The upside of a consumer culture, perhaps.

This blog on advertising is surprisingly enjoyable to me.

It's interesting to note how so many people of an artistic bent are against commercialism, and yet any of us would have to confess that there's a legitimate art form being represented in advertisement. It's not just creatively demanding, it's downright entertaining when it's done properly, and I might even dare to claim that the enjoyment would be less if the art had not the intent of directing our attention elsewhere.

The available manifestations of all art forms are comprised primarily of mountainous heaps of crap, and oftentimes the only savory delectables in existence are hidden at the very bottom of said heaps. Sometimes, we dig until we break through a heap, and we discover, disappointedly, that what we have uncovered is only another crapheap, but eventually, if we dig long enough, we find something edible, even mouth watering. Such may well be the case here, but it had never occurred to me there might be critical sources equipped with backhoes to do a great deal of the digging for us.

I'm not sure what the ramifications of appreciating the art of advertisement are. Nevertheless, it's on my Google Reader list now.

A sequence of highly entertaining, one or two line reviews of popular bands, mostly based on whatever songs are on their myspace profile. I highly recommend this, and I like this guy's discerning taste even though I don't tend to agree with it. I'm even willing to forgive his assertion that the Japanese band Bleach writes "terrible" songs, which is the opposite of a true statement.

Sequel to Catcher in the Rye penned; stay tuned for sequel to Bible

Not unlike godplay, it is, to step up to the plate on this one. If Salinger weren't deeply rooted in my soul, I'd still find this absurd, like a man declaring himself the messiah; the actuality of that phenomenon prevents me from feeling anything like surprise or even disappointment.

Mostly I am vaguely disdainful and amused. And I am further inoculated against indignation on this subject because I've long expected a platoon of philistines to make off with this pristine work and erect shitheaps in its honor once its author finally dies. The fact that some numbskull is striking preemptively only means I get to shake my head one or two extra times.

We can't afford to let our lives be affected by those who would attempt to claim the genius of others for their own. We must lead by example and hope the ignorant will one day side with us: we need to ignore them and go back to playing.

Anyone still interested in Steve Ditko would do well to read this supurb article. I think I'm going to see if I can't hunt down that documentary somehow.

Now this is certainly intriguing. Some sort of Final Fantasy VII fan game involving Shinra guards at urinals. I dig it.

Steve Ditko, the original artist and co-creator of Spider-Man, has quite a bit to say regarding recent massive upheavals in the universe of Marvel Comics.

My love of superheroes, but especially of Spider-Man, runs deep, as does my hatred for the way they have been developed and perceived during my own life as opposed to the decades preceding it (especially in the case of Spider-Man.) (However all is not lost: no telling of the story of Spider-Man, not even its original form, has ever been as good as his most recent animated incarnation.)

Most of the reactions I've encountered to Ditko's article have been some variation of, "what?" I think these people are being lazy. True, he comes off as a bitter and slightly crazed old man, but there is a wisdom in what he's saying if you bother to look for it. And further this is not particularly difficult reading; it's dense, but not slightly complicated.

He is extremely correct when he says this:

"Either a super hero is a super hero, having all the legitimate qualities of a super hero, or the super hero is not a super hero and does not have the valid super hero qualities, identity, and therefore is a deliberate fraud, fake and a lie."

In his crazed ramblings I find an echo of my oft-repeated plea to those at the creative helm: stop shitting on my hero.

I've decided to come up with a new ruleset for hockey. I believe it drastically improves the game.

1. Players may not skate on colored portions of the ice. They must jump over the lines that run across the rink.

2. If a player is given a penalty, they are no longer sent to the box. Instead they must remove one skate. If a second penalty is given, they must remove the other skate. If a third, they must surrender their stick. Finally, if given a fourth penalty, the player must traverse the ice on his or her stomach, using only his or her hands for locomotion. (The rule about jumping over the lines remains in effect, and players may not use their feet to accomplish this should the fourth penalty be given.)

3. Instead of a puck, a potato is used. If the potato is destroyed upon being hit by a hockey stick (or really in any other fashion), the player who last touched it is given a penalty, and a new potato comes sliding out onto the ice in a random location.

4. Players must face the same direction (either toward their own goal or toward their opponents') for the duration of the game. This means if a player starts out facing the opposite team, and wants to move back towards his or her own goal, he or she must skate backwards. No exceptions.

5. Players may still fight, and are encouraged to do so, but they must use Sock'em Boppers.

We have run out of surgical masks and hand sanitizer at the store. We cannot obtain more; we order them, but they do not come. I am not shitting upon you.

What is the real issue here, people of Huntingdon Valley? Are you really more concerned with a particular strain of flu than the divine characteristics of the universe? Surely you cannot play in the rain effectively encumbered by a piece of paper strapped around your nose?

Someone Needed to Say It.

Click this shit. Brilliant and elegant. Simple like Google. This is what a cool idea for a web site looks like.

I want my money back.

Seriously. Paying off loans for the useless college time I did is pissing me off. Waste of time.

I'm currently listening to the new Green Day album, which is streaming here. I don't think I'm ever going to be able to get into this band as some kind of high-minded anthemic power pop institution.

Some people will think this is a vile, close-minded, elitist thing to say, but I swear to you in earnest love of all that is pure and true: a good song—and I will not pretend there are no such things on this record—written and performed by intellectual charlatans is of no permanent artistic merit, and you should not indulge in their consumption.



If I ever look like this, I urge you to destroy me.

Thank heavens!