October 2008

On the Web

• 2008 Spooky Sock Monkeys: Kim Cornell’s annual crop of petrifying primates is already almost sold out!

In the Stereo

• Van Morrison: Moondance
• The Jackson 5: The Ultimate Collection
• Necrophagist: Epitaph
• The Supremes: The Ultimate Collection
• Ra Ra Riot: The Rhumb Line
• Stiffs, Inc.: Nix Nought Nothing

On the Silver Screen

• Quarantine
• The Godfather: Part II

Watching The Stranger. Welles is so deliciously evil.

"We gotta tune up. We pound these fucking guitars like jackhammers. What, do you think we're lightweights?"

Back home from not being able to get anywhere near the parade. Four hours of Misfits begins... now!

Absorbing second-hand smoke from a pregnant woman.

Wednesday night's Broad Street party was fun. This parade is just a clusterfuck.

Philadelphia is a playground of parking ingenuity. PPA will cover its entire annual budget today.

Heading out to the parade, hoping the Phillies will be in costume.

Candy apples and razor blades. Little dead are soon in graves. I remember Halloween.

"Figure 2.6: Amount of space required to transport the same number of passengers by car, bus, or bicycle."

Swiped from Cycling Tips.

Tonight, this city is made of joy.

Succumbing to fair weather fandom.

The refurbished sign adds an S to "ELF STORAGE" and subtracts me from the list of potential customers.

So happy. So sad.

If anyone out there supports Proposition 8, could you please give me your strongest rational reason for doing so? I'm at a total loss.

Ah, so this is why this fall's indie film offerings are less compelling than usual: nytimes.com/2008/10/28/movies…

All the mainstream press can say about comics is that they're finally recognized as a real art form, which means it's still not true.

Somehow, Leah is using a raucous Nicolas Cage vampire movie as a sleep aid. Only immortality could permit his incessant yelling.

Having a moment of profound appreciation for the people that taught me graphic design.

Waiting for Magnetic Fields to take the stage.

Anyone know any great waffle batter recipes?

Thanks all for your opinions on CDs staying or going. Valid points on both sides underscore a difficult decision. For now, the CDs stay.

Big con to keeping CDs: Moving and storing them. Big pro: Like bookshelves, CD shelves tell your story. Crap vs. Chronicle. Discuss.

Nostalgia, liner notes, and bragging rights are the reasons I still have my 1000+ CDs. Did those who don't miss their CDs have these issues?

Beginning to think about maybe considering the possibility of selling off all my CDs, and processing the many implications. Opinions?

Trying to unravel the mystery of why P is by far the filthiest key on my keyboard.

"The user won't mind how difficult my design is to use because they'll be so psyched about how awesome I made it look!"

It may have more content, but the new Joost doesn't hold a candle to Hulu in terms of overall quality and user experience.

Trying to kick the habit of being condescendingly surprised/amused to find that people are still doing stuff I lost interest in years ago.

Elevator lady: When I get off on the wrong floor, don't jokingly exclaim what we all know is true: "You can't wait to get away from us!"

My name is probably flagged in this hotel's guest registry: "Does not appear to own a tuxedo. May inquire about mass transit options."

Watching Saturday morning cartoons in a hotel that, among other things, offers a pillow menu with six carefully described options.

Still processing four hours of meetings with potential to bring big changes, followed by a lovely night out with @beep and @drinkerthinker.

Creepiest, most vacant and robotic flight attendant ever. Related: When is "at this time" ever a worthwhile substitute for "now"?

On the bus to the train to the plane to Boston.

Boy, a day just can't go by without bringing more mailed or posted documentation of the doomed mortgage on the house I rent.

Pondering @veen's data visualization insights and how they might befriend my recently-realized dedication to storytelling.

Cabbing home from the airport, crossing my fingers for safe passage into a drunken city with a fresh ticket to the World Series.

@LastDayInChicago: Your rain, awful film, no-show car service, delayed flight, and bag-check fee won't drown out the past 4 days' wonders.

Had Quarantine offered a Blair-Witch-style night vision apology, I would not have accepted it.

Half-listening to the ESPN commentators on the TV behind me, trying to decide if it's possible to care less about sports than I do.

Killing time in the Sheraton lobby until a 3:30 screening of Quarantine. Anyone in Chicago care to join me?

Collapsing after great karaoke fun with @Malarkey, @rhjr, @jungshadow, @jensantarelli, @krystynheide, @bdielman, @bcolbow, @bridgetstewart.

Overwhelmed with respect for karaoke professionals.

Karaoke at Blue Frog with a whole bunch of fun folks.

Wondering if the private Monsanto event next door to An Event Apart is catered exclusively with genetically-modified food.

Thanks to all who listened to my Design Lessons in Chess talk at #aeachicago08! As always, I welcome any constructive feedback.

Doing some last minute prep for my Design Lessons in Chess talk at #aeachicago08. Also shivering.

TBS, showing Joe Dirt, overdubbed "shit" with "butt release," and the number of reasons to avoid TV is now infinity plus two.

Checked in at the Sheraton Chicago, thinking about how grand it might have been if I hadn't left all my belongings in @bylaurenfitz's car.

Godfather 2 intermission at the Music Box. Earlier, alert cinephiles may have heard the sound of four beer cans opening in the theater.

Returning to Hot Doug's after a three year hiatus. Salivating.

Sitting next to a guy I've dubbed Old Faithful, whose understated, clockwork, baritone burps somehow haven't yet completely deflated him.

On the bus to the train to the plane to Chicago.

Two different flights in just over a week have me landing at 4:20. Maybe it's time I finally started that drug habit.

Caught up on the hows and whys of the economic crisis thanks to This American Life, infuriated by the unchecked craps game that got us here.

"To really try to be informed and literate today is to feel stupid nearly all the time, and to need help." - David Foster Wallace

There's that dream again: Major assignments for 3 different classes due the same day, plus exams in 2 more classes I've missed all semester.

Is there an echo in here?

There's something very irksome about the disposable nature of the digital lifestyle.

"We don't do cash-back returns. Only exchanges for store credit," the American Apparel clerk tells me blankly. Fuck that and fuck them.

Got to walk a mile home carrying my luggage thanks to some illegally parked Terror Behind the Walls patrons blocking my bus route.

Safely on the ground in Philadelphia. Thanks to all who made #WJS08 a great event!

At the Georgia Aquarium, deeply regretting the forgetfulness that made me leave my SLR at home.

Breakfast buffet at Collage (in the Sheraton) going on until 11:30.

Checking out shortly before 11, finding some brunch, and hitting the aquarium. Any #WJS08 people care to join me?

Cloaked in second-hand smoke stench for the first time in quite awhile. Atlanta has yet to embrace the beauty and wisdom of the smoking ban.

Thanks to all that attended my Design Lessons in Chess talk at #WJS08. I welcome any feedback, good, bad, or indifferent.

Anyone at #WJS08 have an Apple Remote or USB remote I can borrow for my 2:45 session tomorrow? I forgot mine...

On the bus to the train to the plane to Atlanta.

Those motivated by profit are content to repeat past successes. These are not the people that move the world forward.