'Bred Crumbs
This is now the past. Go to the new 'Bred Crumbs.
02.23.01
12:45 PM
One of the bad things about my job is that it led me to discover this. Be appalled. Be very appalled.
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I'm not sure which makes me less proud of my birth-state: this (first linked to by Evhead and Keithers) or this.· · ·
I really didn't plan to write any more about a certain controversial recording professional, but this take on things is too fascinating to ignore. Unfortunately, Eminem is indeed cute, and I definitely understand the he's-horrible-but-he's-hot thing. I have it for noted omniphobe John Rocker. Sorry. He just physically appeals to me in a dumb-young-jock sort of way. It's just a matter of knowing where the fantasy ends and the inexcusable reality begins.02.22.01
03:15 PM
Found something incredibly, wonderfully geeky while double-checking my earlier Tom Morello reference: a "crew manifest" that lists all the bit-player characters on Star Trek: Voyager -- not just lists them, but also logs their plot roles in excruciating detail: which console explosions injured them, how they got "phasered," etc. -- and shows screen-grab mug shots of some. The shock is, a couple of the pictured guys are actually quite appealing (Murphy and Nozawa, both of whom, it is noted, also caught the eye of bump-headed crewperson Torres). Guess I should pay more attention to the redshirts on the show before they're obliterated.
And check out the shots of Naomi Wildman Through The Years. By the by, David and I think "Naomi Wildman" would make one of the best band names of all time.
Blogger points to an essay by one David Olimpio (his Feb. 21 'blog entry) pondering the nature of writing "for the public and private self." How, he wonders, do you reconcile the urge to share your thoughts with the world through so powerful a tool as the Web vs. whether the world needs or wants to hear those thoughts?
To me, the answer's not that hard. (Call me Tom Morello.) In starting this site, I instantly, easily adopted a middle ground between private and public. My deepest, darkest, most personal thoughts will not appear here, though it may sometimes seem like I'm getting close. Near as I may get sometimes to full-on journal, there are limits, because even though a lot of I what write here is written with friends and neighbors in mind, I'm also hoping some people I don't know read it, and there's some stuff I don't want or need to share with them, nice people though they may be. And maybe my opinions and preferences are of no interest to the world, but if so, the world can easily ignore them.
But clearly, this matter has been pondered by others; else, there wouldn't be the Kill Your Blog test, which tongue-in-cheekly measures your 'blog's Net worth and absolves or condemns it. I survived with a rate of 53 percent -- although, curiously, my score would have been 57 percent if I hadn't published this very paragraph.
And check out the shots of Naomi Wildman Through The Years. By the by, David and I think "Naomi Wildman" would make one of the best band names of all time.
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Gee, I'm cautiously opinionated today. Here comes a mini-essay about the value of 'blog publishing.Blogger points to an essay by one David Olimpio (his Feb. 21 'blog entry) pondering the nature of writing "for the public and private self." How, he wonders, do you reconcile the urge to share your thoughts with the world through so powerful a tool as the Web vs. whether the world needs or wants to hear those thoughts?
To me, the answer's not that hard. (Call me Tom Morello.) In starting this site, I instantly, easily adopted a middle ground between private and public. My deepest, darkest, most personal thoughts will not appear here, though it may sometimes seem like I'm getting close. Near as I may get sometimes to full-on journal, there are limits, because even though a lot of I what write here is written with friends and neighbors in mind, I'm also hoping some people I don't know read it, and there's some stuff I don't want or need to share with them, nice people though they may be. And maybe my opinions and preferences are of no interest to the world, but if so, the world can easily ignore them.
But clearly, this matter has been pondered by others; else, there wouldn't be the Kill Your Blog test, which tongue-in-cheekly measures your 'blog's Net worth and absolves or condemns it. I survived with a rate of 53 percent -- although, curiously, my score would have been 57 percent if I hadn't published this very paragraph.
12:42 PM
Notes after the Grammys, which I might have watched had I known Jon Stewart was hosting:
The weakness of the most common pro-Eninem argument stands clear in a comment from Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello. "To me it seems pretty straightforward," says the former Star Trek: Voyager thespian and Zach De La Roche endurer. "There are two opinions one can have about freedom of speech -- you're for it or against it." How neatly stupid, Tom. Sure, Mathers has the right to spew ignorance and violence. That doesn't make it necessarily acceptable when hateful lyrics are endorsed, supported, and used as a moneymaking and attention-getting tool. Morello's leap in illogic reminds me of the sentiment that fuels Napster: it's OK to deprive musicians of their rights and royalties because MP3s are the wave of the future. No, the probable superiority of downloadable music doesn't entitle anyone to free anything. And the importance of freedom of speech doesn't entitle M.M. to an award, or to fame, or to money, or to influence over fans who, as non-Eminem-fawning musician Moby said, probably can't see through the rapper's "art."
A Grammy you may have missed was the award for Worst Christians of the Year, going to Jars of Clay, whose take on Eminem was this: "We need controversy. As we've traveled we've noticed kids are apathetic, and if you can stir things up, it's important." Yes, prejudice and violence are good because they're critical first steps to Christianity!
As for Elton: check out the interesting point made at the 10:47 mark of Salon's Grammys recap.
But, there I go again, according the Grammys significance. And, I'll note again as a reminder to readers and myself, I still haven't actually heard the disputed album in question. Maybe I should download it off Napster. Tee hee.
The weakness of the most common pro-Eninem argument stands clear in a comment from Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello. "To me it seems pretty straightforward," says the former Star Trek: Voyager thespian and Zach De La Roche endurer. "There are two opinions one can have about freedom of speech -- you're for it or against it." How neatly stupid, Tom. Sure, Mathers has the right to spew ignorance and violence. That doesn't make it necessarily acceptable when hateful lyrics are endorsed, supported, and used as a moneymaking and attention-getting tool. Morello's leap in illogic reminds me of the sentiment that fuels Napster: it's OK to deprive musicians of their rights and royalties because MP3s are the wave of the future. No, the probable superiority of downloadable music doesn't entitle anyone to free anything. And the importance of freedom of speech doesn't entitle M.M. to an award, or to fame, or to money, or to influence over fans who, as non-Eminem-fawning musician Moby said, probably can't see through the rapper's "art."
A Grammy you may have missed was the award for Worst Christians of the Year, going to Jars of Clay, whose take on Eminem was this: "We need controversy. As we've traveled we've noticed kids are apathetic, and if you can stir things up, it's important." Yes, prejudice and violence are good because they're critical first steps to Christianity!
As for Elton: check out the interesting point made at the 10:47 mark of Salon's Grammys recap.
But, there I go again, according the Grammys significance. And, I'll note again as a reminder to readers and myself, I still haven't actually heard the disputed album in question. Maybe I should download it off Napster. Tee hee.
02.21.01
12:45 PM
In spite of the train-wreck spectacle of pride-free gay man Elton John and responsibility-shunning gutter-mouth Eminem performing their personal rendition of "Can You Feel the Hate Tonight?" I'm still probably not going to watch the Grammys.
It's not because of the controversy. I'm of mixed minds about that, though my recurring thoughts about the debate and about what the rapper's popularity means always seems to come back to this: even though there may well be some artistry behind Enimem's apparent hate-for-profit (and I don't know; I haven't heard any of the album in question), the critics and musicians who laud him and shrug off the impact of his slurs are nearly as accountable as he is for the possible resulting damage to society and actual people.
No, I'm probably skipping the telecast because, when all is said and done, it's an awards show, the tedium of which I can't handle anymore, and because these are the Grammys, noted cesspool of lameness. As Aimee Mann, whom I hope doesn't win an award tonight, said when she was nominated for an Oscar, "As my friend Buddy Judge said, if he ever won a Grammy, his speech would have to be, 'Now I know I suck.'"
It's not because of the controversy. I'm of mixed minds about that, though my recurring thoughts about the debate and about what the rapper's popularity means always seems to come back to this: even though there may well be some artistry behind Enimem's apparent hate-for-profit (and I don't know; I haven't heard any of the album in question), the critics and musicians who laud him and shrug off the impact of his slurs are nearly as accountable as he is for the possible resulting damage to society and actual people.
No, I'm probably skipping the telecast because, when all is said and done, it's an awards show, the tedium of which I can't handle anymore, and because these are the Grammys, noted cesspool of lameness. As Aimee Mann, whom I hope doesn't win an award tonight, said when she was nominated for an Oscar, "As my friend Buddy Judge said, if he ever won a Grammy, his speech would have to be, 'Now I know I suck.'"
02.20.01
07:25 PM
Conversation while I ate a huge piece of the best chocolate cream pie I've ever had, at a folksy-cozy diner in Point Richmond:
Jacki: Good move not wasting effort on the crust. [I was eating all the filling and meringue but shunning the crust.]
Tim: I don't like crust anyway. Crust is merely a vehicle for pie.*
Chris (laughing): I see. A Pie Delivery System.
Tim: Yes.
Chris: A PDS.
Tim (laughing): Yes!
* Variation on a line about waffles from MST3K.
Jacki: Good move not wasting effort on the crust. [I was eating all the filling and meringue but shunning the crust.]
Tim: I don't like crust anyway. Crust is merely a vehicle for pie.*
Chris (laughing): I see. A Pie Delivery System.
Tim: Yes.
Chris: A PDS.
Tim (laughing): Yes!
* Variation on a line about waffles from MST3K.
02.19.01
04:35 PM
Carp as I do about bad website redesign, let me here applaud a nice revamp: weather.com. It's cleaner-looking than its old design, and it serves up mucho content without looking cluttered. The only thing I miss about the old design is the variety of super-panoramic photos that were used for the page header behind a sleek big weather.com logo. But the new header's nice too, and the site's vast, up-to-date, customizable content is even easier to sort through than before. Huzzah!
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President's Day is such a bogus holiday.02.18.01
[Previously]
Week of 02.11.01
Features
Now at the new 'Bred Crumbs:
Still here:
Hidden Deadly Productions makes short films, including CrossWalk (2003) and The Point of Boxes (coming in 2006?).
Pictured: Rubble from the destruction of the Central Freeway, San Francisco, April 2003. Photos by the author.
Pictured: Views from San Francisco Bay, July 2003. Photos by the author.
Pictured: Videogames projected onto a wall from an Atari 2600, July 2003. Photos by the author.
Pictured: Ranch near Hollister, New Year's Day 2003. Photos by the author.
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(cc)1996-2005 Tim Bland. This work licensed under a Creative Commons License.