Just North of Something Important

chrismohney: Who are you to judge us

Fri, 17 May 2013 21:49:48 -0700

Who are you to judge us

'Better Than a 10-Inch Dick': Showgirls Lives Onstage and In Hearts

Fri, 17 May 2013 09:54:05 -0700

'Better Than a 10-Inch Dick': Showgirls Lives Onstage and In Hearts:

Showgirls the Musical probably shouldn’t work as well as it does – crucial to Showgirls’ charm is its obliviousness. In an essay in its photo book companion that’s as misguided as the film itself, Showgirls: Portrait of a Film, Verhoven gushes, “I got to direct an MGM musical!” Slate writer and Barneys creative-ambassador-at-large Simon Doonan is an opening-weekender like myself who is well connected enough to have discussed the film with its stars Elizabeth Berkley and Kyle MacLachlan. “The fascinating thing is that they all concur that while they were making the movie, they thought they were just making a really dramatic film about Vegas,” he told me last weekend over the phone, cackling. “Which, of course, they were. They said they were just showing up for work that day and throwing themselves into it. They were unaware that they were making a camp classic. They had no sense of it at all. I guess that’s what makes it so genuinely, ferociously camp is that it was done for real. It’s haute couture camp.”

You should obviously go read Rich Juzwiak on the Showgirls musical.

Social media are not self-expression

Fri, 17 May 2013 09:38:33 -0700

Social media are not self-expression:

Barthel lauds the “demos, experiments, collaborative public works, jokes, notes, reading lists, sketches, appreciations, outbursts of pique” that are “absolutely vital to continuing the business of creation.” But the degree that these are all affixed to a personal brand when serially broadcast on social media depletes their vitality. If PJ Harvey released the demos as she made them to a Myspace page, would there ever have been a finished Rid of Me? Would the end product merely have been PJ Harvey, as the fecund musician?

Rob Horning wrote an excellent response to my PJ Harvey piece, which you should read. My quibble with his point here would be that those things I list, which were not publicly-facing pre-internet (or at least less publicly-facing) were still in many ways about “personal brand.” Novelists write letters to other novelists as a way of developing their ideas and social relationships, sure, but also as a way of firming up their reputation among their peers - who will, at the end of the day, be the people who are primarily fixing the interpretation and worth of their art. I think the same thing’s happening here. Social media, especially Twitter, is largely used to interact with your professional/creative peers in a way that grows your reputation, while also providing less material benefits. Needing that instant feedback can become a crutch, but I’m not entirely sure the need didn’t exist before, too.

(I’d also say that there are a number of musicians who, even in these days of mega-internetting, have managed to maintain at least as much mystery and completeness as Harvey did. Some artists prefer an outward-directed approach to creativity whereas others thrive in isolation. What works for Jeff Mangum doesn’t work for Bradford Cox, and vice versa.)

ryanhatesthis: work emails

Fri, 17 May 2013 08:51:15 -0700

ryanhatesthis:

work emails

For sale: baby shoes, never worn

Fri, 17 May 2013 08:03:06 -0700

citationneeded:

Link (Thanks, Stillsaw!)

britticisms: (via kafka-on-the-shore) “Lose Yourself To Dance”...

Thu, 16 May 2013 23:16:09 -0700

britticisms:

(via kafka-on-the-shore)

“Lose Yourself To Dance” by Daft Punk

OK. Whoever created this understands some of the motivation behind Daft Punk’s new record, which is why it’s such a perfect visual-audio mashup. A part of me feels like Daft Punk would approve of this. It’s so simple, yet on point.

Fuck you cookie

Thu, 16 May 2013 21:38:25 -0700

Fuck you cookie

Yahoo reportedly eyeing Tumblr for possible $1 billion acquisition

Thu, 16 May 2013 19:08:29 -0700

Yahoo reportedly eyeing Tumblr for possible $1 billion acquisition:

fatmanatee:

Is Yahoo trying to acquire Tumblr? Earlier today, All Things D reported that the two companies were in “serious” talks about some kind of deal, and now Adweek is saying that Yahoo is looking to do…

I always thought Tumblr was built to be acquired by another company but I didn’t think it would be Yahoo.

Great, now none of us are going to be able to work from home anymore

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis endorsed a slate of candidates in...

Thu, 16 May 2013 16:29:00 -0700

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis endorsed a slate of candidates in the University of Washington’s student government elections this year.

'The Office,' 'How I Met Your Mother,' & Why Ending Sitcoms Can Save Them

Thu, 16 May 2013 13:41:49 -0700

'The Office,' 'How I Met Your Mother,' & Why Ending Sitcoms Can Save Them:

The Office has been nearly unwatchable for a few seasons and crossed the line into full irrelevance soon after Steve Carell left. Jim and Pam had moved from romantic tension into a functionally perfect relationship, and Ed Helms’ Andy seemed to change his basic personality traits every few episodes, making him very hard to care about. But halfway through this final season, Jim and Pam began having marriage problems after Jim pursued a career in another city without considering Pam’s needs. For a few episodes, we were faced with the wonderful possibility that the series might end with them breaking up. The Jim-Pam relationship was why people emotionally connected to The Office, and as wonderfully as the relationship had been written (primarily by Mindy Kaling), it would’ve been revelatory to see it critiqued, too. They seem to have reconciled, unfortunately, but by holding out the possibility of an actual breakup — sitcom main characters will always reconcile if there’s more time to fill, but might not if the show needs a climactic twist — it provided a firm dramatic center for the always-impressive supporting cast to do great work. (The series now looks to end on a goopy reunion note, but on the other hand Jim finds himself trapped in the exact same job at which he started, his dreams foiled by his own self-centeredness, so that’s a satisfying ending for those of us who’ve grown to truly despise Jim.)

On The Office, HIMYM, and why endings can be a creative boon.

deepomega: Video games don’t face this constraint. They have a...

Thu, 16 May 2013 08:46:17 -0700

deepomega:

Video games don’t face this constraint. They have a singular ability to depict how many ways it is possible for things to go wrong. As a player, you are forced to either inhabit the skin of a character who strives and fails over and over again. Seeing how hard it is for a character to get by lets us experience another person’s life at a deeper level than traditional media forms permit. The character’s experience and the players’ are not identical, but drawing them down similar paths creates new kinds of empathy. (via Born to Lose – The New Inquiry)

I finally found a home for my essay on video game narratives, and the way that failure should be treated within the medium. It took me six months of reworking it to take out the long Borges quote this originally started with, which just goes to show that writing and video games have more in common than we usually acknowledge in re: failure loops.

"Why, exactly, is it more in reporters’ interests to be more aggressive in its coverage of Obama..."

Wed, 15 May 2013 19:37:26 -0700

“Why, exactly, is it more in reporters’ interests to be more aggressive in its coverage of Obama right now than it was before? Easy. Now that ”the town” has turned on Obama, being as aggressive as possible in going after him will lead to accolades among media colleagues and ingratiate you with sources, including even Congressional Democrats who will presumably now distance themselves from the White House, in the knowledge that ”the town” has decided the President is in political trouble.”

- When the Village turns on a President (via firthofforth)

cnet: Apple passes 50 billion App Store downloads The phrase...

Wed, 15 May 2013 18:27:01 -0700

cnet:

Apple passes 50 billion App Store downloads

The phrase “Thanks to you” here makes me irrationally but intensely angry

I appreciated this skit about taking compliments from Inside Amy...

Wed, 15 May 2013 10:20:19 -0700

I appreciated this skit about taking compliments from Inside Amy Schumer last night.

nedraggett: And why, you ask, am I showing you this photo of a...

Wed, 15 May 2013 09:01:10 -0700

nedraggett:

And why, you ask, am I showing you this photo of a Melody Maker reviews page from May 1, 1993? Simple.

It’s well-established lore that Daft Punk got their name from a review in MM of a song by the band Darlin’, which consisted of Thomas Bangalter, Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Laurent Brancowitz, the latter of whom went on to help form Phoenix. A reproduction of the text of the actual review — which was on a multi-band double 7” called Shimmies in Super 8, released by Stereolab’s Duophonic label and featuring that band as well along with Colm and Huggy Bear — has circulated widely and is understandably well known. Hey, the name of one of the most famous bands in the world emerges almost fully formed, why not capture where?

However, as the image I’ve linked shows, what’s circulated is a cleaned-up scan of the original review but nothing more — Melody Maker singles review pages were just that, a full page of nothing but the singles chosen and written by whoever had the job that week. Thus, no name attached to that review as it has circulated.

So earlier today Simon Price, on an Facebook group for veterans who wrote for MM, asked if anyone remembered exactly who wrote that. I’d noticed the conversation and volunteered that it might be Ian Gittins, though it turns out he was in Siberia (literally) at the time.

One thing I’m secretly fond of is my collection of just about every MM issue I ever bought, mostly running from three years from summer 1991 to sometime in fall 1994. It’s a great portrait of a time and I’ve delved into it every so often to dig up reviews and things upon request, though I’ve had to scrounge my brain every so often. Happily the general time period of the review was already known so it was just a matter of checking through a few issues, and behold!

So at long last it can be confirmed that the person who gets the credit for naming Daft Punk thanks to his quick aside is Dave Jennings, stalwart Wedding Present fan of MM among many other things. This was from the May 1, 1993 issue of MM, with the cover stars being Ozric Tentacles, other features including St. Etienne, Aphex Twin and No-Man, and the lead album reviews being New Order’s Republic by Simon Price and Cranes’ Forever by David Stubbs. Also number one in the official charts that week were George Michael and Lisa Stansfield doing Queen covers in the singles charts (eh, whatever) and Aerosmith’s Get a Grip in the album charts (seriously, WHY?) Also, Ian Gittins did the letters column so maybe he’d just returned.

Meantime, as you can see among the other singles reviews — Drugstore and Utah Saints get a nod, while he trashes Hothouse Flowers, Kingmaker, Rage Against the Machine (I approve) and Depeche Mode (NOW WAIT A GODDAMN MINUTE) — his two full choices that week were the mighty fine Voodoo Queens and Bleed, who I only know the name of and who I kept confusing at the time with Breed.

Also, as an example of fine MM fettle, allow me to quote from the Kingmaker review at the start:

The amazing thing about Kingmaker is the way they manage to adopt all the most infuriating traits of other bands from their peer group, while unerringly avoiding incorporating any of the same bands’ redeeming features.

And that’s how you do a review. And name a famous band while you’re at it.

"But from public space, all you can see is a Koons, a balloon dog. You can’t see the vastly smaller,..."

Wed, 15 May 2013 08:45:25 -0700

“But from public space, all you can see is a Koons, a balloon dog. You can’t see the vastly smaller, sadder balloon rat, held up in protest by the teamsters. It’s almost as good a joke, if not good art, but anyway it does not matter, because it is on the other side of the gated entrance, and therefore, is not art at all.”

- Who Are the People That Get to Make This Thing We Call Art? - by Sarah Nicole Prickett (via mollycrabapple)

shitty: markrichardson: Sheila E doing “Glamorous Life” at the...

Tue, 14 May 2013 22:51:04 -0700

shitty:

markrichardson:

Sheila E doing “Glamorous Life” at the American Music Awards in 1985. This performance is bonkers. For the first third she sings lead while standing and also playing the lead percussion part. Then she takes the mic and dances around. And then the lights on stage go dark and she solos on drums in the dark with glow-in-the-dark sticks.

Two things occur to me watching this, and recently revisiting Sheila E’s first two albums. One, Prince in the 1980s was the kind of pop genius that comes along every 20-30 years, maybe. The amount of brilliant, boundary-pushing, but still accessible music he was responsible for, as both a solo performer or, as with this song, as a writer/producer, is simply astonishing. It’s honestly like talking about Albert Einstein in 1905, that’s how in the zone he was. It was a decade of a true and lasting genius by an artist at the height of his powers who was given all kinds of resources. A rare thing.

The second thing is what a talent Sheila E was (and probably still is, though I haven’t heard anything she’s done in some time). She had a few big hits, two good records, and came from a remarkable family of musicians (she had several first-call percussionists of note in her family). In the late 1980s she was Prince’s live drummer and also was also the leader of his backing band (you can see her considerable skills behind a proper kit in the Sign O the Times film). Imagine what it takes to be Prince’s musical director in those years, for him to hand over the keys.

Put down whatever you are doing and make sure you watch this video.

Also before the drum solo somebody comes out and puts a white fur coat on her.

grimelords: melt your kin into your drinks this is the end of...

Tue, 14 May 2013 21:53:57 -0700

grimelords:

melt your kin into your drinks this is the end of the world

I am pretty excited about seersucker weather, yes.

Tue, 14 May 2013 19:30:20 -0700

I am pretty excited about seersucker weather, yes.

Who Owns the Future? Not the Middle Class

Tue, 14 May 2013 11:00:43 -0700

Who Owns the Future? Not the Middle Class:

Technology itself was not the cause for the disruption in the U.S. labor market that limited entry-level jobs and made work in general less secure and more contingent. Tech giants Kodak and IBM once offered stable long-term careers with the best benefits in America. The layoffs there and elsewhere that reshaped corporate America and eliminated hundreds of thousands of middle-class jobs began before there was even a commercial World Wide Web. The blustery rhetoric of Internet innovation saving a tired, weakened American economy was not possible without the tropes and metaphors that Ronald Reagan introduced into political speech in the 1980s. The challenges the middle class faced then and continue to struggle with are not the result of technological change but broad economic and political shifts that began well before html. Tom Streeter has called the spirit of the dot-com era “Romantic” (as in Henry David Thoreau, not Match.com; a dialogue on Streeter’s book edited by yours truly is over at Culture Digitally). The romantic individualism that pervades the culture of the Internet means that that these responses to economic change were talked about in terms of rugged individualism and self-fulfillment, not in terms collective or social. That’s not accidental. A generation of layoffs, political rhetoric about the virtues of good ol’ American risk-taking, fatally weakened labor unions, and permanently slowed job growth. In other words, social responses to economic problems lost traction and a cultural vision of rugged individualism and entrepreneurial pluck saving the economy won.

Gina Neff on Jaron Lanier, making some excellent points.