...more recent posts
In protest of George W. Bush's energy policies and lack of emphasis on efficiency, conservation and alternative fuels, there will be a voluntary rolling blackout on the first day of Summer, June 21 at 7 p.m. - 10 p.m. in any time zone (this will roll it across the planet). It's a simple protest and a symbolic act. Turn out your lights from 7 p.m. until 10 p.m. (your local time) on June 21. Unplug whatever you can unplug in your house. Light a candle for the Sun, kiss, make love, play games, tell ghost stories, do something instead of watching television, have fun in the dark. Forward this email as widely as possible, to your government representatives and environmental contacts. Let them know we want global education, participation and funding in conservation, efficiency and alternative energy efforts -- and an end to over exploitation and misuse of the Earth's resources.
It's Dylan's 60th, and he's everywhere, from the ridiculous to the sublime.
In my (not so humble) opinion, he is the single most significant pop culture figure of my lifetime.
I was too young for his beginnings, and too old for his comebacks, but he was always lurking somewhere on the edges of my interests. I remember trying to make a drawing in jr. high school, illustrating all the characters from Desolation Row, even as I lapped up prog-rock with my generation. In college, when the punk/new wave moment was all that mattered, I spent one of my favorite springs making minimalist sculptures while listening endlessly to Bringing It All Back Home. The late-coming accolades he's been receiving for his neo-folk act serve as confirmation of my own notions of what Traditionalism might be.
Much can be summed up in the story of All Along the Watchtower. It appeared on John Wesley Harding, the acoustic album released after the motorcycle accident, which seemed, in some ways, a step backwards. The so-called Movement, which Dylan had once fronted, had passed him by (or he had stepped aside) and the music had spawned plenty of new stars, and was splintering in many directions. The crash was coming, and Dylan, standing on the ominous yet ambiguous Watchtower, saw it on the horizon. A lot of other people didn't. One who did was Jimi Hendrix, Dylan's greatest disciple. Hendrix electrified the song, whipping its subtleties into a roar of anguish and foreboding. The Hendrix rendition became the "official" version, especially as performed for years by the Grateful Dead. Through its history, the song encapsulates the folk roots of rock, both black and white, and the transformation of that material into something more than mere entertainment. Hendrix was the ultimate product of that transformation, and his version, a testament of faith in the wounded prophet, closed the racial feedback loop of pop culture. The Dead survived the crash, and carried the achievement forward, a revelation, and a warning, to a new generation.
And it's not even one of my favorites.
Give me Mr. Tambourine Man any day.
The first psychedelic song, though similarly, it was the Byrds' version that got the message across. It's notable that they relied on something sonic, excising the lyrical culmination, which remains one of the great evocations of inspiration, from whatever source:
And if you hear vague traces of skippin' reels of rhyme
To your tambourine in time, it's just a ragged clown behind,
I wouldn't pay it any mind, it's just a shadow you're
Seein' that he's chasing.
Happy Birthday, Bob.
NYC community gardens (from the interactivist network, an ABC No Rio project.)
Back from Portland. They are having a record run of Chinook salmon this year. The Indians are selling it on the side of the road for $2.00 a lb. Much to the chagrin of the salmon farmers and supermarkets. The state deemed the roadside sale of salmon illegal. "So sue us" the tribes replied. Oregonians are feasting like crazy for next to nothing and the state seems to be afraid or unable to back up their claim.
We bought one and had a nice feast on the eve of my return to NYC.
The run of salmon is due to prime ocean conditions five years ago. The news is that this year and last and the year before that will be awful for the future runs.
We went to the fish ladders at Bonneville Dam and watched through observation windows as lampreys, sturgeon, coho, steelhead and chinooks make their way against the current. Hardly a fish jumps up the ladders anymore. Someone had the idea of creating channels through the steps which make swimming upriver much easier.
stay free maxi mag - focussed on issues surrounding commercialism and american culture
A very sad story in the suicide of jazz singer Susannah McCorkle. I don't really follow the music, but she must have had something, because I've always remembered her, although I only heard her once. On the car radio, in Detroit, listening to Public Radio, I came upon her exquisite English-language version of Antonio Carlos Jobim's Waters of March. Still the best rendition of the song I've ever heard. A Portuguese version later got wide exposure on a Banana Republic commercial, but who knew what it was about?
We can only hope that the arrival of the Singularity will dispel the mystery of the tortured artist. Until then, listen to the music.
How will you be accessing the web next year? Hint: it may not be from a fixed location.
Marvel drops the comics code.
There's been a proposal for a new page here that only people with accounts can see (or: that only people who want to can see.) The idea would be to off load some of the more insider-ish posts from this page (like Thursday night plans) to some place a bit more private. I guess this assumes someone other than "us" might read this page, which is not exactly proven - still I think this is probably a good idea. Any thoughts? Names?
Sqrat-not :
Any ideas for tomorrow? I'm game. MB's out. I think I need to save my rivington street party coupons for 6/2. Bars are good on the early side, but these days they get unbearably crowded fast. Especially on Ludlow street. But if a bar it must be (not that I'd be complaining,) maybe we could try lolita, which I'll gamble is very empty until much much later. It's a new place on Broome, between Allen and Orchard.
would be nice if there was a post option in the left hand column so it isnt necessary to scroll to the bottom. or else a header option. also, the spaces between post are smaller than the spaces between paragraphs inside of a post. the space between posts should be larger or at least as large.
the future is now -- extreme gaming. seems like theres a movie concept in there somewhere or maybe just a subculture. i was also thinking a dialogue between the unabomber and mcveigh would make an interesting scene. apparently they were on the same cell block and had the opportunity to talk to each other. i wouldnt imagine that those two had much freedom in prison to congregate. maybe they had group therapy together. can someone on death row get psychiatric care?
The convert line breaks to html is a nice feature I must say.
What about this computer chair setup? Strange times we live in.
My good friend Stephen has been lurking a bit on the site. He's the guy with the amazing place in Sayville that I sometimes mention on my page. Some of you have been there, although he and Virginia were not there at the time. She's the one who made all the cool plates that we have at Rivington St. Anyway, he might be around these parts, and while not wanting to demand he write anything, I thought I'd see if we could get a little introduction going...
How's our garden doing Stephen? I get part ownership because of those 20 minutes of work, right?
We have a plan to make a page with a webcam so anyone can check in on the weather out there (and the garden) even if you're stuck in the city working.
Wow! Thanks, Jim, for the new page. I've already moved in and shuffled the furniture around. I'm very pleased with the expanded archive feature (listing posts by subject in a clean, easy-to-use format) and the various ways to modify and create pages. Great work!
Well, this isn't going as smoothly as I would like, but no major problems. Of course there is no documentation for the new system, so I'm not sure how I expect people to know what's going on....
Anyway, here's a couple things to get everyone started:
You can log into the system at http://www.digitalmediatree.com/login
If you have forgotten or lost your new password (sorry they are not so easy to remember this time, but I think we need the added security) just type your name as it appears on the site (like "posted by: ") into the bottom field and the system will email you your password.
People who are not signed in will see the standard list of pages on the front page. If you are signed in, then you control what goes on the front page. For most people I've put the regular pages up there by default, but the idea is that you are supposed to choose what goes there.
For every page on the site that you can see, you have a "subscription" to that page. To look at your subscription just go to the page in question and click on [subscriptions]. You will see a box with all your subscription info. This tells you whether or not you can post to the page and whether or not you can create new pages underneath that page. There is then a pull down menu that controls how the system keeps track of new stuff (either just new posts, just new comments, both new posts and new comments, or nothing.) Next to that is a field where you could put in an email address. If you do, then an email will be sent to that address every time something new is posted to the page (this is dependent on how you have set tracking for that page.) And then next to that is a filed labeled "homepage". If the page in question is not part of your homepage (http://www.digitalmediatree.com) then this will be a checkbox. Checking the box will add the page to your homepage. If the page is already on your homepage, then you will see a number which represents the order that page falls in the list of pages on your homepage. Change this number to change the ordering of pages. Just change it to whatever you want and the system will reorder the other pages.
For a complete list of pages everywhere on the site, go to /index. This is the same as the [site index] link at the bottom of most pages. This page displays a list of files. After each file is an abbreviated version of your subscription info so you can see everything at once. This is the information inside []'s after each file name. The maximum information would be [P C TB/TP/TC E P] where P = posting powers, C = create new page powers, TP = track new posts OR TC = track new comments OR TB = track both, E = email updates, and P = a private page. A private page that you do not have permission for would not be listed. The /index page also lists [new posts] and [new comments] just like the homepage (and regardless of whether the page appears on your homepage.) Notice that /index can be used at any level in the filesystem, so http://www.digitalmediatree.com/jim/index will get you the directory listing at just that level.
Posting is basically the same. You don't have to put <p> or <br> tags if you keep the "convert line breaks to html" checked. Just use the return and the system will put in the html for you. I'll talk about the "summary headline" field later, but it's basically just what shows up in the "summary" area in the /archive for each page. Any page that has expired content automatically has an archive located at .../archive (like /treehouse/archive.)
You can make a preview post (instead of "post now") in which case it will appear on the destination page, but only you can see it. [edit]ing the post will allow you to change it to a live ("post now") post. Next to that is another pull down for "substitution". If substitution is on then you can include, inside of double quotes, the description of any uploaded picture, and the system will put in the html for you.
Much more to come.