We're Not Who You Think We Are
Arrrrrrrgh! Edition
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To the best of my knowledge, the sky has been falling since the sky was created. We have been in the Decline of Western Civilization since before the Roman Empire fell. And I know the following to be true: radio will kill books, movies will kill radio, television will kill movies, the Internet will kill television, and the Youth Are Out of Control.
Also, home taping will kill music. Mark my words.
That’s a direct-ish quote from the music industry in the early 1980s (before we had such miracles as CDs or DVDs or Kindles). Music, as most of us know, still exists. Which is nice because if it didn’t, what would I be listening to right now? Silence, instead of Ornette Coleman. Sure, I could hum, but that would be like making music, and home taping came oh-so-close to taking away even that simple pleasure.
[Read more…] about The End is Nigh, and Other Myths
Sound Fundamentals Edition
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The Gift of Life Edition
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We get press releases on a continual basis here at ‘loper HQ, but not every press release is touting something that cuts us to our very souls.
Here’s one that does:
Rock legends From The Jam are putting the final touches on their soon-to-be-released live DVD. The two-disc set will feature their blow-out performance at London’s Kentish Town Forum as well as in-depth interviews with each of the band members. The release date is TBD, but in the meantime here is a fun sneak preview of the band performing their hit song “Down In The Tube Station At Midnight”
Not “The Jam.” But “From The Jam.” Rick Buckler & Bruce Foxton? Yes. Paul Weller? Not so much. He went away from The Jam in 1982, never to return.
[Read more…] about From The Jam Should Go Back To Where They Came From
Damn You! I’m Not An Actor, I’m A Movie Star! Edition
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I used two bookmarks when I read David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest: one for where I was in the story proper, and one for where I was in the footnotes, which, as everybody who’s ever read it knows, were massive, and often chapter-sized in and of themselves.
As anybody who cares to know already knows, Wallace was found dead this weekend — an apparent suicide — and I’m still trying to wrap my head around it.
Dude was my age. He wrote one of the key novels of the past couple of decades. And was one of those writers who I loved unreservedly, and I devoured the essay and short story collections as well, especially Oblivion1.
His writing was deeply erudite, and yet totally piss-taking about that erudition. One of those writers who felt like he was coming from exactly the cultural space I come from, but so much more literate. He looked a lot like the people I’ve been hanging around with for my entire adult life, one of the few people who create art I love that I actually figured I could also have a beer with. But he thought so little of his life that he needed to end it.
Shit.
Finite Jest Edition
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Holy Coke, Batman Edition
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Monday was a bad day for Vivian C. Brown of Wilmington, N.C.. The 79 year-old missed her programs as Wilmington became the first city in the U.S. to make the switch from analog to digital TV.
Depending on who you talk to, the Wilmington switchover was either a resounding success, or a valuable learning experience. Regardless, the rest of the country will make the switch next February, and, based on the results in the test market, it looks like there may be a lot of work to do in the meantime.
The switchover worked — that much is undeniable. Analog television sets in Wilmington will no longer display a picture unless they’re connected to an analog-to-digital converter box.
Of more concern is the fact that over 1,000 Wilmington residents called the FCC help line over a two day period. While the FCC is quick to point out that 1,000 help calls represents less than 1% of the total Wilmington market, that number becomes problematic when applied to the entire nation.
[Read more…] about The Digital TV Transition: A Disaster in the Making