Saturday, July 28, 2001
Sorry if anyone tried to access this page on Friday afternoon or Saturday. ISP burp, I guess.
Friday, July 27, 2001
 Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park, viewer meets toilet. Check out the campy clip, which plays like an excruciatingly slow ChiPs episode.
Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, dear Christopher. Happy birthday to you.
"Madonna, I suspect, puts a finger to the wind, decides that it’s been exactly 17 years since the Urban Cowboy fad, and decides to adopt a Western attire for her next image." James Lileks rants against you know who in his Daily Bleat (mostly in response to this article from Entertainment Weekly). Another reason why he's my favorite journal keeper on the web.
That same EW issue has a graded Madonna discography, which automatically sucks because they gave the bland True Blue and the fantastic Like a Prayer the same grade (B). And I still can't figure out why the Who's That Girl soundtrack is classified as a Madonna album. Going by this logic, why not toss in Vision Quest and With Honors as well?
Thursday, July 26, 2001
I've been working on a redesign for this page lately. One of the things I'd like to try is the random picture option, where everytime you load the page a different picture from a specified directory shows up. Does anybody have experience with this? Email me if you have any tips.
I haven't listened to Atomic Music, a radio program of vintage atomic bomb songs, but it sure seems like da bomb (sorry). This was linked on Blather, an intruiging news/links/fun site discovered thru Linkalog.
Wednesday, July 25, 2001
Whoever came up with that game Bejeweled should be hung by the thumbs. Too addictive. I have work to do, you know?
FameTracker picks apart a lame-o celebrity issue of Jane magazine. Tee hee.
Tuesday, July 24, 2001
Wha?!?! It's the
concierge uniform at the Hotel Du Fabulous
.
"Like Broadway musicals, Spielberg’s pseudo art lets the masses feel smart, while not requiring any actual thought." Artificial Intelligence from Ironminds. And here's an interesting "grasping at hundreds of little tiny straws" piece on lesbian subtext in the same flick.
Why didn't I notice this before - using a few simple lines of HTML, you can remove underlines from the links on your webpage. D'oh.
Monday, July 23, 2001
This gallery of vintage film posters from a fortcoming Christie's auction includes five awesome Saul Bass designs, and one poster that I think Max would especially dig.
 We need an image here, so how about this tiki-tastic swami mug from the Tiki Gallery at The Wilds Scene. Grimacing ceramic face = tropical liquor excitement!
Another good Daniel Clowes article. You have to read it this week, however - because The New Yorker, in all their snooty "Letter from the Hamptons" wisdom, doesn't archive their own website.
Björk talks about her next album, Vespertine. I just wanted to see that swan dress again.
Sunday, July 22, 2001
The New York Times Magazine interviews fashion designer Bob Mackie. Of course, he's best known for doing Cher's wild, on-the-verge-of-tacky dresses in the '70s. Nice, but my favorites were his designs for The Carol Burnett Show, especially those accessibly glamorous outfits Carol wore during the Q&A sessions with the audience. Watching her was like imagining that your mom was hosting a fabulous variety show. Now he's dressing Barbie. Barbie, for chrissakes.
According to the Personality Disorder Test currently making the rounds, I'm highly Avoidant - someone who, Garbo-like, avoids other people and runs away screaming from any kind of social situation. On the other hand, I was scored as being mildly narcissistic. A selfish hermit. Me to a T.
Friday, July 20, 2001
This article about people fleeing Phoenix for Seattle* would be hilarious if it wasn't so utterly clueless. The reporter seems to have used a few of his pissed off slacker friends as his primary information source, and thus it has tons of innacuracies (The drive from Phx to Tucson is all suburban sprawl? Funny, it was entirely desert last Spring when I went there.) Yes, for a teeming metropolis Phoenix doesn't have any discernible personality. Yes, it's hot. Yes, it has a lot of strip malls. But I'm OK with it. Listen to someone who's been there for 32 years - it's a nice place to live, but I wouldn't want to visit there.
* Via Encorswish (memo to Chris - don't you dare leave Phoenix and I don't mind the babbling and happy blogging anniversary!).
You're walking down the street. You glance down, and spot a single, dirty old playing card on the sidewalk. Where did it come from? How did it get there? Deck 'O Cards is a collection of orphaned cards sent from all over the world. Cool. Via Cardhouse, who kindly linked to the syd mead project yesterday.
Thursday, July 19, 2001
 Nothing great to add today; it was busy at work and I suffered from that stressed, out of sorts feeling. Went home late, exhausted, and finally finished watching Red, Hot & Blue, the AIDS awareness/Cole Porter music video tribute. It was one of those videotapes I bought eons ago (1990) and wanted to revisit. Cool, and surprisingly non-dated. I liked the classy "dress up" retro posturings of Jody Watley, Sinead O'Connor and Lisa Stansfield. Erasure's video is a kitschy delight. Neneh Cherry, Annie Lennox, and k.d. lang have that diva thang going on. And Jimmy Somerville started me on a lust for runty redheads. The elaborate Kirsty MacColl/Pogues video directed by Neil Jordan is a treasure. Fantastic. The only ones I didn't like were The Neville Brothers (boring), Aztec Camera (very boring), U2 (bombastic), and Tom Waits (weird).
The picture, by the way, is a c.1969 zodiac patterned plastic dish C. found for me at the thrift. The illustrations have a great woodcut-ish texture. Groovy, man.
Wednesday, July 18, 2001
From The Village Voice - Daniel Clowes and Terry Zwigoff talk about the forthcoming Ghost World "anti-teen movie", and J. Hoberman offers a glowing review. Lots of neat tidbits in both.
Nick at Nite is debuting Pop-Up Brady tonight, Brady Bunch reruns embellished by the "Pop Up Video" folks. You know I'll be there. (Fun fact: I once met Ann B. Davis and got an autographed photo. Nice lady.)
How to build a grilled cheese sandwich - no tomatoes for me, thanks. Via Kerplink.
"PULL!" Stretch Armstrong advertisement, 1977.
Tuesday, July 17, 2001
This article brings up cable TV's not-so-shocking dirty little secret: the networks routinely chop up old sitcoms and dramas to make more room for commercials. Those repeats are also digitally sped up - something I've always noticed on Nick at Nite and TV Land.
 A Narrative From PhotoDisc Vol. 1: Business & Industry
"Excuse me while I point out something in this report which is, ultimately, a meaningless gesture pretending to hold importance in my business lady life."
"Thank you. I will patiently listen to your suggestions, then present them to the CEO as my own ideas. My red Power Tie will surely impress him as well."
Lost For Life is the fascinating, non self-indulgent journal of a California comix artist. In his writing and art, he has a gift for observing the special details in everyday life. This comes via my unemployed friend Eric, who recently relocated from Phoenix to San Francisco. If you live in S.F. and have any job tips for a talented writer/content editor/cartoonist/weird music freak, email Eric!
Monday, July 16, 2001
From intelligent cultural commentary to badly Photoshopped booty pics - a funny, venomous critique of salon.com's recent, smutty look.
Now playing - the dreamy paisley pop of the Zombies' Oddesey and Oracle. Belle & Sebastian owe their entire career to this one album.
Sunday, July 15, 2001
Latest addition to my bedroon: cherry 'Cubik' dressers from Denmarket. Our cat likes them. Scandinavian furniture ... mmmmm.
A Do It Yourself 'Star Wars' asks an important question: who "owns" a film once it comes out? Directors' cuts and DVD goodies are mighty keen, but on the other hand I have to admire someone like Woody Allen who essentially says "This is my film, take it as it is" and leaves it at that. Gotta give the guy some credit for being an early champion of letterboxing, too.
I bought a greatest hits disc from Hi-NRG queen Hazell Dean last Friday, and after giving it a few listens I have to conclude that Stock Aitken Waterman were geniuses at what they did. S.A.W, you remember, was the production team behind fluffy '80s popsters such as Rick Astley, Dead Or Alive, Bananarama and Kylie Minogue. For a period ('88 or so), they had so many hits it made them celebrities in their own right, in the UK at least. I think their magic was that they emphasized things that sounded annoying with lesser producers - dated, tinny synths, pre-programmed drum machines, stupid guitar solos. This stuff gets amped up to such a degree that it somehow ends sounding like happy, shiny baubles 'o pop plastic. It makes me want to bounce around the house - and anytime an excellent vocalist like Hazell Dean is involved, all the better.
Friday, July 13, 2001
 Italian industrial designer Marco Zanuso just died. He might not be as well known as, say, Massimo Vignelli, but his designs were just as clean and modern. Check out this gallery of some of his '60s and '70s work. His cube-shaped TV is ingenius.
We watched the live Hollywood memorabilia auction on American Movie Classics last night. A strange evening. It was presided over by an attractive blonde female auctioneer whom I liked and Christopher hated. She was brassy and had a Southern accent, herding the occasional celebrity guest onstage like cattle, describing everything as "a fine, fine piece". Most of the lots were old coats. No dresses, few props, nothing flashy. Final results - a third of the items never met their ridiculously high reserve prices.
This Metal Glossary of Styles is a helpful primer for anyone who ever pondered the difference between speed metal and death metal. You mean you haven't?
Thursday, July 12, 2001
According to Sean "Puffy" Combs, sampling is sampling only if the original being sampled is a hit. Otherwise, it's just borrowing. Got it? What an ass.
Wednesday, July 11, 2001
 It's a Brady Bunch comic book day. Part of this gallery of old comics covers at Ookworld.
The Warner Bros. Cartoon Companion has been around forever, but everytime I go back some new, little-known factoid is gained. It's a large database of people, catch phrases and other pop culture nuggets referenced in classic WB cartoons. The site also has great mini biographies of all the semi-forgotten folks who worked on these shorts. Love those writeups on WWII-era expressions like "Put out that light!", A cards, rejected 4F, "I've been a bad, bad boy," etc., etc.
Tuesday, July 10, 2001
Yet another ten years of 'The Real World' story, only this one is much better than the usual. That first season of TRW was groundbreaking for me, since the cast was about the same age I was at the time, all pursuing vaguely artsy careers in glamorous NYC, and because of Norm - who was the first relatively unstereotypical gay man I ever saw on TV. Quite an accomplishment.
Ukelia: The Ukulele Blog ought to post a list of movies with ukulele scenes in them. I'm thinking of the early Joan Crawford one where Gene Raymond sings to her while playing his uke.
This alternately passionate and goofy article on the stupidity of narcissistic parenting has a lot of good points. Most important is the need to put the word "breeder" into the American Lexicon.
Monday, July 09, 2001
 Scrubbles celebrates its first anniversary today. What a shock that it's still here - and still a joy to update. Most astonishing of all is how this page has allowed me to meet so many fantastic people in the last year, more than in all the previous six years I've been online.
I'd like to thank anyone who reads this page on a regular basis. I'd especially like to make note of everyone who saw something here that inspired them to write about it in their own weblogs:
Agenbyte (Kyle), Blog and Mablog (Fidelma), Blue Lines/NYLPM (Tom), Catherine's Pita, Chrominance, Comatose, Cultural Artifacts (Michael), East Coast/West Coast (Flip/RJ) Encorswish (Chris), GMTPlus9 (Andrew), Hellsbelle, Hit or Miss (Matt), Jejune, Jonno, Kempa (Adam), Kerplink (Sophie), Lake Effect (Dan), Lots of Co. (Max), Make the Pie Higher, Mermainiac (Bill), Pearls That Are His Eyes (Kathleen), Pop Culture Junk Mail (Gael), Pure Sugar, Quadra (Lisa), Ra Ra Ra, Running Red Lights, Steal This Blog! (Fred), Web Goddess (Kris).
Corporate post I - A gigantic, modernistic Josef Albers mural is missing from the MetLife (formerly Pan Am) building in Manhattan. Corporate weasels are to blame. Via the fabulous Christopher.
Corporate post II - bizarre corporate websites. I can't bear to follow any of the links.
Ah, shucks. Sarah at houseoffun.com has made this very page their "Site of the Month". Sarah and her boyfriend Evan are very talented comic book artists; check out their site. Thanks, you two!!
Sunday, July 08, 2001
Yesterday, we had a rare outing to the movies to see Shrek. Overall, it was enjoyably cute and visually impressive, benefitting from a nicely done (if a little too ironic and self-aware) script. I did, however, have two problems with it. One, Eddie Murphy was too distinct - there was not one second during the donkey scenes where I didn't think, "That's Eddie Murphy's voice." Not a good casting choice. Two, I can't figure out why absolute realism is this holy grail with computer animation these days. The results are pretty, but they also carry this overwhelming stench of smug showoff-iness. Why not concentrate on sparking our imaginations, Hollywood? OK, off the soapbox now.
 Maybe my frustration with Shrek just comes from having seen the Casablanca DVD on the same day. How can anything compete with the most perfectly cast movie ever made? Watching it again, it struck me how wonderful it was that Rick's Café Americain had three different entertainments: Dooley Wilson at the piano, the full-fledged house band, and the Spanish lady with a guitar. It's telling that Sydney Greenstreet's competing nightclub in the movie, The Blue Parrot, has but one pathetic belly dancer way off in a corner. No wonder people kept coming back to Rick's.
Friday, July 06, 2001
Because it exists, that's why - The Sarah Bernhardt Glove Gallery.
 Granted, I'm no toy collecting geek, but why didn't I know about these Simpsons action figures until now? They talk when you insert them in special environments like the house, the power plant and the Kwik-E-Mart. Cool, man! The bad news is the earliest, basic figures from last year (Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, Grampa) are already retired, and even the ones available now are hard to come by. The good news is a new line is coming out July 15th, which includes secondary characters like Kent Brockman and the Channel Ocho Bee. The Martin one got added to my wish list. Oh joy.
Thursday, July 05, 2001
Something to contemplate - the bizarre, Jean Shrimpton-esque look of Tori Amos in this publicity photo.
Read this Lee Hazlewood (Nancy Sinatra collaborator and all-around God of self made manhood) interview at lunch today. Long, but extremely worthwhile.
Different stuff I've looked at today -
- A movie review of Cats and Dogs by The New Yorker's Anthony Lane. Christopher: "Oddly, this review makes me want to see -- even more -- this wonderful film, which I am confident will one day be considered the classic it surely is."
- The Nitpickers' Site, a massive database where people send in movie goofs.
- An article on this weird "Price Is Right"-themed art exhibit, courtesy of Max.
- A "where are they now" article on '70s child star Kim Richards, whom I watched yesterday in the violent Assault on Precinct 13. The scene where that little Witch Mountain moppet gets shot gave me a sick little thrill. I need therapy.
Wednesday, July 04, 2001
Happy 4th of July to all you Americans. Since I live less than a mile from our city's main fireworks display, I always get the best view from my own backyard. Cheers!
Tuesday, July 03, 2001
The Decline of M2 - compelling evidence that the minute the M2 channel changed its name to MTV2, everything went to crap. Sign the petition! Via Make the Pie Higher.
The cold, hard truth on recently deceased country guitarist Chet Atkins - he was an ultra-prolific hack.
I'll probably tune into this MTV 20th Anniversary Special on July 14, if only out of morbid curiosity. MTV still doesn't have a good grasp on its own history. I'm still thinking of how badly they handled the 10th anniversary, where they came across like a sulky teenager being forced to look back on an awkward childhood (how's that for a metaphor?).
Monday, July 02, 2001
Attention Google searchers: I do NOT have Belinda Carlisle nude pictures. Repeat, I do NOT have Belinda Carlisle nude pictures.
In commenting on the entry below, for some reason, the goofy '80s lip-sync program "Puttin' On the Hits" came up. After a long hard search (OK, two seconds at Google), I found the home page and resumé of host Allen Fawcett! The coolest part is he's got long, long video clips of his hosting duties on the page. What a trip. People must have run out of teal and magenta lighting gels back then - they were everywhere.
Sunday, July 01, 2001
Matty's Dream Jukebox, an exercise where I pick 200 undeniably great pop songs (to me, anyway); fifty from each decade from the '60s to the '90s. Whew. After I put this together, it surprised me how much I like the really stupid "la la" type songs. God, I have such wimpy tastes. The '70s section is full of bubblegum and disco, and the '80s is a total nostalgia-fest dominated by fey British acts. The '90s is more of a grab-bag, and the '60s is half classics, half undeserved obscurities. But it's all fun, in it's own way.
The Little Marcy Page - everything you wanted to know about America's favorite Christian ventriliquist dummy, but was afraid to ask. Via the Exotica list.
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