Palin Fans Are Clueless

I'm not making this up, just going by their vague, uninformed responses to softball questions asked outside a Palin book-signing event last weekend.

Hilarious, until you realize that these people are basing their votes on hollow buzzwords, not common sense or fundamental familiarity with the issues* comprising Palin's platform. It's embarrassing that so many of them can't finish a sentence. It's even more embarrassing that America's unhealthy fascination with celebrity obscures the view of common sense (this is an issue of epidemic proportions that we can't address in just one post).

* To be perfectly fair, much of the so-called "Obama Nation" is the same way. You can tell they are second-guessing themselves now that he hasn't proven to be the messiah in the first 25% of his first term.

Source: Dangerous Minds, via BoingBoing.

Science Is Interesting

Get more Richard Dawkins here.

See What Made My Twit List

Upon realizing that my posting here has decreased while it has increased on Twitter, I'm experimenting with displaying said Twitter feed here, in the right margin. I may find a better solution, but think this will help keep some fresh content churning here - even if it isn't longer-form content (like, more than 140 characters).

Full disclosure: I have some apprehension about linking my Twitter feed here, as I feel like I post more randomly there. Of course, I also still giggle when people say "twit" or twit-related puns when trying to sound smart...

Foul Play Giant

I've always had a bad taste in my mouth from the folks who gush over the work of Shepard Fairey. And now I'm snickering to myself that his legal counsel is abandoning him after it was revealed that he lied about which source he stole from / traced over for the Obama Hope poster.

Fairey represents a lot of what I don't like about the art world - arrogant double-standards. His work is entirely derivative if not outright stolen, which in itself is not offensive to me. There's nothing wrong with appropriation when proper attribution is given. Yet he continually passes himself off as original, and profits from creativity that simply wasn't his - without giving proper credit where it is clearly due. In fact, he outright lies about his sources. And Fairey is clearly lying for the sake of his own celebrity and profit, not for the sake of art.

I've always insisted that the work that put him on the map, Andre the Giant has a Posse and the resulting Obey work, were obviously inspired by John Carpenter's They Live - which starred a pro wrestler and featured subliminal outdoor advertising messages that read "obey" (among other Big Brotherly imperatives). Too many coincidences.

Given that it's now common practice to sue musicians for sampling even small portions of someone else's work without permission and/or payment, Fairey deserves to be held responsible for his actions. It's clear that his primary concern is being a celebrity; perhaps his ego prevents him from being honest about his work, his process and his tremendous debt to pop and fringe culture that preceded him and all of his sordid merchandising.

Fairey is complicit in the ugly corporatization of celebrity - at the expense of honesty, integrity and authenticity. It pains me that only the Obama poster is drawing this fact into the public discourse.

Air Releases "Viral" Single Today

Watch this, then get the new Air single "Do The Joy" for free. (Click the little speaker icon below if you want to shut off the audio from this widget.)



New Air album, Love 2, drops from Astralwerks on October 6: "A viral single 'Do The Joy' will be made available digitally on July 7th, followed by a formal single release for the summery pop anthem 'Sing Sang Sung' on August 25th."

Saturday Morning Serials - 4th of July Edition

This third edition of Saturday Morning Serials is for you, America. Watch all five selections in this YouTube playlist.

Saturday Morning Serials (Rehash)

Picking up where I barely started last November, here's a (possible) revival of Saturday Morning Serials: an assortment of the videos I tend to watch on Saturday mornings. Sipping coffee, downloading music, and catching up on links... nothing in any apparent order.


Han Solo, P.I.

The genius of Han Solo, P.I. is revealed when you watch the side-by-side comparison to the Magnum, P.I. opening titles. Brilliant. Makes me wonder what such a show would have been like to watch... perhaps a pilot episode title like "Stabbing at Leia's Party"?


Post-It Stop Motion

Office-supply art like this isn't a exactly a new idea, but you don't often see someone take it this far. Watch "Deadline".


Guy Starts Dance Party

All of the videos in this post have been circulating for a while, but none has appeared on the news like this one (though with a different soundtrack when seen on WGN). It's best with the original audio, if not for the giggles of the crowd then for the "unstoppable" nature of this clip.


30 Rock = The Muppet Show

This video clip isn't directly related to this guy's theory that 30 Rock is a rip-off of The Muppet Show, but it may be entertaining on a different level after you've read through said post. It's not a bad theory, really. Though one could argue that there are many other show-within-or-around-a-show shows out there to have influenced 30 Rock.