randomwalks/dj

Justseeds will be tabling at the Portland Radical Book Fair this Sunday December 2nd, alongside many radical publishers from the Northwest. Portland locals come on down please! It's at Liberty Hall (311 N. Ivy.... near the intersection of Vancouver and Fremont). Also there will be a bunch of Justseeds stuff at Reading Frenzy's Cheap Art Show, Thursday December 6th. Reading Frenzy is at 921 SW Oak, downtown near Burnside and 10th, opens in the evening and the show is up all month.

Originally posted by icky from Just Seeds: Blog, on December 1, 2007 5:43 PM

(From WGA Member Joss Whedon, originally posted on Whedonesque)

We're a week away from Mutant Enemy Picket day! Since the AMPTP have generously offered us a thimble of sputum in exchange for everything written ever, I think it's fair to say it won't be a picnic.

And in two weeks, I'll be in Boston, speechifying (look for some long, fancy words, yo) and rallying shoulder to shoulder with, among other people, my dad, who somehow lived through both the '88 strike and my adolescence. Word. (Long fancy.)

And after that? Well, we might take this to the streets of some other cities. Get the word out, remind everyone that corporate greed (it's nothing but) is hurting everyone in this country. Not just because they're robbing people of entertainment (and, on occasion, art) and strangling an entire (non-writing) community, but because they're sending a message to every union in the country: you're next. The actors know that in their case, it's literally true, but it's also true for the concept of a unionized workforce. We get a lot of flack for being well-fed, glamorous, rich and powerful. We've worked hard to dispel that stereotype but in fact, a select few of us are wealthy and influential. And we have the support of some of the most famous and beloved (and wealthy and influential) people in the country: TV and movie stars! So the fact that the studios feel perfectly comfortable SPITTING IN OUR FACES in front of the whole world cannot bode well for any other union that works under them -- or under anyone who sees how easy it is to deny the basic rights of workers even so public as we. This is bad for writers, bad for actors, teamsters, teachers, nurses, dockworkers... the shape of this country is changing. The middle class is being squeezed out. We're trundling back to the middle ages, people, and all we can do is lie there and take it.

But of course, that's not what's going to happen. The studios mean to starve us out. They can't. We know what's at stake. We take care of our own, and those around us who aren't our own. We dig in. And eventually, if after months of deadlock we still can't make an equitable deal, you will start to see real change. Change in the way we entertain you, change in the essential structure of America's most popular export. (Unless it's corn. Is it corn?) The fact is, the studios have been robbing us for twenty years. (Actually, it's been much longer, but the statute of limitations says I should let 'em off easy.) This grotesque insult of a negotiation is the end of an era. It will be remembered as the stupidest move the conglomotainment empires ever made. WE ASKED FOR PRACTICALLY NOTHING. And they...

Something snaps. Something changes. Chaos, meet opportunity. Let them try to starve us out. We won't just survive. We will THRIVE. We're known as a creative community, and those numb f#$%ing frost-giants are about to find out we're a lot more of both than they knew.

If they come back to the table this very Tuesday next with the deal we need (and they won't), the change will still have come. The snap. The thing that broke, that can't be fixed. The eye, still wincing from the light, but finally wide open.

Good going, guys! Way to think it through.

Originally posted by Kate Purdy from United Hollywood, on December 1, 2007 5:20 PM

Thanks everyone for all your kind words and support. It really means a lot to me to hear you all say such nice things about the artists on Stolen Transmission.

Stolen Transmission started IN MY BEDROOM as an indie label putting out hand made cds of bands that me and Rob Stevenson believed in. We werent funded back then, and we were really happy. We did everything because of how much we loved

Originally posted by Sarah from sarah's so boring ever since she stopped drinking., on December 1, 2007 3:56 PM

Guitar Hero is a solid gold hit. A sell-out across all major gaming platforms, and the ebay/craigslist trade on second guitars (sans game) is booming. I enjoyed a perfect song recently, and I was rewarded with 5 embossed gold stars. But this got me thinking... there's nothing less rock & roll than 5 gold stars! I hate gold stars! Unfortunately I kept thinking.

Shouldn't I be able to make my own playlist? The music selection is geared for alternateens. With the Wii selling nearly two million units a month, and many of those sales ending up in the hands of older gamers (all the way up to retirement homes), shouldn't there be some wider choice of music? I appreciate Sonic Youth and The Stone Roses, but the game forces you to "play" through schlock, and that is a chore.

The game also punishes you for improvisation - it's DDR in a guitar neck. This is the third iteration of the series, and Mario and Katamari have shown us how satisfying games can be when you remove walls - shouldn't a game whose hear is live performance do the same, instead of mindlessly mashing buttons against a guitar tab? Likewise, there's a second level of performance in video games, which is playing the game in a social setting. When playing with friends, there's absolutely no visual interest in watching the screen, unless you want a headache.

Despite all that, Guitar Hero is exhilarating and addictive, and this underscores what a fantastic experience listening to music is, which reminds us how remarkable it is that the music industry has painted themselves in the corner. There's still a tremendous opportunity for music technology that breaks in instead of breaking down the more you experience it.

Originally posted by David Jacobs from hello, typepad, on December 1, 2007 4:36 AM

Examiner column for December 3.

 U.S. News and World Reports has published a list of the 100 best high schools in America. Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology is #1, with Langley and Oakton in Fairfax County and Walt Whitman, Thomas Wootten, and Winston Churchill in Montgomery County also in the top 100. I have spent the last 20 years teaching at two of them, so I know part of what makes these Washington area schools so great.

    First of all, we start out with good students. TJ, where I spent four years, vetted every student with extensive tests and teacher recommendations. My son was one of the lucky few chosen for the TJ graduating class of 1994. TJ is unparalleled in quality of courses and students.

    I taught 9th, 11th, and 12th grade there for four years, and I loved the students. They were loyal for years to come. I went to Juliette’s wedding when she was in graduate school, and read Eric’s short stories online years after he had graduated. Mike invited me to his graduation from Stanford. Andy, now working at the Library of Congress, keeps in touch by email. And my son married a TJ classmate whom he met after college---a testament to the powerful TJ network that bonds graduates to one another forever.

    Oakton High School, my home for the past 16 years, also has qualities that create a good learning environment. I confess that when I was forced to leave TJ due to staffing cuts, I couldn’t imagine a life teaching students who were not of that caliber. How could I do what was successful at TJ in a “regular” school, without losing the interest of the students?

    Well, guess what? I learned that “regular” students can handle challenging reading, writing, and discussions. At Oakton, I co-created a “Senior Seminar” that incorporates the interdisciplinary philosophy at the heart of TJ’s curriculum. I can’t claim that Senior Seminar is the reason Oakton scores high in this national ranking, but I do know that the enrollment of more than half the senior class in this double Advanced Placement course helps put Oakton among schools that expose many students to advanced courses, with no admission barriers to limit enrollment. I agree with College Board that open enrollment to the best classes is America’s solution to the education crisis.

    I was not happy when I had to leave TJ, but what I brought to Oakton was the knowledge that students are most responsive not when I am lecturing or even when they are working on projects--it is when they can talk about how books and classroom topics relate to their lives.

    Does our government have the right to watch us all the time? (“1984”) What makes for a good marriage? (“Their Eyes Were Watching God”) Does introspection justify inaction? (“Hamlet”) These were important questions debated at TJ, and later at Oakton.  In Senior Seminar, art mirrors life, and that keeps students engaged.

     Engagement is what makes the difference between rote learning and education. That is at least part of what makes a school among the best in America.

Originally posted by Erica Jacobs from TeacherTalk, on December 1, 2007 3:45 AM

The Lowell Spinners, Boston’s affiliate in the short-season New York-Penn League, held their sixth annual Alumni Awards Dinner on Friday night.  This year’s guest of honor was Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon, who started his professional career in Lowell in 2003.  Papelbon, who went 1-2, 6.34 in 13 games as a Spinner, shared some of his wisdom prior to the event.

On the Johan Santana-to-Boston trade rumors:

“I think that a lot of fans are making it more complicated than it really is.  It’s a matter of us having to give up prospects to win now, or saving prospects to win later.  So what do you do?  I think we can (win now), but that’s not my decision.  Really, I think it’s the whole, ‘New York wants him, so we better go get him — blah, blah, blah; whatever.’  But I think a big key in this situation is that you know what you’re going to get out of Santana.  He’s a proven winner and a Cy Young Award winner.  Sometimes you think a minor league prospect has a ton of potential, but you don’t know what his potential really is until he gets there.  That’s the biggest thing — you know exactly what you’re going to get out of Santana.”

On going grocery shopping in the off season:

“I actually went grocery shopping for the first time in awhile yesterday.  It was cool man.  I pushed the shopping cart and everything.  Some lady freaked out; she recognized me and everything.  I was like, “Look lady, I’m grocery shopping just like you are.”

On Mariano Rivera’s new contract:

“I called my agent that day and said, ‘You didn’t happen to see what Rivera signed for?’  He said, ‘Hell yeah, I saw!’  But I think that’s a good thing.  In the past few years, I don’t think the market for closers was necessarily evolving like the market for starters or position players.  I think (Rivera) has kind of set the tone for what closers are, and now he’s set the standard — set the market — for what closers will get paid.  I think teams are starting to realize how important it is to have a closer, and what a closer means.  Hopefully I showed the Red Sox how important a closer is to win a championship.  In my opinion, a closer is just as important as a starter.  What’s the difference between getting one quality win out of a starter every fifth day or preserving four wins in a week?  You don’t have time to golf as much (as a closer), but you can preserve four wins a week.”

On endorsement offers he’s received since the World Series:

“PETCO wanted to name a dog treat after me, or something.  I think they wanted to call it the ‘Papelbonbon treat’.  So it’s been some crazy things — like off the wall.  My agent must say, ‘Thanks, but no thanks,’ a hundred times a day.”   

On struggling in his first professional season, in Lowell in 2003:

“I think it was just that I was facing professional hitting for the first time.  That’s a huge stepping stone in someone’s career.  It’s like in high school — you’re a big fish.  In college you go to being a small fish.  When you go to the pros, you’re back to being a small fish again.  And who knows, I might have stayed out late one too many times.  I mean, I kept the brewery electricity bill paid.  I probably kept them up plenty of nights, man.”     

Originally posted by David Laurila from Baseball Prospectus: Unfiltered, on November 30, 2007 7:52 PM

They are lining up Greyhound buses from America to Heaven. May you jump them all.

Originally posted by Mike Monteiro from Mule Design : Off the Hoof, on November 30, 2007 1:10 PM

Ok, so we've finally got some answers from our sources. We'll have more as the day goes on, but here's the beginning of it:

Why aren't the writers still in the room negotiating? Why are we waiting until Tuesday to continue?

When they presented their proposal, the companies said it was incomplete. The Negotiation Committee still hasn't received the rest of the proposal, and they're waiting on the AMPTP to actually bring it. However, it's kinda hard to get excited about anything they may be bringing to the table, given the unimpressive track record they have so far.

But also, what the congloms are proposing is a new paradigm in these negotiations -- a flat fee for use on internet. As a WGA member, it sounds crazy to me -- I feel like percentage of revenue is a much more sensible model, and one that can accomodate all the fluctuations of this "new" media/internet that seem to have the corporations in such a tizzy. But it's fair (I guess; frankly "fair" isn't the mood I'm in) to examine this idea and its ramifications closely.

The corporations say they're offering us $130 million. Is that true?

Weirdly, no one knows if that figure has any relation to reality. Apparently the AMPTP haven't felt the urge to share where that number comes from. They didn't present it to the NegComm in the room -- the first time anyone saw it was in the AMPTP press release when they (unilaterally) broke the media blackout.

Since they claim that the internet just isn't going to make any money, and supposedly that number has some relationship to the internet money they're offering, it's... baffling.

We're trying to get an answer on that one. But frankly, it looks like that number, like the cheerfully 1950's-flavored wording of their PR release to the world, is spin, not substance.

UPDATE ON THE "$130 MILLION" ISSUE --

As well as not yet revealing where that figure comes from, the conglomerates are also refusing to say how many years it covers.

In other words, that $130 million could be paid to writers over 1 year -- or 3 years -- or 5 -- or 20. Or, as one NegCom member pointed out, the most likely number: "infinity."

Which could, for example, mean 10 bucks a year.

How about the rollbacks?

This is where things get really frustrating. We all know that television is headed toward internet delivery, and movies too; close to a third of television series are already rerunning primarily via streaming and downloads, instead of on tv.

Shows like LOST, for example -- this year it will supposedly be shown without a singe rerun. The only reruns would be on the internet via streaming and downloads. That means that a writer who would normally get a $20,000 residual the first time that ep was rerun on network tv, would get $250 dollars instead when it was shown on the internet -- and that would cover reruns for a whole year, no matter how many times it was seen. If that same episode was downloaded from iTunes for $1.99, the writer would receive about .6 cents. As in, slightly more than half a penny.

That's why it's a rollback. It about the future, yes -- but it's also about right now.

And of course, we shouldn't leave out "promotional use" -- which, as usual, means if they decide something is promotional, they don't have to pay anything. Ever. And by "promotional" they mean, well, whatever they want.

And that includes entire movies, entire television episodes, regardless of how much money the AMPTP receives for them. And they can unilaterally declare anything promotional.

Want to guess how much stuff they'll designate as promotional? Cause I'm thinking... everything.

Originally posted by United Hollywood from United Hollywood, on November 30, 2007 12:39 PM

I spent a better part of my youth on a Sears bike trying to jump and crash like Evel Knievel — him and the Bionic man were my heroes, later it was rock n roll.

Reading about his death brings back all kinds of memories of why I even ride a bike.

Originally posted by DL Byron from Bike Hugger, on November 30, 2007 11:45 AM

fig. a: naked city

On the morning of New York Pizza Tour 2007, I woke up with some serious butterflies. I'd gone from being a lifelong pizza lover to being a minor-league pizza fanatic (the kind of person who might drive several hours in search of great pizza, or, apparently, the kind of person who might drive several hours to a famous pizza Mecca in order to then spend several hours wolfing down as many slices of premium pizza as he can get his hands on, as opposed to the kind of person who settles for the local delivery outfit), but in spite of my numerous visits to the Big Apple over the years, I'd yet to really face up to New York pizza. Sure, I'd had a fine coal-oven pizza from John's some 15 years ago that had been a real revelation, and in recent years I'd had a couple of other critically acclaimed New York pies and some decent slices, but I knew full well that my New York pizza education was spotty and that I'd barely scratched the surface. I limited myself to just a cup of coffee in anticipation of the pizza marathon ahead. Michelle, on the other hand, was remarkably calm and collected, and, ever the daredevil, she actually went ahead and had a few doughnuts with her coffee in spite of the awe-inspiring schedule ahead of us. By 11:00 a.m., though, we were both outside anxiously waiting for the Pizza Express to pull up and whisk us away on our adventure.

Di Fara

Adam arrived in the Pizza Express at around 11:15 and we promptly got on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and raced towards Midwood. Midwood is the Brooklyn neighborhood that's home to Di Fara and we had to hurry because Di Fara's renown is such that if you don't get in there nice and early you could very well end up with a 2-3 hour wait for your pizza. We had six pizza joints and seven hours of pizza eating ahead of us, so the last thing Adam wanted to do was to get caught in a snag on the first leg of the tour.

fig. b: Di Fara: Italian Heroes

We got to Di Fara not long after opening time and things were still just getting underway. Domenico DeMarco, Di Fara's legendary owner/pizzaiolo, was already very much in the thick of things, but the throngs had yet to show up. About a minute or two after we arrived, Dom pulled a pan full of Sicilian "square" slices out of the oven and we got our first glimpse of that DeMarco magic: he started scissoring fresh basil leaves overtop. According to Adam, these square slices usually get snapped right up, but for some reason the punters weren't buying on this particular morning. So Adam jumped in, asked for two, and deftly managed to slip in our other pizza order too: half regular, half artichoke. It was almost too easy--within two minutes we'd had a chance to look around (it doesn't get much more old-school than this), take in the scene (eager die-hards, with just a few other first-timers), get in our order (yes!), and we were already enjoying our very first taste of a Di Fara slice.

fig. c: Di Fara's Sicilian slice

The Di Fara Sicilian slice is a rustic, rectangular, semi-thick-crusted number--it lacks the finesse of Di Fara's regular thin-crust pies, but it's an honest and friendly pizza slice with plenty of sauce, Di Fara's trademark trio of cheeses, and a crisp crust, and it made for a perfect hors d'oeuvre while we awaited the main event. It also got rid of any and all remaining butterflies. From that point on I was good to go.

fig. d: Dom's office

And wait we did. Not long, mind you, because we'd gotten our order in quickly and the crowd was still relatively small, but Di Fara is no grindhouse. Dom doesn't let anyone else touch his pizzas, and he's nothing if not attentive to every single pizza he makes, taking the utmost care with his dough, hand-grating his trademark three-cheese blend (bufala mozzarella, regular mozzarella, and Romano), scissoring basil leaves over the pizza after it comes out of the oven, and giving each pizza a graceful spritz of olive oil as a parting gesture.

fig. e: Dom's magic

fig. f: the DeMarco boys in action

A few years ago Dom explained his unorthodox approach to pizza-making to Jeff Van Dam of the New York Times: "Pizza has become considered a fast food. This one is slow food. Anything you do, when you do it too fast it's no good. The way I make pizza takes a lot of work." Personally, we wouldn't want it any other way, because, frankly, all that work works. You can taste the care and the attention.

fig. g: portrait of the artist as a young man

fig. h: Di Fara's regular/artichoke pie

Both sides of our pizza lived up to our humongous expectations, but it was the artichoke half that we found particularly breathtaking. Dom being Dom, fresh artichokes--not canned--are trimmed down to their hearts and gently sauteed in olive oil before they're added to his artichoke pies. We'd heard that the artichoke hearts sometimes got a bit charred, and consequently a bit bitter, when in the oven, but our first experience of the Di Fara artichoke pie was flawless, each bite literally melting in your mouth.

This was just our first stop and already we were walking on air. We boxed up the last two remaining slices and moved on, eager for Round 2.

Verdict: home run.

fig. i: Franny's

Franny's

After another short drive across Brooklyn, we arrived at Franny's to find Ed Levine waiting for us. He'd kindly given Adam, Michelle, and I a chance to get primed and up to speed, and now he was ready to take charge. You'll notice in what follows that the number of photos drops off precipitously. Part of this has to do with the fact that you'd be hard-pressed to find a restaurant of any stripe that's as photogenic as Di Fara. It's got personality to spare. Part of it has to do with Dom's particular form of perfectionism, which gave us plenty of time to snap away--though we hit some pretty serious pizza parlors after Di Fara, not one of them exercised an approach to pizza-making that was as, well, deliberate as Dom's. But a good part of this drop-off in photographic documentation had to do with Ed. Adam had alerted us to Ed's gift of the gab as we made our to Franny's, and Ed did not disappoint in the least. What ensued alongside our 8-hour pizza-eating marathon was an 8-hour food-talk marathon led by Ed, and, to be honest, we couldn't have been happier. We liked these pizza guys--they were our kind of people.

Anyway, Ed was more than ready, so he jumped right in and started ordering. Two pies, naturally, one bufala mozzarella number and one clam pie--the best one this side of New Haven, apparently. Neither of us have had the pleasure of sampling one of those legendary Pepe's clam pies, but I did have a clam pie at Mario Batali's Otto a couple of years back and it was something of a disaster. The pizza crust was good--thankfully, by that time Batali had cleared up the initial problems he'd had with his griddle pies, as documented in Bill Buford's Heat and by Batali himself in Pizza: A Slice of Heaven--and the clams themselves were delicious, but they'd been piled on top of the crust in their shells (?). Imagine what the clam shells and their cooking liquid did to the crust. Imagine trying to eat such a thing. Ed agreed that Otto's clam pie was something of a conceptual debacle, but he assured me that Franny's version had no such weaknesses.

fig. j: pizza, Franny's-style

Our Franny's pizzas arrived and they looked impeccable, which is a funny thing to say about real Italian pizza or pizza with real Italian aspirations because a lot of what sets Naples-style pizzas apart are all those bits of character that novices might mistake for flaws--charring being at the top of the list. As Dom puts it, "fresh dough bubbles when you put it in the oven, and the bubbles get a little burnt. You see the pizza, and it's got a lot of black spots, it's Italian pizza. If you see pizza that's straight brown, it's not Italian pizza." A true pizzaiolo knows that charring is the price you have to pay for a pizza that's cooked properly, that's allowed its dough to reach fruition--a true pizzaiolo also knows that it's those blisters than bring out a pizza's complexities, its full potential. These were two pizzas that had definitely reached their full potential. Franny's crust was unbelievably light and wonderfully chewy, with just enough crispness, and that bufala mozzarella pie went down easy.

The real showstopper, though, was the clam pie. Dressed with Italian parsley, just a little bit spicy, rich in clam flavor, and beautifully saffron-hued, this was the clam pizza of our dreams. Turns out the pizza's alluring color comes from the fact that the clams were gently steamed in wine and then reduced, with a touch of cream added to the mix to really push them over the top. Like I said: the clam pizza of our dreams.

fig. k: Franny's kitchen

In many ways Franny's is a real anomaly. Andrew Feinberg, the head chef/co-owner, had never made pizza professionally before he opened Franny's with his wife, Francine Stephens. He was a professional chef with an impressive resumé, but he didn't have any of the usual New York pizza-making credentials (i.e. family ties to Gennaro Lombardi) and he apparently devised his pizza dough recipe very much on his own. Then he and Francine did something really orthodox: they opened Franny's as an environmentally responsible restaurant. In terms of approach to pizza-making, though, what interested me was that of the three standout pizzerias that we visited as part of our New York pizza tour, this was the only place that was also a full-service restaurant, including a bar, a large seating area, a full wait staff, a reasonably sized kitchen, and a full kitchen staff, including a team of pizza-makers. Top pizza establishments in the Neapolitan tradition live and die by the pizzaiolo. Those that have the best quality-control have as few as possible, and the best often only have one, so what we might call "the myth of the pizzaiolo" or "the pizzaiolo as hero" is crucial to your hardcore Naples-style pizzerias. I'm sure Franny's has a very select team of pizza-makers, but they're still open six days a week, including lunch and dinner on weekends, and their production volume is much higher than our other two standouts (especially during the warm-weather months, when they have a lovely patio out back). But by introducing the exacting standards of an exceedingly well-run top-notch kitchen, not only have they managed to offer an extensive menu that includes an outstanding selection of house-cured meats, they're also able to deliver on the promise of their big, beautiful brick oven.

Franny's was the one pizzeria listed on our itinerary that I'd had the pleasure of visiting previously. I'd visited one summer evening a year or so ago with a couple of hardened skeptics who were dead set on writing Franny's off. Four pizzas later, though, including an utterly daring, practically naked extra-virgin oil and sea salt pie, Franny's had left us terribly impressed (well, it left me terribly impressed and my companions quieted). This time around, I might have even left more impressed. The pizzas were extraordinary--especially that clam pie--but this time I also got a fuller sense of Franny's repertoire, including the distinct pleasure of sampling their house-cured soppressata, pancetta and bresaola plate as the warm-up act, and their phenomenal homemade fior di latte ice cream as the closer.

Verdict: home run.

Adrienne's

After two utterly transcendental pizza experiences, Adrienne's Pizzabar was considerably more down-to-earth--a little too down-to-earth. We'd gone there--to lowest Lower Manhattan, adjacent to Wall Street, of all places--in order to try a well-regarded Manhattan take on that Long Island pizza micro-genre known simply as "grandma pizza," and thereby further expand our New York pizza vocabulary. What exactly is grandma pizza, you ask? Well, it's more or less a rectangular Sicilian pie that's been made with an exceedingly thin crust, just like Nonna used to make. It's a Long Island-based phenomenon whose history as an established style dates back only about 20 years, but since then grandma pizza has popped up in all kinds of unlikely locations: Brooklyn, Pompano Beach, Las Vegas--even Lower Manhattan. Needless to say, we were very intrigued.

Our "old-fashioned" (as Adrienne's calls their grandma pies) looked pretty spectacular when it arrived at the table, but one bite and we discovered that its glorious appearance was hiding a nasty secret: it wasn't cooked through.

fig. l: pizza horror show

This was a major violation of one of pizza's most hallowed cardinal rules: you gotta let the pie to cook through. Ed was visibly upset. He'd already been a little taken aback by the crowd packing Adrienne's at 2:00 on a Saturday afternoon, which he took to be a sign of Lowest Manhattan's exploding population (the fastest-growing on the island of Manhattan, apparently) and not necessarily of Adrienne's astounding popularity, or the triumph of grandma pie for that matter. But an uncooked pizza? That was too much for him. Not wanting to see a grown man cry, we quickly paid our bill and fled to the Lower East Side, hoping to get our momentum back.

Verdict: foul out.

TO BE CONTINUED...

aj

Originally posted by aj kinik from ...an endless banquet, on November 30, 2007 11:44 AM

Henry Abbott reviews a documentary called Quantum Hoops which documents the Caltech basketball team, winless for 21 years because all the players are walk-ons and subject to Caltech's high admission standards.

What we are used to as college basketball is really basketball as a college major, or in many cases instead of college. Not basketball as an activity. The version at Caltech puts stuff like health, education, and love of the game first. I can't speak for basketball, but I think a lot of colleges would be better off with that kind of athletic presence on campus. Maybe all the professional development of basketball players should take place somewhere else -- somewhere that is not supposed to be about academics.

(link)

Originally posted by (author unknown) from kottke.org, on November 30, 2007 10:52 AM

Beginning at noon this Saturday the New Museum will open its new doors, but this morning we snuck a peak inside. The gray aluminum mesh exterior of the building is a whimsical stack of rectilinear boxes shifted off-axis, not unlike a pile of blocks arranged haphazardly by a toddler. It's a bold, dynamic presence on the Bowery and, along with the Bowery Hotel, signifies yet another firm step away from the area's gritty past.

After the jump, tons of pictures from inside every nook and cranny of the museum.

Perhaps the most striking feature inside the seven story museum is the complete absence of internal columns; the building is held together by a series of cross-bracings and the skylights allow natural light to filter through spaces where the stories are offset. The three main floors of galleries are airy but not particularly capacious, creating a cozy, modest context for the work. The fifth floor is given over to an educational center; the ground floor lobby features a bookstore, cafe and glass-walled gallery space; the basement level houses a 182-seat theater. On the seventh floor, an outdoor patio and glass enclosed event space will be used for installations and private soirees; the view of downtown from up there isn't bad.

The inaugural exhibit is titled "Unmonumental" and is an "international survey on all three main gallery floors that opens with sculpture by 30 artists from around the globe, then expands over the course of five months into a dense, teeming environmental experience through the addition of layers and collage, sound, and internet-based art." This will be on view through March 23rd, and there are a few major commissioned installations on the horizon as well. You'll see one of these greeting you before you even enter the building: The "Hell Yes!" sign (Ugo Rondinone) brightens up the Bowery and will be the first of many public art installations on the facade.

Naturally the museum can't afford to be shy about jumping in bed with corporate sponsors, so the first 30 straight hours of its opening - which goes on continuously through the night - will be sponsored by Target and admission will be free. Naturally, all the free tickets have already been distributed. But don't despair; they expect some tickets to go unused, "thus it may be possible for visitors to show up during the course of the marathon event and get a ticket on the spur of the moment; but there is absolutely no guarantee!" In other words, you'll have a good shot of getting in for free around 3am. After they burn through all the Target sponsorship money, it'll cost $12.

Above photo of the lobby cafe, with mischievously mis-matched chairs.

Foreground: "Canon enigmatico a 108 voces" by Abraham Cruzvillegas. Background (sofa bed) "Fuck Destiny" by Sarah Lucas. Further back is "Cube" by Rebecca Warren.

Ground floor "BLACK ON WHITE, GRAY ASCENDING" by Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries.

"Our Love is Like the Flowers, the Rain, the Sea and the Hours (Tree)" by Martin Boyce. Photo by Jake Dobkin.

Lower level theater.

"Split Endz (wig mix)" by Jim Lambie.

"Myth Monolith (Liberation Movement)" by Marc Andre Robinson.

"Untitled (Kerze)" by Urs Fischer. Photo by Jake Dobkin

Lots of architectural critics commented on the slim staircase from the 5th to the 6th floor-- there's a small gallery off the landing with an audio piece.

The bathroom tiling is totally insane.

No, seriously-- it's really totally insane. (Picture from our frenemies at Curbed.)

Skyline shot from the seventh floor balconies-- the view of downtown is the true highlight of the visit.

View from inside the skybox on the 7th floor.

Last but not least, a view of the lattice-skin mesh. It doesn't look as good up close as it does from far away, but it's still kind of funky.

More pictures can be found at the Gothamist Flickr stream.

Originally posted by Jen Carlson from Gothamist Weekly Favorites, on November 30, 2007 10:51 AM

2 cups unsalted, roasted mixed nuts (or use all almonds or cashews)1 1/2 tablespoons egg white, beaten slightly2 tablespoons granulated sugar1 teaspoon garam masala 3/4 teaspoon cumin 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon 1/8 teaspoon allspicePinch of cloves 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, to taste 3/4 pound sliced bacon 1/2 cup light brown sugar.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/28/dining/281arex.html?ex=1353906000

Send to a friend

Originally posted by Alaina from david’s Neighbors, on November 30, 2007 10:32 AM

(We want to welcome SAG Member Justine Bateman as a regular contributor to United Hollywood. We hope to continue opening the site up to more voices from SAG and other unions. Justine reminds us that this fight belongs to all of us. We're all on the same page.)

Attention all SAG Actors:

I believe it's appropriate at this time to call all actors into action in support of the Writer's Guild on strike.
I know many of us have been walking the picket lines and attending the rallies, but I want to challenge ALL SAG members to see if they can commit an HOUR-A-DAY to walking the picket lines.
The AMPTP has been jerking the Writer's Guild around.
1. They offered nothing but insulting Roll-Backs to the WGA in the negotiations that caused the strike.
2. They have planted "trolls" to post on the industry internet sites(corporate-paid people who troll the internet for places to pretend they are writers, crew members, and fans and post AMPTP propaganda).
3. They called WGA back to the table on Monday with no intention of settling as they AGAIN presented that rejected Roll-Back proposal. Their purpose in getting in the room again looks only like a weak PR move to get the public and the fans to change their tunes about calling a Christmas Boycott of DVD and downloads. I believe the fans will NOT call those Boycotts off now.
4. They tried to discredit Nikki Finke and deadlinehollywooddaily.com by planting mis-information about this weeks talks in an attempt to crush the spirits of the writers.

Ultimately, this is OUR strike. If the WGA had not called this strike, we would all be participating in MASSIVE stockpiling. Then, in June when our contract expires, the AMPTP would have offered US the no-gains-play-your-work-for-free-and-how-bout-some-rollbacks offer we're now familiar with.
And SAG would have to go on strike, but because of the stockpiling, we would have NO leverage. The AMPTP would have said to us, "Strike all you want. We have enough material stockpiled for 6 moths, maybe more."
And we would have been on strike for months and months and months.

So I urge you, get out there on the lines. Go to www.wga.org and look at the list of picketing locations. There's a studio near you. Pick a gate, become their SAG mascot. Maybe there's a studio that is on the way to a meeting or near the school you drop your kids off at or on the way to where you need to run errands. Just park the car and pick up a picket sign for an HOUR-A-DAY.
These guys need us. We're 120,000 strong. Let's get out there and let them know we're WITH them.
Let them know we are Fighting For The Future, too.

Here are some links. Send any videos you think are important to your friends and family.

www.unitedhollywood.com
www.speechlesswithoutwriters.com
www.wga.org
www.sag.org

Best,
Justine Bateman
SAG Member

Originally posted by Kate Purdy from United Hollywood, on November 30, 2007 10:01 AM

WGA rejects studios' latest proposal, strike continues

The studios tried to get writers to agree to a (very low) flat fee instead of a percentage of sales. It would have been less insulting to the WGA for the studios to remain silent for a few more weeks.

Originally posted by (author unknown) from Marco.org Tumblelog, on November 30, 2007 8:21 AM

Almost a year late, Roger Ebert shares his top movies of 2006 with us.

Yes, I know it's a year late, but a funny thing happened to me on the way to compiling a list of the best films of 2006. I checked into the hospital in late June 2006 and didn't get out again until spring of 2007. For a long while, I just didn't feel like watching movies. Then something revolved within me, and I was engaged in life again.

I've never met Ebert, but his love of movies resounds so emphatically from his writing that if he didn't feel like watching them, he must have been closer than I thought to shuffling off the ol' mortal coil. It's nice to hear his enthusiasm again. (via crazymonk)

(link)

Originally posted by (author unknown) from kottke.org, on November 30, 2007 7:58 AM

“More evidence that Web 2.0 people think the world is made of the 50,000 people who care about Web 2.0…”

- Scott Heiferman

Originally posted by (author unknown) from Marco.org Tumblelog, on November 30, 2007 5:41 AM

This is a question I am hoping to get your input on. I would love to hear what you think about the technology and what you think it will take for it to be a broad success.

I have only followed OpenID peripherally, but yesterday I spoke with Larry Drebs of JanRain, a startup that's contributed a lot to the OpenID effort.

OpenID is a set of open source technologies that creates a universal login and an authentication system. It's an idea that companies have tried to populariaze--without success--over the years. Why? Mainly because when one company or a camp of companies tried to control the idea, it was doomed to fail. The open source nature of OpenID, though, sets this project apart.

Now on Monday, OpenID is getting a new kickstart. After around 18 months of work, the 2.0 spec is being locked down and launched. According to Drebs, the main differences in version 2.0 are that it has beefed up security and added Identifier recycling and directed identity. Identifier recycling is a big deal for large companies that have millions of users and so can run out of names. This allows them to reassign names if someone isn't using it. Directed Identity lets you use the same password but change your identity if you're commenting on a blog, for instance.

Part of what's important, says Drebs, is that with OpenID you can create a reputation that's associated with one ID. And you can authenticate that a person is who they really say they are, helping to do away with spam.

So this sounds all well and good. And if the new specs deliver, then the 150,000 people who are now using OpenID could explode, right? Well, that's where I would love to hear from you to help me understand more about this.

The marketing part I get. Apparently there already are 160 million enabled OpenID users. That's because a couple of huge providers, AOL and France Telecom, have enabled their subscribers' accounts. If more big service providers, search engines, and portals sign up and start marketing this (Marshall Kirkpatrick has one good suggestion on how), then suddenly you could see an explosion.

Originally posted by heather_green from BusinessWeek Online - Blogspotting, on November 30, 2007 5:30 AM

The design of the iPhone is such that all other mobile phones, including those released after the iPhone, look not only old but antiquated and even defective. IMO.

(link)

Originally posted by (author unknown) from kottke.org, on November 30, 2007 5:08 AM

Early rave review for There Will Be Blood, the new PT Anderson/Daniel Day-Lewis film, calling it "maybe one of the best movies I've ever seen".

Without revealing much of the plot (it's probably better to go in cold), it's a complex man's simple story rendered hugely, horribly, and wonderfully in equal measure, and it's revelatory as hell.

(link)

Originally posted by (author unknown) from kottke.org, on November 30, 2007 4:02 AM

After being accused of discriminating against deaf customers, AT&T has removed the voice-only iPhone plans that it had previously introduced.

Read More...

Originally posted by justin.berka@gmail.com (Justin Berka) from Infinite Loop, on November 30, 2007 3:55 AM

fig. a: real Italian pizza in the making, New York-style

Those of you long-time "...an endless banquet" readers with exceptionally good memories may remember that earlier this year we were the recipients of a peculiar prize as a result of our participation in Menu for Hope III. Yep, that's right: we're a litttle embarassed to say it, but somehow we walked away with a pizza tour of New York contributed by Serious Eats and hosted by two of New York's most accomplished pizza cognoscenti: Ed Levine (Serious Eats, Ed Levine's New York Eats, and, Pizza: A Slice of Heaven) and Adam Kuban (Serious Eats and Slice, "America's Favorite Pizza Weblog!"). When we received the Good News we were absolutely ecstatic. We probably couldn't have designed a better prize ourselves. Here at AEB, any excuse to go to New York is a good excuse, but a curated tour of the city's best pizza haunts has gotta be among the best excuses imaginable.

That said, it took us a while to coordinate things--almost a year, in fact. Eleven excruciating months. But we didn't panic--not once--we just used the time to bone up on pizza and its lore (Slice, Pizza: A Slice of Heaven, Ed Behr, John and Matt Thorne, David Rimmer's Real Italian Pizza, etc.). A few weeks ago, though, when the Canadian dollar suddenly surged to $1.10 US, we took that as some kind of sure-fire sign from above that it was finally time to take the plunge. We got back in touch with Adam and made all the necessary arrangements.

What exactly does a pizza tour of New York entail? Well, aside from some gargantuan appetites, a motor vehicle, and a photographic apparatus or two to document the proceedings for posterity, it takes some good maps and some New York street know-how. The proposed itinerary for this particular tour had us traversing two boroughs--Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan--and hitting seven pizza joints over the course of about eight hours. The split consisted of two Brooklyn pizzerias and five in Manhattan, it also consisted of three seasoned classics and four brash, young upstarts. It came complete with "intel" (see links below) and it looked something like this:

"11:30 a.m.: Di Fara (the legend)

12:45 p.m.: Franny's (killer wood-oven pizza)

2 p.m.: Adrienne's Pizzabar (grandma pizza)

3 p.m.: Isabella's Oven (great New York-Neapolitan pizza)

4 p.m.: Una Pizza Napoletana (the now-legendary hardcore Naples-style place)

5:30 p.m.: Joe's Pizza (classic NY slice)

6 p.m.: Bleecker Street Pizza (great grandma slice)
[No Slice intel online :( ]"

We literally gasped when we read it. Then we did a little dance. And a couple of days later, after we'd recovered, we were on the New York State Thruway, heading south towards our date with destiny.

TO BE CONTINUED...

aj

Originally posted by aj kinik from ...an endless banquet, on November 29, 2007 3:33 PM

An exhibit at the main branch of the New York Public Library is drawing outrage from Republicans because some of the work on display depicts former and current members of the Bush administration posing for fake mug shots. Each official in the visionary series, called “Line Up”, is seen holding a slate with a date of arrest corresponding to a date when the official said something about Iraq that was not “reality-based.” Matthew Walter, director of communications for the state GOP, told the Daily News:

It is simply inappropriate to have political attack art, in the form of egregious doctored photographs of the President and other high-ranking officials who have dedicated their lives to public service, in a taxpayer-funded building frequented by schoolchildren and the general public.

No wonder conservatives are always ready to cut budgets for libraries – they’ve become places where an innocent schoolchild’s allegiance to public servants like George Bush and Karl Rove can be egregiously corrupted. Of course, it’s important to note that “Line Up”, by artists Nora Ligorano and Marshall Reese, is part of a much larger exhibit called “Multiple Interpretations: Contemporary Prints in Portfolio”, which includes prints from 23 different artists on a wide variety of themes. Among them are artists like Olafur Eliasson, who is the subject of an upcoming retrospective at MoMA, as well Ernesto Caivano, whose decidedly apolitical "Knight Interlude" consists of twelve prints depicting a knight transforming into a tree.

Herb Scher, the director of public relations for the NYPL, spoke with Gothamist and stressed that "the library collects work from a wide range of political satire going back centuries. This work fits into that tradition of caricature. At the NYPL we document what is happening in the culture and political satire is important to have in our collections to document for future scholars."

Nevertheless, we can expect the mug shots controversy to spread and are counting the minutes until Giuliani starts reliving his “Sensation” glory days by chiming in. What do you think – should the city slash the NYPL’s funding and burn all the art books or just let the liberals enjoy their ineffectual little fantasy at taxpayers’ expense?

Originally posted by John Del Signore from Gothamist Weekly Favorites, on November 29, 2007 1:54 PM

Quick Post

I had been using VMWare and MultipleIE before, but this is a much better setup. I haven't tested it thoroughly, but I'm impressed so far.

http://www.kronenberg.org/ies4osx/

Originally posted by (author unknown) from Capn Design, on November 29, 2007 1:05 PM

If you are anywhere near a TV @ 6pm 6:30 tonight , be sure to turn on CNBC CBS (see below). I'm not sure how Rudy is going to talk his way out of this, this, this, and this.

And Mitt? His problems look like they are on more of a slow boil. But still...

UPDATE: And how could I forget this other Giuliani problem as well. Less sensational, but certainly far more serious.

Here's the thing: none of this surprises me. People in NYC hate Giuliani. People in NYC also love to tell people what they think. Put those two together, add the fact that Giuliani is an egotistical SOB, and it was only a matter of time before his campaign went off the rails.

UPDATE II: On second thought, the CNBC interview is likely to be useless. It's with Jim Cramer.

UPDATE III: Ah, but he is going on the CBS Evening News to talk to Katie Couric about this.

TPM is, not surprisingly, on this story in a very big way.

Originally posted by (author unknown) from Good People Better Rise Up!, on November 29, 2007 12:05 PM

The possible zooming thoughts of Posh Spice as Look 57 slapped down the Marc Jacobs runway in September:

"Where's the rest of her?"

"Could I wear that with Burberry plaid booties?"

"Wait, am I wearing my underwear?"

"Aren't we right next to Pop Burger?"

"Do Stephen Hawking's theories on particle evolution relate to Oliver Curry's latest hypothesis?"

"I can't believe you're paying me for this."

"No really, can we go to Pop Burger?"

Originally posted by (author unknown) from Fashionista, on November 29, 2007 10:06 AM

Deal or No Deal for DS Review - DS Deal or No Deal Review this is hilarious, the type of game i wish i made

Originally posted by (author unknown) from Cory's Web LOG, on November 29, 2007 9:48 AM

While Jay Jaffe (below) takes a statistical look at Tim Raines, Scott Long of Baseball Toaster is taking a harder look at what else might factor in to Raines’ Hall of Fame possibilities. Long (full disclosure: a friend and writing partner) opens up the can of worms that is Raines’ known drug use.

In this winter of our steroidal discontent, it’s worth noting that Raines’ use of cocaine, a powerful stimulant, likely gained some performance benefit from the use of the drug. Faster reaction time, amplified sensory awareness, and energy are all known, proven effects of cocaine use. Is it any stranger to say that Raines’ HoF case was boosted by performance enhancers than it is to say that Mark McGwire’s might have been?

While I believe that Raines’ HoF case is solid, I think the issue bears some thought. If the voters have drawn a line in the sand on performance enhancers, how can that not be taken into account with someone like Raines. Here’s hoping that the voters note it, then note that he was a Hall of Fame player with or without the boost.

Originally posted by Will Carroll from Baseball Prospectus: Unfiltered, on November 29, 2007 9:36 AM

Ex-NYC Mayor Koch: Giuliani Acted Improperly, Looks Like A Cover-Up: "I'm just amazed that Giuliani is doing as well as he's doing," said Koch. "He doesn't deserve it."

Originally posted by David Jacobs from hello, typepad, on November 29, 2007 7:52 AM

FlowTV is a critical forum on television and media culture. Flow's mission is to provide a space where researchers, teachers, students, and the public can read about and discuss the changing landscape of contemporary media at the speed that media moves.

 bookmark this on del.icio.us - posted by yatta to unmediated - more about this bookmark...

Originally posted by yatta from del.icio.us/subscriptions/djacobs, on November 29, 2007 7:44 AM

Google Experimental Search.

This experiment lets you influence your search experience by adding, moving, and removing search results. When you search for the same keywords again, you’ll continue to see those changes. If you later want to revert your changes, you can undo any modifications you’ve made.

Originally posted by (author unknown) from Justin Blanton, on November 29, 2007 7:35 AM

"I am a mathematician, and I would like to stand on your roof." This is how Ron Eglash greeted many African families while researching the intriguing fractal patterns he noticed in villages across the continent. He talks about his work exploring the rigorous fractal math underpinning African architecture, art and even hair braiding. (Recorded June 2007 in Arusha, Tanzania. Duration: 16:51.)

Watch Ron Eglash's talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances.

Read more about Ron Eglash on TED.com.

Embed this video: Use this code to run the video on your own site:

Originally posted by (author unknown) from TED | TEDBlog, on November 29, 2007 7:33 AM

Steve Williams, re Digg API: "No, in fact that's what we want you to do instead of using the Activity endpoint: When you request the data over several HTTP requests, each request completes