Hustler of Culture
I’ve been up less than ten minutes and already Judge Alito has been confirmed, Coretta Scott King has died, Big Mamma’s House 2 is #1 at the box office, the Oscar nominations have been announced and someone slipped me the trailer for Phat Girlz.
I’m going back to bed.
Please note the following passage from a story in today’s New York Times about big losses at General Moters…
Since 200, G.M., Ford and the Chrysler Corporation have cut or announced they would eliminate up to 140,000 jobs, or a third of their payrolls. Earlier this week, Ford announced that it would cut 30,000 jobs and close 14 plants over the next six years.
It seems GM has been eliminating 14,000 since the waning years of the Roman Empire.
“God’s Extravagant Welcome”
I don’t know what that means but I like the sound of it.
On my mind this week…
*Seen at MacWorld this week…
*Roxio’s Boombox software lets you convert cassettes into mp3. Bought it.
*Parliant’s PhoneValet is an answering machine on steroids.
*Endicia lets you run a post office through your mac.
*The awesome DevonThink now has a best friend DevonAgent which lets you perform metasearches across the Intermaweb.
*Judge Alito appears headed for confirmation.
*Do magazines have a racial glass ceiling (via ArtsJournal)?
*Chuck Klosterman will be writing for ESPN.com once a month (via Justin).
*RIP Blockbuster Video (via Kottke.org).
*Hey Bostoners! The Brattle Theater needs your help (via Cinema Treasures).
*SXSW Baby is humming. Festival is T-minus 5 weeks and counting. I can’t wait.
Please send to chef and waiter friends.
On my mind this week
*Episode 3 of my podcast is ready. I’ve posted it at this new dedicated Odeo channel so it’s now easier than heck to sign up for it.
*If you live in San Francisco, please see Duma at the Balboa before it goes away. The movie is hanging by a thread and it’s one fabulous, beautiful piece of work.
*MacWorld is this week!
*Seems now you can recycle your ipod at any Apple Store.
*Reactions to John Stewart’s appointment as host of the Oscars.
*Point by point evidence of why I don’t get Starbucks at all.
*Scarrryyyy Slate piece on what business movie theatres really are in (via Cinema Treasures).
*I despise the Frat Pack.
*Rockrgrl magazine is shutting down. Their website doesn’t say why (via Scott Andrew).
*The LA Times asks, rather obviously, why don’t men read relationship books (via ArtsJournal)?
*I’m off and running with my second book proposal. YeeChah!
Sunday was New Year’s Day so this week’s link dump will be today. Enjoy!
*10 Web Trends the Should Die in 2006 (via micropersuasion).
*Louis Menand on “Literature’s Global Economy” (via ArtsJournal).
*My man Baratunde asks if we can please kill the music industry. I’ll second that.
*N+1 weighs in on the “reading crisis” (via Readerville).
*Lengthy profile of Roger Ebert, one of my heroes (via Kottke).
*The Real People Network (another fine Lasica project).
*Police Squad is coming to DVD (via Brad).
*Has book reviewing gone creepy (via ArtsJournal)?
*Do you understand how Urbantic can help your life? Because I don’t.
Hello 2006, whatcha knowin? Technically I’m not on vacation anymore so I should getting back to work. But it’s going to take a few days to clear the X-box related dentritus out of the office, to clean out the inbox and adjust to not watching Unsolved Mysteries at 11 in the morning.
Give me a day or three. In the meantime, I’ll start regular blogging again.
A little late as del.icio.us was down. All seems well now.
*The New York Times weighs in on the most blogged books of 2005. Freakonomics topped the list (via micropersuasion).
*The NYTs Public Editor had few things to say about how the paper’s Book Review also (via Readerville).
*According to Business Week, Women now account for 50% of all technology purchases (via Misbehaving.net).
*The Bible goes Boondocks (via JewSchool).
*Dozens of rock star tour riders, the document that says that, say, Van Halen won’t eat brown M&Ms. Addictive as hell (via Artful Manager).
*Howard Stern has left terrestrial radio. What will the impact of his move to satellite be?
Still vacationing. Or trying to.
In the Cocoalicious queue this week, to be read at the gym or in the bathtub since I’m on vacation.
*Richard Pryor has died at 65. So has Eugene McCarthy. He was 89. My mom worked on his ’68 campaign. McCarthy’s not Pryor’s.
*The Diane Rehm Show (which I listened to when I lived in Baltimore) has a podcast of its Friday news roundup which I’ve been using to make sure I’m up to date on current events. Very effective.
*The California Supreme Court has denied Stanley “Tookie” Williams’s appeal. It’s up to the Governor now.
*Transom.org has a neat feature called The Transom Review where well known radio and media personalities talk nuts and bolts about gathering audio and reporting. Guesta have included Ira Glass, Errol Morris and Brooke Gladstone.
*Slashdot essay on the future of newspapers. Editor & Publisher weighed in with a case for a non-profit newspaper (via Arts Journal).
*The publishing business is in a slump (and Wilt Chamberlain was very tall). Are MFA programs to blame (via Arts Journal).
*Pandora now lets you keep a running tally of your favorite songs for future downloading (here’s mine). Great feature.
*The Free Sound Project is a directory of Creative Commons-licensed sounds. Might be useful for my podcast (working on episode #3 right now. Promise!) (via Julie Shapiro).
*The other members of U2 are just fine with African children starving. Hilarious! (via Dave Thomas).