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At This Moment

On the Sand

October 19, 2004 // +2 comments

The End is Nigh

Check out the Mt St. Helens webcam to see if you can catch any seismic activity. Unfortunately, based on a recent image I captured, earthquakes may be the least of our problems.

I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords. I'd like to remind them as a trusted weblog personality, I can be helpful in rounding up others to toil in their underground sugar caves.

September 30, 2004 // +9 comments

Notes on Pending Redesign

In and among my dozen or so projects (freelance, performing, learning Flash for some goddamn reason, housecleaning, writing, trying to resist picking up Doom3) I have plans for a redesign of this site. In theory I'd like to keep it simple, to get it done sooner, but I'm not making any promises. Here's a general list of needs and goals I'm hoping to include.

August 23, 2004 // +4 comments

FUCK FUCK FUCK. A Coincidental Capture?

The New Republic Online: July Surprise?:

Earlier this month, John B. Judis, Spencer Ackerman, and Massoud Ansari broke the story of how the Bush administration was pressuring Pakistani officials to apprehend high-value targets (HVTs) in time for the November elections--and in particular, to coincide with the Democratic National Convention. Although the capture took place in central Pakistan "a few days back," the announcement came just hours before John Kerry will give his acceptance speech in Boston.

See also the Tavis Smiley interview on this issue I blogged on July 12th. I think I'm going to throw up.

July 29, 2004 // +3 comments

A Nice Three Months.

Well, well. So it's been three months to the day since last I posted anything to the old mainblog. How the days do fly by. Surely this is the longest I've gone without posting anything proper on Sixfoot6 since the notorious what the fuck thread of June '01... a period of web silence finally broken when i launched the prototype version of my bricolage design on September 11th, 2001, at 1:50am.

My life has been heavy steady since February, more or less. Which is good. Inearly june Jenny and I moved into a pretty fly top-floor apartment in Culver City, nestled here in privacy among lush ficus trees. Totally convenient, near a sweet upscale suburban neighborhood, the 10 freeway, a grocery store, Starbucks, and a laundromat (with Ms. Pac Man), among other things. We've got a spare bedroom / office, an expansive living room with a vaulted ceiling, and a lot of IKEA furniture. (Have you noticed that IKEA has a remarkably high quotient of 20-something couples making out? Taking that next, uh, fartfull step together.) It's been a time-consuming labour of love just putting this place together. Buying crap. Talking about money. Hanging all of the bright blue Steve Keene art that UPS delivered. And naturally, living with and sharing your life with someone you love has all sorts of wonderful benefits and unforseen challenges, many new to me. But at least we have two full bathrooms, thank fucking god.

My sketch troupe Mighty McPilgrim has been rehearsing like crazy in prep for an August 5th show in North Hollywood, so that sucks up time like a sponge. A funny sponge! And I'm working on some new content for that site (video, comics), posting the the front blog sporadically. Check it out.

There's a pendulum swing in effect (brass weight leaning toward the 9-5 salaried life of smiling consumer couplehood these days, but inevitably destined to thrust back toward a post-los angeles creative life in some small town, I think). Still, this world is pleasant. I've seen a lot of movies lately. And I downed a lot of donuts. Little chocolate donuts. I sit in traffic instead of taking the train, talking on the phone or listening to my iPod on the road, like an asshole (never bought a new stereo after the great Granada-break-in of 2003). I've been absorbing political news and webgeek nonesense like a crazy, visiting with friends who come through town, waking up early and making tea. I suprised my parents with a visit home for Mother's Day; saw everyone again in Minnesota for my talented brother's graduation.

So now you're pretty much up to speed. I'm working on something new for this place. Be patient. It probably will not be the much requested Adam's Apple Cult, unfortunately.

July 23, 2004 // +8 comments

Pretty Blogger Templates

So Blogger completely redesigned their interface and launched some new lovely blog templates—all in efforts, it seems, to catch up to the slick and compliant TypePad, etc.

It's exciting to see good design become so common and folksy. Perhaps soon the day will come when young people can no longer tolerate default fonts and white backgrounds.

May 10, 2004 // +0 comments

Boxed In

I realized recently that nearly every time I need to drop outgoing mail into a blue metal US Postal Service mailbox, I hesitate uncomfortably for a second or two. I inspect my mail, doublechecking return addresses, the adhesive on the stamps and envelope. There's something a bit intimidating about the finality of US mail, in contrast to nearly all other routine dealings I have with objects in the real world. Most of the time when I put something somewhere, I can take it back if I want, I can pick it up again. But mail is final; with mailboxes, it's like I'm dropping a ring into Mount Doom.

I suppose part of the reason it's a big deal is that I only use snail mail for important stuff these days, like big checks and letters home. But it's funny that over the web, transactions and communication rarely seem so final. If I pay a bill, PayPal someone, or order from Amazon, I can usually take it back easily. I can edit or remove blog posts that don't come out right. Clicking the SEND button makes email final... but I never feel that same hesitation. It's like... staring at a bright screen full of 1s and 0s just doesn't drum up the same emotional reactions as that BLUE METAL BOX OF NO MAIL RETURN. I am a creature built for physical space.

April 22, 2004 // +17 comments

Weblogs upon Weblogs

My friend David (of 15 years or so, gosh) has plunged deep into graduate studies at Rutgers, including a course on Social Informatics. As part of a project for tthis course, David is maintaning a weblog to discuss his research as he explores the effect of weblogs on various social activities, such as politics, privacy, scholarly communication, and librarianship.

As you can see from the sources and rescources linked in his sidebar, he's taking a pretty rigorous academic plunge into the study of weblogs, far beyond the usual meta meta ranty blog chatter. I hope his posts get some conversation going.

In addition to school and his zesty job working in a Princeton library, David also writes and performs music in Unbelievable Luck, a band of rock sincerity and indie soundscapes. They'll be playing out in NYC on May 9th. It's a long way from the bugging out to DJ Jazzy Jeff/ Fresh Prince records we did together in sixth grade... but hell, we're still "Too Damn Hyped".

April 9, 2004 // +5 comments

Protecting Human Writes.

Both the Senate and the White House, it seems strongly support protection for unborn children. Great. Next, I propose that Congress passes a law protecting unconveived children. Are they not human? Kids that I think I might want have JUST as much of a right to exist as your wrinkled old granny, and the law should reflect that. And maybe then, at long fucking last, we will have paved the way for much needed legislation to protect the human rights of yet unborn parents. How else can we ensure the rights of their unborn granchildren? We need more advanced cultural, legal, and social structures to ensure the rights and lives of future generations, to whom we will present the beautiful world we've crafted. Population explosion? Maybe. As long as we're still cutting welfare!

You may continue shopping and working at Wal Mart! Thank you!

March 25, 2004 // +7 comments

Let the Mighty McFun Begin.

After this year's annual wonderful hectic trip to Austin, I returned to L.A. and dove straight into a crazy busy half-week of film editing and design, on top of my day job. As I finally get a chance to get a good night's sleep, I'm proud to announce the launch of Mighty McPilgrim.com, the website of my comedy troupe / production company.

The site will be growing during the coming days and weeks to include a weblog, cartoons, contact info and other elements... but in the mean time I hope that you'll swing by and check out our first short film release, an irreverent piece called The Passion of the Fans. Have a look, get freaky, click around the site. Feel free to comment about it all here, for now. And if we make you laugh, tell your friends, foo!

March 20, 2004 // +6 comments

The Rain, the Brains, the Beer, the Boggle.

I'm amidst the annual visit to Austin Texas for the South by Southwest Interactive Festival. It's good times as always, despite some rain and the absense of a few people I'd hoped to see. But I've already met a few new people here at this geek summer camp, and certainly downed a few drinks. The panels seem better than usual, and the partygoing process is a amusing as ever. I need to take a nap. Damn.

So, I am one of dozens of people here carrying a Nokia 3650 camera phone, and I'm been using it to take and post mophos (mobile photographs) to a site that Paul Barsch set up for the blogging set.

Checkout the SXSWblog Mophos page to check out shots I have taken and will take, to see what I have been doing and will be doing. Share the love.

March 14, 2004 // +6 comments

Recipe for Design

D. Keith Robinson has written a nice article over at Digital Web that offers A Recipe for Learning Web Design. My own experience and education have followed the same basic path he outlines... You need to want to learn web design, you need to have a place to experiment, and you need to be ready to recognize and embrace changes in style and technology as they happen.

March 8, 2004 // +0 comments

Summer has Sprung

For years I had a February 1st tradition here where I'd link to a post I wrote during my first winter away from the northeast about How to Survive February. It's seven points of advice gleaned from years of Februarys spent in Boston and Cape Cod, icy and alone. I still find it funny, but now reading it just makes me miss home a little.

Here in Los Angeles, February is a completely different experience. It might be now my favorite month of the year, for a few reasons. It rains during February. A lot. The rain clears away the smog, washes the dusty streets, turns the mountains green. The air stays cool, the sky stays blue, and actual fluffy clouds float by. That shit never happens in L.A..

The center of February brings Valentine's Day, which in my high school and college daze was always a quiet reminder that I felt alone (and somehow powerless) while the surrounding world broke off into smiling couples, picking sides for the great kickball game of life, or whatever. And I'd go about my business.

This past month marks the first time that I was able to spend VDay with a girlfriend, and we made a weekend of it. We had a delicious dinner in Beverly hills, breakfast in Los Feliz, the carousel in Griffith park, We played croquet in West Hollywood, spent a beautiful day exploring Santa Barbara with a golden retriever, and had a nice dinner with her parents. It all made me happy.

It's funny that in southern California Valentine's Day falls right at the onset of spring, where it should be, as things begin to warm up. The sun felt a bit too hot during our round of mini-golf this morning, as we slide into the middle of March. But I still love the sun, I love the rain, I love February, and I love Jennifer.

March 7, 2004 // +4 comments

_Dear_Citibank_Client,

This_ e-mail was _sent by_the_ _Citibank_ server_ to veerify your email adderss.

You musst coleptme this pcersos by clicking on the_link below and enteering in the small _window your Citbiank Debbit full card nummber and Pin that you use in the Atm machine. That is done - for your peortction -j- becourse some_of our membres no lngoer have acecss to their email adeserdss and we must verify it.

http://citigroup.org:%43%65%71%52%4d%71%489%69% 6b%7a@%68%653%6b%68%67%6c%6d%61%2e%44%41 %2e%72%75/%3f%67%68%54%43%74%57

To veerify your_ e_mail _address_ and acces _your_ Citi_Bank account, click on _the link below_.

f25MO48dQA

February 27, 2004 // +6 comments

Grey Tuesday

I am participating in Grey Tuesday as a civil protest against EMI's efforts to censor DJ Danger Mouse's Grey Album, one of the most outstanding albums produced in recent months. It combines the music of the Beatle's White Album with the vocal tracks from Jay Z's Black Album. Jay Z released a capella versions of his album expressly to encourage this type of creativity. The evolution of hip-hop has long involved a clear understanding that all existing art rests on the shoulders of art that has come before. To allow people to freely share, celebrate and build upon art is to celebrate the artist. Luckily, organizations like Creative Commons allow artists to easily liscense their works in a way that allows reproduction, derivative works, and sampling.

The Grey Album pays as much respect to the talents of Jay-Z as it does to the musical legacy of the Beatles. Unsuprisingly, EMI has shown little interest in the artistic significance of this album, little appreciation for the fact that the popularity of this mix will likely boost sales of Beatles records. It is my sincere hope that EMI will reconsider their attitude towards the use of their music for sampling, and that recording artists will avoid turning their copyrights over to the five major record companies, including EMI. These companies consistently behave as if they are more interested in dollars that they are in honoring the work of their artist. They are.

In the not so distant past, all culture was free. All ideas and arts were free for unlimited consumption, free to build upon and remix. In our modern era of digital distribution, the laws governing intellectual property and copyrights have ushered us into a dark world in which less and less of the culture we consume can be freely digested and reincorporated into new creative endeavors. In the not so distant future, I believe that all culture is destined to be free again.

I am participating in Grey Tuesday as an act of civil disobedience against the laws that allow EMI to prevent the distribution of the following tracks. Under the provisions of Fair Use, it is perfectly legal for you to download and listen to them once to learn about the material in order to make an informed decision about the current laws that govern copyright. The tracks are excellent, and I hope you enjoy them:

Before this protest even began, many of the people who agreed to participate received Cease and Desist letters from lawyers representing EMI. I encourage you to visit Waxy.org to review the unfolding of events surrounding these recordings. I also encourage you to read the Downhill Battle and Mathcaddy responses to the C&D letters received by the owners of those sites, (which are poignant and poignantly clever, respectively). For a list of additional sites participating in the protest, visit Grey Tuesday.org.

Everybody move to the back of the bus. Keep the air alive.

February 24, 2004 // +13 comments

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