September 2008

In the Stereo

• Opeth: Watershed
• TV on the Radio: Dear Science
• Metallica: Death Magnetic
• Radiohead: OK Computer

On the Silver Screen

• Waltz with Bashir
• Burn After Reading

In Print

• Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons

Wishing I had more scapegoats for my inadequacies.

Longing for a national crisis that I could fully comprehend.

Consistently organized people are either keenly adaptable to change or unwilling to change. I am neither of these things.

Missing the days when Apple's incompatibility with other systems made it 100% accountable for problems with its products.

Who pioneered the old "fool the fingerprint/retina scanner with an authorized person's severed hand/eyeball" trick? Do they get royalties?

Upon coming into contact with orange juice, the iPhone immediately informed me that "This accessory is not made to work with iPhone."

Why would I want an application window to remain in the background after I click "+" to maximize it? iTunes knows, but it'll never tell.

How appropriate is it that Sarah Palin cannot correctly pronounce the progressive form of any verb?

With apologies to the color-blind.

Inspired by a New York Times interview with B.J. Novak:

Mr. Novak said he knew that he and Mr. Daniels thought alike when, during their first meeting, Mr. Daniels drew a Venn diagram to illustrate his definition of comedy. "One circle was truly innovative, quality comedy, and one circle was what people enjoy," Mr. Novak recalled. "And he said, 'All I'm interested in is what's in the middle.'"

Where I want to be: flickr.com/photos/robweychert…

Hear this, internet: I want my English back.

Fun night regaling the @FirstPersonArts StorySlam audience with the tale of my Creation Museum visit.

Finding humor in a humorless designer's complaints about other designers lacking a sense of humor.

At least my terrible score on the final episode of You Don't Know Jack still managed to be cool: $6,666. youdontknowjack.com/Jack100

Waltz with Bashir and a Daniel Barrow performance made this another more than worthwhile trip to Ottawa.

Saw not one but two Swiss films today with end credits set in Arial. Jesus wept.

Changing lyrics to include characters from Police Academy.

En route to Ottawa with @mSutters and Kevin Cornell, no thanks to @mSutters's contiguous-48-states-only GPS.

Some places you can expect to find me this fall: robweychert.com/editorials/20…

Thanks in large part to Rob Across America, this has been the most traveled year of my life, but it’s not over yet. Before I disappear under a pile of blankets for the winter, I have a few more North American destinations lined up for the fall. If you happen to see me in any of these places, I hope you’ll say hello.

Ottawa, September 17th–21st

For the seventh time in ten years, I’ll be… See more →

Looking for design professionals who actually refer to themselves as "graphics designers." My favorite so far: youtube.com/watch?v=F2B4fVvVV…

If anyone in Philadelphia is in the market for a good futon, I've got one for sale: philadelphia.craigslist.org/fuo/8…

Does anyone ever start smoking at a legal age?

Under orders from the wind, my curtain just called that chess game a draw.

Burn After Reading: Good, not great. By-the-numbers Coen fare that felt like it was made in a hurry. Clooney, McDormand, and Pitt carry it.

Somehow sat through Darjeeling Limited. Future moments of weakness await, but they won't lead me to darken Wes Anderson's door again.

Referring Center for Cartoon Studies students with anti-art-school attitudes (drawn.ca/2008/09/11/cartoon-colle…) to the wisdom of John K (johnkstuff.blogspot.com/2007/04/c…)

What a different western world this might have been if Gutenberg had chosen to print something other than the bible.

Just noticed Inspector Sledge Hammer (David Rasche) in the Burn After Reading trailer. I trust his character knows what he's doing.

Irked by Amazon's insistence that customer reviews have titles.

I never really got into superhero comics, and while Watchmen is quite a bit more sophisticated than most of the ones I've been exposed to, it indulges in enough of the genre's brash fantasy to keep me from being as excited about it as a lot of people are. That said, I did really enjoy it. Alan Moore's alternate 20th century is more interested in its (mostly) mortal heros' politics and relationships than their powers… See more →

A cappella heavy metal seemed like a funny idea when I was a kid. Apparently it's funnier when people take it seriously: thedeciblog.com/?p=839

Updated my online portfolio for the first time in over three years. robweychert.com/portfolio

Preferring walkers to shufflers.

Imagining how much better the new Metallica record might have been if Rick Rubin had given them what he gave Slayer in 1986: succinctness.

The chance to vigorously shake David Simon's hand may not be in my future, so research has begun for the construction of an effigy hand.

Turning on the DVD player with a heavy heart. The final episode of The Wire awaits.

Jump to the jam, boogie woogie jam slam.

Enjoying Snap, Crackle, and Pop's delicious screams for mercy.

Irony: Feeling old for thinking that much of what the indie music scene digs these days is basically impotent adult contemporary pop bleck.

The video of the story of the stupidest thing I ever did: viddler.com/explore/uwishunu/…

It's been years since I've heard mention of Chuck Berry's fabled excretory sex tape, but I still giggle at his song "Wee Wee Hours."

Anyone have a good method for remembering to attend events with a date range rather than one date (like museum exhibitions)?

If aliens visited us during an election year, I wouldn't blame them one bit if they turned the planet into dust.

The problem is that I just don't give a fuck about advertising or marketing.

"You're standin' next to the devil, and you're ridin' a road to hell. I'll stand here 'til you die. You may as well quit now."

Considering addressing the dumbfounding absence of an Apple Movie Trailers podcast by doing it myself. Concerned about bandwidth.

Can someone tell me how to buy an issue of Practical Web Design magazine? I'm stumped.

Laboring.