http://808dramafans.proboards21.com/index.cgi?board=kbfdonair&action=display&thread=1175153114
More later.
5 July update: More here.
Friday, June 29, 2007
Our New Obsession
http://808dramafans.proboards21.com/index.cgi?board=kbfdonair&action=display&thread=1175153114
More later.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Big Island Chronicle
Hunter Bishop reports that Tiffany Edwards, formerly of West Hawaii Today, now has her own website, Big Island Chronicle.
Friday, June 22, 2007
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Nomadic Furniture
Building your own furniture is the next DIY craze, proclaims New York magazine in its 21 May 2007 Home Design issue. A copy of this book is featured on page 83, just below a picture of a papier-mache ("the next taxidermy") antelope head by Farfelus Farfadets.See also Swapatorium and Micasas.
Inside the Nixon Archives
Here
Plain cardboard boxes with odds and ends from the Nixon White House, including gifts given to the president — both priceless and worthless. "The gemstones in here are pink sapphires, which are very rare," Drews, a museum specialist, told CBS News correspondent Richard Schlesinger. On the other hand, "this is just an ordinary beach rock that a donor found on the beach and they thought it looked like Richard Nixon." Congress ordered all this stuff held here while all sorts of legal issues were settled. More than 30 years later, almost all of it will find a permanent home at the Nixon Library.
Plain cardboard boxes with odds and ends from the Nixon White House, including gifts given to the president — both priceless and worthless. "The gemstones in here are pink sapphires, which are very rare," Drews, a museum specialist, told CBS News correspondent Richard Schlesinger. On the other hand, "this is just an ordinary beach rock that a donor found on the beach and they thought it looked like Richard Nixon." Congress ordered all this stuff held here while all sorts of legal issues were settled. More than 30 years later, almost all of it will find a permanent home at the Nixon Library.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
TV Tripe
http://www.lewrockwell.com/reese/reese367.html
The problem with television is that when the people on it are telling you one thing, they are not telling you a lot of other things.
Television is what I call a linear medium. It streams information at you one batch at a time. In contrast, a newspaper is a horizontal medium. It presents you with a variety of information in its daily package, spread out so you can pick and choose what you wish to read.
Last week, when television cable news was obsessing over the Paris Hilton non-story, it was, of course, depriving viewers of news about much more important topics, such as the goings-on in Congress, the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, the economy, the environment and the energy crisis. It's hard to think of anything that is not more important than a silly heiress doing her time for violating the terms of her probation. [See Project Censored--P.Z.]
Then, to compound their sin of shallow-minded celebrity worship, some of the cable news people tried to blame it on Miss Hilton. That is obscenely stupid. The young woman goes places, but she has no power over the media, no way to manipulate them, no way to set their agenda. No celebrity commands the thundering herd of paparazzi and certainly does not make assignments for cable news shows.
I once got so disgusted with the pseudo-news on the cable channels than I canceled the service. Alas, I missed the old movies and the baseball games, so I've had it reconnected. Cable news is now worse than it ever was. The amount of factual information you can glean from watching cable news 24 hours a day wouldn't fill a 3-by-5 card.
Most of what passes for cable news is really television talk shows. Some of them interview print journalists, a dead giveaway to the fact that they do virtually no original reporting on their own. They don't seem to have many reporters. They have on-camera talent, people who stand in front of the camera and tell you in 30 seconds something the government has said. They are mouthpieces for the government.
Watch, for example, something that happens in the morning and note how little the announcers know about it. Then watch that evening and note how little they still know about it. In other words, they do virtually no reporting.
The other sin they commit is mixing trivia with the thin gruel they serve as news. If they get video of a police chase, a random murder, a flash flood, a warehouse fire or a monkey that sleeps with a dog, it goes on the air. Clearly they believe their only duty is to amuse you. [See Neil Postman--P.Z.]
The trouble is, self-government doesn't work if the people are idiots. It doesn't work if you don't know what you need to know while your brain is cluttered up with trivia, tripe and non-sense. Unless you are a parent or a friend of a celebrity, there is zero need to know anything about the person.
Americans desperately need to read more, and to watch and listen less. The Founding Fathers played a dirty trick on people when they gave them a free society. You can coast in a dictatorship, but in a free society you have to work hard to stay informed so that you can make the right decisions at election time.
Newspapers have their faults, but if they vanish in the sea of functional illiteracy, it won't be long before the last semblance of a free society disappears along with them.
June 19, 2007
----
As for myself, I don't bother daily with The O'Reilly Factor, Hannity and Colmes, Countdown, Glenn Beck, and all the rest. I'll be posting on my media diet and how it's changed.
The problem with television is that when the people on it are telling you one thing, they are not telling you a lot of other things.
Television is what I call a linear medium. It streams information at you one batch at a time. In contrast, a newspaper is a horizontal medium. It presents you with a variety of information in its daily package, spread out so you can pick and choose what you wish to read.
Last week, when television cable news was obsessing over the Paris Hilton non-story, it was, of course, depriving viewers of news about much more important topics, such as the goings-on in Congress, the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, the economy, the environment and the energy crisis. It's hard to think of anything that is not more important than a silly heiress doing her time for violating the terms of her probation. [See Project Censored--P.Z.]
Then, to compound their sin of shallow-minded celebrity worship, some of the cable news people tried to blame it on Miss Hilton. That is obscenely stupid. The young woman goes places, but she has no power over the media, no way to manipulate them, no way to set their agenda. No celebrity commands the thundering herd of paparazzi and certainly does not make assignments for cable news shows.
I once got so disgusted with the pseudo-news on the cable channels than I canceled the service. Alas, I missed the old movies and the baseball games, so I've had it reconnected. Cable news is now worse than it ever was. The amount of factual information you can glean from watching cable news 24 hours a day wouldn't fill a 3-by-5 card.
Most of what passes for cable news is really television talk shows. Some of them interview print journalists, a dead giveaway to the fact that they do virtually no original reporting on their own. They don't seem to have many reporters. They have on-camera talent, people who stand in front of the camera and tell you in 30 seconds something the government has said. They are mouthpieces for the government.
Watch, for example, something that happens in the morning and note how little the announcers know about it. Then watch that evening and note how little they still know about it. In other words, they do virtually no reporting.
The other sin they commit is mixing trivia with the thin gruel they serve as news. If they get video of a police chase, a random murder, a flash flood, a warehouse fire or a monkey that sleeps with a dog, it goes on the air. Clearly they believe their only duty is to amuse you. [See Neil Postman--P.Z.]
The trouble is, self-government doesn't work if the people are idiots. It doesn't work if you don't know what you need to know while your brain is cluttered up with trivia, tripe and non-sense. Unless you are a parent or a friend of a celebrity, there is zero need to know anything about the person.
Americans desperately need to read more, and to watch and listen less. The Founding Fathers played a dirty trick on people when they gave them a free society. You can coast in a dictatorship, but in a free society you have to work hard to stay informed so that you can make the right decisions at election time.
Newspapers have their faults, but if they vanish in the sea of functional illiteracy, it won't be long before the last semblance of a free society disappears along with them.
June 19, 2007
----
As for myself, I don't bother daily with The O'Reilly Factor, Hannity and Colmes, Countdown, Glenn Beck, and all the rest. I'll be posting on my media diet and how it's changed.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
World Without Oil?
asks this article from The Independent.
Scientists have criticised a major review of the world's remaining oil reserves, warning that the end of oil is coming sooner than governments and oil companies are prepared to admit.
BP's Statistical Review of World Energy, published yesterday, appears to show that the world still has enough "proven" reserves to provide 40 years of consumption at current rates. The assessment, based on officially reported figures, has once again pushed back the estimate of when the world will run dry.
However, scientists led by the London-based Oil Depletion Analysis Centre, say that global production of oil is set to peak in the next four years before entering a steepening decline which will have massive consequences for the world economy and the way that we live our lives.
According to "peak oil" theory our consumption of oil will catch, then outstrip our discovery of new reserves and we will begin to deplete known reserves.
Colin Campbell, the head of the depletion centre, said: "It's quite a simple theory and one that any beer drinker understands. The glass starts full and ends empty and the faster you drink it the quicker it's gone."
Dr Campbell, is a former chief geologist and vice-president at a string of oil majors including BP, Shell, Fina, Exxon and ChevronTexaco. He explains that the peak of regular oil - the cheap and easy to extract stuff - has already come and gone in 2005. Even when you factor in the more difficult to extract heavy oil, deep sea reserves, polar regions and liquid taken from gas, the peak will come as soon as 2011, he says. ...
And I just found this peak-oil blog: http://www.longemergency.blogspot.com/
Scientists have criticised a major review of the world's remaining oil reserves, warning that the end of oil is coming sooner than governments and oil companies are prepared to admit.
BP's Statistical Review of World Energy, published yesterday, appears to show that the world still has enough "proven" reserves to provide 40 years of consumption at current rates. The assessment, based on officially reported figures, has once again pushed back the estimate of when the world will run dry.
However, scientists led by the London-based Oil Depletion Analysis Centre, say that global production of oil is set to peak in the next four years before entering a steepening decline which will have massive consequences for the world economy and the way that we live our lives.
According to "peak oil" theory our consumption of oil will catch, then outstrip our discovery of new reserves and we will begin to deplete known reserves.
Colin Campbell, the head of the depletion centre, said: "It's quite a simple theory and one that any beer drinker understands. The glass starts full and ends empty and the faster you drink it the quicker it's gone."
Dr Campbell, is a former chief geologist and vice-president at a string of oil majors including BP, Shell, Fina, Exxon and ChevronTexaco. He explains that the peak of regular oil - the cheap and easy to extract stuff - has already come and gone in 2005. Even when you factor in the more difficult to extract heavy oil, deep sea reserves, polar regions and liquid taken from gas, the peak will come as soon as 2011, he says. ...
And I just found this peak-oil blog: http://www.longemergency.blogspot.com/
Monday, June 11, 2007
Saturday, June 09, 2007
Great Music Videos
(An asterisk indicates songs without formal music videos.)
- Adeva, "Respect" (from Adeva!, 1989)
- Animotion, "Room to Move" (from the soundtrack of My Stepmother is an Alien. The movie was released in December 1988 and the soundtrack, in early 1989.)
- Aretha Franklin, "Someday We'll All Be Free" *(from the Malcolm X soundtrack, 1992). Co-written by Donny Hathaway and Ed Howard, the song originally appeared on Hathaway's album Extension of a Man (1973).
- Army of Lovers, "Crucified" (from Massive Luxury Overdose, 1991)
- Busta Rhymes feat. Q-Tip, "Ill Vibe"* (J Dilla remix, 1996)
- Chamillionaire feat. Slick Rick, "Hip Hop Police/Evening News" (from Ultimate Victory, 2007)
- Jane Child, "Welcome to the Real World" (from Jane Child, 1989)
- Color Me Badd, "I Adore Mi Amor" (from C.M.B., 1991)
- "Daphne Aguilera," "Naughty Baby Did a No-No"
- The Darkness, "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" (from Permission to Land, 2003)
- Deon Estus, "Heaven Help Me" (from Spell, 1988). Estus is a longtime bassist and background singer for Wham! and George Michael. Michael sings background here.
- Detroit Grand Pubahs, "Big Onion" (from Galactic Ass Creatures from Uranus, 2004). Directed by Peter Franco, this video has received only 925 views! People don't know.
- DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, "Parents Just Don't Understand" (from He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper, 1988)
- DMX, "Party Up (Up in Here)" (from ...And Then There Was X, 1999)
- Dr. Dre, "Been There, Done That" * (Chopped and Screwed Remix by DJ Khop)
- D.R.S. [Dirty Rotten Soundrels], "Gangsta Lean" (from Gangsta Lean, 1993)
- George Michael, "Shoot the Dog" (from the UK version of Patience, 2002)
- Gino Vannelli, "Living Inside Myself" (from Nightwalker, 1980). As I remarked in a 28 May post (which I now have deleted), Gino's awesome voice is matched with an awesome coif. It looks like a peruke.
- Gladys Knight, "License to Kill" (from the License to Kill soundtrack, 1989)
- Guns N Roses, "Estranged" (from Use Your Illusion II, 1991). Released in late 1991, the Use Your Illusion double album spun off videos over two years. Appearing in the fall of 1993, "Estranged" was the last video from UYI.
- Helium, "XXX" (from the Pirate Prude EP, 1994)
- Jamiroquai, "Runaway" (from High Times: Singles 1992-2006, 2006)
- Jamiroquai, "Virtual Insanity" (from Travelling Without Moving, 1996)
- Jamiroquai, "Seven Days in Sunny June" (from Dynamite, 2005)
- Luba, "The Best Is Yet to Come" (from 60 Minutes With...Luba, 1987 and the 9 1/2 Weeks soundtrack, 1986)
M.C. Hawking, "What We Need More of is Science" (from A Brief History of Rhyme, 2004)
Martika, "Toy Soldiers" (from Martika, 1988). The video was released in the summer of 1989.- Mint Condition, "U Send Me Swingin'" (from From the Mint Factory, 1993)
- Lee Ritenour, "Is It You" (from Rit, 1981)
- Living Colour, "Cult of Personality" (from Vivid, 1988)
- Madonna, "Like a Prayer" (from Like a Prayer, 1989)
Negativland, "Gimme The Mermaid" (from Fair Use: The Story of the Letter U and the Numeral 2, 1995
Pizzicato 5, "Twiggy Twiggy/Twiggy vs. James Bond" (from This Year's Girl, 1991, re-release, 2000 and Five by Five EP, 1994)- Prince, "Batdance" (from Batman [soundtrack], 1989)
- Psychic TV, "Catalan" (from Force the Hand of Chance, 1982, enhanced re-release, 1995)
- Rachel Stevens, "I Said Never Again (But Here We Are)" (from Come and Get It, 2005)
- Ratt, "Body Talk" (from Dancing Undercover, 1986). Also featured in the movie The Golden Child (1986)
- Salt N Pepa, "Ain't Nothin' But a She Thing" (from eponymous CD single, 1995)
- Siouxsie & the Banshees, "Peek-a-Boo" (from Peepshow, 1988)
- Squarepusher, "Come on My Selector" (from the Big Loada EP, 1997 [U.K.], 1998 [U.S.]) (D: Chris Cuningham). Strong J-horror atmosphere.
- Stephanie Mills, "Home" (from Home, 1989). Mills reworks her breakthrough song from The Wiz, in which she starred as Dorothy during its initial Broadway run in 1975.
- Stevie Wonder, "Summer Soft" * (from Songs in the Key of Life, 1976). As
voodooman123 says, "I just discovered this song and now I play it practically every day." Or at least several times in a row. - Terror Squad, "Take Me Home" (from True Story, 2004) (D: Raul Conde). Samples the Brenda Russell-penned "If Only for One Night" as performed by Roberta Flack.
- Stardust, "Music Sounds Better With You" (from eponymous EP, 1998). Vocalist is Benjamin Diamond. Samples Chaka Khan's "Fate" (from What Cha' Gonna Do for Me, 1981)
- Carl Thomas, "I Wish" (from Emotional, 2000). This "mid-tempo groover," says AllMusicGuide.com, "is a great introduction to [his] soulful vocals and substantial sense of great lyrics."
- The Trashcan Sinatras, "Hayfever" (from I've Seen Everything, 1993)
- Truth Hurts feat. Rakim, "Addictive" (from Truthfully Speaking, 2002). Samples Lata Mangeshkar's "Thoda Resham Lagta Hai", from the c. 1981 movie Jyoti.
- Vanessa Williams, "Darlin' I" (from The Right Stuff, 1988)
- Vivabeat, "The House is Burning (But There's No One Home)" (from Party in the War Zone, 1981). Also featured in the movie Body Double (1984). Cf. Talking Heads's "Burning Down the House" (from Speaking in Tongues, 1983), featured in another 1984 movie, Revenge of the Nerds.
- Ween, "Push Th' Little Daisies" (from Pure Guava, 1992)
- Whitney Houston, "I Learned From the Best" (from My Love is Your Love, 1998) (D: Kevin Bray). The video, filmed in Koln, premiered nearly one year after the album's November 1998 release.
- Material featuring Whitney Houston, "Memories" * (from One Down, 1982). Not "unreleased" but very rare. Village Voice critic Robert Christgau called it "[O]ne of the most gorgeous ballads you've ever heard." The piano gives the song a James Bond-theme tone, especially like Shirley Bassey's "Diamonds are Forever" or even "Moonraker."
- Winger, "Headed for a Heartbreak" (from Winger, 1988). The video was released in early 1989.
- Zero 7, "Destiny" (from Simple Things, 2001)
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
"Fact: Stacy Higa Supports Continued Marijuana Eradication!"
"Language most shows a man; speak that I may see thee," said Jonson. With that in mind, I reproduce in full Stacy Higa's letter to the editor in the Hawaii Tribune-Herald (5 June 2007, p. A4) on how he really is for marijuana eradication:
Higa takes exception
I felt that I would wait for your newspaper to print the "correct facts" regarding the marijuana eradication grant funds. As usual, your newspaper doesn't accurately report the news.
Your Sunday headline states, "Green Harvest funds cut." WRONG. Fact: My vote was to remove these funds from the budget process, which we did. Green Harvest funds for county budget year 2006-07 is still in the police budget, and they will have enough money to continue their operation till the grant ends in September or October of this year. Fact: When the police department applies for next year's grant, (which should be around September), they will have to appear before the council and request that we accept or deny these funds by resolution. Fact: During this resolution process before the council, marijuana advocates will have the opportunity to present their testimony again, and so will the police.
During my three years on the council, I have been privileged to hear the testimony from the pro-marijuana people, but I have not heard the police side of how they conduct their operations. My vote is for the "process," and I want the police to explain to the council and the public all the facts on how the operation is handled. Educating the public and informing all of us on what is taking place in and around our neighborhoods are very important.
Fact: Stacy Higa supports continued marijuana eradication! I have heard some of the horror stories about helicopters hovering intrusively above homes, and stories of the police supposedly traumatizing children and family members. These claims have come from marijuana advocates, but I have never heard the police side of these allegations. The public needs to hear BOTH sides of what is happening.
To my constituents and supporters who have asked the question, "Why did Stacy Higa vote against marijuana eradication?" the answer is ---that was never the question. Stacy Higa voted to change the process of how the county accepts the federal grant money.
I think it is very sad that I have to write a letter to the editor to correct the misinformation that the newspaper prints in its headlines. Don't believe everything you read in the headlines or the newspapers, without verifying the facts.
Higa takes exception
I felt that I would wait for your newspaper to print the "correct facts" regarding the marijuana eradication grant funds. As usual, your newspaper doesn't accurately report the news.
Your Sunday headline states, "Green Harvest funds cut." WRONG. Fact: My vote was to remove these funds from the budget process, which we did. Green Harvest funds for county budget year 2006-07 is still in the police budget, and they will have enough money to continue their operation till the grant ends in September or October of this year. Fact: When the police department applies for next year's grant, (which should be around September), they will have to appear before the council and request that we accept or deny these funds by resolution. Fact: During this resolution process before the council, marijuana advocates will have the opportunity to present their testimony again, and so will the police.
During my three years on the council, I have been privileged to hear the testimony from the pro-marijuana people, but I have not heard the police side of how they conduct their operations. My vote is for the "process," and I want the police to explain to the council and the public all the facts on how the operation is handled. Educating the public and informing all of us on what is taking place in and around our neighborhoods are very important.
Fact: Stacy Higa supports continued marijuana eradication! I have heard some of the horror stories about helicopters hovering intrusively above homes, and stories of the police supposedly traumatizing children and family members. These claims have come from marijuana advocates, but I have never heard the police side of these allegations. The public needs to hear BOTH sides of what is happening.
To my constituents and supporters who have asked the question, "Why did Stacy Higa vote against marijuana eradication?" the answer is ---that was never the question. Stacy Higa voted to change the process of how the county accepts the federal grant money.
I think it is very sad that I have to write a letter to the editor to correct the misinformation that the newspaper prints in its headlines. Don't believe everything you read in the headlines or the newspapers, without verifying the facts.
Councilor Stacy K. Higa
District 4-Hilo
Monday, June 04, 2007
Degrassi Spoilers
http://www.tv-eh.com/tag/degrassi/
5 June update: According to this interview, Deanna Casaluce ("Alex Nunez") considers leaving the show.
CTV.ca: What's next for you in your acting career?
Deanna: This is the very tip of the iceberg; at least I hope it is. I think after this season, season seven, I'll be leaving the show. I'm planning on moving to Los Angeles in September.
I'm halfway done a degree in philosophy with a minor in social psychology, and I'm leaving that behind for now. I would like to finish my degree because I love learning. But I'm too busy right now.
5 June update: According to this interview, Deanna Casaluce ("Alex Nunez") considers leaving the show.
CTV.ca: What's next for you in your acting career?
Deanna: This is the very tip of the iceberg; at least I hope it is. I think after this season, season seven, I'll be leaving the show. I'm planning on moving to Los Angeles in September.
I'm halfway done a degree in philosophy with a minor in social psychology, and I'm leaving that behind for now. I would like to finish my degree because I love learning. But I'm too busy right now.
On Vermont's Secession Movement
The aghast headline from The Drudge Report:
VERMONT GROUP WANTS STATE TO SECEDE FROM USA!
The more sedate title of the Associated Press article which is linked at Drudge:
In Vermont, nascent secession movement gains traction
5 June update: VT Secession's YouTube page http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=VTsecession
VERMONT GROUP WANTS STATE TO SECEDE FROM USA!
The more sedate title of the Associated Press article which is linked at Drudge:
In Vermont, nascent secession movement gains traction
5 June update: VT Secession's YouTube page http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=VTsecession
The Sopranos
With the final episode to air next Sunday, I'll be writing about lesser-known aspects of the show, especially the Sopranos know-it-alls and A.J.'s music.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Lady in Waiting
17 July update:
Exclusive to CounterPunch Newsletter Subscribers!Why Hillary Clinton Has Always Been a Republican
In the first of a series of profiles, Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair chart the formative years of Hillary Clinton. Watch her as she zigzags from Nixon campaigner and vote-fraud investigator in 1960 to Goldwater Girl and President of Young Republicans at Wellesley to her
internship for Gerald Ford and campaigner for Nelson Rockefeller. Witness her reaction to the student protests at Yale and the demonstrations at Grant Park during the Democratic Convention in 1968. Learn how she and Bill vowed to "remake" the Democratic Party--using the Nixon model HRC learned about as a member of the House impeachment staff. And much more!
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Monday, May 14, 2007
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Wolfowitz in Hawaii--Five Years Ago
I found a transcript of a May 2002 interview Paul Wolfowitz did with KSSK Radio
: http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=3429
KSSK: Is this your first time here in Hawaii?
Wolfowitz: Oh, no. I've been here many times. I'm kind of an old Pacific hand in some ways myself.
KSSK: I didn't know in your current capacity if it was the first time you've had a chance to visit us. I was assuming it was.
Wolfowitz: In my current capacity, yes, it is my first time and it's exciting to be here. in this position, I must say.
[more follows at the above link]
: http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=3429
KSSK: Is this your first time here in Hawaii?
Wolfowitz: Oh, no. I've been here many times. I'm kind of an old Pacific hand in some ways myself.
KSSK: I didn't know in your current capacity if it was the first time you've had a chance to visit us. I was assuming it was.
Wolfowitz: In my current capacity, yes, it is my first time and it's exciting to be here. in this position, I must say.
[more follows at the above link]
Saturday, May 05, 2007
The 1980s: Early, Mid-, and Late
The early 1980s: 1980-1984
The mid-1980s: 1985-1986
The late 1980s: 1987-1989
The mid-1980s: 1985-1986
The late 1980s: 1987-1989
Friday, May 04, 2007
Rap Nostalgia Songs
Ahmad, "Back in the Day"
Boot Camp Clik, "Think Back"
Coolio, "I Remember"
Lady Sovereign, "Those Were the Days"
Boot Camp Clik, "Think Back"
Coolio, "I Remember"
Lady Sovereign, "Those Were the Days"
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Happy May Day! Happy Lei Day!
An article on May Day, from Wikipedia, mentions that:
In Hawaii, May Day is also known as Lei Day, and is normally set aside as a day to celebrate island culture in general and native Hawaiian culture in particular. While it was invented by a poet and a local newspaper columnist in the 1920s, it has since been adopted by state and local government as well as by the residents, and has taken on a sense of general spring celebration there. The first Lei Day was proposed in 1927 in Honolulu. Leonard "Red" and Ruth Hawk composed "May Day is Lei Day in Hawai'i," the traditional holiday song. Originally it was a contemporary fox trot, later rearranged as the Hawaiian hula song performed today.
More here on the history of Lei Day.
Book cover of Feather Lei As An Art by Mary Louise Kaleonahenahe Kekuewa, Paulette Nohealani Kahalepuna, and Karen A. Edlefsen (Mutual Publishing).
Friday, April 27, 2007
Monday, April 23, 2007
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Blacksburg
The town of Blacksburg, Virginia, site of the bloodiest school massacre in American history, was a few days before named by Money magazine as one of the best places to retire young. Found here. One blog comment: Blacksburg, Virginia–Never heard of it
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
New Comics in Honolulu Star-Bulletin
http://starbulletin.com/2007/04/15/features/story09.html
When you read tomorrow's comics section, you'll notice some changes.
Webmaster's Note: The comics appear in the print edition of the Star-Bulletin only.
This is Step 1 of the revamping of our comics selection -- Step 2 happens next Sunday with a new lineup of strips in a new format (more on that later).
Weekdays, Zack Hill, La Cucaracha, and Preteena have been voted off the island [as a result of this solicitation--P.Z.], replaced by:
Housebroken: Steve Watkins tells the story of DJ Dog, a self-described "Ghetto Snoopy" and his adventures with two African-American siblings -- Mya Watson, 9-year-old multimillionaire businesswoman, and Malik, her free-spirited brother who masquerades as the costumed crime fighter "Blackman," fighting racial injustice (real or imagined).
State of the Union: Creator Carl Moore calls himself a "fallen liberal," and his caricature-driven satirical strip definitely has a conservative slant. But he says he's really a libertarian who only calls himself a conservative because "not enough people know what a libertarian is." ...
Brewster Rockit: Space Guy!: Satire takes on a more sci-fi flavor at the hands of Tim Rickard, who describes his strip as "a parody both of old serial comic strips such as 'Flash Gordon' and 1950s B-level sci-fi movies. 'Brewster's' reach also extends to skewer other genres such as superhero, fantasy, monster and horror. Even real science and current events aren't safe." His setting is the space station R.U. Sirius.
Enjoy. We'll talk again next week when we debut an exciting new Sunday comics section.
30 April update: Back when Zack, Cucaracha, and Preteena were fresh.
When you read tomorrow's comics section, you'll notice some changes.
Webmaster's Note: The comics appear in the print edition of the Star-Bulletin only.
This is Step 1 of the revamping of our comics selection -- Step 2 happens next Sunday with a new lineup of strips in a new format (more on that later).
Weekdays, Zack Hill, La Cucaracha, and Preteena have been voted off the island [as a result of this solicitation--P.Z.], replaced by:
Housebroken: Steve Watkins tells the story of DJ Dog, a self-described "Ghetto Snoopy" and his adventures with two African-American siblings -- Mya Watson, 9-year-old multimillionaire businesswoman, and Malik, her free-spirited brother who masquerades as the costumed crime fighter "Blackman," fighting racial injustice (real or imagined).
State of the Union: Creator Carl Moore calls himself a "fallen liberal," and his caricature-driven satirical strip definitely has a conservative slant. But he says he's really a libertarian who only calls himself a conservative because "not enough people know what a libertarian is." ...
Brewster Rockit: Space Guy!: Satire takes on a more sci-fi flavor at the hands of Tim Rickard, who describes his strip as "a parody both of old serial comic strips such as 'Flash Gordon' and 1950s B-level sci-fi movies. 'Brewster's' reach also extends to skewer other genres such as superhero, fantasy, monster and horror. Even real science and current events aren't safe." His setting is the space station R.U. Sirius.
Enjoy. We'll talk again next week when we debut an exciting new Sunday comics section.
30 April update: Back when Zack, Cucaracha, and Preteena were fresh.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Start Your Week Off Right
Kunstler usually has his weekly column posted on Sundays, despite the claim that it's published Monday mornings. This week, he takes on Thomas Friedman and his sanguine take on "The Power of Green."
y Wasserman, author of SOLARTOPIA!: Our Green-Powered Earth, A.D. 2030, takes Friedman to task in CounterPunch for suggesting that "clean" coal and nuclear power be considered green.
UPDATE, 22 April: Friedman's documentary, Green: The New Red, White, and Blue premiered Saturday on the Discovery Channel. (Here)
Tom Friedman has no idea what the implications are of all these things. His fatuous advice to the nation -- served up by a confused and cowardly Times editorial staff -- will only spur more delusional thinking, which is, of course, the last thing we need. The showcasing of Friedman's article may represent an inflection point in the fate of the mainstream media -- the moment when it demonstrates most clearly its failure to make current events comprehensible, the moment when its lost legitimacy is finally recognized. That legitimacy has been passing to the Internet, where commentators have no advertisers to pander to and no need to defend any status quo.UPDATE, 20 April: Harve
y Wasserman, author of SOLARTOPIA!: Our Green-Powered Earth, A.D. 2030, takes Friedman to task in CounterPunch for suggesting that "clean" coal and nuclear power be considered green.UPDATE, 22 April: Friedman's documentary, Green: The New Red, White, and Blue premiered Saturday on the Discovery Channel. (Here)
Saturday, April 14, 2007
R.I.P., Don Ho
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2007/Apr/14/br/br4376190825.html
22 May update: As The Sopranos comes to an end, I wondered if there are any connections between the show and Hawaii. I recall a scene from one of the later seasons in which a newlywed couple was on their way to a honeymoon in Hawaii and a character calls out, "Say hi to Don Ho!" (I'll try to find more on this later.) This is an article on Dominic Chianese and his visit to Honolulu in 2004, where he showed up at Don Ho's Waikiki show.
22 May update: As The Sopranos comes to an end, I wondered if there are any connections between the show and Hawaii. I recall a scene from one of the later seasons in which a newlywed couple was on their way to a honeymoon in Hawaii and a character calls out, "Say hi to Don Ho!" (I'll try to find more on this later.) This is an article on Dominic Chianese and his visit to Honolulu in 2004, where he showed up at Don Ho's Waikiki show.
Photo Caption: He may not be a soprano but HBO's "Sopranos" star Dominic Chianese did get a chance to show his musical side when he showed up at Don Ho's show.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
More Lookalikes
I was watching Olbermann today. He interviewed Bob Herbert by telephone about Dun Miso* and I just realized how much Herbert resembles Michael Berryman. I mean no disrespect to either man, but the similarity of their faces, especially about the eyes, is amazing.--------
*An anagram for a grizzled old coot fond of wearing cowboy hats indoors.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Monday, April 09, 2007
Johnny Hart, Creator of "B.C." Comic, Is Dead
Josh Fruhlinger, of ComicsCurmudgeon, was one of Hart's more vociferous critics, but he writes:
"I’m not going to write anything mean about him today. Instead, I’ll just note that the dude died at his drawing board. That’s hardcore."
Both B.C. and The Wizard of ID will continue, according to this:
"Richard Newcombe, the founder and president of Creators Syndicate, which syndicates both BC and The Wizard of Id, said both cartoons would continue. Family members have been helping produce the strips for years, and they have an extensive computer archive of drawings to work with, he told AP."
Hart was a devout Christian. This article from 1996 is about his faith.
17 April update: Brant Parker, with whom Hart collaborated on The Wizard of ID, has also died.
"I’m not going to write anything mean about him today. Instead, I’ll just note that the dude died at his drawing board. That’s hardcore."
Both B.C. and The Wizard of ID will continue, according to this:
"Richard Newcombe, the founder and president of Creators Syndicate, which syndicates both BC and The Wizard of Id, said both cartoons would continue. Family members have been helping produce the strips for years, and they have an extensive computer archive of drawings to work with, he told AP."
Hart was a devout Christian. This article from 1996 is about his faith.
17 April update: Brant Parker, with whom Hart collaborated on The Wizard of ID, has also died.
Friday, April 06, 2007
Update to List of Links
I've just added CounterCurrents.org to the list of political links. Based in India, it's a webzine much like CounterPunch. I found it yesterday while searching for writings by Thomas C. Mountain. I'll also add links to the names and titles listed in the Cockburn post.
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Alexander Cockburn on C-SPAN2's BookTV
http://www.booktv.org/General/index.asp?segID=7879&schedID=482&category=In+Depth
Update (April 4, 2:58 p.m.): A brief segment (1:08:55-1:16:35) in the middle of the program features Cockburn at his place in Petrolia. Towards the end (beginning 1:15:17) were three lists:
People Who Have Inspired Alexander Cockburn
His father, Claud Cockburn
His mother, Patricia Cockburn
His friends at New Left Review
His friend, Andrew Kopkind
His friend, Pierre Sprey
The Abraham Lincoln Brigades
Patrice Lumumba
Frantz Fanon
Some of Alexander Cockburn's Favorite Writers
Marcel Proust
Stendhal
Nikolai Gogol
Mikhail Bulgakov
Thomas Love Peacock
Gustave Flaubert
James Joyce
Flann O'Brien
Theodor Adorno
H.J. Massingham
Edward Abbey
Ezra Pound
Jean-Paul Sartre
P.G. Wodehouse
Alexander Cockburn is Currently Reading
Walter Benjamin, The Arcades Project
Siegfried Giedion, Mechanization Takes Control*
Douglas Peacock, Walking It Off
Raul Hilberg, The Destruction of the European Jews
Ella Lingens-Reiner, Prisoners of Fear
David Arora, Mushrooms Demystified*
E.C.S. and Elizabeth Handy, Native Planters of Hawaii*
Joan Halperin, Felix Feneon
K.T. Achaya, Historical Dictionary of Indian Food
Joy Williams, The Quick and the Dead*
--
*As identified on C-SPAN2. The author's first name is spelled Sigfried and the book's title is actually Mechanization Takes Command (all emphases mine)
*As identified on C-SPAN2. The book's title is actually Native Planters in Old Hawaii: Their Life, Lore, and Environment. The C and S in E.C.S. were transposed. The author's initials are actually E.S.C. (short for Edward Smith Craighill). An index to Native Planters was compiled in 1987.
*The Amazon.com results list for David Arora includes an item for a work (Treatment Options for Giardia, Cryptosporidium, and Other Contaminants in Recycled Backwash Water [American Water Works Association, 2001]) co-edited by one Harish Arora. I wonder if David and Harish Arora are related.
*The original meaning of "the quick and the dead" is explained here.
Update (April 4, 2:58 p.m.): A brief segment (1:08:55-1:16:35) in the middle of the program features Cockburn at his place in Petrolia. Towards the end (beginning 1:15:17) were three lists:
People Who Have Inspired Alexander Cockburn
His father, Claud Cockburn
His mother, Patricia Cockburn
His friends at New Left Review
His friend, Andrew Kopkind
His friend, Pierre Sprey
The Abraham Lincoln Brigades
Patrice Lumumba
Frantz Fanon
Some of Alexander Cockburn's Favorite Writers
Marcel Proust
Stendhal
Nikolai Gogol
Mikhail Bulgakov
Thomas Love Peacock
Gustave Flaubert
James Joyce
Flann O'Brien
Theodor Adorno
H.J. Massingham
Edward Abbey
Ezra Pound
Jean-Paul Sartre
P.G. Wodehouse
Alexander Cockburn is Currently Reading
Walter Benjamin, The Arcades Project
Siegfried Giedion, Mechanization Takes Control*
Douglas Peacock, Walking It Off
Raul Hilberg, The Destruction of the European Jews
Ella Lingens-Reiner, Prisoners of Fear
David Arora, Mushrooms Demystified*
E.C.S. and Elizabeth Handy, Native Planters of Hawaii*
Joan Halperin, Felix Feneon
K.T. Achaya, Historical Dictionary of Indian Food
Joy Williams, The Quick and the Dead*
--
*As identified on C-SPAN2. The author's first name is spelled Sigfried and the book's title is actually Mechanization Takes Command (all emphases mine)
*As identified on C-SPAN2. The book's title is actually Native Planters in Old Hawaii: Their Life, Lore, and Environment. The C and S in E.C.S. were transposed. The author's initials are actually E.S.C. (short for Edward Smith Craighill). An index to Native Planters was compiled in 1987.
*The Amazon.com results list for David Arora includes an item for a work (Treatment Options for Giardia, Cryptosporidium, and Other Contaminants in Recycled Backwash Water [American Water Works Association, 2001]) co-edited by one Harish Arora. I wonder if David and Harish Arora are related.
*The original meaning of "the quick and the dead" is explained here.
Sunday, April 01, 2007
GOP Hawaii Blog Returns
After an eight-month hiatus, GOP Hawaii ("The unofficial blogspot of the Hawaii County Republican Party.") returned March 30 with a blast at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and the earmarks approved in order to secure 218 votes for H.R. 1591. The writer reminds people that:
In 2008 we need to support the conservative agenda and that means supporting either Rudy Guilani, Mit Romney, Newt Gingrich (if he runs) and possibly, Fred Thompson (again, if he runs). NOT JOHN McCAIN. This guy cannot be trusted. He is the GOP / MALE version of Hillary Clinton.
In 2008 we need to support the conservative agenda and that means supporting either Rudy Guilani, Mit Romney, Newt Gingrich (if he runs) and possibly, Fred Thompson (again, if he runs). NOT JOHN McCAIN. This guy cannot be trusted. He is the GOP / MALE version of Hillary Clinton.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Kunstler Reports on His Visit to Maui
After reading The Long Emergency and many of the posts on Kunstler.com, I've wondered what Kunstler thinks of Hawaii and its fate after oil production diminishes. This post answers my questions in part.
March 26, 2007 Zowie
For all of you out there disposed to twang on me for riding a jet airplane all the way to Maui, please consider that United flight 35 would have flown from San Francisco to Maui with or without me on it. Here's the deal: I had to go to San Fran to give a talk at the Commonwealth Club. From there, I had a lecture gig on Maui. I stayed three extra days and nights -- since I'd come all that way. So, sue me. Now, to the business at hand, which is my impressions of Maui. Beautiful as much of it may be, it is hard not to view it through a tragic lens. Most of the damage on Maui has been inflicted over the past 30-odd years -- that is, since the Pepsi Generation got their mitts on the island. Certainly, there were massive prior insults, starting with the first landings of the Haole (foreigners, in particular caucasians) in the late 18th century, the introduction of cattle, eucalyptus trees, the mongoose, the monoculture of sugar cane, and other intrusions that upset the island's ecology. But the boomer-hippies really iced it. Those who managed to stop smoking marijuana long enough to string two consecutive thoughts together grokked the related notions of tropical paradise and land development with predictable results. That is, they turned the place into just an annex of California. The flatlands were allowed to develop along the lines of Fresno or Lodi, while the uplands became Pacific Palisades Lite. The longest stretch of the best beaches in the place with the least rainfall was converted into a strip of jive-plastic supersized resort hotels. The automobile was given first dibs in all civic design matters. The island's beauty has not been entirely defeated, but the usual complaints are heard for the usual reasons -- mainly, that the overwhelming majority of buildings, both residential and commercial (including the big hotels), are graceless industrial sheds, deployed artlessly on over-engineered streets, which has conditioned the public to believe that all man-made things are worthless pieces of shit. This in turn conditions the public to believe that nothing man-made can be ultimately beneficial, which makes it impossible for us to imagine coexistence with the rest of nature, and so on into the usual swamps of suburban dialectic. The terrain, of course, has largely determined the situation with the car. Maui is mostly composed of two rugged mountains, and cars have made it possible for people other than farmers to settle the slopes. Without motor vehicles, a person living up in Makawao, maybe two or three thousand feet above sea level, would be lucky to get down to the main trading town once a month, let alone to a job every day. But work-a-day Maui operates just like work-a-day California, and all the associated norms of behavior are in place. You drive everywhere for everything. As far as I could tell, even the educated locals out in Maui today are consumed with the same trivialities about traffic and "density" that you'd hear back in any mainland town. They are not thinking beyond the usual NIMBY issues. But it seems perfectly obvious that Maui life will change drastically in a future of oil-and-gas scarcity. The commercial airlines are the "canaries in the coal mine" of advanced industrial civilization, and they are very sick canaries right now -- even with the price of oil relatively stable the past six months. The airlines have pared down their employee ranks about as far as possible. The scene at the Maui airport this Sunday was a clusterfuck -- largely due to the fact that United Airlines had only one person manning the ticket counter, and 98 percent of the visitors have to check through luggage. A couple more rounds of oil price spikes and the airlines are going to be lying tits up with glazed eyes. Perhaps aviation will then reorganize itself on a smaller scale serving only the elite, for a while, anyway. In any case, that will be the end of the mass middle class consumer phase of commercial aviation -- and also of mass middle class type tourism. [Cf. Paul Fussell: "The touristic class is predominantly the middle, the one that has made Hawaii, as Roger Price unkindly designates it, 'Roob Valhalla.'" (p. 109, Class: A Guide Through the American Status System, New York, 1983, Rpt. 1992)--P.Z.] Few people on Maui I spoke to were mentally prepared for the implications of this. But it's perfectly obvious that the Hawaiian Islands will become much more isolated again, and that the way of life that has developed there since 1970 will have to change drastically. I'm glad I went. I don't know if I'll ever go back. Beautiful as it was, I got tired of being in the car all the time and there was really no place to walk.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Comfort Food, Various Links to Purveyors of
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2007-03-22-comfort-food_N.htm?csp=34
http://www.smacnyc.com/
http://www.wichcraftnyc.com
Miami Rice Pudding
Rice to Riches
http://www.cereality.com http://www.usatoday.com/life/lifestyle/2004-12-08-cereal_x.htm
http://www.springwise.com/food_beverage/dessertonly_restaurants/
http://www.nyr4d.com/
http://www.chikalicious.com/
http://www.epicurious.com/gourmet/blogs/foodeditors/2006/12/dessert_bars_ia.html#more
West Egg Cafe
--------------
Lickity Split Chocolate
http://www.smacnyc.com/
http://www.wichcraftnyc.com
Miami Rice Pudding
Rice to Riches
http://www.cereality.com http://www.usatoday.com/life/lifestyle/2004-12-08-cereal_x.htm
http://www.springwise.com/food_beverage/dessertonly_restaurants/
http://www.nyr4d.com/
http://www.chikalicious.com/
http://www.epicurious.com/gourmet/blogs/foodeditors/2006/12/dessert_bars_ia.html#more
West Egg Cafe
--------------
Lickity Split Chocolate
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Thursday, March 08, 2007
LibraryHistoryBuff.org
I found this site while searching online for a card catalog, namely the cabinet that holds the cards. It looks interesting.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Lawns to Gardens
I'm adding to the list of links lawnstogardens.com, which I found through Kunstler. It's a peak-oil website, but addresses many other topics as well.
Ted Steinberg's book American Green: The Obsessive Quest for the Perfect Lawn (Norton, 2006) is out in paperback next month. I've been meaning to get a copy but kept forgetting about it. The best (i.e., most eco-friendly) way to keep a lawn trim is to let animals (e.g., goats, deer) eat the grass. Close behind are regular mowings with a push-mower. The Brill Luxus is a nice example.
Ted Steinberg's book American Green: The Obsessive Quest for the Perfect Lawn (Norton, 2006) is out in paperback next month. I've been meaning to get a copy but kept forgetting about it. The best (i.e., most eco-friendly) way to keep a lawn trim is to let animals (e.g., goats, deer) eat the grass. Close behind are regular mowings with a push-mower. The Brill Luxus is a nice example.
I'll be discussing lawns more soon.
Friday, February 16, 2007
Kunstler Speaks with Salon.com
Browsing dKosopedia, I found this link to a Kunstler interview with Salon.com.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Divided They Fall
"Nader and Libertarians Not Welcome: A Splintered Antiwar Movement"
There was not a single Libertarian speaker even though the Libertarians and Old Right have been far more outspoken in opposing the war than the liberal "Left." Compare the pages of The American Conservative or Antiwar.com [not to mention Chronicles--P.Z.] with the editorials of The Nation, which endorsed the pro-war Kerry candidacy in 2004. This writer tried for months to get Ron Paul, the Libertarian/Republican Congressman from Texas, now a Republican presidential candidate, invited to speak at the rally and did so also in 2005. Several of us made an appeal to get Justin Raimondo, the Libertarian editor of Antiwar.com invited to speak. We got no response from UFPJ, and still have received none. In contrast, Raimondo advertised the UFPJ demonstration in a prominent place on his web site, and he even offered to pay his own air fare to D.C. to speak. But no response was forthcoming from whatever committee decides on the speakers, a committee which is none too visible. UFPJ was just plain rude to Raimondo. In general it appears that the liberal "Left" has scant knowledge about the Libertarians and less desire to acquire it. Libertarians are just "a bunch of selfish people," according to the PC liberals. But there are more things in heaven and earth than the very PC have dreamed of.
There was not a single Libertarian speaker even though the Libertarians and Old Right have been far more outspoken in opposing the war than the liberal "Left." Compare the pages of The American Conservative or Antiwar.com [not to mention Chronicles--P.Z.] with the editorials of The Nation, which endorsed the pro-war Kerry candidacy in 2004. This writer tried for months to get Ron Paul, the Libertarian/Republican Congressman from Texas, now a Republican presidential candidate, invited to speak at the rally and did so also in 2005. Several of us made an appeal to get Justin Raimondo, the Libertarian editor of Antiwar.com invited to speak. We got no response from UFPJ, and still have received none. In contrast, Raimondo advertised the UFPJ demonstration in a prominent place on his web site, and he even offered to pay his own air fare to D.C. to speak. But no response was forthcoming from whatever committee decides on the speakers, a committee which is none too visible. UFPJ was just plain rude to Raimondo. In general it appears that the liberal "Left" has scant knowledge about the Libertarians and less desire to acquire it. Libertarians are just "a bunch of selfish people," according to the PC liberals. But there are more things in heaven and earth than the very PC have dreamed of.
Monday, February 12, 2007
Airships
http://www.aerosml.com/news-press.asp
From high-altitude surveillance to a hybrid luxury cruise liner, our skies may soon be home to the next generation of multi-purpose airship....
Here is a fun blog on airships by animator Sean Hayden.
From high-altitude surveillance to a hybrid luxury cruise liner, our skies may soon be home to the next generation of multi-purpose airship....
Here is a fun blog on airships by animator Sean Hayden.
Monday, February 05, 2007
Advice from Kunstler on Surviving the Long Emergency
Out in the public arena, people frequently twang on me for being "Mister Gloom'n'doom," or for "not offering any solutions." I find this bizarre because I never fail to present audiences with a long, explicit task list of projects that American society needs to take up in the face of the combined problems I have labeled The Long Emergency. That the audience never hears this, and then indignantly demands such instruction, only reinforces my sense that the cognitive dissonance in our culture has gone totally off the charts.
Insofar as I just returned from a college lecture road trip, and heard the same carping all over again, I conclude that it's necessary for me to spell it all out a'fresh. I think of this not so much as a roster of "solutions" but as a set of reasonable responses to a new set of circumstances. (Not everything we try to do will succeed, that is, be a "solution.") So, for those of you who are tired of wringing your hands, who would like to do something useful, or focus your attention in a purposeful way, here it is.
...The bottom line of this is: start thinking beyond the car. We have to make other arrangements for virtually all the common activities of daily life.
We have to produce food differently. The ADM / Monsanto / Cargill model of industrial agribusiness is heading toward its Waterloo. As oil and gas deplete, we will be left with sterile soils and farming organized at an unworkable scale. Many lives will depend on our ability to fix this. Farming will soon return much closer to the center of American economic life. It will necessarily have to be done more locally, at a smaller-and-finer scale, and will require more human labor. The value-added activities associated with farming -- e.g. making products like cheese, wine, oils -- will also have to be done much more locally. This situation presents excellent business and vocational opportunities for America's young people (if they can unplug their Ipods long enough to pay attention.) It also presents huge problems in land-use reform. Not to mention the fact that the knowledge and skill for doing these things has to be painstakingly retrieved from the dumpster of history. Get busy.
...
We have to move things and people differently. This is the sunset of Happy Motoring (including the entire US trucking system). Get used to it. Don't waste your society's remaining resources trying to prop up car-and-truck dependency. Moving things and people by water and rail is vastly more energy-efficient....Right now, programs are underway to restore maritime shipping based on wind -- yes, sailing ships. It's for real. Lots to do here. Put down your Ipod and get busy.
We have to transform retail trade. The national chains that have used the high tide of fossil fuels to contrive predatory economies-of-scale (and kill local economies) -- they are going down. WalMart and the other outfits will not survive the coming era of expensive, scarcer oil. They will not be able to run the "warehouses-on-wheels" of 18-wheel tractor-trailers incessantly circulating along the interstate highways. Their 12,000-mile supply lines to the Asian slave-factories are also endangered as the US and China contest for Middle East and African oil. The local networks of commercial interdependency which these chain stores systematically destroyed (with the public's acquiescence) will have to be rebuilt brick-by-brick and inventory-by-inventory. This will require rich, fine-grained, multi-layered networks of people who make, distribute, and sell stuff (including the much-maligned "middlemen"). Don't be fooled into thinking that the Internet will replace local retail economies. Internet shopping is totally dependent now on cheap delivery, and delivery will no longer be cheap. It also is predicated on electric power systems that are completely reliable. That is something we are unlikely to enjoy in the years ahead. Do you have a penchant for retail trade and don't want to work for a big predatory corporation? There's lots to do here in the realm of small, local business. Quit carping and get busy.
We will have to make things again in America. However, we are going to make less stuff....We're going to have to make things on a smaller scale by other means. Perhaps we will have to use more water power. The truth is, we don't know yet how we're going to make anything. This is something that the younger generations can put their minds and muscles into.
The age of canned entertainment is coming to and [sic] end. It was fun for a while. We liked "Citizen Kane" and the Beatles. But we're going to have to make our own music and our own drama down the road. We're going to need playhouses and live performance halls. We're going to need violin and banjo players and playwrights and scenery-makers, and singers. We'll need theater managers and stage-hands. The Internet is not going to save canned entertainment. The Internet will not work so well if the electricity is on the fritz half the time (or more).
We'll have to reorganize the education system. The centralized secondary school systems based on the yellow school bus fleets will not survive the coming decades. The huge investments we have made in these facilities will impede the transition out of them, but they will fail anyway. Since we will be a less-affluent society, we probably won't be able to replace these centralized facilities with smaller and more equitably distributed schools, at least not right away. Personally, I believe that the next incarnation of education will grow out of the home schooling movement, as home schooling efforts aggregate locally into units of more than one family. God knows what happens beyond secondary ed. The big universities, both public and private, may not be salvageable. And the activity of higher ed itself may engender huge resentment by those foreclosed from it. But anyone who learns to do long division and write a coherent paragraph will be at a great advantage -- and, in any case, will probably out-perform today's average college graduate. One thing for sure: teaching children is not liable to become an obsolete line-of-work, as compared to public relations and sports marketing....
We have to reorganize the medical system. The current skein of intertwined rackets based on endless Ponzi buck passing scams will not survive the discontinuities to come. We will probably have to return to a model of service much closer to what used to be called "doctoring." Medical training may also have to change as the big universities run into trouble functioning. Doctors of the 21st century will certainly drive fewer German cars, and there will be fewer opportunities in the cosmetic surgery field. Let's hope that we don't slide so far back that we forget the germ theory of disease, or the need to wash our hands, or the fundamentals of pharmaceutical science. Lots to do here for the unsqueamish.
Life in the USA will have to become much more local, and virtually all the activities of everyday life will have to be re-scaled. You can state categorically that any enterprise now supersized is likely to fail -- everything from the federal government to big corporations to huge institutions. If you can find a way to do something practical and useful on a smaller scale than it is currently being done, you are likely to have food in your cupboard and people who esteem you. An entire social infrastructure of voluntary associations, co-opted by the narcotic of television, needs to be reconstructed. Local institutions for care of the helpless will have to be organized. Local politics will be much more meaningful as state governments and federal agencies slide into complete impotence. Lots of jobs here for local heroes.
So, that's the task list for now. Forgive me if I left things out. But please don't carp at me, by letter or in person, that I am not providing you with anything to think about or devote your personal energy to. If you're depressed, change your focus. Quit wishing and start doing. The best way to feel hopeful about the future is to ... demonstrate to yourself that you are a capable, competent individual resolutely able to face new circumstances.
Insofar as I just returned from a college lecture road trip, and heard the same carping all over again, I conclude that it's necessary for me to spell it all out a'fresh. I think of this not so much as a roster of "solutions" but as a set of reasonable responses to a new set of circumstances. (Not everything we try to do will succeed, that is, be a "solution.") So, for those of you who are tired of wringing your hands, who would like to do something useful, or focus your attention in a purposeful way, here it is.
...The bottom line of this is: start thinking beyond the car. We have to make other arrangements for virtually all the common activities of daily life.
We have to produce food differently. The ADM / Monsanto / Cargill model of industrial agribusiness is heading toward its Waterloo. As oil and gas deplete, we will be left with sterile soils and farming organized at an unworkable scale. Many lives will depend on our ability to fix this. Farming will soon return much closer to the center of American economic life. It will necessarily have to be done more locally, at a smaller-and-finer scale, and will require more human labor. The value-added activities associated with farming -- e.g. making products like cheese, wine, oils -- will also have to be done much more locally. This situation presents excellent business and vocational opportunities for America's young people (if they can unplug their Ipods long enough to pay attention.) It also presents huge problems in land-use reform. Not to mention the fact that the knowledge and skill for doing these things has to be painstakingly retrieved from the dumpster of history. Get busy.
...
We have to move things and people differently. This is the sunset of Happy Motoring (including the entire US trucking system). Get used to it. Don't waste your society's remaining resources trying to prop up car-and-truck dependency. Moving things and people by water and rail is vastly more energy-efficient....Right now, programs are underway to restore maritime shipping based on wind -- yes, sailing ships. It's for real. Lots to do here. Put down your Ipod and get busy.
We have to transform retail trade. The national chains that have used the high tide of fossil fuels to contrive predatory economies-of-scale (and kill local economies) -- they are going down. WalMart and the other outfits will not survive the coming era of expensive, scarcer oil. They will not be able to run the "warehouses-on-wheels" of 18-wheel tractor-trailers incessantly circulating along the interstate highways. Their 12,000-mile supply lines to the Asian slave-factories are also endangered as the US and China contest for Middle East and African oil. The local networks of commercial interdependency which these chain stores systematically destroyed (with the public's acquiescence) will have to be rebuilt brick-by-brick and inventory-by-inventory. This will require rich, fine-grained, multi-layered networks of people who make, distribute, and sell stuff (including the much-maligned "middlemen"). Don't be fooled into thinking that the Internet will replace local retail economies. Internet shopping is totally dependent now on cheap delivery, and delivery will no longer be cheap. It also is predicated on electric power systems that are completely reliable. That is something we are unlikely to enjoy in the years ahead. Do you have a penchant for retail trade and don't want to work for a big predatory corporation? There's lots to do here in the realm of small, local business. Quit carping and get busy.
We will have to make things again in America. However, we are going to make less stuff....We're going to have to make things on a smaller scale by other means. Perhaps we will have to use more water power. The truth is, we don't know yet how we're going to make anything. This is something that the younger generations can put their minds and muscles into.
The age of canned entertainment is coming to and [sic] end. It was fun for a while. We liked "Citizen Kane" and the Beatles. But we're going to have to make our own music and our own drama down the road. We're going to need playhouses and live performance halls. We're going to need violin and banjo players and playwrights and scenery-makers, and singers. We'll need theater managers and stage-hands. The Internet is not going to save canned entertainment. The Internet will not work so well if the electricity is on the fritz half the time (or more).
We'll have to reorganize the education system. The centralized secondary school systems based on the yellow school bus fleets will not survive the coming decades. The huge investments we have made in these facilities will impede the transition out of them, but they will fail anyway. Since we will be a less-affluent society, we probably won't be able to replace these centralized facilities with smaller and more equitably distributed schools, at least not right away. Personally, I believe that the next incarnation of education will grow out of the home schooling movement, as home schooling efforts aggregate locally into units of more than one family. God knows what happens beyond secondary ed. The big universities, both public and private, may not be salvageable. And the activity of higher ed itself may engender huge resentment by those foreclosed from it. But anyone who learns to do long division and write a coherent paragraph will be at a great advantage -- and, in any case, will probably out-perform today's average college graduate. One thing for sure: teaching children is not liable to become an obsolete line-of-work, as compared to public relations and sports marketing....
We have to reorganize the medical system. The current skein of intertwined rackets based on endless Ponzi buck passing scams will not survive the discontinuities to come. We will probably have to return to a model of service much closer to what used to be called "doctoring." Medical training may also have to change as the big universities run into trouble functioning. Doctors of the 21st century will certainly drive fewer German cars, and there will be fewer opportunities in the cosmetic surgery field. Let's hope that we don't slide so far back that we forget the germ theory of disease, or the need to wash our hands, or the fundamentals of pharmaceutical science. Lots to do here for the unsqueamish.
Life in the USA will have to become much more local, and virtually all the activities of everyday life will have to be re-scaled. You can state categorically that any enterprise now supersized is likely to fail -- everything from the federal government to big corporations to huge institutions. If you can find a way to do something practical and useful on a smaller scale than it is currently being done, you are likely to have food in your cupboard and people who esteem you. An entire social infrastructure of voluntary associations, co-opted by the narcotic of television, needs to be reconstructed. Local institutions for care of the helpless will have to be organized. Local politics will be much more meaningful as state governments and federal agencies slide into complete impotence. Lots of jobs here for local heroes.
So, that's the task list for now. Forgive me if I left things out. But please don't carp at me, by letter or in person, that I am not providing you with anything to think about or devote your personal energy to. If you're depressed, change your focus. Quit wishing and start doing. The best way to feel hopeful about the future is to ... demonstrate to yourself that you are a capable, competent individual resolutely able to face new circumstances.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Making Other Arrangements
http://www.orionmagazine.org/pages/om/07-1om/Kunstler.html
Excerpts therefrom:
There may be other ways of moving things above the ground, for instance balloons, blimps, or zeppelin-type airships. But they will move much more slowly and carry far less cargo and human passengers than the airplanes we've been enjoying for the past sixty years or so. The most likely scenario in the years ahead is that aviation will become an increasingly expensive, elite activity as the oil age dribbles to a close, and then it will not exist at all.
We have to do better. We have to start right away making those other arrangements. We have to begin the transition to some mode of living that will allow us to carry on the project of civilization—and I would argue against the notion advanced by Daniel Quinn and others that civilization itself is our enemy and should not be continued. The agenda for facing our problems squarely can, in fact, be described with some precision. We have to make other arrangements for the basic activities of everyday life.
In general, the circumstances we face with energy and climate change will require us to live much more locally, probably profoundly and intensely so. We have to grow more of our food locally, on a smaller scale than we do now, with fewer artificial "inputs," and probably with more human and animal labor. Farming may come closer to the center of our national economic life than it has been within the memory of anyone alive now. These changes are also likely to revive a menu of social and class conflicts that we also thought we had left behind.
The automobile will be a diminishing presence in our lives and, increasingly, a luxury that will be resented by those who can no longer afford to participate in the "happy motoring" utopia. The interstate highways themselves will require more resources to maintain than we will be able to muster. For many of us, the twenty-first century will be less about incessant mobility than about staying where we are.
We have to inhabit the terrain of North America differently, meaning a return to traditional cities, towns, neighborhoods, and a productive rural landscape that is more than just strictly scenic or recreational. We will probably see a reversal of the two-hundred-year-long trend of people moving from the country and small towns to the big cities. In fact, our big cities will probably contract substantially, even while they re-densify at their centers and along their waterfronts.
It is harder to predict exactly what may happen with education and medicine, except to say that neither can continue to operate as rackets much longer, and that they, like everything else, will have to become smaller in scale and much more local. Our centralized school districts, utterly dependent on the countless daily trips of fleets of yellow buses and oppressive property taxes, have poor prospects for carrying on successfully in an energy-scarce economy. However, we will be a less affluent nation in the post-oil age, and therefore may be hard-pressed to replace them. A new, more locally based education system may arise instead out of home-schooling, as household classes aggregate into new, small, neighborhood schools. College will cease to be a mass-consumer activity, and may only be available to social elites—if it continues to exist at all. Meanwhile, we're in for a pretty stark era of triage as the vast resources of the "medical industry" contract. Even without a global energy crisis bearing down on us, the federal Medicaid and Medicare systems would not survive the future as currently funded.
As a matter of fact, you can state categorically that anything organized on a gigantic scale, whether it is a federal government or the Acme Corporation or the University of Michigan, will probably falter in the energy-scarce future. Therefore, don't pin your hopes on multinational corporations, international NGOs, or any other giant organizations or institutions.
Recent events have caused many of us to fear that we are headed toward a Big Brother kind of governmental tyranny. I think we will be lucky if the federal government can answer the phones, let alone regulate anyone's life, in the post-oil era. As power devolves to the local and regional level, the very purpose of our federal arrangements may come into question. The state governments, with their enormous bureaucracies, may not be better off. Further along in this century, the real political action will likely shift down to the local level, as reconstructed neighborly associations allow people to tackle problems locally with local solutions.
Excerpts therefrom:
There may be other ways of moving things above the ground, for instance balloons, blimps, or zeppelin-type airships. But they will move much more slowly and carry far less cargo and human passengers than the airplanes we've been enjoying for the past sixty years or so. The most likely scenario in the years ahead is that aviation will become an increasingly expensive, elite activity as the oil age dribbles to a close, and then it will not exist at all.
We have to do better. We have to start right away making those other arrangements. We have to begin the transition to some mode of living that will allow us to carry on the project of civilization—and I would argue against the notion advanced by Daniel Quinn and others that civilization itself is our enemy and should not be continued. The agenda for facing our problems squarely can, in fact, be described with some precision. We have to make other arrangements for the basic activities of everyday life.
In general, the circumstances we face with energy and climate change will require us to live much more locally, probably profoundly and intensely so. We have to grow more of our food locally, on a smaller scale than we do now, with fewer artificial "inputs," and probably with more human and animal labor. Farming may come closer to the center of our national economic life than it has been within the memory of anyone alive now. These changes are also likely to revive a menu of social and class conflicts that we also thought we had left behind.
The automobile will be a diminishing presence in our lives and, increasingly, a luxury that will be resented by those who can no longer afford to participate in the "happy motoring" utopia. The interstate highways themselves will require more resources to maintain than we will be able to muster. For many of us, the twenty-first century will be less about incessant mobility than about staying where we are.
We have to inhabit the terrain of North America differently, meaning a return to traditional cities, towns, neighborhoods, and a productive rural landscape that is more than just strictly scenic or recreational. We will probably see a reversal of the two-hundred-year-long trend of people moving from the country and small towns to the big cities. In fact, our big cities will probably contract substantially, even while they re-densify at their centers and along their waterfronts.
It is harder to predict exactly what may happen with education and medicine, except to say that neither can continue to operate as rackets much longer, and that they, like everything else, will have to become smaller in scale and much more local. Our centralized school districts, utterly dependent on the countless daily trips of fleets of yellow buses and oppressive property taxes, have poor prospects for carrying on successfully in an energy-scarce economy. However, we will be a less affluent nation in the post-oil age, and therefore may be hard-pressed to replace them. A new, more locally based education system may arise instead out of home-schooling, as household classes aggregate into new, small, neighborhood schools. College will cease to be a mass-consumer activity, and may only be available to social elites—if it continues to exist at all. Meanwhile, we're in for a pretty stark era of triage as the vast resources of the "medical industry" contract. Even without a global energy crisis bearing down on us, the federal Medicaid and Medicare systems would not survive the future as currently funded.
As a matter of fact, you can state categorically that anything organized on a gigantic scale, whether it is a federal government or the Acme Corporation or the University of Michigan, will probably falter in the energy-scarce future. Therefore, don't pin your hopes on multinational corporations, international NGOs, or any other giant organizations or institutions.
Recent events have caused many of us to fear that we are headed toward a Big Brother kind of governmental tyranny. I think we will be lucky if the federal government can answer the phones, let alone regulate anyone's life, in the post-oil era. As power devolves to the local and regional level, the very purpose of our federal arrangements may come into question. The state governments, with their enormous bureaucracies, may not be better off. Further along in this century, the real political action will likely shift down to the local level, as reconstructed neighborly associations allow people to tackle problems locally with local solutions.
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Friday, January 19, 2007
Monday, January 15, 2007
New Found Blogs
Ilind.net today mentions a blog by Oahu-based historian and UH-Manoa professor Dr. Andrew Wertheimer. "Dr. Drew" writes mainly about the histories of libraries and Japanese-Americans. Ilind also points its readers to "SusHI" or Sustainability in Hawai'i, a blog by Ken Stokes.
One key phrase for a journalist: quietly disclosed
One key phrase for a journalist: quietly disclosed
Monday, January 08, 2007
| Greed: | Very Low | |
| Gluttony: | Low | |
| Wrath: | Low | |
| Sloth: | Medium | |
| Envy: | Very Low | |
| Lust: | Very Low | |
| Pride: | Medium |
Take the Seven Deadly Sins Quiz
Friday, January 05, 2007
Happy New Year, Part One
The first movie I saw this year was Hibari no Hanadata Tantei Gassen (1958). I fell asleep about 10:15 New Year's Eve and woke up about 12:15 a.m. The TV was on NGN3, which plays Japanese movies. It was fifteen minutes into the movie, which played from 12 to 1:35 a.m. (Every New Year's our cable company has a free preview of Nippon Golden Network, which plays over three channels. During this time people can sign up for NGN at a discount, which is what we did this week) I watched about thirty minutes before falling asleep again.Much later, from 4 to 5:35 p.m., the movie played again. I missed the first ten minutes but watched it until the end.
Also known as Detective Duel, Hibari is both a romantic comedy and mystery about two detectives competing to solve the case of a missing woman. Yukiko (played by Misora Hibari) is a sleuth up against the more experienced gumshoe Mitamura Eiji (Takakura Ken).* They tease each other but soon unite to solve the case of a missing woman, and thwart an intricate plot against her. (*In Japanese custom, surnames are placed before given names; e.g., Takakura Ken.)
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Kunstler's Predictions
Like Janus, Kunstler simultaneously looks back at 2006 and ahead at 2007. He concludes a lengthy but worthwhile post with this:
To sum it all up, I believe 2007 will be the year that the US finally feels the pain. More disorder will appear in the system. More cries of anguish will be heard throughout the land. More paralysis will set in. The bid for leadership may not follow the current story line -- Barack...Hillary...Edwards...McCain...blah blah blah. Jokers and wild cards could step into the frame. America will be looking for a man on a white horse and instead they'll get Newt Gingrich on an electric Humvee.
To sum it all up, I believe 2007 will be the year that the US finally feels the pain. More disorder will appear in the system. More cries of anguish will be heard throughout the land. More paralysis will set in. The bid for leadership may not follow the current story line -- Barack...Hillary...Edwards...McCain...blah blah blah. Jokers and wild cards could step into the frame. America will be looking for a man on a white horse and instead they'll get Newt Gingrich on an electric Humvee.
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Ten Newspaper Design Myths, Debunked
http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=4091
10 Universal Newspaper Design Myths, Debunked
By Mario Garcia (more by author) Poynter Affiliate
E-mail this item Print this Page Add/View Comments on this Article (1)
My diary entries contain travelogues, agendas, and occasionally, the graffiti of design myths. I always write these myths in red, to make sure I do not forget them. I must have more than 150 that I have listed during 20 years of traveling, but there are 10 that have become the "Super Myths," those that transcend nationalities, ethnicity, or language. I offer them as a checklist to see how many of them are part of your own myth repertoire:
1. Don't run headlines next to each other. "Bumping headlines" should be ranked as the No. 1 design myth, especially in the United States. I am certain that more time is spent in newsrooms everywhere designing pages that avoid headlines coming together than actually writing better headlines. As a veteran of hundreds of focus groups that were shown pages with headlines that sometimes bumped, I have yet to hear a reader anywhere echo the complaint about "bumping headlines." Of course, I am not an advocate of bumped headlines. However, I am suggesting that we should not spend unnecessary time and effort avoiding what seems to affect no one but the editor and his old journalism school professor.
2. Readers don't like reversed out type. Well, many editors don't. And I am sure that readers would probably find it unusual and hard to read if an entire article were set in white type against a black or color background. However, a few lines of a quote or a highlight set against a dark background will not affect legibility as long as the type size is larger than normal and the interline spacing is adequate.
3. Color must be introduced slowly. Life is in color. Attempts at a slow introduction of color in a newspaper that may have been entirely black and white for years are quite exaggerated. In this regard, one must respect the editors' knowledge of their own communities and their readers' ability to assimilate change. However, my own experience has been that color is almost always extremely well received, and that readers in most communities no longer attach the label of "less serious" to newspapers that print in color. Specifically with 25- to 35-year-old readers, color is an expectation more than an abomination. What is important, and this must be emphasized, is that color use be appropriate for the newspaper and its community.
4. Italics are difficult to read. I have heard this more than 500 times, from South America to South Africa, and in Malaysia, too! Every editor seems to have a built-in catalog of anecdotes to illustrate why italics should never be used. They are supposed to be "feminine"; therefore, why use them in the macho sports section? They are "strange" to the reader and imply soft news, as opposed to hard news, so relegate them to the gardening page. And, last, italics slow down the reading, so avoid them in text. The truth? Italics are unisex. A feature in sports can wear italics well, but so can that souffle story in the food section. The soft-versus-hard implication is an American phenomenon, I must admit. A banner headline in a strong italic font played large will be able to do the job as well as a Roman headline. Size and boldness and the distinction of the type used are more significant than whether the type is italic. Contrast italics with Roman type, or bolder or lighter type nearby, and they make that souffle rise on the page. Add them as a secondary line under a classic Roman face, and there is music on the page. Give the name on the byline an italic touch, and somehow the visual rhythm of the text may be altered for the better.
5. Don't mix color and black-and-white photos or graphics on the same page. Never once have I heard a reader complain about this special cocktail of mixed black-and-white and color images. The designer's task is to select the best possible images, regardless of color, and display them properly on the page following a hierarchy that indicates where the eye should go first, second, and third. The color versus black-and-white issue becomes quite secondary to the content of the images, their placement on the page, and the role of the images in the overall design.
6. Don't interrupt the flow of text. Magazines have been using quotes, highlights, and other text breakers for years. However, place one of these devices in the text of many newspapers and you will find a chorus of editors repeating the same verse: Any interruption of text causes the reader to stop reading. I have found no evidence of this in the many focus groups I have observed or in The Poynter Institute's own EYE-TRAC Research. (EYE-TRAC scientifically documented how color, text, graphics, and photos direct a reader's eyes around a newspaper page.) Of course, interruptions can become obstacle courses if: - One places a 24-line quote across 12 picas, forcing the reader to jump over text; or - One places the breaker in such a strategic position that the reader will not jump over it, but assumes instead that he should move across to the adjacent column. So length of the interruption and its placement determine legibility factors. Any interruption that requires more than a 2-1/2 inch jump should be reconsidered.
7. Readers prefer justified type over ragged-right type. The myth is that ragged-right type implies "soft" or feature material, while justified type represents serious hard news. This, too, is only in the minds of editors and some designers. There is no evidence of the truth to this perception. If newspapers had always set all their text ragged right, readers would have accepted that style. Ragged-right type can change the rhythm on the page, even when used for short texts or for columnists. Its use incorporates white space, which is always needed, and allows for more appropriate letter spacing within and between words. Some research has confirmed that the presence of ragged right speeds up reading.
8. Story count counts. One must have, says this myth, a minimum of five stories on the front page. Well, it is seven in some newspapers, and 11 in others. Story count is a state of mind; it should not be a formula. No two days in the news are alike for the editor putting together Page One. On certain days, one big story may equal four, or even seven, small ones. Sometimes a photo may carry the weight of 10 stories, and so on. Individual elements are what count, not a systematic formula that forces elements to satisfy a quota on the page. What do we know about story count and Page One? Well, the front page is still the face of the newspaper and must display not only the day's news but promote the best content inside. More is definitely better than less, and index items, promo boxes, and even standalone photos are all part of what makes the eye move. Readers in focus groups do not count stories. Eye movement - activity on the canvas of the page - is what counts. How one makes the readers' eyes move can be determined by factors that are not necessarily associated with the mythical story counts that editors are subjected to.
9. Leave things in the same place every day. For many editors, a Page One or a section front with static elements (promos at the top, left-hand column of briefs, etc.) provides a sort of teddy bear to embrace when they come to work every day. So, in typical fashion, editors always ask for the teddy bears. There is no truth to the myth that readers want these elements exactly in the same places every day. I prefer to experiment with "teddy bears on roller skates" - let the promo boxes appear differently from day to day. Some days use one promo only, some days use three promos. Surprise the reader with promos that run vertically on Tuesday, but horizontally on Wednesday.
10. The lead story must always appear on the right-hand side of the page. Editors seem sure of this, but nobody bothered to tell the readers. To them, the lead story is the one with the biggest and boldest headline, whether it is to the right or the left. Of course, hierarchy is important. No myth here. One definitive lead must appear on the page to guide the reader, but its appearance, as long as it is above the fold, becomes inconsequential. Why the myths? Well, what would newspapers be without them? Meetings would be shorter, and less argumentative, especially if there was no "italics" myth. Who creates the myths? Like the games children play, nobody knows where these myths start. Children teach each other games in the schoolyard; professors pass on myths to their innocent charges in journalism school. Then those myths gain momentum when the rookie journalist hears the same myth glorified by his veteran editor, and so on. What can one do about myths? Select the ones you really want to do battle over, then wrestle the myth promoter to the ground. Sometimes you win.
10 Universal Newspaper Design Myths, Debunked
By Mario Garcia (more by author) Poynter Affiliate
E-mail this item Print this Page Add/View Comments on this Article (1)
My diary entries contain travelogues, agendas, and occasionally, the graffiti of design myths. I always write these myths in red, to make sure I do not forget them. I must have more than 150 that I have listed during 20 years of traveling, but there are 10 that have become the "Super Myths," those that transcend nationalities, ethnicity, or language. I offer them as a checklist to see how many of them are part of your own myth repertoire:
1. Don't run headlines next to each other. "Bumping headlines" should be ranked as the No. 1 design myth, especially in the United States. I am certain that more time is spent in newsrooms everywhere designing pages that avoid headlines coming together than actually writing better headlines. As a veteran of hundreds of focus groups that were shown pages with headlines that sometimes bumped, I have yet to hear a reader anywhere echo the complaint about "bumping headlines." Of course, I am not an advocate of bumped headlines. However, I am suggesting that we should not spend unnecessary time and effort avoiding what seems to affect no one but the editor and his old journalism school professor.
2. Readers don't like reversed out type. Well, many editors don't. And I am sure that readers would probably find it unusual and hard to read if an entire article were set in white type against a black or color background. However, a few lines of a quote or a highlight set against a dark background will not affect legibility as long as the type size is larger than normal and the interline spacing is adequate.
3. Color must be introduced slowly. Life is in color. Attempts at a slow introduction of color in a newspaper that may have been entirely black and white for years are quite exaggerated. In this regard, one must respect the editors' knowledge of their own communities and their readers' ability to assimilate change. However, my own experience has been that color is almost always extremely well received, and that readers in most communities no longer attach the label of "less serious" to newspapers that print in color. Specifically with 25- to 35-year-old readers, color is an expectation more than an abomination. What is important, and this must be emphasized, is that color use be appropriate for the newspaper and its community.
4. Italics are difficult to read. I have heard this more than 500 times, from South America to South Africa, and in Malaysia, too! Every editor seems to have a built-in catalog of anecdotes to illustrate why italics should never be used. They are supposed to be "feminine"; therefore, why use them in the macho sports section? They are "strange" to the reader and imply soft news, as opposed to hard news, so relegate them to the gardening page. And, last, italics slow down the reading, so avoid them in text. The truth? Italics are unisex. A feature in sports can wear italics well, but so can that souffle story in the food section. The soft-versus-hard implication is an American phenomenon, I must admit. A banner headline in a strong italic font played large will be able to do the job as well as a Roman headline. Size and boldness and the distinction of the type used are more significant than whether the type is italic. Contrast italics with Roman type, or bolder or lighter type nearby, and they make that souffle rise on the page. Add them as a secondary line under a classic Roman face, and there is music on the page. Give the name on the byline an italic touch, and somehow the visual rhythm of the text may be altered for the better.
5. Don't mix color and black-and-white photos or graphics on the same page. Never once have I heard a reader complain about this special cocktail of mixed black-and-white and color images. The designer's task is to select the best possible images, regardless of color, and display them properly on the page following a hierarchy that indicates where the eye should go first, second, and third. The color versus black-and-white issue becomes quite secondary to the content of the images, their placement on the page, and the role of the images in the overall design.
6. Don't interrupt the flow of text. Magazines have been using quotes, highlights, and other text breakers for years. However, place one of these devices in the text of many newspapers and you will find a chorus of editors repeating the same verse: Any interruption of text causes the reader to stop reading. I have found no evidence of this in the many focus groups I have observed or in The Poynter Institute's own EYE-TRAC Research. (EYE-TRAC scientifically documented how color, text, graphics, and photos direct a reader's eyes around a newspaper page.) Of course, interruptions can become obstacle courses if: - One places a 24-line quote across 12 picas, forcing the reader to jump over text; or - One places the breaker in such a strategic position that the reader will not jump over it, but assumes instead that he should move across to the adjacent column. So length of the interruption and its placement determine legibility factors. Any interruption that requires more than a 2-1/2 inch jump should be reconsidered.
7. Readers prefer justified type over ragged-right type. The myth is that ragged-right type implies "soft" or feature material, while justified type represents serious hard news. This, too, is only in the minds of editors and some designers. There is no evidence of the truth to this perception. If newspapers had always set all their text ragged right, readers would have accepted that style. Ragged-right type can change the rhythm on the page, even when used for short texts or for columnists. Its use incorporates white space, which is always needed, and allows for more appropriate letter spacing within and between words. Some research has confirmed that the presence of ragged right speeds up reading.
8. Story count counts. One must have, says this myth, a minimum of five stories on the front page. Well, it is seven in some newspapers, and 11 in others. Story count is a state of mind; it should not be a formula. No two days in the news are alike for the editor putting together Page One. On certain days, one big story may equal four, or even seven, small ones. Sometimes a photo may carry the weight of 10 stories, and so on. Individual elements are what count, not a systematic formula that forces elements to satisfy a quota on the page. What do we know about story count and Page One? Well, the front page is still the face of the newspaper and must display not only the day's news but promote the best content inside. More is definitely better than less, and index items, promo boxes, and even standalone photos are all part of what makes the eye move. Readers in focus groups do not count stories. Eye movement - activity on the canvas of the page - is what counts. How one makes the readers' eyes move can be determined by factors that are not necessarily associated with the mythical story counts that editors are subjected to.
9. Leave things in the same place every day. For many editors, a Page One or a section front with static elements (promos at the top, left-hand column of briefs, etc.) provides a sort of teddy bear to embrace when they come to work every day. So, in typical fashion, editors always ask for the teddy bears. There is no truth to the myth that readers want these elements exactly in the same places every day. I prefer to experiment with "teddy bears on roller skates" - let the promo boxes appear differently from day to day. Some days use one promo only, some days use three promos. Surprise the reader with promos that run vertically on Tuesday, but horizontally on Wednesday.
10. The lead story must always appear on the right-hand side of the page. Editors seem sure of this, but nobody bothered to tell the readers. To them, the lead story is the one with the biggest and boldest headline, whether it is to the right or the left. Of course, hierarchy is important. No myth here. One definitive lead must appear on the page to guide the reader, but its appearance, as long as it is above the fold, becomes inconsequential. Why the myths? Well, what would newspapers be without them? Meetings would be shorter, and less argumentative, especially if there was no "italics" myth. Who creates the myths? Like the games children play, nobody knows where these myths start. Children teach each other games in the schoolyard; professors pass on myths to their innocent charges in journalism school. Then those myths gain momentum when the rookie journalist hears the same myth glorified by his veteran editor, and so on. What can one do about myths? Select the ones you really want to do battle over, then wrestle the myth promoter to the ground. Sometimes you win.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Christmas Every Day
William Dean Howells wrote what would happen.
THE little girl came into her papa's study, as she always did Saturday morning before breakfast, and asked for a story. He tried to beg off that morning, for he was very busy, but she would not let him. So he began:
"Well, once there was a little pig--"
She stopped him at the word. She said she had heard little pig-stories till she was perfectly sick of them.
"Well, what kind of story shall I tell, then?"
"About Christmas. It's getting to be the season."
"Well!" Her papa roused himself. "Then I'll tell you about the little girl that wanted it Christmas every day in the year. How would you like that?"
"First-rate!" said the little girl; and she nestled into comfortable shape in his lap, ready for listening.
"Very well, then, this little pig--Oh, what are you pounding me for?"
"Because you said little pig instead of little girl."
"I should like to know what's the difference between a little pig and a little girl that wanted it Christmas every day!"
"Papa!" said the little girl warningly. At this her papa began to tell the story.
THE little girl came into her papa's study, as she always did Saturday morning before breakfast, and asked for a story. He tried to beg off that morning, for he was very busy, but she would not let him. So he began:
"Well, once there was a little pig--"
She stopped him at the word. She said she had heard little pig-stories till she was perfectly sick of them.
"Well, what kind of story shall I tell, then?"
"About Christmas. It's getting to be the season."
"Well!" Her papa roused himself. "Then I'll tell you about the little girl that wanted it Christmas every day in the year. How would you like that?"
"First-rate!" said the little girl; and she nestled into comfortable shape in his lap, ready for listening.
"Very well, then, this little pig--Oh, what are you pounding me for?"
"Because you said little pig instead of little girl."
"I should like to know what's the difference between a little pig and a little girl that wanted it Christmas every day!"
"Papa!" said the little girl warningly. At this her papa began to tell the story.
Monday, December 11, 2006
A Brief Descent into Vulgarity
Defintion five of the entry for "hard-on" at UrbanDictionary.com
5.
hard-on
13 up, 16 down
(alternate spelling of hardon)1. An erection 2. A problemAlthough definition 1 is far more common, 2 is occasionally used. It is used with "for", as in "Having a hard-on for..." It implies an unhealthy fixation, and it is pejorative, in that (obviously) it implies a homoerotic obsession.
Ever since I got Jim fired, he's had a real hard-on for me.Stop picking on him! Why do you have such a hard-on for him anyway, dude?
by pimpassamir Aug 16, 2004 email it
---------------
What would Alicublog do without Rod Dreher or Ilind without Ed Case?
5.
hard-on
13 up, 16 down
(alternate spelling of hardon)1. An erection 2. A problemAlthough definition 1 is far more common, 2 is occasionally used. It is used with "for", as in "Having a hard-on for..." It implies an unhealthy fixation, and it is pejorative, in that (obviously) it implies a homoerotic obsession.
Ever since I got Jim fired, he's had a real hard-on for me.Stop picking on him! Why do you have such a hard-on for him anyway, dude?
by pimpassamir Aug 16, 2004 email it
---------------
What would Alicublog do without Rod Dreher or Ilind without Ed Case?
Friday, December 08, 2006
Rare Cookbooks, Part Two
I found this at the library. The title in full is Victorian Ices & Ice Cream: 117 Delicious and Unusual Recipes Updated for the Modern Kitchen: Original Recipes from The Book of Ices by A.B. Marshall, London, 1885. A reprint of The Book of Ices (London: Marshall's School of Cookery, 1885) by Agnes B. Marshall, this edition was published in 1976 by The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Charles Scribner's Sons. The introduction and annotations are by Barbara Ketcham Wheaton and the foreword is by A. Hyatt Mayor.-----
December 10 update: On a related note, Rose Vesel Mattus, the co-founder of Haagen-Dazs, has died. In 2004 she wrote The Emperor of Ice Cream: The True Story of Haagen-Dazs.
The Notability Criterion of Wikipedia
is what this Washington Post article addresses. Wikidumper rescues articles deleted from Wikipedia. This is another blog about Wikipedia, from a sociological perspective.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Vandalism in Canada
Kunstler's Eyesore of the Month for December
"The new addition to the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, by Daniel Libeskind-- scoring a two-in-a-row coup for the architect/savant on EOTM. Why are all those people standing around in the foreground gaping at this spectacle? They are from the Royal College of Physicians, trying to figure out a treatment plan. The stuffy old gentleman of a museum has developed a horrendous steel and glass tumor. It has become the "Elephant Man" of museums. Now, you may ask yourself: why is this sort of thing acceptable to the Guardians of Culture? The answer may be that it sends a truthful but subliminal message (which, alas, we are misinterpreting) that the mis-use of technology has become the fatal disease of civilization."
Kunstler also has a link to Dmitri Orlov's report on how the Soviet Union/Russia weathered its economic collapse.
Monday, December 04, 2006
Same As It Ever Was
Hunter Bishop notes that trouble is brewing with the 2006-08 County Council. Pete Hoffman is in charge now. Say what you will about Stacy Higa; at least he was never photographed making this choch facial expression.
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