Martin and Wood.
Take a few seconds to read this. I'm suddenly excited about the future of the Internet. I hope you will be too. what will happen?
skp mentioned that the eBay wine prohibition (posted yesterday) will bring more attention to how rediculous most states' wine laws are. It's a felony to ship wine to many states.
I'm sure nobie meant violence as: "undue alteration (as of wording or sense in editing a text)"
Meg heard that Freedom is Violence.
Two Dali paintings moved a man to violence at a museum in Instanbul. Ignoring motivations, I think Dali would be pleased.
Today's M*P*III: Little Earthquakes by Tori Amos.
Banned Books Week is 9/25 to 10/2. Get a head start by reading one of the Banned Books Online or learning about: Banned Books and American Culture.
Shipping wine in the mail is illegal anyway.
Selling wine on eBay will be prohibited soon. Bid now while you still can.
Two guys from Lincoln, NE (my previous home) are trying to sell a painting on eBay for $3 million. They say it's an original Monet. I say, go higher.
The first time I ever heard the words "spice girl" was at a Soul Coughing concert.
M. Doughty used to write his feelings about each epsiode of 90210 in a series he called Peach Pit Babylon.
M. Doughty speaks a few poems on New Word Order.
M. Doughty has six poems in Verses that Hurt.
Hey, Matt, I also have a book of poetry by M. Doughty called Slanky.
Someday there will be a little auction site where people can get together to exchange junk without making millions of dollars for huge companies...and without having to filter through banner ad after banner ad. Or is it just a dream?
quantum physics is scary. [via LemonYellow]
Bill Waterson's corporate tragedy explains why the brilliant Calvin & Hobbes is no more. [via LakeEffect]
Former Nebraskans, 311 will be playing in San Francisco at the Great American Music Hall on October 5th. The great irony is that I will be in Nebraska then. They're playing at Sokol Hall in Omaha, NE on the 19th. I'll be back in CA by then. I haven't seen them live for years. If you happen to be in sync with their tour, check 'em out. those boys "got more funky styles than my laser jet got font."
I have a new roommate. I think we'll get along fine as long as she doesn't eat my plants.
SOAP.
DaveNet: "Therefore, the purpose of XML-RPC is to erase the lines that separate applications, to allow developers to bring the power of the Internet to the desktop and in the connections between back-end applications, no matter what operating system they run on."
Main Entry: ubiq
Tonight I'm drinking Giradet Baco Noir from Oregon's Umpqua Valley. From Giradet: "We believe ourselves to be the only winery in the West growing and producing Baco noir and Seyval blanc." Thanks, Reta!I'm drinking it out of my birthday present. Thanks, Jake!
I just ordered Fuzzy Future.
cool. a comic strip about champagne.
happy 9999.
Thich Nhat Hanh is giving a lecture in Berkeley on September 21 at 7pm. He's also guiding a "day of mindfulness" in Oakland on the 18th.
here are some poems that I've posted here since I began this incarnation of my homepage (with this name) in November 98. I'll try to update this page whenever I post one. Thanks for listening!
I wrote this poem on August 19th.
I wrote this poem today.
Main Entry: fierce
Function: adjective
1 a : violently hostile or aggressive in temperament b : given to fighting or killing : PUGNACIOUS
2 a : marked by unrestrained zeal or vehemence <a fierce argument> b : extremely vexatious, disappointing, or intense <fierce pain>
3 : furiously active or determined <make a fierce effort>
4 : wild or menacing in appearance [via webster]
Function: adjective
1 a : violently hostile or aggressive in temperament b : given to fighting or killing : PUGNACIOUS
2 a : marked by unrestrained zeal or vehemence <a fierce argument> b : extremely vexatious, disappointing, or intense <fierce pain>
3 : furiously active or determined <make a fierce effort>
4 : wild or menacing in appearance [via webster]
Matt has some cool pics of Sonoma County from his last visit.
pac-bell: "DSL is all about distance, and you're more than 3 miles from the central office."
pb: "So will I ever have DSL?"
pac-bell: "Um....well....no."
Hey Tibor fans, there's an exhibit going on at the SFMOMA. Can't make it? Buy this book.
for those of you who aren't in-the-know, blog refers to Business Logistics Management. right?
picking nits is out-of-date by now and reminds me of the time when being online, logging in, flame, spam, and bandwidth were phrases that bonded a subculture. now *the* culture.Do you know what a blog is? Let's get a secret handshake before everyone knows.
"It is the readiness of the mind that is wisdom."
- Shunryu Suzuki
- Shunryu Suzuki
Ev took pictures of yesterday's hike.
Speaking of stunning beauty -- if you follow the John Barleycorn link below, read the last paragraph in that chapter.
Sonoma Valley, 1887
"And yet, with jaundiced eye I gaze upon all the beauty and wonder about me, and with jaundiced brain consider the pitiful figure I cut in this world that endured so long without me and that will again endure without me. I remember the men who broke their hearts and their backs over this stubborn soil that now belongs to me. As if anything imperishable could belong to the perishable! These men passed. I, too, shall pass. These men toiled, and cleared, and planted, gazed with aching eyes, while they rested their labour-stiffened bodies on these same sunrises and sunsets, at the autumn glory of the grape, and at the fog-wisps stealing across the mountain. And they are gone. And I know that I, too, shall some day, and soon, be gone."- Jack London from John Barleycorn, 1913.
Yesterday some friends and I hiked up Sonoma Mountain. It was hard work in the heat, but the view of the Sonoma Valley from the summit was stunning.
That was my second time on that trail, and I'm looking forward to making that trip many more times.
There's a party going on right here. (again)
space-age artist: Paul Klee.
space-age film: Atomic Cafe.
space-age book: Populuxe.
Main Entry: push-button
Function: adjective
Date: 1916
1 : operated or done by means of push buttons <a push-button phone>
2 : using or dependent on complex and more or less self-operating mechanisms that are put in operation by a simple act comparable to pushing a button <push-button warfare> [via webster]
Function: adjective
Date: 1916
1 : operated or done by means of push buttons <a push-button phone>
2 : using or dependent on complex and more or less self-operating mechanisms that are put in operation by a simple act comparable to pushing a button <push-button warfare> [via webster]
I can almost envision the promise of a push-button future.
I renamed my links page sitegiest earlier today. I think you should too. It's better than links.But I meant to change it to sitegeist. (thanks, Dan!)
Matt doesn't have a link to it from his site right now, so I'll add one here: Scanner Fun.
"Blogger old potatoes! She threw them on the wall--
Decorate the kitchen, decorate the hall.
Decorate the doggy, hear the doggy speak.
Decorate her Mommy, hear her Mommy shriek!"
- Jeff Rogers Blogger Old Potatoes
Decorate the kitchen, decorate the hall.
Decorate the doggy, hear the doggy speak.
Decorate her Mommy, hear her Mommy shriek!"
- Jeff Rogers Blogger Old Potatoes
Bay Area Fun, Art Car Fest. Sept. 23 - 26.
Beta Lounge is still around. party people rock the house.
Today's M*P*III: Television, Drug of a Nation by the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy. [found here]
"No matter how cool your interface, it would be better if there were less of it."
- Alan Cooper
- Alan Cooper
more great tools need less interface.
I love the (mostly) text-only hotbot. lots.