It's only a paper 'toon

Okay, so the animator went some distance to getting on my good side by starting with a Stephen Wright quote. Even aside from that, though, it's an eye-popping piece of work.

Paper Daydream from Jun Iwakawa on Vimeo.

The future is here. A future is here. Who ordered this future?

Passing by the Apple store in the mall, it looks kind of futuristic in a way between The Jetsons and 2001: A Space Odyssey. Something you can marvel at. Whenever I step inside, though, I get a sort of sinking feeling. It's a combination of business casual uniforms that announce the takeover of leisure time by commerce, the ever-present LED video screens, the sleek countertops that discourage any sales associate from tarrying.

A lot of the postindustrial landscape is like this: a machine where people aren't really necessary parts. I wouldn't really put all of this on Steve Jobs' shoulders, but I really don't think Maria Bustillos' recent essay is just a posthumous attack on the man. (Warning: By some weird irony, you may be redirected to a Chevy ad. Just hit the X and you'll be returned to The Awl.) It's more an examination of the cycles of design, how it goes from personal and democratic to impersonal and autocratic. And the Dieter Rams pieces that illustrate the former really are kind of nice.

21st century Friday Random Ten blues

I just tried logging into this blog and initially it didn't work. I was getting a message that said "password changed within last 24 hours. Didn't change password?" No, no I didn't, I thought. Then I remembered that for some convoluted reason I had changed my login for Google accounts, and apparently that changed the password for Blogger too. So again I manage to make myself paranoid without drugs. Triumph!

1. Jimi Hendrix - Crosstown Traffic
2. R.E.M. - Life and How to Live It
3. Mika - Lollipop
4. 8½ Souvenirs - Sharp-Dressed Man
5. Soul Coughing - Idiot Kings
6. Elvis Costello - Veronica
7. Tom Waits - Raised Right Men
8. Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #2 (Laika)
9. Joe Jackson - Happy Loving Couples
10. John Lee Hooker - Whistling and Moaning

The musicality of my surroundings

Another absurd tempest in a teapot, but this one has kind of an awesome side. There's been the usual grousing about liberal media bias, as if the drummer for a late night talk show was NBC's chief opinion-maker. Conservative persecution complexes haven't gotten any more interesting over the years.

But everyone who's offended is spreading the word about fishbone. Without some knowledge of their work, the music is just a tight little jingle, which is why Bachman herself showed no reaction to it during the show. So there's no such thing as bad publicity here. Not that Fishbone would consider it bad publicity. As sort of confirmed here, I doubt Angelo Moore would piss on her if she were on fire, unless he really needed to take a piss.

And a four-footed friend shall lead them

Not much mystery as to why African painted dogs would make a good teaching situation for kids (inner city kids, in this case.) They're badass hunters from hot, unforgiving grasslands. And as some of the squee-riffic pictures at the link show, they're also cute as all get-out. Geared to a young audience, they truly have something for everyone.

Scents of decorum

At the library I was sitting next to a gentleman who I guess had put on some kind of talc after shaving. It was a pleasant smell, but it's the kind of thing you have to pretend not to notice. You can't just tell another man you don't know, "Hey man, you smell good." It could lead to misunderstandings, and ugly situations in general.

Of course if you compliment a female stranger on her perfume she might think you're creepy too. I thnk you probably take a slightly different path to discomfort there.

An exchange and Friday Random Ten

Someone at work said that I'd been quiet all day. Which I had been, I suppose. I said that everyone seemed pretty quiet to me today. She shook her haid and said no. So I was like "What did I miss?"

1. Reading Rainbow - Always On My Mind
2. The Kinks - Two Sisters
3. Brian Eno - No One Receiving
4. Nick Drake - One of These Things First
5. Soul Coughing - Soft Serve
6. Arcade Fire - Wake Up
7. Gnarls Barkley - Going On
8. Tom Waits - Raised Right Men
9. The New Pornographers - Jackie
10. Nancy Wilson - For Heaven's Sake