  
|
| |||
|
|
| |||
Sunday, July 16, 2000
Working on getting an archive going for In My Room tonight. It's about time!
Saturday, July 15, 2000
A postscript to the sign story posted below: me and Christopher were driving down the same road today, and, sadly, the sign has been torn down. We stopped to poke around and see if it had been trashed. The sign was sitting in the back, sawed in half where the support beam joins the signpost. Since it was still on the property, we decided to just leave it there. Thanks to Christopher, I was able to at least snap of photo of it on the next-to-last day it was standing!
We went out to the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art today to see a show called Pop Plastics: Molding the Shape of the 1960s. Lots of groovy household items on display, including this "Pump" radio and some of these clocks, made the place look like Austin Powers' pad. Linked images are from the site of Joe Kunkel, who donated a lot of stuff to this exhibit.
Friday, July 14, 2000
I pass by the sign at right every morning on the way to work. It's my favorite sign. The vaguely colonial shape has been painted a blinding white. The address - hastily written with black, stylized numbers - is off center. Stenciled-in diamonds, a star and a copper border add an off-kilter "folk art" look. It truly is beautiful. The building next to it is being renovated, which is why this photo was taken - to give it some posterity.
Quick - can you name the top pop single in the country this week? A gold star if youguessed "Everything You Want" by Vertical Horizon. Now, I've never heard this one, butbased on that cliche title and band name, I know I hate it. According to Billboard, it's popular on alternative radio (sound effect: final nail in coffin).
Eye-opening article on how most music critics at major publications are over 50, and how they cope with writing about stuff which is meant for teens. The geezer-ish Robert Hilburn of the L.A. Times is 60, and the Cleveland Plain Dealer's rock critic is an 81 year-old woman! I don't know if this is inspirational or puke-inducing.
Thursday, July 13, 2000 The second article was piece on Survivor in the July 10 New Yorker. Funny quote: "The show bears as much relation to reality as a corporate retreat does to regular office life; it's an absurd, elaborate fake ..." The magazine was a new one modestly called Revolution, an attempt at selling DJ culture to the masses. It's actually very slick, and very good - and will probably get a slot in next month's In My Room.
Had a nice. leisurely lunch hour today with two slices of cheese pizza, a magazine, and two photocopied articles. The first, Grace Mirabella's excellent account of the rise and fall of her own Mirabella magazine from Brill's Content. I squirmed as she recalled how her once-great mag turned sour, a unique property that gradually morphed into just another vapid women's rag.
This is an interesting story (link no longer available) about Juanita Moore, the actress who played Lana Turner's maid in Imitation of Life. She was nominated for an Oscar for that one, but then she never got a sizeable film role again. On the flipside, she's still working and sounds as pleasant as ever.
Wednesday, July 12, 2000 Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the icon is of Lady Penelope from the 60s Brit kids show Thunderbirds. The series used puppets, neatly detailed sets and spaceships in a process called "Marionation." I remember the puppets were real creepy - marble eyes, waxy hair and blank, mannequin-like expressions. The men all had thick eyebrows and square jawlines (actually, you know who currently looks like a Thunderbird? George Clooney.) There was at least one feature film - Thunderbirds Are GO! . - which I'm dyin' to see. Here's the poster. There's another icon at Zeldman's site taken from Yma Sumac's Voice of the Xtabay album cover. Exotic!
Here it is - the Scrubbles icon! It's from Zeldman's Pardon My Icons. I tried to make it an official icon on Weblog's icon page, but I didn't notice that feature was only available for older pages. Oh well.
Due to Blogger problems, I'm reposting everything from July 9 and 10. Here's a twist on the same sex marriage debate - an article written by a lesbian who opposes it. Yes, some of us do think this way, even if the mainstream media hardly ever shows it. Read on. Big Brother=stupid. Earlier tonight, when the roommates started painting a chicken with nail polish, that's when I tuned out. These people are just too idiotic to care about! Cool site devoted to Louis Wain - the turn-of-the-century English illustrator who drew cats, then went crazy. Then he drew more cats. An occupational hazard for us designers who deal with client-supplied stuff - bizarre "doctored" photos. Here's a detail of this one photo we got below, along with an excerpt from their press release (emphasis mine):
"Two unique benefits of this hotel chain are the convenience of Windmill's spin on the traditional continental breakfast and the ease of traveling with pets. Guests can select the time desired for the cheerful a.m. delivery of the complimentary Windmill Inn Good Morning consisting of hot beverage, orange juice, muffin and newspaper. And if your four-legged family members join in on family vacations, the Windmill Suites will gladly welcome your pets at no additional charge."
Welcome to my blog.
Some rules are in order here.
My first rule is to never use the word "blog" again. I don't like that word. It conjures up images of some vaguely unappetizing snack of the future, to be eaten with Slurm. Yuck.
My second rule is to always be different, readable, fun and interesting. Most pages of this type are too self-absorbed, whiny and clique-ish. If you're looking for more of that, go somewhere else. This page will have a few links, but will also be content filled and nutritious, too!
Tuesday, July 11, 2000
Fave MP3 of the moment: "The Invaders" by Hal Blaine. Fantastic minor-key 1967 instrumental that could be the soundtrack to some long lost sci-fi flick. Of course, Blaine was one of the hottest session drummers on the '60s L.A. scene, so the percussion is mixed way up front. Moog blips, go-go organs and eerie voices complete the spacey-ness.
Posting to Blogger for the first time. Hope it works. Meantime, here's a fascinating hand-made snow done exhibit to look at.
Downloading MP3s off Usenet is the greatest thing. Sure, with 
This is strange - from the August 1973 issue of Phoenix magazine, concept sketches of a nightclub in downtown Phoenix's newest hotspot, the Valley Bank Center (now the Bank One building). "The Prime Interest, located at the concourse level, will feature a cocktail lounge and separate dining/dancing area." A veritable swingers' paradise, I'm sure. Of course, it may have never looked this exciting. When I first went there in the mid-'90s, the Eero Saarinen tables and chairs were all that remained - and they were gone within two years. The mirrored ceiling is a nice touch; very Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice.
My 
