Frames of Reference #1
The iPod was introduced approximately one month after 9/11.
On March 20, 2003, the United States invaded Iraq.
The iTunes Music Store opened on April 28, 2003.
Looking forward to Wild Things
Can’t Wait!!
You are Your Own Worst Enemy
From John Goekler: In actual fact, unless you’re serving in a war zone, the most dangerous person you’re ever likely to encounter – by several orders of magnitude – is the one you see in the mirror every morning. Compare this: Deaths of Americans due to terrorist activities, according to the US State Department, have …
Light Blogging Ahead
I’m doing sound design for the upcoming New Plays Festival at Brown University and we are heading into the last week before tech. Between my day job and working on the shows, I will be pretty busy for the next couple of weeks. Sadly, I missed posting a “Music You May Have Missed” entry on …
March 2009 Books
“From The Teeth Of Angels” (Jonathan Carroll)
“Child Across the Sky” (Jonathan Carroll)
A light month when it comes to quantity, but satisfying in terms of quality.
Dinosaurs and a Changing World
From the Discovery Channel:
Sauropod dinosaurs — the group including the well-known Apatosaurus (formerly known as Brontosaurus) — could not have kept their long necks in a vertical position, according to a new study. (Link)
I think one of the reasons people distrust science is that it forces us to constantly reevaluate our knowledge and sometimes, like in the case of Pluto’s reclassification, or new evidence about dinosaurs, change things that we fondly remember from childhood.
While a lot of us think that science is exciting for just these same reasons, for some it’s scary that the world isn’t a fixed and static point of knowledge.
Shufflin’ Monday – When 2 Parts of Tupelo Come Together
Songs I listened to in the car today:
“The Sorcerer” – Miles Davis
“Point Me at the Sky” – Pink Floyd
“Coalminers” – Uncle Tupelo
“No Matter Where You Go, There You Are” – Luka Bloom
“Man on the Moon” – R.E.M.
“Seance on a Wet Afternoon” – John Barry
“Scratched by the Briar” – Clogs
“Michagan” – Red House Painters
No music video to go along with this list, but I did find the following clip of Jeff Tweedy talking about bumping into his old bandmate Jay Farrar from Uncle Tupelo. Probably not all that interesting unless you are an Uncle Tupelo, Wilco, or Son Volt fan.
The Failure of Battlestar Galactica
Warning: spoilers and extremely critical thoughts ahead.
Do you remember the feeling you got in the pit of your stomach when you saw your best friend kissing the girl you’d never gotten the nerve to ask out but pined for night after night and who you just knew would fall in love with you if only she could see just how much you were in love with her?
Do you remember that night when you were five, maybe six, years old and you caught your Dad getting into a Santa Claus costume and your parents assured you that he was just helping out the real Santa but you knew, knew in your fast beating little heart that they were lying to you and that there was no Santa Claus. If your parents could lie about something so important and fundamental as Santa, then how could you ever trust anyone or anything ever again?
Do you remember the first time you lied to someone you loved? Not a small lie, but an important lie. Do you remember how hollow you felt afterwards?
That’s kind of how I feel about the Battlestar Galactica finale.
Passing on an Open Letter to the News Media
From Devilstower’s post on Daily Kos:
If Republicans were appearing on your news broadcasts and insisting that Barry Goldwater was the 38th president of the United States, or that the Chinese bombed Pearl Harbor, surely you would take a moment to halt the conversation and correct them. At least, I’d like to think so. So why do you continue to allow Republican officials and conservative pundits to make statements such as “the Great Depression didn’t end until World War II” or “the New Deal prolonged the depression” without comment? These statements are as incorrect as declaring Idaho a sovereign monarchy — why are they constantly unchallenged?
Read the rest of the letter here, then pass it on to everyone you know because when our news outlets don’t even bother to get the facts straight, we are in trouble and have to speak up and out against the slow erosion of history and factual truth in our public discourse.
Great Links of Fire!
Auguste points out why those of the reactionary, conservative, and wingnut variety are so terrified of offering a fair and even playing field to the American people.If you could play Scrabble on your iPhone with friends using Facebook, would you? Or are we reaching a point of digital saturation in our lives?Way to go Vermont. …