Books, For Reading
So here are some books I’ve been reading lately. Between trips to Atomic Books and ordering several little-somethings-for-myself while xmas shopping last year, I amassed quite a pile of reading material. I still haven’t made it through everything. I’ve been kind of jumping from book to book, mostly because many of them are the kind of books you can put down and come back to later. Yeah, a lot of great bathroom reading here. There’s not much fiction though, is there? Well, guess what: Fiction is so 20th Century, it’s not even funny. <– Haha.
[Click the covers for related online content.]
Vice Do’s & Don’ts: 10 Years of Vice Magazine’s Street Fashion Critiques
by Suroosh Alvi/Gavin McInnes/Shane Smith
The hipsters at Vice compile my favorite part of their dumb magazine into a one hilarious book. What, you don’t know about the Vice Do’s and Don’ts?! Basically, they take these photos of people on the streets in New York (or elsewhere) and comment on what they’re wearing or what style they’re trying convey. Sometimes it’s funny, sometimes it’s just bizarre nonsense. This one’s been a big hit around the house. Perfect for the toilet!
Found
by Davy Rothbart
This book compiles the best of Found Magazine’s scraps of orphaned what-have-you from across the country: lost notes, to-do lists, scribbled drawings, and photographs. The contents are often hilarious, usually at least curious, but occasionally just mundane. Overall, a fun book which offers us a rare, voyeuristic look into the unspoken (and often candid) communications of the American everyman. Speaking of voyeurism, I’ve also been enjoying Issue #1 of Dirty Found, a new sister magazine which focuses on only the most sordid and unsavory of found items.
Eightball #23: The Death-Ray
by Daniel Clowes
From the creator of Ghost World comes the newest in a series of oddball genius comics. This one features yet another great anti-hero, Andy, who discovers he gains incredible strength from smoking cigarettes. Cool new large format, too.
Minipops
by Craig Robinson
A book of tiny pixel portraits of famous people, including bands (indie and not), actors, film characters, and political figures. It’s fun to try to guess who each one represents, but there’s an index in the back in case you’re stumped. Be sure to check out his site; there’s lots more neat shit there.
McSweeny’s Quarterly #13
edited by Chris Ware
A special issue of McSweeny’s featuring comics compiled by comics genius Chris Ware (author of Jimmy Corrigan). Cool stuff from some of the big names in underground comics (e.g. Crumb, Clowes) as well as a bunch of comics from people my inexperienced comic-reading self has never heard of.
The Future Dictionary of America
by Jonathan Safran Foer (Editor), et al
Another one from McSweeny’s. This was published last year to benefit progressive causes in the 2004 election. It contains creative, politcally-conscious definitions of modern buzzwords (many of which are completely made up) by over 170 writers and artists. The book also includes a 22 track CD with tracks from David Byrne, Elliot Smith, Tom Waits, the Flaming Lips, the Long Winters, and others.
33 1/3:Meat Is Murder
by Joe Pernice
33 1/3:Unknown Pleasures
by Chris Ott
These two quick reads are a part of an entire series of books, each focusing on a single great album. Both were kindly lent to me by my housemate, Tim (see this link for a further review, among others , of each of these books). The first one I read is by Joe Pernice of the Pernice Brothers and focuses on The Smiths‘ 1985 album (wow…almost exactly 20 years ago, today) Meat Is Murder. Pernice takes a different approach than most in the 33 1/3 series. His is a work of fiction, albeit undoubtedly heavily autobiograhical, in which he tells a tale of teenage love and budding music geekery. The story is cute, but let’s just say Pernice is a much better muscian and lyricist. Chris Ott (former writer for Pitchforkmedia.com) takes much more straight forward approach with his look at Joy Division’s classic first album, Unknown Pleasures. Though I find his writing here occasionally somewhat ostentatious (it reads as almost clinical at times), it offers some insight into the history of the band and their rise to cult status in the late 70s, as well as some interesting details about producer Martin Hannett’s often amusing recording techniques.
Love All the People
by Bill Hicks
A posthumous collection of letters, routines, and other writings from one of America’s best comics. Hicks is one of my favorites, not only as a comedian (he’s was much bigger than that), but as a modern day philospher. There’s lots of great material here, though I have yet to make my way through most of it (guess I’ve been kind of savoring this one). The foreword by John Lahr contains the profile he wrote for the New Yorker just before Hicks’ untimely death in 1994. The book also includes scores of interviews and articles, letters to people like David Letterman, and bits of his stand-up transcribed from actual performances. Though perhaps not the best introduction to this lost hero (I’d recommend seeing the recently-released DVD, Bill Hicks: Live or listening to my favorite Hicks album, Rant In E-Minor, first), this book is must-have for any fan. There’s really no one like Bill Hicks around these days. It’s a shame—we could use him now more than ever. See also: billhicks.com and Sacred Cow Productions
Rainbows and Puppy Dogs
Noam Chomsky Speech [DN!] - I know I said I wouldn’t post political stuff, but this one’s a doozy. Besides, it’s the commentary that gets me a riled up. So none of that here. Just friggin’ listen to it.
Rove Is Promoted To Deputy Staff Chief [W. Post] - again, no comment. But check this other Post article for more info.
Hey, everyone’s favorite keytar-rockin’ nu gaze band M83 is coming to DC. They’ll be playing the Black Cat April 14th. Pitchfork has the full tour schedule. [Ok, I don’t know if they actually use a keytar, but they’re definitely NU-GAZE.]
Baby Name Wizard [via Lifehacker] - Sounds like a shitty band name or something, but it’s really pretty neat. Look up your name and chart its popularity over time. (requires Java)
Podcasting
Have you heard about podcasting? It’s likely you have if you spend much time online, even if you don’t quite remember what it’s all about. The term (about a year old now) is a bit of a recent buzz word and has been cropping up more and more lately.
Podcasts are audio files, most often in the form of MP3, delivered to the user’s computer via special RSS feeds which use enclosures (basically the same idea as email attachments). That’s where the big deal of podcasting is—in their delivery. Using specialized aggregator software, these audio files are automatically downloaded to the listener’s computer (and subsequently, a portable mp3 player) for listening at a later time. You subscribe to these feeds like you would an XML feed of someone’s blog or of a news website, and instead of being delivered and experienced in realtime (such as a streaming broadcast, for example), they are downloaded and saved for listening at your convenience. Though the technology for podcasting is obviously much different, the end result is akin to what a Tivo does for video.
I won’t get into the specifics of the technology at work here. You can read more about enclosures and the RSS 2.0 format elsewhere. I’d rather talk about the bigger picture.
The Soft News
Wanted: Just About Everything [Wired] - a look at the film 24 Hours On Craigslist, a documentary now showing at the San Francisco Independent Film Festival which “chronicles the outcome of more than 80 Craigslist postings from a single day.”
Google Maps [via BoingBoing, + many sites] - another new “beta” service from Google. Guess what it does.
Lifehacker is a new(ish) addition to the Gawker blog/media empire (which also includes big name blogs like Wonkette). They offer daily tips and how-to’s on anything from importing album art into iTunes to the different ways to tie a shoe.
Do-It-Yourself Smart Radio Station [via Lifehacker] - here’s a good one I found through Lifehacker. This guy details a fairly intricate system of Smart Playlists he has set up in iTunes and on his iPod in order to serve up a rotation of new and old songs, in effect creating something like a personalized portable radio station.
**I’ve decided to keep away from the political and real-world news, at least for a while. It makes me ANGRY.
Recent Listening
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Fixation Protocols
The Capstan Shafts -
Chick Cigarettes
The Capstan Shafts -
Devotion
Beach House -
The Airborne Toxic Event
The Airborne Toxic Event -
Strangeways, Here We Come
The Smiths
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