November 2007

On the Web

• Fray Returns: The beloved site filled with true stories is reborn as a printed quarterly volume!
• Design Doing: A nice roundup and response to recent conversations regarding the relevance of web design within the greater spectrum of design.
• Charts and Graphs of Rap Song Lyrics: The title says it all. Fall-down funny stuff.
• Curriculum Vitae: The long-awaited followup to The Story of Eh, this fantastic new book of comics from Kevin Cornell… See more →

Nineteen years later, Metallica's ...And Justice for All is still one bleak, ugly album, surprisingly strengthened by the anemic production.

Pretty much anything will seem a frivolous followup to my last tweet, but I'm really digging today's Layer Tennis match so far.

Holy crap, there's a hostage crisis at Hillary Clinton's NH campaign office: thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/…

overheard: "Attention please! This car is backing up." Talking vehicles! We're finally living in the future!

working from @jasonsantamaria's place, where I am reminded that the MacBook didn't yet exist when Apple designed the Cinema HD Display.

There are four people in this train car, and I still can't hear myself think. Why must portable devices breed such ugly sollipsism?

still not seeing what's "more accessible" about the last couple of Deerhoof records.

happily subscribed to the new incarnation of Fray: fray.com

Hey, "internet entrepreneurs": I hear Clorox and Coke is a tasty cocktail.

wasn't going to finish this AIGA article, but glad I did (there's a real gem at the end): aiga.org/content.cfm/a-foolpr…

Anyone to whom I introduce This Is Spinal Tap is doomed to love it less than I do.

discovering the Photoshop DCS format, which didn't exist the last time I did prepress spot color separations in Photoshop, many years ago.

contemplating the persuasive merits of allegory and subtext over blunt clarity.

It's funny that 15 years ago, Ministry's sole recorded guitar solo poked fun at wanky guitar heros, and now every song has a wah'd-out solo.

trying out the new Ministry album against my better judgement.

Courtesy of Mr. Kevin Cornell.

saw a van slam pretty hard into a telephone pole in a shameful attempt at parallel parking.

so not asking enough of my MacBook for it to be behaving this way. Wondering if I really should have just sucked it up and gone Pro.

Margot at the Wedding is one masochistic little film. I didn't exactly dislike it, but I wouldn't say I liked it either.

paranoid that I'm surrounded by 9/11 conspiracy theorists.

My bank outfitted a caterer providing cookies in an unfortunate black sweatshirt with its logo. She looked like an out-of-shape cat burglar.

watching Hollow Man II in bed. Without such wonderful technologies as Google Video and the iPhone, I might have wasted these two hours.

noticing that I tend to arrange shelf contents as if I were setting type: flush left.

It just took five hours for my dad and me to install two sets of closet shelves he made, because I live in a funhouse with no right angles.

The laws of physics have changed, not me.

got back to sleep, dreamt I was a shepherd in a Christmas pageant and took a nap in the office and woke up in someone else's underwear.

wide awake way too early and suddenly understanding what that Wikipedia background image is.

home, stuffed, and not quite sure how much longer I'll be conscious.

barely able to keep my eyes open thanks to the fireworks lullaby my neighbors are treating me to.

noticing more people smoking weed in public lately.

Five hours later, Guitar Hero 3 is confirmed to be just as addictive as its predecessors.

wishing everyone a happy Thanksgiving.

Despite it being the eve of a holiday that has filled our bellies with pie and M&Ms, the office is not a happy place today.

devouring some pecan pie and mulling over some seemingly inaccurate printer specs.

wondering once again why the Weather widget in Dashboard only sometimes lets me click on the city name for more info.

seeing if I can publicly lambast all who perpetuate this incredibly irritating lolcat idiocy without hurting my misguided friends' feelings.

Anyone know of any freeware or shareware apps that can produce vector EPS barcodes?

How do you stay awake on a miserable, rainy Tuesday? A shitload of fried rice, that's how.

respecting the notion of making something truly your own, without regard for its resale value.

just got some spam from someone named Hustler Doodly.

Apparently they don't make winter coats for people under 200 lbs, including children.

It really couldn't be any simpler: If you're in the theater and the movie is playing, shut your fucking mouth and keep it fucking shut.

wondering which of the myriad Moleskine pronunciations I've heard is the correct one.

having a heated imaginary conversation with the person who devised the standard for the plastic CD jewel case.

just watched The Decline of Western Civilization: Part III. I hope that fabled DVD set of all three films actually happens.

vowing to find out how the Forum (Center City Philadelphia's's sole remaining porno theater) stays in business in this day and age.

not sure whether I'm proud, horrified, or both by the extreme abuse I heap upon @iamjolly. Definitely impressed by how he takes it in stride

Overheard: "You know what my son's response to that is? 'Do you want some cheese with that whine?'" Big belly laughs.

thinking that I might have to make the tie a requirement for all button-down shirts from now on. All balls or nothing.

Using the Mac OS X Update's required Restart / Shut Down to segue out of the office.

Show me that smile again. Don't waste another minute on your crying. We're nowhere near the end. The best is ready to begin.

just opened up my very own deluxe limited edition Helvetica DVD, complete with a lead Helvetica Neue Bold Extended letter S!

Man, iTunes just can't get enough of the Meatmen lately.

Happy birthday, Condoleezza Rice!

Everything is Billy Joel's fault. Everything.

watching The Commitments, realizing once again that I own far too few R&B and soul records.

consuming my own flesh.

Q: Three-day-old donut? A: Yes.

@jgarber: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaker_%28M…

glad the dogsitting is over, but bummed I missed Melt-Banana last night due to rain.

returning from a thorough teeth scraping, which unearthed 15-year-old orthodontal cement. Dental hygienist or archaelogist? You decide.

Another morning with the dog: imdb.com/gallery/ss/0103644/S…

Dog-sitting destruction tally (so far): 1 couch, 2 blankets, 1 book. Indoor defecation: 3. Indoor urination: 1.

No Country for Old Men was outstanding; sort of a more mature Blood Simple. Ssoooo glad to see the Coens back in top form.

disappointed in the selection of battle axes served up by Google Images.

kicking off A Day in the CSS Zen Garden at the Happy Cog Philly office.

Two young girls in a Barnes & Noble just did did a poor job of secretly laughing at me for reasons I know not.

"customizing" a "customizable" Flash video player.

listening to some ultra-nerdy wanker metal, noting how much more attention is paid to technical chops versus actual composition.

first close call on the fixed gear this morning. Good to know this bike makes me just as invisible as every other I've ridden in this city.

never owning a puppy.

in the last hour: passed a firetruck putting out a car fire, saw a stray dog steal an entire bag of trash, got my 50 millionth flat tire.

on a FOWD-bound train, as Tom Waits once sang.

not particularly enjoying the new Dillinger Escape Plan record.

wishing people could make up their fucking minds once in awhile.

PC people: suggestions for good software that syncs Google Calendar with Outlook?

wondering just how many clicks it takes to get to the Unsubscribe center of the Print Magazine newsletter.

in need of some new kicks because my current ones are junk: zappos.com/n/p/dp/6725870/c/8…

I'm not so into mashups, but Mission of Burma's "Max Ernst" and Art Brut's "Emily Kane" would make a pretty seamless "Emily Ernst."

contemplating the complete dissolution of autonomy and dignity.

in a nursing home, listening to a gloriously off-key, geriatric rendition of "Disco Inferno."

trying out chesspark.com

noticing that when I'm in NYC, whether I'm in a hurry or not, I'm in a hurry.

decided to wear a tie today.

feeling like a loser after failing my second attempt at using masonry fasteners. Handyman I amn't.

vainly attempting to fetishize the least sexy product on the planet.

wishing Photoshop would let me set up grid preferences for individual documents.

recalling a time when I didn't think twice about drinking tap water.

I hate to say it, but some Steve Reich pieces are the perfect soundtrack for a low-key A-Team-style montage. Just what I need right now.