Gleanings – Page 8 – Kevin Smokler

Gleanings: Chain stores, Tom Waits and Britney, oh my!

Smokler on December 9, 2006

Chain stores may make every town in America look the same. But was it all that different 50 years ago? (via AL Daily)
I am declaring a very very long moratorium on articles about bookstoe closings (via Arts Journal).
Business Week asks “What’s next for MySpace?” An image overhaul, hopefully (via NMM).
The folks at TechCrunch read 373 RSS feeds a day. That makes me dizzy just thinking about it (via NMM).
In this interview with Pitchfork, Tom Waits talks about his love for Missy Elliott. And here I thought we had nothing in common (via Sixfoot6).
Camille Paglia has a theory:

“A great promise was contained in the moment when Madonna kissed Britney at the MTV Awards. She in a sense was saying,”I’m passing the torch to you.” It was a fabulous moment. Britney looked toned, in control of her career and it was up to her to take the next step. Literally from that kiss, from that moment onward, Britney has spiraled out of control. It’s like Madonna gave her the kiss of death! Britney is throwing it away!” (via Salon)

The 33 1/3 series from Continuum Books has both a blog and its own section at Powells. That makes me happy.

Smokler on December 8, 2006

The NYT reports that, by 2008, the paperless electronic voting machine may be a thing of the past. Good riddance.
Largehearted Boy’s 2006 list of the year’s best of music lists is both thrilling an exhausting.
Radar Magazine looks at the year in catfights.

Smokler on November 30, 2006

Director Michael Apted’s interview on The Treatment is a real gem. Apted talks about the birth and latest installment of his legendary Up! film series, 49Up! but also reveals himself as an extraordinary person, warm, insightful and committed to the medium of cinema.
Pandora.com’s first podcast installment was a great 9-minute look at vocal harmony.
KCRW’s On the Beat recently looked at Sonic Temple Live, an innovative approach to live music that I still don’t quite get
This American Life, episode #304, ‘Heretics’ is a must listen.

Smokler on November 25, 2006

Kiva.org is a mircocredit company that facilitates loans to small business owners in the third world. I will be checking them out when I make my cheritable donations this year (via Michelle Richmond).

The New York Times’s obituary for Robert Altman who died last week at 81. A gift to American Cinema, he will be deeply missed.

Acclaimed documentary The Corporation will be released on BitTorrent for free (via Chris Messina).

Some thoughts on HBO’s digital strategy which is safe to characterize at this point as, “not much.” (via Medialoper)

Future Rock Hall.com is a blog and directory dedicated to speculating on future inductees into the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame.

Smokler on November 19, 2006

Laughing Squid had their 11th anniversary party last night, which kicked ass.
Time Magazine’s 100 Best Albums. Let the “what about?” arguing commence (via Jeff Chang).
Salon asks “Is Annie Leibovitz’s photo memoir of her dying partner Susan Sontag poignant or in poor taste?”
A conversation with Athol Fugard
Larry King doesn’t get the Internet. There’s a surprise.
Buzzfeed looks to be a very interesting resource, even if the distinction between it, Digg and Tailrank is a bit too subtle for me (via Kottke).

Smokler on November 15, 2006

Have you seen (or signed) the Liberal’s Pledge to Disheartened Conservatives? (via New Media Musings)
Truthdig.com is excerpting Gore Vidal’s new momoir Point to Point Navigation. Gore Vidal may be the most European sounding name on an American writer in history.

Two of my heroes (Jeff Chang and DJ Shadow) chat it up the lastest issue of The Believer.

Variety’s new blog The Knife focuses on restaurants favored by the entertainment industry (via LA Observed)

Smokler on November 13, 2006

KCRW’s Left, Right and Center has a good roundup of what Tuesday’s election will mean for the next 2 years.
Vietnam Veteran Ron Kovic contributed an essay to Truthdig in honor of Veteran’s Day.
Are we ready for something called Web 3.0? I would say no.
The new trailer for The Simpsons Movie isn’t very good.
My old friend Carolyn Kellogg is in graduate school for her MFA and blogging like a champ. If books, journalism and local culture are your thing, read her.

Smokler on November 8, 2006

The NYT political blog has a list of of laments about the election from the readers of conservative blog Little Green Footballs. LGF of course is having none of it.
Jewschool post on rioting during Jerusalem Gay Pride Parade. Had anyone heard about this?
Renowned short story author Alice Munro says she will be retiring from writing after the publiciation of her two new collections (via Bookdwarf).
The Oakland A’s have all but said out loud that they will be leaving Oakland and moving further down Highway 880 to Freemont. What sad news for the city of Oakland.
Similepedia: “is a new wiki site that helps a literature-loving community collect, categorize and comment on similes from prose, poetry, essays and other works.” It’s a niche but a good one.

Smokler on November 2, 2006

I’m participating in NaBloWriMo which means I need to post here everyday in November. There are worse tasks.
Novelist William Styron is dead at 81 (via AL Daily).
Apparently nothing is beyond the pale of advertising because GM is now using images of Sept. 11 to sell trucks (via Andre Torrez).
Garrison Keillor has opened an independent bookstore in St. Paul, Minnesota where several independents have folded in recent years. The local paper wonders if it’ll succeed because of Keillor’s star power or because of it (via Arts Journal).
In related book news, The NYT reports that books are increasingly being sold as lifestyle items alongside clothes and housewares to fight off a downward trend in sales (via Arts Journal)

Smokler on October 29, 2006

Even the conservatives think their own have gone off course. “The intellectual dexterity that once distinguished campus conservatives has given way to mindless GOP boosterism.” And that’s from an article in American Conservative magazine (via AL Daily).
In the fund, flip and exit culture of Silicon Valley, is it possible to build a sustainable company? Here’s a theory on how (via Kottke).
Business Week has some thoughts on bridging the generation gap in the workplace. Here’s my favorite part: “Be a Mentor, Not a Taskmaster.” (via Susan Mernit).
According to the Washington Post, ‘Myspace is so last year’ (like they would know) and teens are graduating to Facebook at earlier ages (via New Media Musings).
NPR Interviews Bill Bryson about his new memoir “The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid”. I’ve read everything Mr. Bryson has ever written and will pick up this book too.
Daniel Handler talks to Salon about the end of the Leminy Snicket series and what’s next for him.
In no-duh news, 7-Eleven has decided to stop selling an energy drink called Cocaine. Smart choice (via Davenetics).