The Japanese are usually way ahead of the curve.
But it looks like they're just now catching on to Halloween.
What took them so long...it seems like a natural.
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Monday, October 30, 2006
work dialogue
two guys who were arguing conspiracy theories in the history loft come down, each with a stack of books.
While I rang up the sales they shared this exchange.
guy #1
say, what do you do for a living?
guy #2 (disparagingly)
ah, I kiss ass.
guy #3(admiringly)
So! You're a man of action!
While I rang up the sales they shared this exchange.
guy #1
say, what do you do for a living?
guy #2 (disparagingly)
ah, I kiss ass.
guy #3(admiringly)
So! You're a man of action!
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Extra anus kills four-legged chicken
Aw Forzie, we hardly knew ye.
As a headline, it's tough to beat...but I'm almost equally fond of the 'related stories' links at the bottom:
Smouldering badger disrupts rail services (24 October 2006)
Norwegian museum champions gay animals (13 October 2006)
Witchdoctor orders Serb to have sex with hedgehog (15 September 2006)
LotR remix
Spiritual kin to the 6 word stories, only graphic in nature.
If you spend a lot of time on various internet forums you've doubtless seen it already.
Here it is for the rest of y'all:
If you spend a lot of time on various internet forums you've doubtless seen it already.
Here it is for the rest of y'all:
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
music: 120 Days
Picked it up on a recommendation from my man Malik and was not disappointed (Malik never disappoints, which is why he is sometimes called THE GRANDMASTER).
I take my electronica the same way I take my rap...cautiously, in small doses, and preferably well aged an Oak cask. But these cats use the tools of late 80's/early 90's synth-dance-pop-rock in the services of a higher cinematic overlord, crafting long, flowing tracks that dive and soar on synthesized wings, augmented with outrageously distorted guitars and impassioned vocals.
Playing the 'sources' game, my first listen generated names like Kraftwerk, New Order, Shriekback & a soupcon of smokey Bauhaus flavor. But they're no carbon copy, they're putting all those old styles out on the street to earn money for their own agenda.
I see they're from Norway...man, Scandinavia has been putting out some great music lately.
Eyeing the review on Pitchfork, I find myself in total agreement:
3/4ths of the disc is brilliant. There are a two tracks where invention fails and things get a bit too monochromatic and repetitive, but they're still listenable.
This one is officially 'recommended'.
I take my electronica the same way I take my rap...cautiously, in small doses, and preferably well aged an Oak cask. But these cats use the tools of late 80's/early 90's synth-dance-pop-rock in the services of a higher cinematic overlord, crafting long, flowing tracks that dive and soar on synthesized wings, augmented with outrageously distorted guitars and impassioned vocals.
Playing the 'sources' game, my first listen generated names like Kraftwerk, New Order, Shriekback & a soupcon of smokey Bauhaus flavor. But they're no carbon copy, they're putting all those old styles out on the street to earn money for their own agenda.
I see they're from Norway...man, Scandinavia has been putting out some great music lately.
Eyeing the review on Pitchfork, I find myself in total agreement:
Norway's 120 Days are proponents of the house-of-cards style of songwriting-- from ephemeral elements, they build towering edifices that seem a breath away from toppling. But those structures never topple, thanks to the band's deft hands and measured pace, not to mention the loaded deck from which they're drawing: New Order synths doppler over Kraftwerk's motorik throb. Primal Scream's propulsive electro-rock tangles with Neu!'s gridded tableaux and Ådne Meisfjord's Bonoesque voice. If it sounds overstated, it is-- these guys go big on everything, from the long transitions to the incandescent crescendos. But whether they're hunkered down in a patient whirr or exploding in a fountain of sparks, 120 Days exude audacity, and their U.S. debut's ambition is ratified by its realization.
3/4ths of the disc is brilliant. There are a two tracks where invention fails and things get a bit too monochromatic and repetitive, but they're still listenable.
This one is officially 'recommended'.
six word stories
from various SF luminaires
My vote for pick of the litter:
a close second, calling to the gamer in me:
My vote for pick of the litter:
Machine. Unexpectedly, I’d invented a time
- Alan Moore
a close second, calling to the gamer in me:
God to Earth: “Cry more, noobs!”
- Marc Laidlaw
Dango is falling down on the job
tweaker busted with nuclear technology
Ruh row...
Authorities in northern New Mexico have stumbled onto what appears to be classified information from Los Alamos National Laboratory while arresting a man suspected of domestic violence and dealing methamphetamine from his mobile home.
Ruh row...
Monday, October 23, 2006
How they pronounce it
Lot of people looking for Nabokov today.
According to Creelea, the Baxblog's erstwhile Russian correspondant, the correct pronunciation is nahBOWkawv.
Today's assortment of manglings:
NA-ba-kawv (which, to be fair, is how I used to pronounce it)
NOBOW-koff
NAB-KOV
"that dude who wrote LOLITA"
Still, they all get the point across.
According to Creelea, the Baxblog's erstwhile Russian correspondant, the correct pronunciation is nahBOWkawv.
Today's assortment of manglings:
NA-ba-kawv (which, to be fair, is how I used to pronounce it)
NOBOW-koff
NAB-KOV
"that dude who wrote LOLITA"
Still, they all get the point across.
Sunday, October 22, 2006
movie: Marie Antoinette
There's a hoary old MacBeth quote, "a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."
If I take in the hem, add some taffeta frills to the sleeves & a bow of gorgeous lemon colored silk, we end up with "a tale told by a woman, full of gorgeous cinematography and carefully posed tableus, signifying not much".
It really was one of the lovliest films I've ever seen- it put me in mind of Christoper Doyle's work with Wong Kar Wai. But the surface beauty of the finished object couldn't overcome the void at its heart.
A charitable interpretation is that Sofia's reach exeeded her grasp- that she tried to achieve some era-spanning synthesis, to find accord between now and the court of Louis Auguste and came up short. This is how I view it, because the film occasionally soars in the moments where the director stops worrying about the Big Message and cuts loose with a great Souxsie & the Banshees or Adam & the Ants tune over an almost dizzyingly lush montage of court life.
I think she should have gone further in that direction, jettisoned the linear, dialoge driven story altogether and turned Marie's story into a surrealistic blur of decadence and music.
Instead, we get those sorts of perfect, glittering jewels of scenes strung onto the necklace of the film along with cranberries, popcorn and the occasional rabbit turd.
/edit
a line from Elliot Smith's Can't Make A Sound resonates here.
If I take in the hem, add some taffeta frills to the sleeves & a bow of gorgeous lemon colored silk, we end up with "a tale told by a woman, full of gorgeous cinematography and carefully posed tableus, signifying not much".
It really was one of the lovliest films I've ever seen- it put me in mind of Christoper Doyle's work with Wong Kar Wai. But the surface beauty of the finished object couldn't overcome the void at its heart.
A charitable interpretation is that Sofia's reach exeeded her grasp- that she tried to achieve some era-spanning synthesis, to find accord between now and the court of Louis Auguste and came up short. This is how I view it, because the film occasionally soars in the moments where the director stops worrying about the Big Message and cuts loose with a great Souxsie & the Banshees or Adam & the Ants tune over an almost dizzyingly lush montage of court life.
I think she should have gone further in that direction, jettisoned the linear, dialoge driven story altogether and turned Marie's story into a surrealistic blur of decadence and music.
Instead, we get those sorts of perfect, glittering jewels of scenes strung onto the necklace of the film along with cranberries, popcorn and the occasional rabbit turd.
/edit
a line from Elliot Smith's Can't Make A Sound resonates here.
the slow motion moves me
the monologue means nothing to me
Saturday, October 21, 2006
note in a book
just found this typewritten paragraph taped inside the front cover of a copy of Pynchon's Crying of Lot 49:
I guess that's one way to approach it...
this is a good novel for directors of plays to read and re-read because the action is essentialy non-verbal and because play directors must look beneath the honest surfaces of events to see what really went on. As you read this, try to block it's action in your mind and characterize the characters, merely as a strange kind of paper chase.
I guess that's one way to approach it...
movie day
Catching Marie Antoinette after work with the wife & the sis in law.
I'm approaching it with a certain trepidation.
I adored the low-key charms & shoegaze soundtrack of Lost in Translation, and it had one of the great endings ever, but I'm not certain how well Sophia Coppola's demonstrated gifts translate to the French court.
The marriage of French royalty & 80's pop for the trailer was killer, so I'm giving it a chance.
Full report to follow.
I'm approaching it with a certain trepidation.
I adored the low-key charms & shoegaze soundtrack of Lost in Translation, and it had one of the great endings ever, but I'm not certain how well Sophia Coppola's demonstrated gifts translate to the French court.
The marriage of French royalty & 80's pop for the trailer was killer, so I'm giving it a chance.
Full report to follow.
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
anniversary aftermath
Had a fine, low key evening with the wife.
We're planning a little jaunt to a beach resort next week.
For the day of I whipped up a tomato salad with fresh mozzerella, basil drizzled with port, balsamic vinegar & really good olive oil, a cheese board, some proscuitto & salami and a crusty baguette. All very enjoyable. Dessert was grapes & dark chocolate.
It was all washed down by this excellent vintage. This is my favorite zin under $15, deep and plummy, with notes of blackberry (according to the wife, who did time in wineries while attending Sonoma State back in the day).
My out of state readers are probably SOL on this one, unless you're lucky enough to have a Trader Joe's within driving distance.
I was amazed during our east coast swing a few years back to see cheap local wines given pride of place in New York and Boston, selling for 2 or 3 times what I'm used to paying.
We're planning a little jaunt to a beach resort next week.
For the day of I whipped up a tomato salad with fresh mozzerella, basil drizzled with port, balsamic vinegar & really good olive oil, a cheese board, some proscuitto & salami and a crusty baguette. All very enjoyable. Dessert was grapes & dark chocolate.
It was all washed down by this excellent vintage. This is my favorite zin under $15, deep and plummy, with notes of blackberry (according to the wife, who did time in wineries while attending Sonoma State back in the day).
My out of state readers are probably SOL on this one, unless you're lucky enough to have a Trader Joe's within driving distance.
I was amazed during our east coast swing a few years back to see cheap local wines given pride of place in New York and Boston, selling for 2 or 3 times what I'm used to paying.
Web Rage!
careful with that axe (handle) eugene.
This is either an argument for the exercise of greater civility and understanding in the online environment, or against living in a tiny little country like Britain.
Ruh row!
Mama always said this blog would kill me.
This is either an argument for the exercise of greater civility and understanding in the online environment, or against living in a tiny little country like Britain.
Gibbons, a man with a violent past, traced Mr Jones to his home using personal details about himself that he had put online.
Ruh row!
Mama always said this blog would kill me.
Monday, October 16, 2006
Happy Anniversary to MEEE
Today is the seven year mark on the horizonless ribbon of wedded bliss I've been travelling with the wife.
CELEBRATE OUR UNION, YOU UNFEELING BASTICHES!
CELEBRATE OUR UNION, YOU UNFEELING BASTICHES!
Great White webcam
the Monterey Bay Aquarium is making their second run at keeping a great white alive in captivity, and here's live webcam coverage.
They actually had one for a few months a while back, but it eventually started eating the rest of the exhibit and they (successfully) returned it to the wild.
The outer bay tank they're keeping it in is one of the COOLEST THINGS I'VE EVER SEEN. It's immense, and there's stadium seating so you can just sit and zone out on it. The wife had to drag me away, I'd have grown moss if left to my own devices.
They actually had one for a few months a while back, but it eventually started eating the rest of the exhibit and they (successfully) returned it to the wild.
The outer bay tank they're keeping it in is one of the COOLEST THINGS I'VE EVER SEEN. It's immense, and there's stadium seating so you can just sit and zone out on it. The wife had to drag me away, I'd have grown moss if left to my own devices.
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Birthdays
Got together with Bobo e Anner last night for a double-dip birthday dinner (bobo & the wife both being Libras). We gorged on Indian food and I taunted the three pill-poppers at the table by enjoying a delicious Indian beer (I echo this reviewers perspicacious comment, "I have been drinking beers for ages and Golden Eagle beer is one of the most exotic beer I ever drinked. i definetly recommend trying.").
I got Bobo a bitchin' three-volume version of the Codex Borgia (if you're my friend, you'd better love books...because that's what you're getting. Well, unless I make you a CD...but bobo shuns such musty old tech).
Erin has been burning with jealousy since my 40th birthday yielded an iPod. The fire was extinguished last night, with the arrival of this beauty:
I would have bet cash money the wife wasn't capable of squealing in girlish delight...showing the same kind of oddsmaking brilliance that led me to pick Zab Judah over Floyd Mayweather Jr.
"It's so SMALL!" she exclaimed in tones of wonder and awe, as if beholding a dainty saint's knucklebone nested on velvet in some Italian ossuary.
A testament to why Apple rules the word of digital audio:
my technophobe wife, who eyes anything more complex than a toaster with the sort of contempt most reserve for child molesters and who views the television remote as a personal and ongoing Battle of Verdun, figured it out by herself in less than five minutes.
Well, I loaded the music for her...but she deciphered the control system on her own.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is the definition of 'intuitive'.
I got Bobo a bitchin' three-volume version of the Codex Borgia (if you're my friend, you'd better love books...because that's what you're getting. Well, unless I make you a CD...but bobo shuns such musty old tech).
Erin has been burning with jealousy since my 40th birthday yielded an iPod. The fire was extinguished last night, with the arrival of this beauty:
I would have bet cash money the wife wasn't capable of squealing in girlish delight...showing the same kind of oddsmaking brilliance that led me to pick Zab Judah over Floyd Mayweather Jr.
"It's so SMALL!" she exclaimed in tones of wonder and awe, as if beholding a dainty saint's knucklebone nested on velvet in some Italian ossuary.
A testament to why Apple rules the word of digital audio:
my technophobe wife, who eyes anything more complex than a toaster with the sort of contempt most reserve for child molesters and who views the television remote as a personal and ongoing Battle of Verdun, figured it out by herself in less than five minutes.
Well, I loaded the music for her...but she deciphered the control system on her own.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is the definition of 'intuitive'.
Saturday, October 14, 2006
nothing says STREET CRED like a quiz on CNN
CNN is hip to the indie scene!
And if you look around, you'll find the official CNN quiz, "How Indie Are You?" (no direct link, sorry- lame javascript).
The questions are about what you'd expect- wtf does Arrested Development have to do with 'indie'?
Does suspecting a financial link somewhere in the corporate food chain make me cynical?
And if you look around, you'll find the official CNN quiz, "How Indie Are You?" (no direct link, sorry- lame javascript).
The questions are about what you'd expect- wtf does Arrested Development have to do with 'indie'?
Does suspecting a financial link somewhere in the corporate food chain make me cynical?
Recent and Recommended
Movies:
The wife caught these guys last night, doing their thing with Jekyll & Hyde. She had equally high praise for the live musical accompaniment and for John Barrymore's turn as the good Doctor (and his not-so-good antithesis).
They give the same treatment to some other silent classics- hopefully the success of this visit will inspire a return engagement with another movie from their repertoire.
TV:
We just got done plowing through the first two seasons of Lost, which were good fun in a 1930's movie serial kind of way. It's seems strange that a show built on the tried-and-true cliffhanger melodrama format is perceived as something fresh and new. Although given the stale lifelessness of most network offerings energy goes a long way, and Lost commits to its storylines in a way that would seem shocking if not for HBO's original dramas.
But is is a show with more appeal to a geek than a squarejohn citizen.
The moment that first captured my attention was an inexplicable polar bear attack...which is the same moment that caused the wife to throw up her hands in and cry out "what the hell is this?".
Music:
Grizzly Bear, Yellow House
Low key but alive & deep.
Califone
especially their last two,Heron King Blues & Roots & Crowns
If Tom Waits had drifted into spare, haunted Americana instead of Kurt Weil's 1920's Berlin speakeasy he'd sound like these guys. Well, not really...but their subterranean mythology seems to share a distant spiritual wellspring with Waits circa Rain Dogs/Swordfishtrombone.
I haven't been reading much lately, just throwaway genre trash I wouldn't impose on you. Maybe next time.
The wife caught these guys last night, doing their thing with Jekyll & Hyde. She had equally high praise for the live musical accompaniment and for John Barrymore's turn as the good Doctor (and his not-so-good antithesis).
They give the same treatment to some other silent classics- hopefully the success of this visit will inspire a return engagement with another movie from their repertoire.
TV:
We just got done plowing through the first two seasons of Lost, which were good fun in a 1930's movie serial kind of way. It's seems strange that a show built on the tried-and-true cliffhanger melodrama format is perceived as something fresh and new. Although given the stale lifelessness of most network offerings energy goes a long way, and Lost commits to its storylines in a way that would seem shocking if not for HBO's original dramas.
But is is a show with more appeal to a geek than a squarejohn citizen.
The moment that first captured my attention was an inexplicable polar bear attack...which is the same moment that caused the wife to throw up her hands in and cry out "what the hell is this?".
Music:
Grizzly Bear, Yellow House
Low key but alive & deep.
Califone
especially their last two,Heron King Blues & Roots & Crowns
If Tom Waits had drifted into spare, haunted Americana instead of Kurt Weil's 1920's Berlin speakeasy he'd sound like these guys. Well, not really...but their subterranean mythology seems to share a distant spiritual wellspring with Waits circa Rain Dogs/Swordfishtrombone.
I haven't been reading much lately, just throwaway genre trash I wouldn't impose on you. Maybe next time.
Wonders of the Internets
Behold the Internet...a place where every housebound obsessive is given a soapbox, a megaphone and firm instructions to do their worst.
La Belle France, where guns are too sophisticated for the vulgarity of BANG BANG BANG.
We were wandering through Paris during our European sojourn a few years back and stumbled across a store that sold nothing but Tintin comics and paraphernalia. Simultaneously impressive and creepy.
Being a geek, I bought a tee-shirt...
La Belle France, where guns are too sophisticated for the vulgarity of BANG BANG BANG.
We were wandering through Paris during our European sojourn a few years back and stumbled across a store that sold nothing but Tintin comics and paraphernalia. Simultaneously impressive and creepy.
Being a geek, I bought a tee-shirt...
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
books: buy of the week
My favorite book to come over the counter this week:
Thistle Eaters Guide by R.E. Scammell.
Indeed!
Thistle Eaters Guide by R.E. Scammell.
This anthology of recipes has been compiled to introduce you to this much-neglected and centuries-old delicacy.
Indeed!
Work: Arrested Development
A red-faced gentleman stumbled drunkenly into the store this morning with a story to tell.
After a somewhat incoherent preamble involving an unspecified criminal act requiring him to turn himself in at the courthouse by noon (the courthouse being a block up the street), he got to the point:
He'd spent all his money on bong hits, so could I help a brotha out with a free book.
Because he'd spent all his money on bong hits.
And he had to go to jail for ten days.
I politely declined.
After a somewhat incoherent preamble involving an unspecified criminal act requiring him to turn himself in at the courthouse by noon (the courthouse being a block up the street), he got to the point:
He'd spent all his money on bong hits, so could I help a brotha out with a free book.
Because he'd spent all his money on bong hits.
And he had to go to jail for ten days.
I politely declined.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Monday, October 9, 2006
Music: Bill Frisell & co.
Great show- not up to the transcendental brilliance of the Cuesta show a while back, which removed me from my body, squired me around the metaverse and brought me back home safely, but well worthwhile.
In a bit of marketing mis-direction Bill was listed as the headliner when they were actually delivering a Jack DeJohnette group, featuring Bill Frisell.
Not being an egomaniacal attention whore, Bill happily took a secondary role, blending in seamlessly with the ensemble. Which was fine, but not necessarily what I would have preferred.
This show was operating on more of an intellectual level- it had things to say and points to make, and instead of being enraptured and caught up in the tide I was thinking...which was the point of the exercise, but again not my preference.
There were a couple of highly dissonant, experimental pieces that swiftly cleared the auditorium of everyone with gray hair. I'm not a fan of what I call "goose jazz" (lots of unstructured honking, so named after early life exposure to John Coltrane's more experimental works), but in the context of the show it worked well.
A crazy mechanical piece called Entranced Androids (that sounded like an automobile assembly line reprogrammed to play music) segued into an absolutely beautiful song by an African guitarist that could not have sounded more lush & human. A collision of found sounds and noise called Cartoon Explosion led into a Miles Davis ballad done as a piano trio.
A fine evening, if a bit more mentally challenging than anticipated, and lacking some of the emotional fulfillment of his last visit to town.
But Frisell is a musical chameleon, and you do have to pay attention to who he's playing with as much as what he's playing. His career encapsulates extremes from the roaring assault of his work with Kenny Baron & Kermit Driscoll to the delicate Americana of Nashville to the menacing, gothic blues of Gone, Just Like a Train...and all stops in between.
Delivering something unexpected is one of the reasons I love him so much.
In a bit of marketing mis-direction Bill was listed as the headliner when they were actually delivering a Jack DeJohnette group, featuring Bill Frisell.
Not being an egomaniacal attention whore, Bill happily took a secondary role, blending in seamlessly with the ensemble. Which was fine, but not necessarily what I would have preferred.
This show was operating on more of an intellectual level- it had things to say and points to make, and instead of being enraptured and caught up in the tide I was thinking...which was the point of the exercise, but again not my preference.
There were a couple of highly dissonant, experimental pieces that swiftly cleared the auditorium of everyone with gray hair. I'm not a fan of what I call "goose jazz" (lots of unstructured honking, so named after early life exposure to John Coltrane's more experimental works), but in the context of the show it worked well.
A crazy mechanical piece called Entranced Androids (that sounded like an automobile assembly line reprogrammed to play music) segued into an absolutely beautiful song by an African guitarist that could not have sounded more lush & human. A collision of found sounds and noise called Cartoon Explosion led into a Miles Davis ballad done as a piano trio.
A fine evening, if a bit more mentally challenging than anticipated, and lacking some of the emotional fulfillment of his last visit to town.
But Frisell is a musical chameleon, and you do have to pay attention to who he's playing with as much as what he's playing. His career encapsulates extremes from the roaring assault of his work with Kenny Baron & Kermit Driscoll to the delicate Americana of Nashville to the menacing, gothic blues of Gone, Just Like a Train...and all stops in between.
Delivering something unexpected is one of the reasons I love him so much.
Sunday, October 8, 2006
boxing: Yeti KO punch
if you don't want to see a 7 foot tall neanderthal wind up and throw a punch from way downtown, don't click.
As a boxing fan...I'm not sure whether this is embarassing or fascinating.
WTF
As a boxing fan...I'm not sure whether this is embarassing or fascinating.
WTF
another seasonal treat
time lapse rotting pumpkin
I've always been a sucker for time-lapse stuff, I blame it on all those Disney nature films from my youth where they showed flowers blooming and dying.
The only kind of trick photography I love better are those underwater shots of people jumping into the water....the Olympic diving competition is like porn for me.
I've always been a sucker for time-lapse stuff, I blame it on all those Disney nature films from my youth where they showed flowers blooming and dying.
The only kind of trick photography I love better are those underwater shots of people jumping into the water....the Olympic diving competition is like porn for me.
geek alert
Make Love Not Warcraft
I think this is only funny in an in-jokey gamer kind of way....but if you've got enough gaming under your belt to 'get' it it's one of the funniest things ever.
Think of it as a geek litmus test....
I think this is only funny in an in-jokey gamer kind of way....but if you've got enough gaming under your belt to 'get' it it's one of the funniest things ever.
Think of it as a geek litmus test....
Saturday, October 7, 2006
Wednesday, October 4, 2006
Book Purses
clicky clicky
I've sold all those books at one time or another.
And lemme tell ya, $110 is RIDICULOUS.
The books came from a yard sale or the Goodwill for a few cents, the rest of the purse probably cost ten bucks and once you got the prototype dialed in the manufacturing process would be easy. A pal of mine made similar purses for her boutique and charged $40. But retail is about perception of value as much as actual value, so god bless them for squeezing every last drop of juice out of their product.
I like the concept, but being a book person I can't get excited about the chosen covers. Even if you're limiting yourself to books you can get basically for free, there are much better options, graphically speaking.
I say spend a little more getting a really cool book, then charge $200.
I've sold all those books at one time or another.
And lemme tell ya, $110 is RIDICULOUS.
The books came from a yard sale or the Goodwill for a few cents, the rest of the purse probably cost ten bucks and once you got the prototype dialed in the manufacturing process would be easy. A pal of mine made similar purses for her boutique and charged $40. But retail is about perception of value as much as actual value, so god bless them for squeezing every last drop of juice out of their product.
I like the concept, but being a book person I can't get excited about the chosen covers. Even if you're limiting yourself to books you can get basically for free, there are much better options, graphically speaking.
I say spend a little more getting a really cool book, then charge $200.
Top Ten Wallets for Geeks
good times, good times.
This one seems to be whispering Ivan's name low, in a gutteral German accent:
This one seems to be whispering Ivan's name low, in a gutteral German accent:
Tuesday, October 3, 2006
On the Road via Google
Here's a cool Google map of the protagonists journey in the beat classic On the Road.
(courtesy Litourati)
Pretty neat, even though I've never read the book.
Any opinions on it out there in cyberland?
(courtesy Litourati)
Pretty neat, even though I've never read the book.
Any opinions on it out there in cyberland?
Monday, October 2, 2006
Books: whiny complaint
Roy Jensen is a fantastic remainder company- they consistently stock the best art, photography and architecture remainders, elite titles you won't find slumming at the sale racks at Borders or Barnes & Noble with all the crummy 'made remainders' and genre fiction overruns.
but they do two things that drive me crazy.
They don't mark the box with the invoice.
Extremely annoying when you're receiving a big order.
They don't alphabetize the invoice.
Which makes checking in the books a big pain in the ass.
Are they still using a Univac at Roy Jensen HQ?
Bonus Book Trivia Footnote
In the book business a remainder is an unsold copy of a commercial title that has been sold off by the publisher at a steep discount. In short, a 'real' book that failed in the marketplace and has been given up on by the publisher.
In the used book business there is no stigma attached to a remaindered title- some of them sell fantastically well. We bought several cases of this title as a remainder with a suggested retail of $14.95, sold enough of them in-store at $19.95 to cover the cost and sat on the rest for a while. When the book ended up being as good as we thought it was, we sold the rest on the net for $30.00.
a 'made remainder' is a book published specifically for the 'sale table' market. There was never an original edition, the book was just put together & printed cheaply so it can make the publisher a good profit selling at $4.98 or $7.98 or whatever. I don't buy them over the counter and we don't buy them from remainder companies. Our house term for most of them is "a non-book book", meaning it looks like a book if you flip through it and give it a cursory inspection, but there's not really anything holding it together. There's no meat on its bones....of course, because in book publishing as in cooking meat is expensive.
Made remainders are fluff tarted up to resemble something better, which is why we steer clear of them.
but they do two things that drive me crazy.
They don't mark the box with the invoice.
Extremely annoying when you're receiving a big order.
They don't alphabetize the invoice.
Which makes checking in the books a big pain in the ass.
Are they still using a Univac at Roy Jensen HQ?
Bonus Book Trivia Footnote
In the book business a remainder is an unsold copy of a commercial title that has been sold off by the publisher at a steep discount. In short, a 'real' book that failed in the marketplace and has been given up on by the publisher.
In the used book business there is no stigma attached to a remaindered title- some of them sell fantastically well. We bought several cases of this title as a remainder with a suggested retail of $14.95, sold enough of them in-store at $19.95 to cover the cost and sat on the rest for a while. When the book ended up being as good as we thought it was, we sold the rest on the net for $30.00.
a 'made remainder' is a book published specifically for the 'sale table' market. There was never an original edition, the book was just put together & printed cheaply so it can make the publisher a good profit selling at $4.98 or $7.98 or whatever. I don't buy them over the counter and we don't buy them from remainder companies. Our house term for most of them is "a non-book book", meaning it looks like a book if you flip through it and give it a cursory inspection, but there's not really anything holding it together. There's no meat on its bones....of course, because in book publishing as in cooking meat is expensive.
Made remainders are fluff tarted up to resemble something better, which is why we steer clear of them.
Sunday, October 1, 2006
books: the worst 'about the author' bio I've seen in a long, long time
from The Secret Symbols of the Dollar Bill:
Oh, dear.
DAVID OVASON teaches astrology, and has studied the life and teachings of Nostradamus for more than 40 years.
Oh, dear.
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