Moneydick

 

 

I had a feeling that McCain might assemble Obama’s quasi-religious self exuberance against him. 

But I’m more worried about the Corsi book ‘Obama Nation.’ For some perspective, read the latest talk of the town (New Yorker).

As I found it strange that Microsoft Word 2008 brought in new fonts to our lives (and changed the default from Times New Roman to Cambria), it seems many others share my confusion. The following keywords direct to an article I wrote about Cambria and Microsoft’s assumed role as typographic trendsetter. Those who are confused search for: 

 

Continue reading “A new Font for Microsoft Word 2007 and the World“

Tonight I met a U.S. navy submarine mechanic who was on the submarine (Los Angeles class) that fired the first tomahawk missiles on Iraq on the first day of the invasion on March 19, 2003. He danced at an 80s night in Century City. 

I met a med school student who tried to convince me to take Xanax. He swaggered and had trouble speaking while trying to convince me that people from Los Angeles were plastic but that people in Boston were ‘genuine.’ 

I heard a story about a group of guys who were handcuffed and told to stand against a wall while 5 cops tried to look up the law code for ‘open container.’ Those who overheard had their own police stories. 

If you ever want to develop an unhealthy bias against cops, search for ‘police brutality’ on youtube. But I recommend against it. When I learned that tasers were classified as ‘less lethal’ weapons, I didn’t find “don’t tase me bro” funny.

awesome exhibits at Otis’ galleries. 

Looky See: Looky See: A Summer Show - July 26 – September 13, 2008

and

Two Madmen: The Art of Clive Barker and Myron Dyal June 24 – August 30, 2008 

photos here.

I was planning a post on the types of information I allow into my life: blogs, news, video, audio, tv, movies, and how I try to limit each of them in different ways–but I became conveniently sidetracked by a series of pages about Informationism. It couldn’t be more relevant to what I was planning on writing…

As far as I can tell, Informationism grew from the Scottish poetic tradition in the mid 90s. The small number of writers lumped into the movement seem, at least from my limited understanding, as though their work highlights the intracacies and nonsense of the observable world, tempered by a healthy existentialism.
 

They are, firstly, bearers of news: the information they make available in their poetry includes rather than necessarily opposes media news because part of their raison d’etre is to digest and transmit as many different types of data as they can. Little-known information, social history and all kinds of “underprivileged” facts, possibilities and ideas are recontextualised in their poetry; hierarchies are exposed. Secondly, in presenting information these poets also scrutinise that very process, sometimes they parody, often they extend it: they meddle with “enlightenment” itself. [via Richard Price] 

Richard Price. via Boston.com

Here’s a sample of this format:

Tie-breaker - By Richard Price

 

1
You are an islander with skin cancer.
Outline the history of the petrochemical industry.
2
You are a four-year-old with asthma.
Explain the theory of traffic calming.
3
In a phrase of not more than ten words
justify water.
Employees, their friends and their relatives
are not eligible for this competition.
No correspondence will be entered into.
The judge’s decision is final.
(from Sense and a Minor Fever, 1993) via

How Price pairs science’s theories with those who live within their structures brings to mind the work of environmental ethicist Jeremy Bendik-Keymer. His most recent work ‘The Ecological Life‘ inherits some of the issues of information overload and alienation from nature that the informationists explored, but asks “How can we come to terms with environmental justice?” — in a globalized, scientifically self-aware society that abuses its land, air, and water.

So what might this have to do with selective information? The social submission sites, which I’ve complained about before encourage the scatterbrained oversaturation of extreme stories and fabulous realities. Taken in one bite, uber-popular stories have a numbing affect, no matter how disturbing or fantastical they may seem. I think I’ll end with my belief that news absorbed via Reddit, Digg, Delicious popular, etc. reduces our empathy with the world around us. Polar bears are dying, tweet it. Darfur kinda sucks, join a Facebook group. As Obama says, Go get involved. (though this makes me hopeful)

 

The girl’s got guts. I’m disgusted that Obama is tied with McCain. Doesn’t anyone know how to read anymore?

Here’s a little McCain vid quoting the man himself:

When I was searching for the Paris Hilton video (which will be seen by many more people than the original McCain ad) this ad appeared on the page:

…classic…