Tag: Media

Categories
Digital Culture

Disspics

A while back I blogged about what to call a certain type of image found often in Internet disscussion boards. Typically containing text and a picture that are humorous or insulting, they often act as a tool with which to comment on the thread.

I didn’t get any responses, really, so I’ve thought a bit more and decided that I’m going to call them “disspics”…this refers to both the fact that they are found on Disscussion boards, and that they often diss or insult.

It’s not great, but I needed something to call this flickr set I put together of them. So I created a flickr group as well, and would love for people to join and add their own discoveries.

Categories
Digital Culture

Valleyschwag

I had heard the name before, but not until it was featured on BoingBoing did I actually see what an amazing idea Valleyschwag is. In their own words:

Out here in the Valley (Silicon Valley, that is) we’re well known for cookin’ up a mean tech company. But our real legacy is our schwag–the t-shirts, ballcaps, notepads, stickers, keychains, and other booty blaring the slogans that create new industries (and sometimes landfill, sorry to say). Until now, these world-class collectibles have only been available to the elite few who make it to conventions and insider parties. Now you can have a little piece of the valley without the $3000 rent and two hour commute.

I’m so doing this.

Categories
Digital Culture

Film Literacy

Following up Jason Kottke, I’ve listed film critic Jim Emerson’s list of 102 movies that you should see before you can consider yourself movie literate. I’ve bolded all the ones I’ve seen.

2001: A Space Odyssey
The 400 Blows
8 1/2
Aguirre, the Wrath of God
Alien
All About Eve
Annie Hall
Apocalypse Now
Bambi
The Battleship Potemkin
The Best Years of Our Lives
The Big Red One
The Bicycle Thief
The Big Sleep
Blade Runner
Blowup
Blue Velvet
Bonnie and Clyde
Breathless
Bringing Up Baby
Carrie
Casablanca
Un Chien Andalou
Children of Paradise / Les Enfants du Paradis
Chinatown
Citizen Kane
A Clockwork Orange
The Crying Game
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Days of Heaven
Dirty Harry
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
Do the Right Thing
La Dolce Vita
Double Indemnity
Dr. Strangelove
Duck Soup
E.T. — The Extra-Terrestrial
Easy Rider
The Empire Strikes Back
The Exorcist
Fargo
Fight Club
Frankenstein
The General
The Godfather, The Godfather, Part II
Gone With the Wind
GoodFellas
The Graduate
Halloween
A Hard Day’s Night
Intolerance
It’s a Gift
It’s a Wonderful Life
Jaws
The Lady Eve
Lawrence of Arabia
M
Mad Max 2 / The Road Warrior
The Maltese Falcon
The Manchurian Candidate
Metropolis
Modern Times
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Nashville
The Night of the Hunter
Night of the Living Dead
North by Northwest
Nosferatu
On the Waterfront
Once Upon a Time in the West
Out of the Past
Persona
Pink Flamingos
Psycho
Pulp Fiction
Rashomon
Rear Window
Rebel Without a Cause
Red River
Repulsion
The Rules of the Game
Scarface
The Scarlet Empress
Schindler’s List
The Searchers
The Seven Samurai
Singin’ in the Rain
Some Like It Hot
A Star Is Born
A Streetcar Named Desire
Sunset Boulevard
Taxi Driver
The Third Man
Tokyo Story
Touch of Evil
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Trouble in Paradise
Vertigo
West Side Story
The Wild Bunch
The Wizard of Oz

Now for the part that everyone loves about lists: what’s not on here? That is, what do I think is necessary for a degree in film literacy? Well, he did hit at least one film from my favorite directors (Fincher, Kubrick, Kurosawa) except Gilliam (and no, Holy Grail doesn’t count as a Gilliam film). This list was done in 1999, so there are no films from the last 6 years on there. Are there any truly great films from the last 6 years? Or just things he missed?

I’d be tempted to include a handful in my list: Rushmore, The Shining, Rosemary’s Baby, The Ice Storm, Brazil, Memento, El Mariachi, Crouching Tiger. And then there are the specifics to generational literacy: Pretty in Pink, The Breakfast Club, Dead Poets Society, Heathers, Pump up the Volume.

So that’s 55 of them I’ve seen…over half. I’m going to add all of the ones I haven’t seen to my Netflix queue, and work my way through. For you librarians out there, how many of these are in your library?

Categories
Digital Culture

Favorite Photo from Shakerag

trees in shakerag


Trees in Shakerag

Originally uploaded by griffey.

I just loved this shot from our hike in Shakerag Hollow the other day. Something about the curves and the vertical trees in the background. Gonna have to get a big print to hang somewhere in the house.

Categories
Digital Culture

Going away

For the next several days, I will be off to Chicago, to enjoy the company of friends, judge the Raw Deal World Championship, and watch grown men roll around half naked.

I’m going to see Wrestlemania while in Chi-town.

I understand that most people think this is silly. Let’s just say that I enjoy the deconstruction of storytelling, while maintaining the tropes present in classical narrative forms. It’s self-referential, and wonderfully postmodern in its technique. Plus, HHH is so going to pwn Cena it’s not even funny.

Categories
Digital Culture

Irony writ large

So my previous post linked to a digital short done for SNL by the comedy group that calls themselves Lonely Island. Said short was on YouTube for a short period of time before being yanked for copyright reasons.

The group that produced it was hired by SNL recently, and their hire was at least partially influenced by their popularity online.

A popularity that grew because they licensed their comedy shorts with a Creative Commons license, allowing people to share their work freely.

Which NBC is no longer allowing.

Even though the Lonely Island guys own homepage links to copyright infringing pages of the material they produced for SNL.

*boggle*

Ha! So NBC has their own stream up of the rap. Except: the quality is terrible, it’s WMV, which means windows only, you can’t blog it like you can the YouTube vids….jesus christ on a pogo stick these media types just do not get it.

Categories
Media Music

American Edit

American Edit

Today there is a cyber protest going on in support of Dean Grey, a group of mashup artists that produced the American Edit. American Edit is a mashup album of works with the Green Day album American Idiot.

As I support the ability of artists to reappropriate works in the production of new art, and this work cannot possibly interfere with the sales of the Green Day album, I suggest that everyone take a listen. It’s brilliant stuff.

Categories
Media

Nacho Libre!

I have found a new hero for our time. A hero that will show us the way…light our path….and deliver us from evil.

That hero is Nacho Libre.

Nacho Libre

Jack Black as a 1970’s era luchador? Yes, please!

Check out this interview, as well as yet another amazing pic. It’s directed by Jared Hess, he-of-napoleon-dynamite fame, and co-written by Mike White, who gave us School of Rock.

Plus, you know: LUCHA!

I’m so there.

Categories
Digital Culture Media Music

Second verse, same as the first…

A phenomenal new service launched yesterday: Mp3Tunes.com…unfortunately, I’m not quite sure how long it will stick around. Seems a bit…like mp3.com, and the lawsuit that effectively bankrupted them.

* YOUR ENTIRE MUSIC COLLECTION ONLINE
o All functions of the MP3tunes Locker work inside iTunes!
o You can store your entire music collection online with a Premium MP3tunes Locker ? unlimited storage!
o Sync your entire collection to any of your computers or devices with a Premium MP3tunes Locker
o Play your music inside iTunes or anywhere you have an Internet connection with a Basic or Premium MP3tunes Locker
o Back-up your playlists and create new ones online with a Premium MP3tunes Locker
o Webload and Sideload free music on the net directly into your Basic or Premium MP3tunes Locker
o The MP3tunes Oboe Software Suite required for backing up, syncing and playing your music in iTunes free and compatible with Windows, Mac & Linux.
o The MP3tunes Locker works with any web browser on Microsoft Windows, Apple or Linux computers.
o MP3, MP4, M4A, M4P, AAC, WMA, OGG, AIF, AIFF and MIDI files are compatible with a MP3tunes Locker

It’s an AMAZING service, though. I’d pay $40 a year just to ensure a safe backup of my music (currently over 100 gigs or so…). The streaming to any computer is just gravy. I’m tempted to try it out, and just pray when the inevitable lawsuits occur.

Categories
Digital Culture Media

Thanksgiving, by William S. Burroughs

via BoingBoing:

william s. burroughs


Link to .mov

For John Dillinger
In hope he is still alive
Thanksgiving Day, November 28, 1986

Thanks for the wild turkey and the Passenger Pigeons, destined to be shit out through wholesome American guts

thanks for a Continent to despoil and poison —

thanks for Indians to provide a modicum of challenge and danger —

thanks for vast herds of bison to kill and skin, leaving the carcass to rot —

thanks for bounties on wolves and coyotes —

thanks for the AMERICAN DREAM to vulgarize and falsify until the bare lies shine through —

thanks for the KKK, for nigger-killing lawmen feeling their notches, for decent church-going women with their mean, pinched, bitter, evil faces —

thanks for “Kill a Queer for Christ” stickers —

thanks for laboratory AIDS —

thanks for Prohibition and the War Against Drugs —

thanks for a country where nobody is allowed to mind his own business —

thanks for a nation of finks — yes, thanks for all the memories… all right, let’s see your arms… you always were a headache and you always were a bore —

thanks for the last and greatest betrayal of the last and greatest of human dreams.