Losing is a disease… as contagious as polio.
Losing is a disease… as contagious as syphilis.
Losing is a disease… as contagious as bubonic plague…
…attacking one… but infecting all.
But curable.
Now, I want you to imagine… you are on a ship at sea…
Gently rocking.
Gently rocking.
Gently rocking.
–The Natural (YouTube)
“It’s going to be a bumpy six months for advertising, according to results from a new survey of advertisers released Thursday (Aug. 21) by the Association of National Advertisers.
More than half of the 100 advertisers (53 percent) surveyed expect their ad budgets to be reduced in the next six months because of the tough economic climate.” — MEDIAWEEK
Kris Krug is a fashion and editorial photographer based in Vancouver, British Columbia. His photographs have appeared in JPG Magazine, ION Magazine, Business Week, Wired Magazine, and others. I think he’s kind of a big deal but I’m sure he’s a terrific photographer. His Gnomedex pix are some of the best I’ve seen so far.
“A giant inflatable dog turd by American artist Paul McCarthy blew away from an exhibition in the garden of a Swiss museum, bringing down a power line and breaking a greenhouse window before it landed again, the museum said Monday.
The art work, titled “Complex S(expletive..)”, is the size of a house. The wind carried it 200 metres (yards) from the Paul Klee Centre in Berne before it fell back to Earth in the grounds of a children’s home, said museum director Juri Steiner.” — Flying piece of art causes museum chaos in Switzerland
Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse by Victor Gischler
Mortimer Tate was an insurance salesman on the verge of a nasty divorce when he holed up in a mountain cave in Tennessee and rode out the end of the world. Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse begins nine years later, when he emerges into a bizarre landscape filled with hollow reminders of an America that no longer exists.
Hit and Run by Lawrence Block
Keller’s a hit man. For years now he’s had places to go and people to kill. But enough is enough. He’s got money in the bank and just one last job standing between him and retirement. In Des Moines, Keller stalks his designated target and waits for the client to give him the go-ahead. And one fine morning he’s picking out stamps for his collection at a shop in Urbandale when somebody guns down the charismatic governor of Ohio.
I’m not familiar with Gischler but he’s got a knack for titles. I’m a long-time fan of Lawrence Block. If you’ve never been on one of Keller’s hit jobs, you’re in for a treat.
Heading for Seattle tomorrow to attend Gnomedex. It’s a get-together for few hundred bloggers, podcasters and tech enthusiasts. I like Gnomedex because it is one of the smaller such conferences. And my pals Jamie and David will be there so it will be sort of "No Sex and the City." That doesn’t work, there’s only three of us. You get the idea.
Historically, I see or hear about things at Gnomedex that go mainstream a year or so later. But that lag seems to be shortening.
Blogging might be light for the next couple of days.
You know that scene in the old horror movies where one of the female characters is hysterical and the female lead slaps her to snap her out of it? That’s what came to mind reading this post by Dave Winer, explaining why Barack Obama does, in fact, represent change. The entire post is must-read for Obama supporters, but here’s my favorite idea:
“Think of it like this. One day you’re using Windows and wake up the next day and all your computers are running Mac OS X. It’s still a computer. It’s still fundamentally the same experience. But it works a bit more logically, and you don’t get in trouble as often. It’s not foolproof, but it’s a bit better.”
I’ve been put off by some of Obama’s recent moves, and people are lining up to tell me, “See!? See!? He’s no different! He’s just another politician! Don’t you feel like a chump now?”
Actually, I feel more like the father who’s son keeps getting the shit kicked out of him on the playground and finally gets up and kicks the bigger kid in the balls. Playing nice only works when everyone is doing it.
If the only change we get from Obama is he’s not Bush… that will be enough.
I’ve started paying a bit more attention to Facebook in an effort to stay closer to my nephews (18 and 16). After mentioning this in an earlier post, I’ve been getting a lot of “Friend Requests.” I have “confirmed” most of these. But I confess I’m not all that taken with Facebook and all this “friend” stuff reminds me of trading Valentine cards in fourth grade.
So please don’t get your feelings hurt if I ignore your “Friend Request.” Doesn’t mean we can’t be pals. Just know that I’m not taking Facebook very seriously. If you want to keep up with me, you can do it here. If I want to keep up with you, I’ll bug your house or hire a private dick to keep tabs on you.