Archive for January, 2007
Orphaned Music Reviews #1: February
January 31st, 2007The following music reviews were originally slated for publication in the February 2007 issue of az magazine. They appear here in unrevised form:
Pernice Brothers‘ beautifully crafted pop has gotten play on TV fare such as Six Feet Under and The Gilmore Girls. The group’s music nicely complements the tone of both shows: sweet on the […]
Gone Dotty
January 29th, 2007The screenshot below illustrates what I’ve been working at all day. Tell me, designers, have you ever had to deal with a bitmap file with an unwanted halftone pattern in the background? The only method to get rid of said pattern is to painstakingly chip away at it with an eraser in extreme close-up. It’s […]
Deja View
January 28th, 2007Going through the 1973-74 episodes on Sesame Street Old School Vol. 1 gave me some of the weirdest “deja vu” feelings. Cartoons and skits buried in the subconscious for thirty years flashed back as if I just saw them yesterday. Case in point is the following clip of two muppets singing “Me/Yo,” a perky tribute […]
Working in the LAB
January 26th, 2007I’m proud to be a part of the first issue of LAB magazine, a new online and print publication (you can download a pdf at the site). According to the intro from editor Joseph Robertson, the magazine will focus on various independent creative types — “a new breed who are actively creating what they want […]
Music on a Bum Trip
January 25th, 2007Bad news: my monthly music review column for a local magazine (which I wrote about here) has been cancelled. In laying out the first issue, the editors decided that music reviews (along with book reviews, which were to be written by Christopher) didn’t fit in with the rest of the content of this magazine. I’m […]
What Makes a Making-Of
January 22nd, 2007Recently I re-watched Joan Crawford: The Ultimate Movie Star, a documentary included on the Mildred Pierce DVD, and marvelled at how well-made it was. It made me think about how tricky it is to make a good doc, especially with a subject matter where most of the participants are no longer with us. With many […]
Inbox ‘o Stuff
January 21st, 2007Things have been a little weird around here. For one, I’ve been crazy busy with several projects floating around at once. For two, we’ve had a cold snap recently which changed the ficus trees in the neigborhood from a healthy green to a dead brown. I enjoyed the rain it brought, but the bitter cold […]
Smokey Bear, You’re Next!
January 17th, 2007Little Pieces Of My Childhood Disappearing Dept.: Boing Boing posted on the U.S. Forest Service’s newly redesigned Woodsy Owl costume. The formerly rotund, cartoony spokesbird now sports a slimmer, more “active” look. And a shirt. Then B.B. followed up with a post on the government’s weird guidelines for disposing of the old costumes. Seriously, did […]
Obscure Disney
January 16th, 2007I’ve been catching up on an informative and neatly written vintage Disney-centric weblog called Passport to Dreams Old and New, found via The Disney Blog. One part that especially stuck out was the recent post on lesser-known Disney shorts and films. Check it out, then by all means check out the films she wrote about.
In […]
The Cartoonists’ Club
January 14th, 2007This New York Times piece on the weekly lunches of New Yorker cartoonists was very evocative and nicely written, but it also personally left me feeling wounded. Reading it was akin to being the party guest who was conspicuously not invited to the party (I had the same irrational reaction while viewing a recent CBS […]
Salty Potato Crisps, Take Me Away
January 13th, 2007Yesterday I satisfied an odd Pringles fix by buying a can of Original at the local convenience store. It’s been a while, and I hadn’t noticed that the standard Cheez-Ums flavor is now called Cheddar Cheese. Anyway, the can’s protective seal advertised something called “Pringles Minis”. I can imagine the thinking behind this latest Pringles […]
Finalists, Miss Raised Eyebrows 1970
January 11th, 2007The line of ladies below comes from one of the few things I pilfered from my newspaper days: a sheet of ancient clip art. This and this were amongst the offerings by “Metro’s Mighty Miniatures” in 1970. By the time I joined the paper in the ’90s, Metro art was still in use alongside those […]
Pop Secret
January 9th, 2007Convalescing over the weekend, I kept myself occupied by compiling a new mix CD. Usually for the new year I try to get a good sampling of recent music on these things — and although this one sports a few such songs (such as Lucky Soul’s fantastic Girl Group pastiche “Lips Are Unhappy”, my favorite […]
It’s SNL and You’re Not
January 7th, 2007The Onion’s Nathan Rabin shares his impressions of Saturday Night Live after viewing the first season DVD set. Funny that Rabin’s first exposure to SNL was similar mine (and doubtless millions of others). Some long-ago night, my parents had some company over. They sent us kids to bed so everyone else could watch SNL. From […]
Out Sick
January 4th, 2007I came down with the flu last night. I feel terrible (although vomiting for the first time in years is an interesting experience). Therefore I’m giving scrubbles.net a rest until next week.
