I am inspired

by Anil Dash’s cancellation of the term FAIL:

Because it marks a lack of human empathy, and signifies an absence of intellectual curiosity, it is an unacceptable response to creative efforts in our culture. “Fail!” is the cry of someone who doesn’t create, doesn’t ship, doesn’t launch, who doesn’t make things. And because these people don’t make things, they don’t understand the context of those who do.

Years ago, I worked at a summer camp in the San Juan Islands. I actually met the wonderful person who would become my wife there. And a summer camp, at its best, is this amazing volcano of creativity: you have the energy of hundreds of young campers, counselors who are still young themselves, you have music, you have nature, you have recreation and physical activity, you DON'T have electronic media. It's perfect, really. But there was this one person who, whenever something truly creatively odd would be presented (be it a song or a skit or just a joke) would make a yucky face and say, "Random!" She even made a song for people to sing with the lyrics, "Random, random, that was so random." A song is a creative act, sure, but she just borrowed an existing camp melody and put in her cynical patronizing words.

And, like, go to hell, you know? It's not random, it's a creative act inspired by the environment we're all sharing and that's a beautiful thing that sets us apart from the goddamn insects. I bet she uses FAIL all the time.

Vince Young

He’s a quarterback for the Tennessee Titans of the NFL. Last season, after losing his starting job, getting booed, and getting injured, he left his house without his phone but with a pistol, this after mentioning suicide several times over the course of the day. An APB was sent out and he was finally tracked down.

I haven’t heard much on the story since then but recently saw a short interview with Young on ESPN. In the interview, an excerpt of a longer version to air later this summer, Young says that he wasn’t considering suicide, that he just needed to clear his head and that he went to his uncle’s house.

You can’t know someone’s mind from watching a few minutes of tape but, how to phrase this, something seems wrong here. It’s just my gut but I don’t think he’s telling the truth. Young has every reason in the world to say that he had no thoughts of hurting himself, millions of dollars of reasons, in fact. As a star athlete for most of his life, he’s also existed in a world where toughness and exhibited strength are highly valued and mental illness is treated very differently from a torn ACL.

The topic of NFL players and suicide didn’t start with Young. Star receiver Terrell Owens attempted suicide in 2006 but he too claimed it was all a big misunderstanding. I hope someone in the NFL offices is taking mental health seriously although I doubt they are. After Owens denied that he attempted suicide, his publicist, demonstrating a real deft understanding of mental health, had this to say: “Terrell has 25 million reasons,” she said, “why he should be alive.” Or at least make people think he wants to be.

Unauthorized Trader Joe's commercial made by a guy who just really likes Trader Joe's

I watch this when I'm sad to become happier. Or when I'm kind of happy and want to get happier still.

Strange thing

Whenever I commit to blogging more here, I usually do the opposite. So I wonder if I'm about to start blogging more here because I plan to do less. I'm currently involved in a project that has a heavy blogging element but not in a real obvious public way. It's temporary but for the moment it's sucking up a lot of the bloggy brain cells. So I THINK I will be easing back on this for the next 3-4 weeks. Until then you can find me on Twitter and sometimes on the Tumblr blog.

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A Conversation with Charlie (age 8) About Literature

HIM: Dad, is To Kill A Mockingbird a real book?
ME: Yes.
HIM: Do they really kill a mockingbird?
ME: No.
HIM: Does anyone get killed?
ME: Yes.
HIM: Why do they call it that?
ME: It's an analogy.
(pause)
HIM: Does someone at least turn into a mockingbird?



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It's easier

Tumblr, I mean. Way easier to blog. If I have something I want to post, I can do it right away. And unlike Blogger, I choose whether I'm posting a photo, text, link, audio, video, or discussion and it then delivers me a template to speed that along. The fact that it all takes about 1/3 the amount of time a posting requires here makes a huge difference to my posting without, I HOPE, a drop off in relevance and quality.

Not sure where I go from here but I encourage you to read me over there as well.

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At the coffee shop this morning

(I remove my headphones and place my order, BARISTA pours coffee, hands it to me, rings me up.)

BARISTA: What are you listening to?

ME: Oh. This American Life.

BARISTA: I don’t know what that is.

ME: It’s a public radio show.

BARISTA: Oh, like MPR? I love MPR.

ME: So do I. I actually work there.

BARISTA: I don’t sleep very much, I just can’t fall asleep easily, so listen to the BBC a lot late at night. It’s fantastic.

ME: It certainly is. I love the BBC.

BARISTA: Well, I’ll let you get to work. Thank you for all you do. Thanks for making all that wonderful radio.

ME: You’re welcome. Thanks for listening to it.

(and I leave with more of a spring in my step than coffee could ever provide.)

Fooling around with Tumblr

It really does seem like an easier blogging platform than Blogger. So I set up a version of this blog over there to try it out. I've been looking for somewhere to store interesting things I come across: stories, pictures, videos. So I'm going to try to make the Tumblr page less about writing and more just, kinda, stuff I brought home from the store. We'll see how it goes. I'll keep doing stuff here too.

Anyway: check it out if you like.

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Bands that have songs named after bands

Wilco is live streaming their new album - FOR FREE! TEMPORARILY! - and the first song is called "Wilco". After asserting on Twitter that the only band I knew of that had a song named after themselves was Talk Talk with "Talk Talk" off the album Talk Talk, I come to find out it's way more common than I thought:

* 45 Grave's "45 Grave"
* A's "A" (from album A vs Monkey Kong)
* Anthrax's "Anthrax" (from album Fistful of Metal)
* Armor For Sleep's "Armor For Sleep" (from album Dream to Make Believe)
* At the Gates's "At the Gates" (from album Garden of Grief)
* Avantasia's "Avantasia" (from album "The Metal Opera")
* Babyshambles's "Babyshambles"
* Bad Acid Trip's "Bad Acid Trip"
* Beastie Boys' "Beastie Boys"
* Belle & Sebastian's "Belle & Sebastian" (from the EP Dog On Wheels, and re-released as part of the album Push Barman to Open Old Wounds)
* Blue Öyster Cult's "Blue Öyster Cult" (from album Imaginos)
* Born Blind's "Born Blind" (from album One for All)
* bob hund's "bob hund" (from album Omslag: Martin Kann)
* Brand Nubian's "Brand Nubian"
* Brian Wilson's "Brian Wilson" (from the album Live at the Roxy Theatre, a cover of the song by Barenaked Ladies)
* Built to Spill's "Built to Spill" (from album Ultimate Alternative Wavers)
* Captain Jack's "Captain Jack" (from album The Mission)
* Chicago's "Chicago" ( from album Night and Day: Big Band)
* Children of Bodom's "Children of Bodom" (from album Hatebreeder)
* Choking Victim's "Choking Victim"
* Julian Cope's "Julian H. Cope" (from jehovahkill)
* Daddy DJ's "Daddy DJ"
* Dali's Car's "Dali's Car"
* Delta 5's "Delta 5"
* Descendents's "Descendents" (from album I Don't Want To Grow Up)
* Die Ärzte's "Die Ärzte" (not released, just live)
* D.O.A.'s "D.O.A." (from album Hardcore '81)
* Doop's "Doop"
* Dr. Octagon's "Dr. Octagon"
* Dschinghis Khan's "Dschinghis Khan"
* Enkindel's "Enkindel" (from album "Some Assembly Required"; the band lather changed their name to The Enkindels)
* Exodus's "Exodus" (from the album "Bonded by Blood")
* Fishbone's "Fishbone (Is Red Hot)"
* Fleetwood Mac's "Fleetwood Mac" (from the album The Original Fleetwood Mac)
* Flying Machine's "Flying Machine"
* Fuck...I'm Dead's "Fuck...I'm Dead"
* Goon Squad's "Goon Squad"
* Gotcha!'s "Gotcha!"
* Gouryella's "Gouryella"
* Green Day's "Green Day" (the song title preceded the band name, and was written while the band was still known as Sweet Children)
o Also had a song called "Sweet Children" when they were known as Sweet Children
* G-Unit's "G-Unit" (from album Beg For Mercy)
* H-Bomb's "H-Bomb" (from mini-lp Coup de Metal)
* Hammerfall's "Hammerfall" (from album Glory to the Brave)
* Hard Skin's "Hard Skin" (from album Hard Nuts And Hard Cunts)
* Imperial Teen's "Imperial Teen" (from album Seasick)
* In Extremo's "In Extremo" (from album Verehrt und Angespien)
* In Flames' "In Flames" (from album Lunar Strain)
* JFA's "Jodie Foster's Army" (from album Blatant Localism)
* Jilted John's "Jilted John" (from album True Love Stories)
* LFO "LFO" (from album Frequencies
* The Living End's "The Living End" (from album Hellbound)
* Louis XIV's "Louis XIV" (from album The Best Little Secrets Are Kept)
* Love City Groove's "Love City Groove" (the United Kingdom entry in the 1995 Eurovision Song Contest)
* Mad Caddies's "Mad Caddies"
* Madness's "Madness" (a Prince Buster cover)
* Manowar's "Manowar"
* Masta Killa's "Masta Killa" (from album No Said Date)
* Miljoonasade's "Miljoonasade" (from album Pesuhuoneesta keittiöön)
* Miss Black America' "Miss Black America" (from the album God Bless Miss Black America)
* Mr. Big's "Mr. Big" (a Free cover)
* Mr Blobby's "Mr Blobby"
* Mull Historical Society's "Mull Historical Society" (from album Loss)
* Night Ranger's "Night Ranger" (from album Dawn Patrol)
* Nightwish's "Nightwish" (from their untitled first demo)
* Nichya's (?????) "Nichya"
* Paradise Lost's "Paradise Lost" (from the album Lost Paradise)
* Peach's "Peach" (from the album Giving Birth to a Stone)
* Pet Shop Boys' "Pet Shop Boys" (b-side to the 1984 release of "West End girls")
* Pink Grease's "Pink G.R.Ease"
* Polygon Window's "Polygon Window" (from the album (Surfing on Sine Waves))
* Railroad Earth's "Railroad Earth" (from the album Elko)
* Rammstein's "Rammstein" (from album Herzeleid)
* Reagan Youth's "Reagan Youth" (from album Volume 1)
* Renegade Soundwave's "Renegade Soundwave"
* Samhain's "Samhain" (from album Initium)
* Siddharta's "Siddharta" (from album ID)
* Sigur Rós's "Sigur Rós" (from album Von)
* Skyclad's "Skyclad" (from album The Wayward Sons of Mother Earth)
* Slipknot's "Slipknot" (from album Mate.Feed.Kill.Repeat)
* Smog's "Smog" from the album Sewn to the Sky
* Snoop Dogg's "Snoop Dogg"
* Snot's "Snot" (from album Get Some)
* Spacehog's "Spacehog" from the album Resident Alien
* Steelheart's "Steelheart" from the album Tangled in Reins
* Stratovarius' "Stratovarius" from the album Fourth Dimension
* Sworn Enemy's "Sworn Enemy" from the album As Real As It Gets
* Talk Talk's "Talk Talk" (from album The Party's Over)
o note: The song "Talk Talk" also appears on a five-song EP that's called Talk Talk, and the band itself was named after the song (written by the Hollis brothers).
* Talulah Gosh's "Talulah Gosh"
* They Might Be Giants' "They Might Be Giants" (from album Flood)
* Tricky Disco "Tricky Disco"
* Unun's "Unun" from the album Æ (album)
* Van Dyke Parks' "Van Dyke Parks" (from album Song Cycle)
* Voivod's "Voivod" (from album War and Pain)
* Warp 11's "Warp 11" (from album Red Alert)
* White Town's "White Town" (from album Women in Technology)
* X's "X" (from album Blue Blood)
* Zonata's "Zonata" (from album Tunes of Steel)

AND this list even left off Bad Company by Bad Company, Iron Maiden by Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath, and Kajagoogoo's Kajagoogoo (because if you have the word "Kajagoogoo" available to you, you need to use it all the time.)

Right, LIMAHL?

Kajagoogoo, John!

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Algebra

"If you tell me x, I WILL FIGHT YOU WITH MY FISTS!"

What does x equal?

For me:
x = Jay Leno is better than David Letterman
x = anything in pirate vernacular
x = there hasn't been any good music made since (fill in any year or era)
x = you are guaranteed to lose any fight involving fists




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Family on the radio

I'm doing a story for The Splendid Table about kids and cooking. We had Charlie and Kate prepare a family meal, sweet and sour chicken plus rice and for some reason dumplings, which they then refused to eat.

JOHN: But this was your idea!
CHARLIE: Ugh! Well, when I always see it in restaurants it doesn’t look like something from a squid’s body part.
JOHN: Well, you want a dumpling?
CHARLIE: Ooh yeah!
KATE: Can I try one?
JOHN: It’s white and bland.
KATE: Actually I don’t want it.
JOHN: Yes you do! Eat the dumplings or you’re out of the family.
CHARLIE: You’re kidding.
KATE: Are you kidding?
JOHN: I’m half kidding. And you know it might be terrible.
KATE: It is! I just not like it. Mom, you can have it.
JILL: No thanks.
JOHN: I’ll eat it.
KATE: Ooh, thanks
JOHN: Charlie, are you okay?
CHARLIE: I don’t want to try the dumplings.
JOHN: Did you try the dumplings?
CHARLIE: Yeah.
JOHN: The dumpling is pretty bad, actually.
JILL: They’re horrible. Give ‘em to the baby. I bet the baby will eat them.
MARGARET: Oooh!

**

A Conversation with Charlie (age 8) About Music and Entomology

HIM: Our yard is full of bugs of prey.
ME: That would be a good name for a band. Bugs of Prey.
HIM: Or Insects of Prey. Arachnids of Prey.
ME: Beetles of Prey. Or just The Beatles.
HIM: That's already a band.
ME: Right. So you can't use that name.
HIM: Well, maybe. They broke up a long time ago.
ME: So you think the name is available. You could just come along and claim it.
HIM: Yeah, I'm pretty sure.

**

This is one continuous shot

Nyle "Let The Beat Build" from Nyle on Vimeo.

And it kind of made me cry with joy.

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Scenes from the coffee shop

SCENE 1

ME: Hi, could I get a small coffee?
BARISTA 1: That'll be $1.75.
ME: I thought it was only a dollar on Mondays.
BARISTA 1: That's if you get a medium.
ME: (sigh) Okay, I'll get a medium.
BARISTA 1: Okay, that'll be one dollar.
ME: You're trying to break my mind, aren't you?


SCENE 2
If you answer the trivia question, you get ten cents off. Today's question was, "What New York University was taken over by students from April 23 to April 30, 1968?" The answer is Columbia.

CUSTOMER: Hmm, I don't know the answer.
BARISTA 2: Think about the name of a South American country where lots of cocaine and coffee comes from.
CUSTOMER: Brazil?
BARISTA 2: No, it's a university in New York City.
CUSTOMER: I'm drawing a blank.
ME: It's in upper Manhattan.
BARISTA 2: It's in kind of a rough neighborhood?
CUSTOMER: No...
BARISTA 2: But it's a good school. A really good school.
ME: It's an Ivy League school.
CUSTOMER: Hmm...
ME: It's Columbia.
CUSTOMER: No, I just can't figure it out.
BARISTA 2: He just told you the answer.
CUSTOMER: Hmmmmm....


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Because I've not yet achieved "detached antisocial genius" status...

I've created a Facebook fan page. I was just getting a lot of requests from people I didn't know and while most of them seemed like really great people it felt like...ah, gah, screw it. It's part of the self-promotional thing that goes with what I do and that I can't seem to embrace. So anyway, if you're so inclined, here.

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Evil Overlord Tips

20. Despite its proven stress-relieving effect, I will not indulge in maniacal laughter. When so occupied, it's too easy to miss unexpected developments that a more attentive individual could adjust to accordingly.

81. If I am fighting with the hero atop a moving platform, have disarmed him, and am about to finish him off and he glances behind me and drops flat, I too will drop flat instead of quizzically turning around to find out what he saw.

Read the rest. (h/t kottke)

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Real Life Pac-Man

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I'm both wary and weary of stuff like this

but I really did enjoy the website named Look At This Fucking Hipster.
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I'm rappin', I'm rappin', I'm rappity rappin'

I will never forgive Scott Simpson for embedding this in my skull. And if you are foolish enough to play this clip, you will never forgive me either.

THERE IS NO FORGIVENESS IN THE RAPPITY RAP GAME!


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Robyn Hitchcock

was in our building yesterday. He's a genius, that's all. Here's the interview:

Listen for his brief Dylan impression at 15:15 or so. He also talks about being offered a gig to produce a record for a then-unknown band named The Replacements a long time ago. He turned it down because at the time he was drinking quite a bit and he wasn't sure such a thing would go over well with The Replacements.

Best of all, the interview is conducted by Mary Lucia, whom I don't think Robyn realizes is the younger sister of Paul Westerberg.