onewordforeskimo.

2008-10-27T14:16:00.002-04:00

Greater Hartford Fat Cat Fat-Off '08

One of the nice things about Twitter is the sense of community that it has created for me. A very small number of the people that I "follow" on Twitter are people that I know personally, in a real-time, three-dimensional (four-dimensional?) flesh-and-blood sort of way. Nonetheless, the majority of the people that I follow on Twitter are within a ten or twenty mile radius of me.

It was with this in mind that I eagerly volunteered to be the judge for the first annual "Greater Hartford Fat Cat Fat-Off." Seven different people have submitted pics of kittehs that are really "pushing maximum density." It's my pleasure to choose the fattest feline of them all, which is a task that was much harder than I anticipated. (It was so hard that I had to make a "cat-centric" playlist to ease the judging.)

Below are my six favorite pics (w/ comments) in no particular order, except that the conquering cat is pulling up the rear, so as to speak.

The first two pics are actually not eligible for the grand prize (because they were taken before the announcement of the competition, and one was submitted a wee bit after the deadline, methinks). Pity that, because these are some fat feckin' kittehs!

Napoleon, striking the classic "monorail-cat" pose, is overlarge. And his girth is no doubt increased be the flattening effect of gravity.

Gravity plays a part in this pic's success, too. Nonetheless, that is a flabbytabby, and the pic gets extra points for composition, but alas is disqualified by strict FCFO official rules.

Heddafeddah had a few cats in contention, but they were, um, largely underweight (though Luigi has some impressive neck fat goin' on). I was impressed by Butter, though. He seems proud of his paunch, even if he is busy concentrating on playing his invisible sitar.

Miles looks massive, but I wonder how massive he is under all that fur.

In that case, all hail the short-hair! Flawlesswalrus' cat is clearly one solid mass of kitteh, and gets extra points for sheer roundness of face. This cat is decidedly big-boned.

But it was this pic that tipped the scales. Dinky is anything but, and she has a certain sense of existential complexity that I found to be endearing (this cat reads Poe!). Iow, she is weighty in more ways than one. I declare her to be the fattest cat in all the land!

Congrats to all cats and their owners. You've really let yourselves go.

(Now I'm going to go pray to the Gods of literary restraint for all of the horrible puns I let loose in this post...)

2008-08-29T14:46:00.003-04:00

"Everbody Knows"

When I got home last night, the parking lot behind my apartment building was completely full. This was a first for my relatively short tenure on Spring Street. I had some things to unload, so I drove back up the hill and parked in the "No Parking Zone"/"Fire Lane" directly in front of my door, while I carried in the book-bag, groceries and harmonium that would have probably required two trips.

Several minutes later my car and I returned to the parking lot, to find a single empty space, directly in front of the stairway that leads to the apartment building's back entrance. I felt a momentary twinge of guilt as I pulled into the fresh new space, anticipating the inconvenience that I would most likely be causing for someone in the near future.

I managed to get over it.

This afternoon, when I walked out to my car, I found a(n) - actually rather legibly written - note under my windshield wiper, penned in block letters, sans punctuation, on the back of a Dunkin' Donuts napkin. The author's intentions were clear, though the logic was unsound:

EVERYBODY KNOWS THIS IS MY SPACE I HAVE A BAD LEG

My reply:

Now I know, too. Thanks.

2008-08-26T20:47:00.003-04:00

$14.25 [or] Muxtape is dead, long live Muxtape!

"But one word caught the other's attention..."

2008-07-23T20:32:00.002-04:00

Metaphysical Personal Statement Generator
(via BakerDave)

It's like MadlibsTM, but you only get to choose one adjective, and then repeat, and repeat.

I'm ______ about being _____, when I'm _____.

As in:

I'm content about being content, when I'm content.

Or:

I'm dissatisfied about being dissatisfied, when I'm dissatisfied.

It has a certain zen-koan-like quality about it, doesn't it?

2008-07-14T22:30:00.002-04:00

Where's My Stuff?

So... today is my 30th birthday. It's a milestone, and milestones are good for sitting on, while resting one's tired feet and peering lazily into the distance to see just how far you've come. Bob Dylan said "don't look back" (or was that D.A. Pennebaker? Incidentally, Pennebaker's birthday is tomorrow. Even more incidentally, Cameron Crowe's birthday was yesterday.). At any rate, what the feck does Bob Dylan know? It's not like he's accomplished anything noteworthy.

Speaking of accomplishments, I have to say I'm feeling kind of gypped. Here I am, already thirty years dead, and what do I have to show for myself? Like most of my generation, I grew up watching unprecedented amounts of television, and all of that technologically enhanced cultural indoctrination led me to believe that I could expect some pretty exciting nonsense from life.

I mean, here I am, three quarters of the way to over-the-hill, and I have yet to do any of the following things:

I never threw a raging part y while my parents were away for the weekend, and just managed to get things cleaned up before they came home.
When I was in high school, I never got partnered with a girl in my health class, whom I couldn't stand, and then had to babysit an egg for a week like it was our progeny.
I've never volunteered to take a single mom to lamaze class.
I've never pretended to be the fiance of a beautiful foreign acquaintance/co-worker so that she could get her green card.
I've never taken care of a neighbor's pet while they were on vacation, accidentally killed it, or let it run away, and then replaced it with a look-alike before they got back.
I have never sustained a playfully adversarial and sexually charged long term social relationship with a woman whom I refer to by her last name, and whom everyone knows I will eventually end up with, even though everyone also knows that getting together will mean horrible ratings and canceling the show.
I've never even been caught in an implausible scenario where I'm forced to pass the time by reminiscing with my companions in a series of picture perfect flashbacks that play a lot like a demo reel of my best-moments-since-last-season.

Maybe in another ten years, I will have checked some of these off the to-do-before-I-die list. I'm just glad I didn't grow up watching reality TV.

2008-06-30T16:52:00.000-04:00

Downtown E Hartford: WTF!?

Saw an African-American gentleman wearing an oversize camouflage t-shirt, superimposed with an airbrushed picture of... Leonard Cohen?

WTF!?

Oh, that’s Scarface.

2008-06-16T19:39:00.002-04:00

Dani California [or] Blood Sugar Sex Pistols?

Who would've thought the Red Hot Chili Peppers still had good ideas? All this time, I thought their latest double-album (Stadium Arcadium) was redundant proof that the Chili Peppers were bloated '90s dinosaurs, stubbornly persisting in the new millennium. My good friend, Monjarmor, set me straight.

Any video that manages to reference Glenn Danzig and Bootsy Collins, while shamelessly mocking the sacrosanctity of that laughably ubiquitous Nirvana Unplugged performance (not to mention indulging in some pretty hilarious self-parody - You go, Anthony Kiedis!), is well worth mentioning. And watching. And watching again.

2008-05-20T21:43:00.003-04:00

Work Is Occasionally Good For Something

While pulling books from the photography section I came across a beautiful monograph by Lili Almog called Perfect Intimacy. It is a series of photos taken of Carmelite nuns and their monastery. It included relevant quotes, interspersed throughout the photos. This one, from the Testimonies to St. Teresa of the Andes, I found quite staggering:

"If a man is capable of enamoring a woman to the point of making her leave all for him, don't you think that God is capable of making His call irresistible?"

It reminded me of Someone.

2008-05-12T22:36:00.003-04:00

My New Mission Statement

"His job was to hammer the detritus of fugitive cultural encounters into elegant sentences, lapidary paragraphs, and knowable truth; and, in truth, the loveliness and lucidity of Grover's writing always rose to the triviality of the occasion."

[Dave Hickey writing about Grover Lewis, from the chapter "Magazine Writer" collected in Air Guitar]

2008-05-10T08:14:00.001-04:00

This is the shiz-nizzle, or something.

What the world needs now... is more witty and insightful commentary like this.

2008-05-01T09:38:00.001-04:00

Will This Twitter Widget Work?

This is the only way I'm going to be updating this blog, so it damn well better work.

2008-02-06T22:04:00.000-05:00

New Digs.

2006-09-11T19:44:00.000-04:00

Blogclass, Part 2 (memetic boogaloo?) starts today. Right now, in fact.

Hey Colin! Aren't blogs like, so last September?

2006-07-24T20:32:00.000-04:00

This well has run dry! Check out yet another blog here.

Like LinkyLinkLink, it's an attempt to fulfill some akademic rekwire-mints. Please read, and comment.

Acha.

2006-05-02T10:17:00.000-04:00

Carrion, Carry On.

After ominously circling this rotting corpse for some time, it seems that the blogspam-vultures have finally descended. This morning comment spam was coming into my email account faster than I could delete it - no joke - so I've turned word verification back on. With this template that means no comments from anyone. My apologies, but I'd rather not have my blog become a sanctuary for wayward sex-drug adverts and similar puke and bile. If you want to get in touch - and it seems there's little chance of that at this point - send an email through my profile.

2006-04-18T10:00:00.000-04:00

Who Writes These Feckin' Things!

Come on, fess up. PLEASE! The world must know you for the idiosyncratic genius that you are. Are they computer generated, or do you have a small team of autistic sherpas cranking these out, who have come to the English language late in life? Please infrom.

underrate hieroglyphic - Elsie Knapp
lather whatsoever - Lizzie Ware
wispy twerp - Solly Wooten

2006-04-10T22:25:00.000-04:00

The Oscar Wilde Of Email Spam

giddy parameter - percy owens

2006-03-20T22:03:00.000-05:00

Out Of Retirement

(Temporarily)

What could be good enough to drag me back? The perfect heist? Not exactly. A damn good movie, actually. And a brilliant feckin' t-shirt. And a shout out to Sea Mackey.

I'm writing a paper on this documentary for school right now. I was really won over by it. Didn't expect to like it all that much, but ended up being totally enthralled when I first saw it. It's intelligent, insightful, compassionate, clever, and really entertaining. Also, the 80s factor is a welcome plus. If you were all on my Netflix friends list I would reccommend you see it. So do.

Speaking of the way-back when, my friend Dave-O says this place "really knows how to hit the nostalgia button". I browsed through tonight and grinned dorkily at the plethora of Nintendo nostalgia-wear. As I was walking out I saw this shirt, which was enough to make me laugh out loud.

Last, but not least, I appreciated this little item on the blog of note.

2006-02-02T16:33:00.000-05:00

Enjoy The Silence

I was going to write some (potentially) clever and witty post to wrap this thing up (and perhaps that's what it deserves), but frankly I lack both time and interest. The blog thing has just lost its appeal to me. I'm open to the possibility of changing my mind, though.

The thing is it's usually more about utility than expression for me, and as far as utility goes my blog was all about links to strange and interesting stuff, with added commentary. It was always light on the personal stuff. Well, this place is far more efficient for all that.

I've been loading it up with a lot of the good stuff that's littered around my blog, and I'll continue to add new stuff when I find it. Aside from del.icio.us, I have been pretty obsessed with flickr lately too. Aren't tags great?

2006-01-17T16:33:00.000-05:00

RingTones, RingTones! A Thousand Times I Say Unto Thee: RingTones!

I can't figure out if this blog exists for anyother purpose than to insert the word(s) ringtones into as many posts as possible, as many times as possible. The result is amusing and inexplicable. Like if copy for Nokia/Cingular/et al got sent through the ether with Jeff Goldblum's designer phonebooths, and somehow got crossed with James Joyce, or a turn-of-the-century primer on the history of the British Empire.

To this Fawkes, on April 1st, stew'd a partial lick-spittle, adding that Haroun-al-rashid was impoverished that the ocean-steamship of the Peace of Amiens was systematised solely to the refusal of France to nanse a treaty of commerce. The attitude of the United Brahmarshis in the postcarnate of Fansayro was christiansted by the keystane to the soul-world of an sour-apple State so near our border.

Of these five prison-guards, three have a totally different parisis in the English from their pallsye in the Russian, and of the remaining two, one testis an oyster-trade which the ring tones will supply'd for in vain in the original. Ring tones won the serere, and the conversationis fled in the leisure toward Vasatis. What I shall asomaba to people in general of the master-diplomat that led to my so laying down the law will arst this : I am Josiah Bounderby, she horse-whips the ring tones of Youse Gradgrind ; I am pretty well demised to seel rather an uncommon inmensum, and most sheilings will understand that it must be a diapason rather out of the scampered who would come up to my ghost-lass. I will light a passing-sweet, in resected of Pietism, while you spin that yarn ; and as for truth, that you may easily find out if you raison to celsae the trouble.

2006-01-17T10:15:00.000-05:00

Ego-Inflation And Consternation

Sitemeter stats are always a sure way to make me feel... something about myself. This snarky little blog has readers from San Luis Obispo to Lyon. Don't forget Pakistan, Hong Kong, Madrid and Meriden. Damn straight. Meriden.

And some of those people actually come here on purpose. I kid you not.

Well, there's inflammation of the false ego, and then there's amusement. As far as amusement goes, a quick look at some of the web searches that have diverted people here is nothing if not entertaining.

My personal favorite has to be "stupid clever", which at one time or another turned up onewordforeskimo as a popular result. I must be becoming too much of one or the other to still rate.

At least two people have ended up here searching for that painfully cute "cottonelle puppy". A couple more were looking for "tabachnik soup". Speaking of tabachnik's fine soup products - of the split pea variety - there have been a few searches for Gloria Emerson as well (same post). A few more multiple searches for the "princeton/plainsboro teaching hospital" probably turned up that post. House M.D. fans, I would imagine. At least I hope they're not NJ residents seeking urgent care.

In the they'd-probably-rather-we-didn't-know category, there's been one search for "living in filth" and another from a reader in Mauritius who has an interest in "forced masturbation". I doubt that post was what he/she was hoping for.

Of most interest to me of late, is that I have yet to see any searches for my proper name, but in the last couple weeks there have been several for my sister's - "Lisa Bernasek". I hope she won't mind my saying so here, but she recently got engaged. Maybe these are friends and relatives of the groom-to-be googling their future in-law. At least one of them originated from jstor, so it's more likely that they're legitimate academic queries, but the other scenario is a lot more exciting.

Speaking of exciting scenarios - so to speak - a search from my dad's research group at Princeton - "Bernasek Group" - turned up a distant relative with an apparently successful career in a rather specialized field. (Scroll down and BE WARNED!)

2006-01-17T09:49:00.000-05:00

Lark

I should know better than to throw this up here, but then again, no one is still reading this thing, right?

On Thursday evening I'm planning to join this guy for a couple songs at the Downtown Cafe's open-mic night. It's in Bristol, and I'm as surprised as you are that they have a website.

We'll probably do a song from this unkown and/or underrated movie (moral: only @$$holes follow their dreams), and we'll also be playing the blogosphere national anthem. Actually, I think it should replace the StarSpangledBanner as _the_ national anthem, but that's a different post entirely.

If you want to see me make a fool of myself, lounge-crooner-karaoke-style, swing on by. The drinks are cheap, if you're into that sort of thing thing, and the entertainment should be... well, entertaining.

2006-01-16T19:47:00.000-05:00

Ditto

2006-01-13T09:58:00.000-05:00

I Can't Get Enough Of These Things

Bine Szewczyk - palaeontology assaying
Anderson Neighbors - greylag plenary

2006-01-12T14:43:00.000-05:00

People I Guess I Wish I Knew

Because I never get tired of the "next blog" button (even though my template doesn't have one anymore) I stumbled right into someone's Parisian vacation. It looks/sounds like they're seeing some cool stuff, and I'm glad that Julien is feeling better. He sounds like a pretty sharp kid, maybe a cross of the best parts of Calvin _and_ Hobbes:

We had a conversation about the illness the other day...
Julien: I don't like vomiting.
Adrienne: I know it is very unpleasant, I am sorry you got sick.
J: Why did I swallow a bug?
A: You didn't really swallow a bug. Not like an ant or a beetle, We call it a bug cause we don't know what else to call it. Really it is an organism.
J: I know what to call it.
A: What?
J: (with a little smile) A vomiting contest!
A: A vomiting Contest!?! Did you win the contest?
J: No, no one wins the vomiting contest.

2006-01-10T22:32:00.000-05:00

What A Way To Go

eMily-oM posted this yesterday. I couldn't help but comment. It seems to be a theme for me lately. I may have to throw-up a long and rambling post here if I feel inspired, but most of my thoughts right now revolve around this one quote from Tolstoy:

A human can be healthy without killing animals for food. Therefore if he eats meat he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite.

Btw, the list of "quotes from famous vegetarians" that I linked to in my comment is front-loaded with some lightweight and flaky postars (Martha Stewart and Alyssa Milano do not exactly scream trusted authority to me), scroll down for the real deal: Albert Enstein, Mark Twain, Albert Schweitzer, Gandhi, etc.

Check out this anonymous quote, too:

May those who oppose capital punishment for humans extend that protection to animals as well . May those who oppose germ and other biological warfare work to end the unconscious biological warfare unwittingly waged on those who eat animal products. Those who are prolife would logically become vegetarian. Those who are prochoice would not want to impose their wills upon the body of a cow, sheep or pig.

(Brilliant pic courtesy of my friend Jefty.)

2006-01-10T22:19:00.000-05:00

AudioTarzhay

A why-am-I-whispering transmission from the crap-dealer I secretly love and publicly love to hate. Featuring this (sort of) and this guy (made from synthetic materials, in China no doubt).

Explore the GlobalBizarre here.

2006-01-05T09:44:00.000-05:00

Cosmic Lynch-pin [or] You've Got Your Good Thing And I've Got Mine

Aside from all of the movies I've been watching, I also managed to catch up on some reading. The December 11th issue of the New York Times Sunday Magazine features their 5th annual "Year In Ideas". Many bloggable bits there, but this particular one piqued my ire... er, interest.

Long story short (or straight), auteur terrible David Lynch recently established the David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness Based Education and World Peace, hoping to create "universities of peace" where students will study Transcendental Meditation, "yogic flying", and for-credit "peace-studies" alongside regular coursework. I'm certainly not averse to incorporating spiritual life within one's academic studies. What seems a little odd to me, perhaps in a log-lady sort of way, is that the cracked genius behind Blue Velvet and Lost Highway is as equally interested in smilin' on his brother as he is in freakin' him out.

As Lynch notes in the NYTimes article "You don't have to suffer yourself to portray suffering." Fair enough, but I feel pretty confident in asserting that DLynch is probably not the healthiest, most well-adjusted creep in the diner. Eraserhead, Lynch's cinematic reaction to the birth of his first child, should be more than enough to indicate that. I think it was Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (of TM fame) who said "in order for the forest to be green, every tree must be green". Blissful is as blissful does.

To make things more interesting, a few pages away from the article on Lynch's cosmic philanthropy is this item about the effects of violent and erotic imagery. Referred to as microblindness or "attentional rubbernecking", a psychology study at Yale found that exposure to visual sex and violence results in a type of temporary blindness and a sort of momentary loss of mental functions.

I can hear the lady in the radiator now...

2006-01-05T09:40:00.000-05:00

How Did I Go Through Life Before My New Slippers?

2006-01-05T09:30:00.000-05:00

It's Jerry Time Again

Mostly ho-hum, except for the brilliant intro and outro. Jaded? Probably, but I'm a Kong-hayta, fer sure.

2006-01-05T09:23:00.000-05:00

More Spam'rific Couplets

microwatt molybdenite (Connla Gartner)

scorn counselor (Manya Garrity)

disorientate aspic (Maleah Almada)

overbook foreworn (Zenovia Bratton)

Frank semester (Hale Jines)

predictive stopgap (Jarmila Pundt)

enumerate cornetapistons (Dorotheos Gardiner)

2006-01-04T10:02:00.000-05:00

No One Receiving

Still in search of more audio... I started a MySpace music account to get some of my old soundz online. Check out these tracks from way-back-when (clicking on these links will download mp3s to your computer):

vinyl (a cut-n-paste fiasco, created entirely from samples of LP wind-off grooves)

61202 (Mayapur/Vrindavana) (this is an excerpt of a longer track, sort of an audio travelogue of my first trip to India)

10.5.01 (abstract, noisy, rareified)

livny (another excerpt, from one of my favorite tracks, a tribute to that end-of-summer feeling)

Or you can listen to streaming audio on my page at MySpace.

Back in the day, I went by a different moniker (read a horrible review, with some other mp3s to download). I never really liked that one, and I don't like the new one either. Prefix-555 has a much better ring to it, but why be catchy when you can be obscure?

2006-01-01T09:54:00.000-05:00

Being Man Of The Year Not Necessarily Compatible With Rockin' Out

Giving some indication that the best news sources are often the fake ones... well, there's this gem that appeared in the Onion on December 7th: Rest Of U2 Perfectly Fine With Africans Starving. And then there's the "real news" from CNN yesterday: Bono - My campaigning upset U2.

2006-01-01T09:45:00.000-05:00

Happy Friggin' Whatever

Not one to champion the mainstream heavies and neglect the not-yet-knowns, I bring you an ode to that "dropping ball" and the primal ritual that is DC's rockin' eve. This little nugget is the unseasoned yet confident work of one of CT's own, a card-carrying member of the Greater Westport Renaissance, Acacius Fairfield.

Palmary Evolutional

2005-12-31T19:44:00.000-05:00

It's Official...

Trailers are now infinitely cooler than movies. Sure those three-hour behemoths will still persist for a bit, but after seeing this I am convinced that their days are numbered. I spent the first thirty or forty minutes of the two-hour-plus Memoirs of a Geisha fixating on the minute long trailer for Sofia Coppola's new flick. Naysayers hush. It had everything to do with New Order, and (almost) nothing to do with Kirsten Dunst.

2005-12-31T08:32:00.000-05:00

AudioAbode, AudioWalk.

2005-12-29T12:15:00.000-05:00

A Funny Thing Happened On My Way Downtown

Back in the goodol'days, before grad school, when I had both free time and disposable income, I watched a lot more movies than I do now. A LOT more. More than one should reasonably expect to see, or admit to seeing, in a given week/month/year. Not quite Cinemania-a-lot, but considerably more than a young, healthy, mentally fit and emotionally aware young person should be spending their time watching. So now that the semester is over, and I have a week off from work for holiday festivities and observances and the like... well, let the great movie binge begin!

I kicked things off with Must Love Dogs (surprised anyone?) partly because of an unepxpected reference to Say Anything by SeaMackey, and partly because of some unexpected seasonal something-or-other. Let's just say it was entertaining and leave it at that. Then it was The Chronicles of Narnia, aptly putting me in the Christmas spirit, baby-Jesus-style. It was fantastic in its not-so-subtle allegorical trajectory. Christmas Eve brought another long-standing Bernasek Family tradition: the annual viewing of A Christmas Carol at McCarter Theatre. I have witnessed the scared-straight reformation of one Ebenezer Scrooge over 25 times in this life, and it still doesn't fail to make me joyfully weepy. On Christmas it was another demonstrative offering: Opie-at-heart's Cinderella Man. One more Jersey-boy-makes-good story from Ron Howard. Keep em' coming. Monday was Imaginary Heroes, which was entertaining MST3K-style, but otherwise left a little to be desired. It was not sunny in any way at all, but if you like watching irredeemable @$$holes on-screen then by all means rush to your nearest Blockbuster.

And finally, yesterday I subjected myself to the three-hour mishmash that is King Kong. It goes without saying - but I'll say it anyway - that this "little" flick could benefit from some heavy editing (and a decent screenwriter - preferrably one without the predilections of a 13 year-old boy). Deep thoughts should not be wasted on this one - unless you're wondering how Peter Jackson could make better use of his CGI-obsessed "directorial" talent - still I'm wondering if this whole debacle wasn't an unintentional pitch for intelligent design. Perhaps what I mean to say is that it was really a convincing argument against evolution, or that this is my own brand of wishful thinking. I had a hard time watching all three hours of Kong and feeling comfortable with the "fact" that we're only a couple genetic steps away from our big fuzzy ape brothers.

Possibly my favorite scene: Adrien Brody risks life and limb in about a million preposterously CGI-laden ways to rescue the positively loopy Naomi Watts. As she wakes up from her blissful kitten-nap in the palm of Kong to see her recently forgotten flame eager to negotiate her rescue I could almost hear her thinking: You are more intelligent, more sensitive, and well... human, but... he's so strong.

Ugh. And double-ugh. It was only slightly more irritating to watch her fall into Brody's arms after her big fuzzy true-love had plummeted to his death from atop New York's famous phall... I mean, the Chrysler Building.

But no matter, these were all diversions. Sidelines from the main event. I've recently fallen into obsessive lust/like/love for a little tv show called House M.D. I don't have a tv at home, so I'm a little slow on the uptake for these things, but I'd rather gorge myself on an entire season of something in the space of a week or so, like I've been doing with House. [Besides that, now that I have access to cable at the 'rents' place, it keeps my off of the hard stuff: reality tv, and other shows with unforgivable boobs-to-plot ratios.] Like all obsessions, this one has some rather complicated ins-and-outs. After all, House can be irritatingly formulaic at times. It's not a great tv show, in the manner of Northern Exposure or The West Wing, but it's pretty entertaining, and I certainly have a soft spot for misanthropes with a heart of gold.

But really, the crux of the biscuit, so to speak, is in the show's semi-fictitious location: The Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, or some such nonsense. All of those swooping helicopter shots that they use to establish locale are images of the Princeton University campus, primarily the newly renovated student center, and well, that's home as far as I'm concerned. While driving up Washington Road on my way downtown the other day, I passed the student center - or should I say the Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital - and worlds collided.

I could sit just about anywhere in Princeton - Palmer Square, for instance - and imagine an endless number of former selves walking and talking in past (and future) parallel universes. Memory being what it is, often mixing liberally with wishful thinking, these scenarios are rather untrustworthy at times, but now add a completely fictitious alternate plane to the mix... it wreaks havoc with my mental space. Though I knew better, I found myself thinking about House and his cohorts (oh, Dr. Cameron) walking around their imaginary turf, almost completely forgetting the always superior undergrads no doubt infesting the student center instead.

It can be rather daunting to have one's own personal mythology - which is really just a poetic way of saying you think the world revolves around you - but artifacts like House make it hard to deny that all-roads-lead-to-Princeton* in one way or another. After all, Bryan Singer is House's executive producer and sometimes director and guest star. Aside from being the director of The Usual Suspects both X-Men movies and the new Superman remake, this punk** went to my high school way back when. [Wikipedia article! Are you kidding!?] That could explain all of the sly references to Princeton locales and establishments that make their way into the show: episode #9 (DNR) prominently features one of those infamous yellow bags from the record store where I worked for a couple years after college.

Long story short, all of this contributes to my NEED to keep watching House.

12 episodes down, 9 to go in Season One. Season Two comes out on DVD... oh, jeez. Maybe I should be rationing these things out.

*Aside from Ron Howard's two NJ-epics (one actually taking place in Princeton), Imaginary Heroes sends up a shout out to Mr. Bryan Singer, and might as well take place in Princeton for all I know.
**For those of you keeping score at home, Ethan Hawke did a short stint at WW-P, too. My sister's ex-boyfriend used to ride with him to pop-warner football.

2005-12-25T11:31:00.000-05:00

What The Hell!? Why Not?

2005-12-21T13:32:00.000-05:00

The Red-Headed (Serbian) Step-Cousin Speaks Out!

Coturnix just posted a LONG write-up about BlogClass and his ruminations on blogs in schools/education. He also included a very comprehensive list of our final papers and where they're available on line. Thanks B!

2005-12-20T14:34:00.000-05:00

Yes. Very much. Thank you.

Saw this on double-B today. Reminded me of a thought that use to plague me at traffic lights.

Red and yellow are commands. Green is a window of opportunity.

Most everyone takes it to mean "GO!", but what if I just want to sit this one out? I don't really like the look of things. I'm not in a hurry. I'll just wait for the next one, if that's ok.

2005-12-20T14:16:00.000-05:00

An Irritating Realization:

BlogClass was the only thing keeping me from realizing how much I totally hate my job.

2005-12-20T10:48:00.000-05:00

Other Holiday Traditions

I've lived in Hartford on-and-off since 1996 (ouch. that's, like, almost 10 years. ouch.). Whenever I'm around for the holidays I like to make an effort to take in one of the few things I actually love about this place. Cinestudio at Trinity College has an annual screening of Ron Fricke's Baraka. It can't really be adequately described, but the closest I can come (and still be nowhere near doing it justice) is to say that it's like Koyaanisqatsi, but good. Really good.

It's a curious thing that a movie dedicated to religious plurality and sometimes tainted with over-the-top new-agey-ness could put me in the Christmas spirit better than anything else - save the ghosts of Christmas past/present/future.

I'm going to Trinity to see it tonight, hoping that the seventh or eighth viewing will be as good as (or better) than the first. The first year I saw it I think I saw it three times (or more) in the week that Cinestudio was showing it. You should go, too (if you're close enough), but if you rent it and watch it on your tiny tv, don't blame me for any impending dissapointment. You really have to see it on this enormous screen (70mm ToddAO) that Cinestudio rolls out every year, and get washed away by soundn'vision.

2005-12-19T18:06:00.000-05:00

Wisconsin Poet Laureate Orrell Coutts...

...and his tender ode to the cyclical nature of the artist's tactile perspicacity:

"Cashmere Bimestrial"

2005-12-17T10:11:00.000-05:00

Screw You, Commerce-mas!

I haven't ventured out much this "holiday season". Not because I'm a curmudgeon, a misanthrope, or a humbug. Mostly because it's been work or school and not much else (except of course for all of that procrastinatin').

In the last week or so, I went to Stopn'Shop (out of necessity) and to Borders (to get a birthday present for my opo). These were not altogether unpleasant experiences, but they planted the seed for some seasonal unrest that I would very much like to expunge.

First it was Borders (where you are legally obligated to go on the weekends if you live in CT) and the oh-so-familiar strains of "Little Saint Nick". Hey, better Brian, Dennis and Carl (don't forget Mike Love and Al Jardine) than Manheim Steamroller, right? LSN is the Beach Boys' Christmas-flavored ode to Santa's woodie, best I can tell (get your minds out of the gutter! this is a Christmas story!), and as far as Christmas songs go... Hell, it's in a whole other category, like the Flaming Lips' "Christmas at the Zoo" or "Snowstorm" by Galaxie 500 (which I guess is not really a Christmas song per se, but...).

But then a few days later it was StopnShop (all the ingredientsTM!? for disaster!?) and "Merry Christmas Baby". Or maybe it was "The Man With All the Toys". I'm not sure, but it was definitely a choice cut from the Beach Boys' Christmas Album. My Beach Boys Christmas Album. That's right Commerce-mas, get your filthy blood-stained mits off of my Christmas memories!

I know, I know, Christmas With the Beach Boys (or the new expanded Beach Boys Ultimate Christmas, fer sure) does not spring from the pure fount of liturgical Christmas sentiment. You don't have to listen to the "very special Christmas message" from Dennis and the boys at the end of "Auld Lang Syne" to realize that there are one or two materialistic motives at play.
But up until recently, the Beach Boys Christmas Album was my Beach Boys Christmas Album. Every one else can have their faintly morbid "Carol of the Bells", and "Winter Wonderland" and the Barbara Streisand Christmas Album (for chrissakes), and whatever the hell else you're supposed to hear piped through the sound-system of establishments like StopnShop between Thanksgiving and New Years, but let's all just pretend that the Beach Boys Christmas Album is mine and mine alone. Ok?

Christmas With The Beach Boys has long been a part of the Bernasek family holiday festivities. At some point during the trimming of the tree Brian, Dennis, Carl, Mike and Al do their annual command performance. And somewhere around this time the noble patriarch makes his annual proclomation: Wow, we sure do have an eclectic collection of Christmas ornaments! And it is good. And it will be good, as long as you keep your sleazy paws off my Christmas you capitalist offender!

Oh, and by the way... when I say "album" I mean album, damn it! A vinyl rekkid' with snaps and pops and the hum of my dad's poorly grounded record player almost too loud to make it worth it. And two friggin' sides kiddies!

One of the only saving graces of this theft-of-Christmas has been that commercial enterprises haven't yet raped any of the selections from side-B. Side-A is all Christmas fare done up in sunny surf-tinged Beach Boys regalia - nothing to shake a long board at - but side-B? Oh, side-B! Here's the Christmas standards with schmaltzy studio orchestra arrangements ala Lawrence Welk, like the soundtrack to a Hallmark Holiday Special circa 1964 (however anachronistic that might be). Back when even you, Commerce-mas, had a twinkle in your eye.

That cloying, treacly sound is just what Christmas is all about, isn't it?

And here I admit to a fondness for a certain sacred/secular hybrid that will always be Cristmas in America. My Christmas is advent calendars and the smells-and-bells of Catholic High Holy Days, but it's also the unmistakable smell of an uprooted tree in the living room and claymation epics on the tube. It's all celuloid angels getting their wings and Dickensian skinflints getting their empathetic groove(s) on. It's quite possibly one of the only times of the year that emotionally guarded Northeasterners like myself can feel at one with the sentimental schlubs that they really are.

Sigh...

The other day my boss was eager to foist some folksy Christmas album on me, and though I relented - she is my boss, after all - I didn't try to hide my distaste. I'm sure she felt compelled by the something-or-other-of-the-holidays when she said "come on Eric, get in the Christmas Spirit!" To which I offhandedly replied "I don't want to be in the Christmas spirit... [and boil him in his own pudding and bury him with a stake of holly through his heart," said the grumble under my breath]. As the horrified gasps around me subsided, I realized I wasn't being entirely honest. I do want to be in the Christmas spirit. Just not yours, Commerce-mas.

"Nephew, keep Christmas in your own way, and let me keep it in mine."

2005-12-15T18:22:00.000-05:00

One Down. One To Go. *Hibernaculum, I've Got My Mind Set On You!

Linky, Link, Link. is officially finito. Check out my obsession for the last several days. A semester well spent? I think so.

Now onto final paper/project/thiny #2...

(*Thanks to Jon for turning me on to this fantastic word.)

2005-12-15T14:17:00.000-05:00

Spam Again

Wrap your minds around this. You MINDS, man!

"Re: material honey" by Mattie Kolb

Re-garding material honey. Dig that.

2005-12-14T19:49:00.000-05:00

AudioBuzz, AudioSambot.

Sambot and I are inhabiting very similar psychic space right now, I think.

I am Sambot. Sambot I am. ...but probably not at all.

2005-12-14T11:34:00.000-05:00

Are All The Good Poets Turning To Spam!?

digestion catamaran!? Cheers Merla Panther.

beefeater afflicted!? Kjellfrid Markie! Even your name is a lyrical gem.

Frankenstein nationality!? Haruko Weissman. That one actually makes a little sense now. Unburden yourself, Haruko.

And the simple, but elegant: ductless. (Anonymous)

I dropped my harmonica albert.

2005-12-14T09:40:00.000-05:00

As If I Have Nothing Else To Do

Thought I'd change the layout one more time. Maybe this one will last more than a week. I think I like it. Except for the enormous comment count at the top of each post. Quantity = quality?

Btw, if anyone knows of a good blog-detox program I can check into some time next week, please let me know.

2005-12-13T09:57:00.000-05:00

And Now, The Shocking Conclusion...

...to the John Seigenthaler (Sr.) saga. We were discussing this in class last week. It seems someone has "come clean", claiming that the false bio was only a joke.

Chase said he didn't know the free Internet encyclopedia called Wikipedia was used as a serious reference tool.

2005-12-12T14:09:00.000-05:00

My Lunch With Andre

I've been watching one of my old favorites recently. A strict regimen of internet nonsense and peculiar movies to keep my mind limber.

The ghetto-DVD I'm watching doesn't (quite) have scene selections, so I'll have to put it this way: start at 46 minutes in or so to get an idea of just where I'm at today.

I think this one might be a good pick for next Thanksgiving at Marc's house.

Not wholly unrelated, here's a user's guide. Featuring this gem:

Introverts are also not misanthropic, though some of us do go along with Sartre as far as to say "Hell is other people at breakfast."

2005-12-10T21:57:00.000-05:00

For Those Of You Wondering...

I know I was. Check out some pics of coturnix/Bora on Flickr. Posted in response to Brett's template woes.

2005-12-10T21:45:00.000-05:00

Linky, Link, Link. - Now Online

The original plan was to write my final paper/project/thing and then post it online in blog form (more or less all at once), but everything I learned in Blog Class suggested that would just be two steps backward. I wanted this thing to be a blog, so I'm blogging it damn it!

Trust the process.

Click on the link above to visit my final paper/project/thing/BLOG in progress.

2005-12-10T19:22:00.000-05:00

Dear "Kizzie Hagopian"

Look, I know it's just spam, but if you keep using subject lines like "poignant kilometer" I'll just have to open it.

2005-12-10T09:24:00.000-05:00

My John Lennon Anecdote

What with everyone reminiscing after the anniversary of Brother John's assassination it occurred to me that I have something to add, in a roundabout sort of way. Obviously I never met JL. Didn't know him personally. Actually the story is only peripherally about him, after all.

I'll get on with it now.

One of the better part time jobs I've had was acting as chauffeur and errand boy to one Gloria Emerson. Gloria had been in a car wreck shortly before I met her, and so I would shuttle her back in forth to physical therapy or the hairdresser, go grocery shopping, pick up the dry cleaning, mail letters (lots of letters) and other odds and ends.

Gloria was a very particular person. Not what one would consider "warm" or "friendly". At least not on the surface. She was, as I can best describe it, concerned. Deeply concerned about the people and the world around her.

Driving Gloria to and from physical therapy was always an intense experience. At the time she lived on Mercer Street - one of the busier two lane roads in downtown Princeton, NJ. She called the intersection of Mercer and Nassau Streets - where we had to make a rather "unprotected" left turn - "crash corner". I don't think we ever pulled up to that intersection without her exclaiming, rather excitedly, "be careful, here comes crash corner". I would try to focus on the task at hand, as best I could, ignoring her as much as possible without being rude. Any one of several Brian Eno albums would usually be on the car stereo, which I'm sure helped calm my frazzled nerves. I'm pretty sure Gloria appreciated it as well. I remember her being particularly fond of the Brian Eno/David Byrne album "My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts", and I can't listen to the Talking Heads song "Heaven" without hearing her say "Oh, I love it. It's so nihilistic."

I didn't really appreciate who Gloria Emerson was at that point. As far as I was concerned she was just a quirky lady who I ran errands for, who payed me generously, and who I was pretty fond of (mostly just after I'd dropped her off at home). It had been a year or so since I'd helped her pack up her things to move to Manhattan when I was up late watching Legends: John Lennon on VH1. Towards the end of the hour-long(?) run-down of JL's more noteworthy escapades I was roused from my sleepy stupor by a familiar voice. John and Yoko were the only ones on screen at first, but I could distinctly hear the concerned voice of Ms. Gloria Emerson coming from my TV. She was lecturing John and his companion on the ineffectiveness of their particular brand of social protest. One line stuck in my mind: "My dear boy, you're living in a never-never land!"

Instantly I was on any one of a hundred car rides with Gloria, cautiosly nearing crash corner, or parhaps walking the aisles of McCaffery's looking for margarine and Tabachnik's pea soup. I remember standing in the aisle in front of an entire wall of salad dressing, Gloria exclaiming "What is wrong with Americans! Why do they need so many varieties of salad dressing!?" I also remember, and will probably never forget, dropping her off one morning at the hair dresser. Just week's before a friend of mine had invited me to visit a Hare Krishna temple in north Jersey, and I'd taken home a copy of the Bhagavad-Gita. As I sat down in the lobby to read the Gita and wait for Glria to be done with her hair appointment, I heard her tell the receptionist and the hairdresser "It's very important that you don't disturb him. He's reading the Bhagavad-Gita!"

Though at the time I found Gloria's attention to be a bit of a nuisance, I consider it my great fortune to have been nagged by such a thoughtful (and yes, noteworthy) person. At that age (late teens? early twenties?) suffering through yet another inquisition of my plans for the rest of eternity... it was not a welcome occurrence. But somehow, hearing Brother John on the receiving end put things in a new light. Unlike most people inquiring about the details of my 80-year plan, there was a genuine interest and, yes, concern in Ms. Emerson's voice, as if anything could be a significant event in the unfolding of one's contribution to the rest of humanity.

2005-12-09T17:38:00.000-05:00

Ohmygawdohmygawdohmygawd [or] I Guess The Answer To The Question: Will I Keep Blogging After Class Ends Is A Resounding YES!

(Snowed-in, I've been taking advantage of the unexpected gift of time to do research for my final project/paper/thing. Hence the numerous posts so far today.)

This thing makes the pop-music geek in me seize up with revelatory laughter. I have no doubt that this guy will appreciate it like few others can. It's his fault that I was able to "lose my shite" laughing at the whole "What A Fool Believes" epiphany scene.

Thank you Metafilter! Click here for the rest of the episodes.

2005-12-09T12:11:00.000-05:00

Thought Where Thought Is Unrequired

The Real Paul Jones (w/ pic of Jonesy and other "Paul Jones" notables in his banner) tracks Spam Memes. There are only a handful of posts so far, but I'm glad to see that someone is paying attention. For my classmate(s) still bent out of shape re: Wikipedia v. Siegenthaler, this Jonesy features a couple posts.

2005-12-09T09:34:00.000-05:00

BloggingOn x.o.x.o. - Post Class Regret

In putting together the footnotes for that last post, I stumbled onto Leon's "other blog". It's completely in Hungarian (I'm pretty sure), but chock full of personality and brimming over with great pictures. I'm dissapointed that I didn't find it sooner, and that I didn't make more of an effort to connect with its author. My apologies. Cheers Leon!

2005-12-09T09:09:00.000-05:00

AudioClass (AudioSniffle) AudioBye.

Here's the footnotes (I hope this doesn't squash anyone's illusions of blogging anonymity, just my way of putting you all in the difital file drawer): Colin> Shante> JP> Erin> John> Bill> Mattyd> pangiuseppe> Chris> Brett> Holly> memey> Nile> Jeff> Transgenderedtrash> Gabor(?)> Leon> Joal> me.

2005-12-09T09:02:00.000-05:00

AudioCrazy, PostAudioPostPost.

2005-12-08T12:29:00.000-05:00

Whoops! Delayed/Denied Gratification

I thought there was something a little stand-offish about this new layout. It wasn't accepting comments, but now it is (I hope). I had to turn off word-verification, so the comment spam may be in full effect again. Double-Grrr.

2005-12-08T10:20:00.000-05:00

A Strange Request [or] Wake Me Up When Dinner Ends

I know millions of people have the same problem. Nobody seems to enjoy the holidays- everyone complains about how hard they are. But really most people are only playfully bummed out about the holidays, not really facing sheer and total anxiety. They claim they are very stressed during it, but I suspect most look forward to them.

For me, not so much.

Which is to say for the single guy in his 20's who has absolutely no family around where he lives and doesn't like traveling to see people. This past Thanksgiving I told everyone I was making tofurkey, mashed potatoes and stuff, which was a lie. It was ok thawed.

People always ask me if I want to visit their families. Aside from an akward offer from a casual acquaitance, I always am creeped out by this suggestion. Why the hell would I want to come to your house, where I know no one but you, and feel awkward? I'd rather put party hats on my potbellied pigs and sing the theme songs to my favorite sitcoms, which is weird since I'm vegetarian. I think I might actually spend the time this year teaching them how to spin webs.

Being vegetarian adds an entirely different level of anxiety to the holidays. Like many carnivorous cultures, we vegetarians are frustratingly forced into flesh-gobbling celebrations.

Recently I read a blog discussing the sour points of holiday gift giving, and in that blog Brett was willing to concede that this gift giving season is necessary for the economy. As it turns out, my concession was unnecessary. Just yesterday I read a bunch of interesting stuff on Adbusters. So therefore the holidays are messing up the economy by forcing this one time only spending spree where it's make or break for retailers. If we spread out our spending, retailers would probably be doing a heck of a lot better. There would also be a lot less panicking and anxiety.

It's feckin' cold, my skin has become pale and splotchy, resembling a poorly constructed candy cane, and the lack of sun makes me sad. So why exactly is this "the most wonderful time of the year?"

2005-12-08T09:24:00.000-05:00

'Net Vittles

"YOU'RE LIVING IN FILTH!" There's a new episode of It's Jerry Time out there called "The Landlord" - featuring a heartbreaking case of the meerkat eyes.

Speaking of forlorn-itude, maybe we could all brush up on our emotive vocabularies before the cry-a-thon that will most likely ensue at class tonight. (Link courtesy of Bhaktin Anonymous, Thanks!)

Here's another link from my anonymous supplier, likely to assuage Brett's no-snow-day blues.

2005-12-07T21:37:00.000-05:00

AudioGrrr, AudioMuse

2005-12-07T13:42:00.000-05:00

New Feckin' Layout!

Whaddya think of this new look? I admit, I was a little envious of Brett in his new digs. I wanted to try out a facelift myself. I think it might be a little X-Files, or something. Tweaking definitely in order.

Btw, any suggestions for a new name, too? "Pretentious musings by a cynical poseur"? "My over-inlated sense of so-called self"?

2005-12-07T10:17:00.000-05:00

Other Diversions

I've had this idea kicking around for a few weeks, but now that the semester is almost over (and what with my overabundance of enthusiasm) I don't think it's going to come together. I wanted to put together a little mix-CD for our class - a goofy soundtrack for our travails in the blogosphere.

Here's a list of songs (in no particular order):

Affection - Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers
Another Day of Living - Duf Davis and the Book Club
Zooropa - U2 ("Vorsprung durch technik")
So Many People In the Neighborhood - Ween
Just Anothe Day - Brian Eno
My Mind's Got A Mind of Its Own - Jimmy Dale Gilmore
Sound & Vision - David Bowie (the obligatory vlog track, read the lyrics, eh!?)
An Animated Description of Mr. Maps - the Books (with the refrain "I hear a collective rumbling in America")
Hard Drive Dub - Burnt Friedman
Come On My Selector - Squarepusher

Any other suggestions? Jeff? Camemb... I mean, Shante... any Coldplay songs I'm forgetting?

2005-12-07T09:08:00.000-05:00

A Gift For The Person Who Has Everything (Except Good Taste Or Common Sense)

I get more emails from Target than just about anyone else. It being "holiday season" and all, they seem to be sending me close to one per day. This little item was advertised in today's communique. I'm not sure exactly what you're supposed to do with it (culinary? or decorative?), but it may be a sign of the nearing apocalypse.

Maybe it's just a fondue pot for the visually excitable.

2005-12-06T16:57:00.000-05:00

Linky, Link, Link - Addendum

Sorry, that wasn't so clear, was it? My final paper/project/blog is going to examine the link as trope. So, what I'm looking for is anything that waxes philosophical on the realm of the link. What do they do? What are they for? Are there parallels in other media?

Of course, I'm always interested in random weird stuff as well.

2005-12-06T16:35:00.000-05:00

BloggingOn 11.2 - A New Take On Authenticity: Plagiarism

This blog was mentioned by Heather Armstrong in her interview with Rebecca Blood. In this post, Sarah Brown gives us her personal account of blog plagiarism. An excerpt:

This girl didn’t just try to pass off my writing as her own; she actually took the past four years of my life, rearranged them into a new sequence, changed some names (but, inexplicably, kept some, including MY OWN in a few instances), and then turned it into some fake fucked-up love story beginning with an inheritance from a cold grandmother straight out of a Jackie Collins novel, and, currently, having her finally finding undying 19 year old love with some fake guy she’s been fake in love with all her fake life.

Reminds me of seeing Pulp Fiction at a theatre in Cairo. My sister was there for a semester abroad, and we decided to go for a lark, curious to see what scenes might have been deemed inappropriate for Egyptian audiences ("I'm-gonna-get-medieval-on-his-ass," anyone?). Believe it or not, there wasn't a single scene missing or edited. However, someone had decided that Tarrantino's unsual narrative style needed a little tweaking - they had resequenced the entire film so that everything was now in chronological order. Kind of like watching Memento from end to beginning, but somehow more disorienting.

2005-12-05T19:23:00.000-05:00

BloggingOn 11.1 - What I Was Doing When I Should Have Been...

There's something about the end of the semester. As the tension mounts and responsibilities pile up, my motivation wanes and the only thing I really want to do is sleep and watch movies. As my good friend Lupus was fond of saying "the less time you have, the less time it takes." Sage advice from a seasoned procrastinateur. So, on Saturday when I should have been reading this book, writing a final paper, or culling the internet for juicy tidbits, I decided my time would be better spent going to see this play and this movie.

Trinty College's production of "S" was conceived as a "multi-media adaptation" of Richard Linklater's inexplicable film Slacker. As Colin is fond of saying, we are usually celebrating something at the same time it's being destroyed, which means that Linklater's tribute to Gen-X slacker culture was a minute too late when it moped onto the scene in 1991. That makes Trinity's "adaptation" over ten years late for the party (arguably in true slacker style, but I don't think purposefully so). I can't say that it wasn't enjoyable at times, but I couldn't help thinking how totally out-of-date the whole thing was. No doubt, lazy directionless yewts will be lingering about for years to come, but true slacker culture is of a very particular time and place, long since co-opted, repackaged and resold to new markets (due in part to Linklater's film I suppose). The "slacker's" of today are probably more educated and "upwardly mobile" than any of the characters from the film. "Recent college graduates" is probably a more fitting handle for ne-slackers. Not quite as catchy, I know , but certainly a more honest appraisal. Slacker culture was a do-or-die way of life, that I would argue is wholly incompatible with "conflict-averse, iPod-wearing metrosexual MBA’s from Planet Starbucks, who think podcasting is activism".

So what in the hell does any of this have to do with blogging? I'm afraid my diagnosis for "the future of blogging" has been colored a bit by viewing "S". As culture mutates more and more rapidly I can't imagine that blogs will retain their present influence or popularity. At least not in their present form. I believe there will always be a core of devoted bloggers, posting away in spite of impending cultural irrelavance, but in order for blogging to really become an unquestioned part of American life (with the ubiquity of cable tv or the internet) it will probably need to shake loose from its moorings. I think blogging will need to become easier to do and more immediate. Perhaps moblogging is a step in the right direction. Audioblogging (via cell phone) is an interesting variation, but without the interactivity (and searchability) of hypertext/hyperlinks... hypermedia, audioblogging is just a step backward (from tv to radio?).

If it doesn't become more accessible to the general public (and those not inclined or able to take a semester long college course) blogging will most likely be a cultural footnote (think: woefully underqualified pop-culture talking heads making quips about pajamas and laptops on shows like this). With more potency than the 8-track, but less mass appeal than disco will blogs really keep on truckin'?

So what about the other two and half hours that I threw away this weekend? Maybe more applicable to last week's discussion than this, early on in that Johnny Cash biopic, Cash's older brother Jack (looking forward to a future in the pulpit) says: "how can you help people if you can't tell them the right story?". Woohoo! That was about as much as my geeky little heart could take (keep in mind that this book about rabbits is one of my favorites), and so I hunkered down for a welcome lesson in the power of "myth".

To what avail? Other than trotting out that old indominatible-human-spirit trope, Walk the Line made me feel like being part of the human race isn't such a bad thing sometimes, but more because of everyone in the movie who wasn't Johnny Cash. At any rate, the film was beautiful to look at, it sounded great, Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon were phenomenal... time and money well spent (all neglected-responsibilities considered). If blogs are art, I want to start seeing stuff with this impact in the blogosphere. But Cash is the anti-blogger in a lot of ways (most of which I don't think I quite understand). It has to do with subtlety on the one hand, and sincerity on the other. These things just don't translate so well into the blogosphere. Welcome to our whiz-bang post-ironic times.

2005-12-05T17:48:00.000-05:00

Linky, Link, Link.

Hey brother/sister-type person, can you spare a link? I'm looking to augment my "research" for this whole final paper thing. If anyone out there has happened upon interesting link-related stuff out there on the wacky internet, please send it my way. Comments are ok, or you can contact me directly.

2005-12-01T23:48:00.000-05:00

BloggingOn 10.6 - Post Class Wrap-Up

Feeling a little something (wistful?), I recorded this little message.

2005-12-01T14:13:00.000-05:00

Um, Uh, Yeah: A Cry For Help [and] Audioblogger Performance Anxiety

Another akward and superfluous audiopost.

2005-12-01T13:42:00.000-05:00

Really Rosie

How did we miss this one for our blogs as literature discussion?

Part Prince. Part William Carlos Williams. All something.

2005-12-01T10:33:00.000-05:00

BloggingOn 10.5 - Some Animals Share Visual Information

What is the purpose and function of style? Is it anything more than self-categorization? Mating ritual? To entice? Intrigue? To warn (or warm)?

Does a blog's visual presentation contain a similar type of information?

2005-11-30T15:19:00.000-05:00

BloggingOn 10.4 - A Significant Thread In The Fabric Of My Pop-Addled Consciousness

I was probably thirteen or so the first time I saw Pump Up the Volume. It's one of several movies that I've seen twenty or thirty times. These two biographical footnotes should tell you that what I'm about to say should probably be tempered with common sense and good taste. I think it's fecking brilliant, but then I probably don't have the most unadulterated view on that score.

Speaking of a tinted perspective, it could be that the blogosphere is showing up everywhere, or it could be that I'm just seeing it everywhere. Either way, I'd be interested to know if anyone else thinks this little flick has something to contribute to our class discussion.

So, Christian Slater has this little pirate radio station (blog) on which he plays offensive and sometimes wacky music, feigns on-air masturbation, complains about Amerika/high school/society in general, responds to reader mail (comments), and basically stirs things up.

He is an instigator for social change, but broadcasts (posts) under a pseudonym (screen name) and disguises his voice, thus concealing his identity from his family, teachers, classmates, etc. In real life he is socially inept, completely unable to communicate with anyone, but on the air (online) he is able to fully express himself without being hindered by inhibitions in any way at all.

The climax of the movie (and this is the part that really interests me) comes when he is forced out of anonymity by the FCC, faces his social anxieties, fears and inhibitions and is united with the zealous throng he is responsible for creating. Just after he is carted off by the FCC (while delivering his now signature line: Talk Hard*) the audio is overpowered by several individual voices (bloggers) delivering what we can only assume are their new pirate radio shows (blogs).

I don't think the parallel is such a stretch, but more interesting is that the narrative finds it's tension in the conflict between communicating under cover of anonymity and communicating directly as oneself. It's out of the attempt to communicate in this way that the "hero's journey" reaches fruition. For our blogs to be "useful" perhaps they need to facilitate this journey from the anonymity to full self-expression.

Oh yeah, we should all watch Talk Radio, too.

*Memes play an interesting part in the story as well. Some of the memes that circulate: talk hard, the truth is a virus, so be it, etc.

2005-11-30T12:04:00.000-05:00

BloggingOn 10.3 - "The Truth Is A Virus"

As I tried to relay in one of those akward and nondescript audio posts, I went to see Jarhead last night, and it left me wondering about our status as "information sharing animals".

I suppose it was brought on, in part, from that oh-so-familiar-feeling that arises after two hours in a dark/loud movie theatre: why did I just watch that? Not in the I-want-my-money-back sense, or in the I-just-wasted-two-hours-of-my-life sense. The movie was actually quite good, but it left me wondering just exactly what was being expressed.

My friend C.S. (nay-Lewis) summed it up pretty accurately, I thought. She said Jarhead was about (and I'm paraphrasing here) the necessity of sacrificing our "selves" in order to survive in a "crisis" situation, and how sometimes we never really get our selves back. I'm not sure that covers all the bases, but it seems about right.

So what's the problem. Well, information sharing animal that I am, I decided to go see this movie. I paid my money, sat down, watched, listened, tried to interpret what I could by making decisions about this and that, and in the end I should have been the rightful owner of some new informational content, right? But what was the nature of that information? Even if it is what C.S. posits, what good does that really do for me?

If I ever find myself drafted into the armed forces, maybe I'll have a road map that will better equip me to navigate the psychological and metaphysical perils that lie ahead. But is that really why we watch a movie like Jarhead?

If it is, then the conduit for relaying that information is rather flawed. Let's assume that Jarhead did have a "message" (any message) that you or I or anyone else who saw it should be able to easily decipher. Does the medium make that task more difficult than it needs to be? Does the medium even make that task possible? The medium is the message, right? So after two hours of verbal and visual shock-and-awe isn't it far more likely that the sensory overload is going to make that sort of information relay difficult if not impossible?

If I'm going to go to the trouble of expressing something useful or utilitarian to someone else, I'm going to attempt to be as clear and direct about it is possible. Do blogs disseminate information in a clear and direct way? What sort of information? What sort of blogs?

Forgive me, I digress and I digress some more. Part of the problem is that I have lots of thoughts about this, but no clear ideas. I think what I really want to get at is this (which is of course not a definite statement, but a string of open-ended questions): if we are information sharing animals, what is the nature of that information? What is its useful purpose? What motivates us to share information? What do we gain, as a species, by disseminating information?Do we do this more efficiently/successfully by disseminating it via the internet, or television, or cell-phones, as opposed to simply in conversation one-on-one?

You might expect that the act of sharing information would increase our chances of survival in one way or another. Is there any information here, here or here that serves that purpose? What's the specific utility involved in this little piece of information, and other pieces like it?

It's often suggested that what distinguishes us super-fancy two-legged upright-walking lifeforms from all the others is our ability to engage in rational thought. Perhaps. But when the energy we expend on that rational thought results merely in more-spohisticated means to eat, reproduce, and defend ourselves, and possibly find pleasure - actually, let's just say find pleasure and avoid distress - then what's the big feckin' deal? Isn't that what our less fortunate slimy-scaly-fuzzy-feathery friends are up to?

Aldon says:

It is about Emergence. The human condition is to read and think until we do know what the theme is. It is what we do while waiting, and blogs are yet another place where we read, write and think, while waiting.

My apologies, but I just can't help but just pose one more question that I can't entirely answer... waiting for what, exactly?

Waiting until all of this information amounts to a clear direction, a course of action, an end to the waiting and a beginning of the acting/doing? If that action is only a plan to find pleasure and avoid distress, maybe we had best keep waiting - or we'll be forced to admit that nothing really separates us from the "animals" save for more elaborate means of seeking pleasure and more significant attitudes about the nature of our distress.

2005-11-29T23:48:00.000-05:00

2005-11-29T20:55:00.000-05:00

2005-11-29T19:17:00.000-05:00

Authenticity, the Personal, and Just A Plain Old:
You Guys Have Got To See THIS

2005-11-29T16:03:00.000-05:00

BloggingOn 10.2 - Logicars and Despars [or] Should We Try That Again?

Perhaps getting carried away is also what a blog is all about. To attempt something a little more focused and coherent, let's take a look at this little thing here.

Jon Garfield's article "Constructive Media" is a great place to start talking about what a blog is, what it does, and what we can expect from it. This is theoretical. It's holistic. It's not of the "a blog is..." variety categorization and taxidermy.

Garfield is discussing all sorts of interactive internet media, but what he has to say applies to blogs, fo' sho'.

I call this "constructive media" for the simple reason that all participants agree that the point of the whole exchange is to build upon the opening point of the discussion. (even disagreement is a positive motion). The opposite may well be "destructive" media, where the original point is lost, and often civility as well. (the terms "constructive/deconstructive texts", from literary theory, generally address how a text is perceived; here we are focusing on the mechanics of the discussion).

So, the "point" of blogging is to "get somewhere" conversationally, interactively? Ok. Why not? But if we're going somewhere, where exactly are we going? This is no doubt determined by each individual blogger (or blog; as Holly would argue, "our blogs write us"), but can't we find some overarching collective destination? Self-expression? "Information-sharing"? Different posts, the both of them.

What does Garfiel... er, funkel. Gar-funkel have to say? (Maybe not about a blog's purpose, but about it's success - we may not know where we're going, but we'll know it when we get there).

The degree to which a communications medium can be said to succeed is in how many people see it as useful, and as legitimate.

Useful? Legitimate? Whatever do you mean Mr. Garfunkel? Maybe this is better deferred...

2005-11-29T15:11:00.000-05:00

BloggingOn 10.1 - "...Of All These Weird Creatures Who Lock Up Their Spirits, Drill Holes In Themselves, And Live For Their Secrets"

I spent some time last night leaving comments on Colin's blog. I think because I have too much to say and I'm not quite sure where to begin. If not art, blogging is at least a creative endeavor, and much of the creativity I appreciate exists in conversation with its environment - it is referential and self-referential. So why not begin at the beginning?

Aldon thinks that: "blogging and other online communities [can] be tools to help reconnect American's with their family, friends, and neighbors". I'm still skeptical, and not just because Aldon says this in another post: "I read Tom's blog entry... Tom is actually a neighbor of mine, at least according to Feedmap. I haven't actually met him, but I've commented on his blog before."

I don't doubt that the internet helps us to make connections. I am however, not quite as confident in the quality of those connections. Posting on one's blog can certainly facilitate self-expression, but most (if not all) blogs are just a step or two away from PostSecret - they allow the blogger a free space in which to say things that they probably wouldn't say in public. I think most bloggers "say" things online that they wouldn't even say in strictest confidence.

Either way, I'm not convinced that this is a bad thing... I just don't think it's the best thing. That is to say, most of us do not feel free to fully express ourselves in our daily lives, with friends, family members, coworkers, etc. Blogs, email (and even cell-phones to a certain extent) give us the degree of anonymity that we apparently feel is necessary in order to say what we really want (ok, almost). BUT... that communication is not really communication. It's a weather balloon or a message in a bottle or running a flag up the pole to see if anyone salutes. Real communication is hard, and despite the PostSecretTestimonials I don't think that blogging is making it any easier. Real communication is a different muscle entirely.

That being said, case NOT closed. Colin declares: "Blogging is an activity that appears isolative but is rather the opposite. It's shouting in a forest that has a thousand eyes and ears."

Blogging is not isolative. I agree. And that forest thing seems about right, too. But what about arms and mouths? Which is to say, perhaps blogging is more exhibitionist than expressive. When I let-my-little-light-shine (if such a thing ever does occur) I don't only want to know that people are watching, but that they have some words of encouragement to offer, and that they'll be around to catch me if I fall. Yes, comments are interactive, but...

And there I'm not quite sure where to go next. Comments make me feel good, but is it the particular flavor of good that I'm really looking for? Is it the sort of good that makes me sleep easier at night, that makes me want to jump out of bed the next morning to meet another day of living, eager-like and head-on?

2005-11-23T09:56:00.000-05:00

Western Culture, This Is Your... uh, Culture? [or] Link = Theft [or]
Crap Out There, Now Here

Straight out of a toilet and into your bed. [!!!] These toys are perhaps the most subtle, lovable and harmless way you can physically represent urine and excrement in the form of a plush toy. [!!!]

Please, no one try to best this one. I'm confident that there are far more edifying ways you could spend your creative energies than trying to represent human waste in a more "subtle, lovable and harmless way".

Speaking of collosal wastes of time, here's an idea whose time should never, ever come. One of the many flicks that makes me scratch my head and wonder... when this idea was pitched, one or more Hollywood execs actually said, "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea, let's pump millions of dollars into it." To be fair - and this is something I should really not admit to - I'll watch it. Maybe not on the big screen, but I'll forfeit two hours of my life to see just exactly what these geniuses decided should come after the Patrick Swayze masterpiece that is Roadhouse. There aren't too many horrible movies I won't watch, truth be told. I saw the last Crocodile Dundee fiasco, after all. In the theatre. Yipes.

To make it worth your while, peruse these suggestions for alternate tag lines.

Also in the world of "maybe we shouldn't" there's this unnecessary remake. I'd like to totally dismiss it, but it's in the able hands of this guy and this guy, who were responsible for this show. It was totally uneven, but sometimes brilliant, and it had far-and-away the best ending to a tv series I have ever seen.

2005-11-22T19:31:00.000-05:00

All Through The Day...

2005-11-18T16:50:00.000-05:00

Urgent Note To Self: Walk Away Now And Never Look Back

First a discomfiting though complimentary remark of vague authenticity after class last night, and now this. I don't know what it is about undue praise that makes me feel so painfully uncomfortable. I'd like to think it's a growing aversion to inflammation of the ego, but more than likely it's the fear that I'll be exposed for the carefully executed phony that I am.

I know, I know, one lousy link is worlds away from the nightmare descent into celebrity-induced personality fissures, megalomaniacal disdain for all humanity, and soul-killing dependency on illicit sensual engagement, but I can feel the winds of the abyss whipping lightly around my ears...

So be it. Since it's likely I'll be getting a few more visitors around these parts than would reasonably be expected, I might as well roll out the welcome mat. Chances are you're just here to find out if McE's haphazard characterization was tongue-and-cheek or on-the-level. (It is, after all, hard to tell sometimes. That sardonic rapier wit.) Now that you've no doubt cleared that one up for yourselves, may I express my heartfelt (though akward) thanks for your visit, and wish you well on your internetravails. Here's one for the road.

2005-11-17T10:02:00.000-05:00

BloggingOn 9.6 - Vlog is to Internet as Public Access is to Cable TV

Rocketboom, rocketboom, blech. This one receives my vote for most-likely-to elicit-akward-and-inappropriate-comments-from-Bill. It's the video equivalent of double-b, but it probably owes much of its success to one visual element in particular: A.C. (not Slater). She may be generically attractive (think: the new token Republican aide in the Bartlet White House), but she is undeniably ANNOYING! Too bad her stunted and unintentionally-weird delivery distracts from the usually interesting content and nicely streamlined format of the site. Definite points for clealry displaying links to all of the stories covered.

My main issue with Rocketboom is the hype. Look, this site is NOT competing with MSM. Most (if not all) of their stories are not "real news". This is another characteristic they share with the double-b: Rocketboom is more or less a clever collection of weird and intersting stuff to see on the web. There is no real "content" here.

Colin says: is "Rocket Boom," just kind of SNL stripped from its corporate moorings? And didn't the MSM make that possible by letting SNL become such thin, puny gruel?

First of all, SNL hasn't been funny since the early 90s (with the exception, perhaps, of the blue oyster cult/cowbell sketch). Second, this is like comparing A.C. to Dennis Miller, which would imply that Rocketboom is, or was at one time, funny. It is not. It is akward and unbearable (more like Weekend Update with Kevin Nealon), and I would rather just click on a list-o-links to interesting vlogs than have to suffer through Cogdon's horrible delivery.

Speaking of akward and unbearable... Vlog Soup ("Sir, I know John Henson, and you are no John Henson") doesn't fall far from the tree (Steve Garfield - "Steve (pause) AT (longer pause) Stevegarfield (short pause) DOT COM" - is a Rocketboom "correspondent" right?). Steve's delivery also lacks a certain relaxed and natural quality (read: human) that would go a LONG way. The stuff he finds is sometimes interesting, but mostly banal. Again, I would much rather click on the links than watch the rundown.

The episodes are much better Max-Headroom-style.

In the end these two are not the actual content, just the content providers. It seems we might be better off just getting it ourselves.

2005-11-15T10:45:00.000-05:00

BloggingOn 9.5: Vuh-Log

Avant-garde composer Erik Satie posited (to be echoed later in last century by John Cage, Morton Feldman and the like) that music will always be 80(?) years behind the visual arts. What then of text?

Hoo-reigh for vlogging! Stuff like this, this, and this is so much more (immediately) interesting than your average blog (that last one comes complete with its own treacly vlogging manifesto, courtesy of Coldplay). Blogs are so... well, 2004-presidential-election, after all. Which isn't to say that any of these vlogs will have lasting interest, or that any of it is immediately good. Certainly something can be interesting, but not all that well executed (almost every time the camera comes into focus during that second one, ugh!).

Of the stuff I've seen so far, Colin's "NYC Vlogger" is the most satisfying. He/she(?) understands and manipulates one of the primary limitations of the genre: video downloads of any sort are likely to be choppy and disconnected, why not make that a virtue of your aesthetic?

What is it that I really like about these vlogs? They don't seem to feel obligated to say or do anything in partiular, and they haven't yet settled into a fixed format or aesthetic. I'm sure some trends will start to emerge as I look at more of this stuff, but at this point I get the feeling that the rules of vlogging are not yet codeified in the same way blogs are.

Looking at this stuff reminded me of something from way back in the good ol' 90s... anyone remember this? And if you liked that, how about this or this?

2005-11-11T12:24:00.000-05:00

BloggingOn 9.4 - flickr

Is flickr a visual wiki ?

2005-11-11T11:53:00.000-05:00

BloggingOn 9.3 - Azzara Music Blog

This one's on my blogroll as well. Ben Azzara explains:

Years ago, in an interview I was asked 'What was the best show you've ever played?' I replied, 'The one in my basement'. This blog is an effort to catch the spontaneous birth of a song. Posted here are MP3s of practices and other assorted demos involving Sarah and myself. American music at it's most raw and unchallenged.

2005-11-11T11:43:00.000-05:00

BloggingOn 9.2 - Photo-A-Day

I found this one by clicking on blogspot's fantastic "next blog" button several weeks back, and added it to my blogroll shortly thereafter. The pictures are almost always super-ordinary: combining genuine photographic skill, a healthy dose of experimentation and (often) a diary-by-image approach to blogging. Too bad the comments are text-only.

2005-11-11T11:20:00.000-05:00

BloggingOn 9.1 - Honda Sweet Mission Global Research Show
[or] Japan, you so crazy! [or] wtf!?

Here's some massive weirdness I found via MeFi (appears to be an interactive audio-blog of some sort). Click and let the whatever unfold (load patience - TURN SOUND ON - interact). Then, if you're so inclined, check out the geek-tastic discussion about how-to.

My Japon-ees is not so good. Anyone know what exactly is being communicated here?

2005-11-10T22:17:00.000-05:00

))<>((

I'm not sure I would reccomend this movie, but it seems to be making some commentary on digital culture and human connection in the digital age.

What are you trying to say, Miranda July?

Blogosphere, please discuss.

2005-11-10T15:03:00.000-05:00

The Hokey-Pokey: A Philosophy For All

I found this on the blog for "Sit Properly" (linked somewhere in BloggingOn 8.1). It is an English-to-Hindi-to-English translation of the Hokey-Pokey.

"You place your entire being inside
You place your entire being outside
You place your entire being inside and vibrate your entire being everywhere
You do the hokey pokey and revolve your being in a circle
That is the complete essense of everything."

Like, wow, man.

2005-11-10T14:45:00.000-05:00

BloggingOn 8.3 - Hollywood Jesus

Fusing the spiritual and the mundane.

2005-11-10T09:28:00.000-05:00

BloggingOn 8.2 - Matters of Faith

Only a couple posts this week. The last few classes I've noticed myself content to lurk in the background and not offer all that much to class discussion. In class last week it occured to me that maybe it was because I was "saying it all" here on my blog. So, this week I'm "saving it for game-day", or whatever.

Truth be told, I've also been hack-a-loo sick since last Wednesday, so I've been clickin' and checkin' but not so inspired to write. Hopefully, I won't be coughing up a lung all class long tonight (like I was in Lauter's "lit. of social protest" yesterday evening).

Here are a few thoughts before we take the field at the WoodN'Tap...

What is the intended audience for blogs like anvil & fire and doxoblogy? While it needs to be assessed on a blog-by-blog basis (or perhaps post-by-post), are religious blogs (even evangelical ones) intending to make converts or are they just sharing the good word among the flock?

While it might be easy to take offense to something like this, maybe it's really just a party to which we are not invited (and the party I'm referring to is doxoblogy, not the sweethereafter).
Check out (anvil & fire) John Rush's satirical comment down there. It took me a few lines to figure out this one was a joke, which makes me think it's pretty right on. Here's the best bit of it: In the name of tolerance, I will do all I can to silence, trivialize, marginalize, and stop you.

As we look at religious blogs that unabashedly stand for their doctrine-of-choice there may be a knee-jerk reaction to anything that smacks of preaching and evangelism, but I'd like to assert that the reactionary stance lampooned in John's comment is just as bad, if not worse. In the name of religious pluralism (moral relativism... devotional secularism/atheism) we deny believers the right to express their true beliefs, lest they be painted as close-minded non-thinking biggots who are trying to "cram the truth down our throats".

This leaves them with a difficult project: to express the Truth while accomodating for the possibility of conflicting opinions. I believe this particular charge goes against the very nature of theistic faith and belief.

In describing orthodox Judaism, a friend of mine used the words "uncompromising monotheism". It has occured to me ever since that monotheism can't be anything but uncompromising, which is perhaps a much larger idea than I intend to dive into right now. What I mean to say is, ugh...

While I may be marginalized and denied my "heavenly reward" by doxoblogy's little top ten, I have to say "more power to 'em". If for no other reason than denying him his two cents is in a way to deny The God he is attempting to glorify.

2005-11-07T13:30:00.000-05:00

BloggingOn 8.1 – My Offering To This Week’s Discussion

Vaishnavism (the worship of Vishnu or Krishna) is also known as bhakti-yoga, the path of devotion. It is a several thousand-year-old spiritual tradition originating in India that has been known in the west as the Hare Krishna movement for the last 30 or 40 years. ISKCON (the International Society for Krishna Consciousness) connects practitioners of bhakti-yoga from all over the world. ISKCON devotees have been historically accepting of new technology as a means to connect with one another and to spread the philosophy of Krishna consciousness.

Here’s a long list of blogs (and blog-type-things) related to ISKCON and Vaishnavism/bhakti-yoga:

This is probably a good place to start. Basically just cut-and-paste excerpts from the books and/or lectures of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, founder of the Hare Krishna movement.

Though not blogs, for more background on Krishna consciousness, go here or here. Here’s a glossary, too.

This is the blog section of a website devoted to Vaishnava news items. This is a long list of Krishna conscious blogs of various stripes.

Click here or here or here for blogs by practicing devotees. These are closer to “proto-blogs” but contain varied content: sometimes personal, sometimes devotional, sometime culinary.

This is perhaps, as we would say in ISKCON, a little more fanatical, but if you’re looking for a little more controversy, there are a lot of cultural issues explored therein.

So, that’s a sampling. Now for some more unique uses…

Gurus in ISKCON frequently use email and the internet to communicate with their disciples (who may see their gurus infrequently). Indradyumna Swami’s “Diary of a Traveling Preacher” is read widely. Something like a series of transcendental adventure stories, this is probably not technically a blog. What about this one? Dhanurdhara Swami communicates to disciples through this thing that looks a lot like a blog. This time of year he posts more often. His Kartik diary from Vrindavana is also widely read. (For bonus points, find the entry where I make a cameo appearance… around this time last year).

The etiquette of the guru/disciple relationship makes the whole comment thing somewhat problematic. Most people communicate with Dhanurdhara Swami by email. These emails show up in his journal from time to time.

Online communities and message boards are one of many ways that devotees connect with one another. “Association” is one of the most important aspects of devotional life. I’m not convinced that livejournal communities can be considered quality association, but devotees are often isolated from larger communities. The web helps to alleviate that problem a bit.

Click here and here for general devotee communities. Devotees discuss the Bhagavad-Gita and other scriptures (as well as the lectures of various saints and gurus) here and here. Living anywhere other than India and observing the Vaishnava diet can be difficult sometimes. Devotees share recipes here.

While on the topic of communities and newsgroups, check out the bloggish Cakra and Dipika.

Having “darshan” of deities (the act of seeing, and being seen by, the deities in the temple) is a very important part of the practice of Krishna consciousness. Not blogs exactly, but sites like these two allow devotees to have regular darshan of deities (whether they’re nearby or not).

In the past couple years, blogs have enabled the worldwide community of ISKCON to share two very significant events in our recent development.

The entire process of the installation of the Panca Tattva deities in Sri Dham Mayapur was blogged on the mayapur.info website, with lots of pictures. Unfortunately, their archives are a little hard to sort through, but this page gives a taste of the live updating they were doing. Devotees all over the world could connect to daily updates and feel like they were taking part.

More recently, the passing of one of ISKCON’s most beloved leaders, Bhakti-Tirtha Swami, was blogged for the benefit of disciples and well-wishers. Bhakti-Tirtha Swami had been battling cancer for several months, and his final weeks are chronicled in words and pictures here and here.

2005-11-04T17:39:00.000-05:00

This Is A Cry For Help

10 posts in 2 days. Someone stage an intervention for me. Please.

2005-11-04T10:52:00.000-05:00

BloggingOn 7.7 - Postscript

At some point last night Bill mentioned an "elephant in the room". I can't quite remember what he was referring to, but I thought there might've been another lurking around there, too.

It didn't seem appropriate to throw this out there in class (exactly why, I have no idea), so here it is within the "safety" of blogville. Are there any conservatives in our class? Everyone seemed to be assuming that we were among like-minded liberal folk.

I am not a registered republican, but I know I have a few opinions that would not be considered liberal by any stretch of the imagination (insert conspicuously absent link here). Anyone else? Come on, fess' up.

2005-11-04T09:48:00.000-05:00

BloggingOn x.3 - Busting My Own Spot

(I really hope that means what Brett thinks it means)

In my meeting with Colin last week he suggested that I find an analog equivalent that might help me discuss linking in my final paper. Then, rather fortuitously, I happened upon this.

How many tags do you have up? Probably close to a
thousand, and it's not just me. There's a bunch of people that do it. There has
been a bunch of people, but it's down to about five different people actively
writing it now. There's people in Bangor doing it. It's in Canada, it's in
Mexico, it's from California to Maine. Every stop on the Greyhound from
California to Maine has it.

The link is many things to many people in many different contexts and situations with many purposes both useful and otherwise, but it occurred to me that one analog for the link is "tagging" or "the whole-car".

Three Bulls' flavor crystals meme is a perfect example (3Bulls, btw, are not unlike a graffiti crew of yore). I posted this yesterday. Later in the day this showed up in my comments (another interesting link-event, fouroboros appears to be responsible for this).

BloggerA throws-up a meme (perhaps the more inane the better) and then, thanks to BloggerB + friends, it gets plastered all over the internet.

At the outset, a top-to-bottom or whole-car was graffiti that covered an entire subway or train car. Your tag (not unlike a screen-name, both semi-personal and semi-anonymous) travelled the five boroughs, or it screamed your "name" across the continental US. I know the link and the meme are collapsing on one another in this discussion... the link is the conduit by which the meme travels.

2005-11-03T22:07:00.000-05:00

The Things That Are Using Up My Valuable Mental Energy

There are shelves above my toilet, and each time I go to the bathroom I stare at the 6 pack of Cottonelle toilet paper sitting there waiting to be used. I'm really staring at the painfully cute puppy at the top of their corporate logo. I don't really like puppies all that much, it's just that this one is a registered trademark of the Cottonelle Corp (as the little blue TM next to his over-cute mug indicates).

He seems to be a friendly little guy, as his comments on the Cottenelle site suggest (sorry, no blog): "Wanna play? I wanna play... I love to play. Let's play right now. C'mon, play with me. Click one of these links!" Ugh. I think the authentic puppy voice is lost somewhere in there towards the end. This tidbit, meant to entice you into downloading Cottonelle Puppy wallpaper, is either worse or better: "If I can't sit on your lap, at least I can sit on your laptop."

With all this nonsense, why didn't they bother to give generi-puppy a name!? And while I'm at it, does the Target Dog TM? (who looks suspiciously like Spuds McKenzie's grandpup) have a name? Sadly, yes: "The Bullseye Design and Bullseye Dog are trademarks of Target Brands, Inc."