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Author Archives: admin

the day before, I was watching TV….

all the ads — all of them — were for political hopefuls — for mayor, for city council, for public advocate, for comptroller for g0d’s sake, democrats and republicans, everyone talking about how they stood up to the mayor or fought for more cops or to keep incinerators out of Brooklyn; I Fight For You, […]

Special Abilities

Gareth leaves the house maybe twice a week he has taken to role playing the sixteen-sided dice are all over the table I say this is called Depression, my friend, he says No it’s not I can show you the clinical definition of depression (weaponry: DSM IV).

Terrifying Celebrity Encounter #1: Campaign Season

I saw a sign advertising Mike Gioia for City Council today as Roger and I and James were heading out into Queens. “How do you like Green for Mayor?” I asked Roger. Roger figures Green as a center-right liberal, and says Ferrer is just a politician with his finger in the wind. Roger’s not up […]

Detritus Peripatetica: Nothing To Report But Little Moments Of Social Brilliance

Scene: stoplight on South Lake in Pasadena. I pull up alongside two young guys in an SUV. They start making little dog-whistles, in the way some guys do just to get you to turn and look at them. I hate that tactic. I shake my head slowly. They get frustrated. “Yes,” the one on my […]

Re: Not To Mention The Rose Of Jericho

See, we need to get you familiar with the corporeal being of bougainvillea. I don’t know, maybe you’ve encountered it as a houseplant — that’s not what bougainvillea is all about. Bougainvillea, left to its own devices, is a force to be wrangled with. It’s the kudzu of the Southwest. It has thorny vines which […]

Remodelling

As you can see, I’m redoing the DSWJ at the moment. Believe me, it’s not going to look like this for long. The remodel is intended to make a distinction between the mindless link propagation and shorter observations I sometimes do — those will now go in a separate column from the main stuff, either […]

Failed Celebrity Encounters #8

James waits until after “Lisa Picard is ‘Famous’” to tell me that in the ticket line, he was standing behind Wallace Shawn. Wallace Shawn! I say. Do you know who his father was?! and am instantly smitten with migraine-force deja vu from the movie. I have nothing to say to Wallace Shawn. What surprised me […]

Misuses of Data #305,756

Drinking wine makes you smarter!

Why There Are Looney Tunes Branded Minivans

While I was teaching an elective on media monopoly at the workshop this summer, the discussion frequently turned to “synergy,” or the “beneficial” mutual ownership of diverse products by large corporations. (Before companies were so keen to put a positive spin on this phenomenon, it was known as “horizontal monopoly.”) A great example of synergy […]

Termite Television

Browsing the Paper Tiger Television (they’re an activist video collective) link list, I found the Termite Television Collective’s Life Story project, in which people have five minutes to tell their life story to the videographer. Onward and upward with alternative TV!