TOTAL INTELLECTUAL AWARENESS
*Fawning Groupie Alert*

Like almost everything he writes, Julian's new piece over at Reason will give you saavy insights into that which is 'hip and going down' in the techno-intelligentsia sphere. Take your pick of these to see Mr. Sanchez's ability to keep himself free of both pro- and anti-market dogmas (note the detached hipster irony of 'Libertarian Jihad').
09:30 a.m.
Saturday, August 2, 2003

REALLY SMALL WHEN THEY'RE CLOSED, RIDICULOUSLY LARGE WHEN THEY'RE OPEN
So like, I'm totally addicted to this (relatively) new crop of Anime. For real. If you're not already down, look into Cowboy-Bebop and Trigun. They're stylish, intelligent, morally aware, quite funny, and dare I say? Just a bit libertarian. (putting a nickel into my don't-politicize-art jar) On one episode of Trigun, a dusty little town is saved from marauders on two occasions by a gunsmith who seems to live by the maxim 'an armed society is a peaceful society'.
The Cartoon Network has a revolving programme of Anime, under the Monicker Adult Swim (Sunday-Thursday at Midnight). My only problem with the otherwise excellent selection of shows is that they're dubbed into English and not subtitled. The American voice actors seem to think they're recording a Disney Movie, taking away the emotional weight their Japanese counterparts convey (not that I'm an expert in the nuances of Japanese voice acting, but it really does feel that way). If you can, check out the DVDs, or y'know, a little two-finger click-click I.P. discount, for the original Japanese language editions.
09:28 a.m.
Saturday, August 2, 2003

CREEPING HEGEMON
I had never heard of UNESCO's Global Heritage Registry, an attempt to preserve national or cultural landmarks deemed to be of "outstanding universal value," before reading this piece. Sounds fairly innocuous until the author shares the case of the German Official who closed down an American mine because of possible environmental risks to Yellowstone National Park. The committee also failed to prevent, or effectively sanction, the now famous Taliban Buddha-smashing incident.
09:27 a.m.
Saturday, August 2, 2003

DON'T MOCK THE 'DIFFERENTLY REASONED'
Nonsense. Ruthless satire of the endless foibles, vagaries, and arcanaries (is that a real word? I'm not sure) of the academic left is never inappropriate. If you haven't read this oldie-but-goodie or this utter classic, then your false consciousness is truly unenlightened.
09:25 a.m.
Saturday, August 2, 2003

ALBERT EINSTEIN, CHARLES DARWIN, ALOT OF THE ROTHSCHILDS, FOUR TOOTH MERLE
One of those people is fictional, but all married their first cousins. 'Fraid you'll have to get the print edition of Discover Magazine for this one. What are alot of geneticists finding? The taboo against cousin marriage might be a little unfounded; the current data suggest only a slightly higher risk of birth defects. For some perspective, the risk is about the same as a 35-40 year old woman giving birth. It's not totally safe though, the article cites a village populated by in-breeding Pakistanis (that's not supposed to sound like a racial slur) with a disproportionately large number of neurological disorders. If you decide to opt for consanguinity, genetic counseling is highly recommended to prevent double recessive gene pairing (the root of the problem in the above community.)
I remember Steven Pinker speculating that the root of the cousin-marriage taboo was an attempt by many European Governments to block the accumulation of wealth in non-aristocratic families. The Discover article attributes the trans-generational financial success of the House of Rothschild to inbreeding: not only did the money stay in the family, but there could've also been some kind of innate Rothschildian financial accumen that stayed in the family.
This is all well and good, and my girl cousins are beautiful wonderful people, but I think this particular taboo is a little too deeply ingrained for me to overcome. I'd rather do my part to diversify the world's genetic portfolio
09:22 a.m.
Saturday, August 2, 2003

C'EST LA LOOK!
Joanne got her own domain and is using Movable Type. Comments by Indymedia toolshelves aside (six years of obsessive internet use, and I promise you gentle reader, that was my first flame) the posting calibre remains typically high. Although, there is a certain lo-fi charm about Pitas that is hard to dispute--it's sort of like the Pavement or Elephant Six Collective to Movable Type's Radiohead. I mean, just look at this one! Those floating orb-things were my roommate's computer graphics homework one night! My HTML $kilLZ r dble + l337
09:18 a.m.
Saturday, August 2, 2003

THE NEW JESUS
Napster will be resurrected this Christmas. (link via Alina)
09:17 a.m.
Saturday, August 2, 2003

EUREKA!
Hey I found this great new search engine that's waaaay better than Yahoo or Netcrawler. It's called Google, and it doesn't have any ads or anything. I don't know why it's called google, but I think it's going to catch on because it makes a better verb than yahoo or netcrawler.
09:16 a.m.
Saturday, August 2, 2003

CRITIC'S CORNER
The Last Cigarette I Smoked - **** ½
The R.J. Reynolds Corporation has done it again! The eighth cigarette out of the pack of Camel Lights I bought today was one of the most pleasurable experiences this reviewer has had since the seventh one. Not only did it satisfy my nicotine addiction for at least another hour, but it also gave my inner-voice the ability to say “Look How Cool Your Are, Bill!” I mean, it was not on the level of say, a post-coital, post-meal, or post-smoking-a-bowl cigarette, and definitely not as good as a drunk, stoned, post-meal, and post-coital cigarette, but it was one of the best ones I’ve smoked all day. Highly recommended.
09:13 a.m.
Friday, August 1, 2003

CRITICS CORNER
My A.T.M. Balance - ½*
Ok, I’ve had it with this low-budget Indie crap. I’m just going to come out and say it; Big Budget ATM balances are kind of a guilty pleasure of mine. I’m sorry if this makes me a sell-out or whatever, but I can’t help but imagine My A.T.M. Balance being greatly improved by just a few million dollars from a major studio. It’s not that the concept for My A.T.M. Balance is a bad one, it’s quite the opposite in fact, but where My A.T.M. Balance fails utterly is in its lack of scope and follow-through. It was paltry, completely lacking in depth, and showed a total lack of creativity or originality on the part of its creator. Skip It.
09:12 a.m.
Saturday, August 2, 2003

CALLING ALL DANCE COMMANDERS
I'm listening to a phat MP3 mix right now and it gave me a political breakthrough. Fuck Rule of Law - I'm now a revolutionary dance-0-crat. Will anyone join me in my glorious struggle to supplant the squargeois in favour of the urban, rural, and suburban groovetariat? Mandatory dance parties atleast three times a day. We will march on Chocolate City in the month of October. yeah yeah yeah I've been brainwashed by George Clinton, so sue me.
09:07 a.m.
Saturday, August 2, 2003

1997
Wow alot of really good (or atleast my favorite) albums came out in 1997. Sorta like 1967, except I don't endorse any kind of cosmic connection between two years that are seperated by three sets of fingers...

Radiohead -OK Computer
Bjork - Homogenic
Spiritualized - Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space
Ben Folds Five - Whatever and Ever Amen
The Verve - Urban Hymns

Hmmm thats all I can think of now.
12:02 a.m.
Saturday, December 7, 2002

College Land
A titilating (yes, I said it) interview with Guy Davenport in The Paris Review, his message: Americans don't really understand the inherent silliness of post-modern thought.

INTERVIEWER
Is it the application of the theory that you take issue with?
DAVENPORT
No, I think what upsets me is that I know good and well that these academics are sheep following the sheep in front of them, and I doubt if the people who throw around the names Bakhtin and Foucault have really read more than four or five pages of either or understand what's going on. The French adore ideas. They've been playing with them since Thomas Aquinas. They sit in their cafes, and the more outrageous, the more clever you can be (like Derrida or whoever else at the moment), the more you are loved. But they don't really take these things seriously. The young French student at the Sorbonne, excited by Lacan and Bakhtin and whatnot, his whole idea is to outdo these people, you know, in two or three years to publish his own book, explaining that everything we think is rightside up is actually upside down. Americans don't possess this sense of play.

No Mo Po Mo
I think The Pooh Perplex and it's sequel are now going on my reading list. (Link via Arts and Letters Daily)
'People are always looking for the master key to interpretation. If you believe in a theory that applies to all of literature, you've essentially tied your hands.'
02:23 a.m.
December 6, 2002

The Empire Strikes Out
Yes! Cato Institute + Star Wars Reference = Fun. As much as I agreed with this report, the argument does run counter to the hours I've spent improving the masses with benevolent imperialism in Civ2 and AOE. Oh well...
01:39 a.m.
December 6, 2002

They Saved Meinhof's Brain!
German Scientists study deceased Red Army leader's brain for abnormalities that could lead to radical behavior. Results: inconclusive.
01:22 a.m.
December 6, 2002