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Archive for the ‘Technology’ Category

Douglas Coupland: Close Personal Friend (1996)

Posted in Canadian Content, Consumerism, Corporate skewering, Douglas Coupland, Kurt Vonnegut, Meta, Reality Bites, Technology, The Future, Twin Peaks on October 12, 2012| 1 Comment »

[WATCHED: October 10, 2012] Close Personal Friend

While I was browsing Coupland’s bibliography on Wikipedia I saw this movie: Douglas Coupland: Close Personal Friend.  There is no information on Coupland’s site about it and there is precious little information about it anywhere else, frankly.  However, it has been uploaded to YouTube!

It’s a 24 minute film made for commercial TV.  It was made in 1996 and is very much of that time.  I’m not sure if Coupland was working on Girlfriend in a Coma at the time, but ideas in the film inform that book as well.

Basically it has Coupland, looking very clean-cut and smart–suit, skinny tie, hair parted hard–sitting in a white chair (a rounded chair that swivels–very “futuristic” looking).  He is sitting in front of  a white  background so his chair disappears from time to time (I’m willing to accept that that could just be the effect of a poor video transfer though).

There is an interviewer who asks him puffball questions, because it’s basically a chance for Coupland to talk about the his views of the late nineties and the future.  For instance: Do you consider yourself a citizen of the late 20th century?  (That’s just a weird question).  She asks him what the two dominant activities will be 20 years from now (which would be 2016).  His answer? Going shopping and going to jail.   Not too far off.

Coupland has always been concerned with the future (or more specifically, the millennium–I’m not sure how he has wrapped his head around the 21st century).  As I mentioned about his short story yesterday, he is very like-minded with Vonnegut about the state of humanity as we reach the millennium.   So he talks about lot of different topics including: individuality (and how we have lost it–he talks about a flock of birds seeing a group of people and finding them indistinguishable); the idea of not having a life–this was interesting, because as he points out even 20 years ago (1976), that expression would have been meaningless; consumerism; the uselessness of pop culture (how reading about Burt and Loni uses brain cells that could have been used to cure cancer).  And how technology can dehumanize us. (more…)

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Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.–Between Time and Timbuktu or Prometheus-5 a Space Fantasy (1972)

Posted in David O'Dell, Death, Funny (ha ha), Hitler, Kurt Vonnegut, Marriage Trouble, NPR/PRI/PBS, Religion, Sci-fi, Sexism, Technology, The Flaming Lips, The Future, Time Travel, Violence on September 25, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: THE FLAMING LIPS-Dark Side of the Moon live at Hangout Music Festival, May 2012 (2012).

Recently, the Flaming Lips and friends released a version of Dark Side of the Moon that was noisy and chaotic and resembled the original in some  ways but departed from it radically in others.  When Palladia aired this concert of the band performing the album in its entirety I wasn’t sure what to expect.

I was pleasantly surprised that their rendition of the album is quite faithful to the original.  There’s plenty of Flaming Lips-isms in it, but it sounds a lot closer to the Pink Floyd version than The Flaming Lips and Stardeath and White Dwarfs with Henry Rollins and Peaches version.  And that’s a good thing.

I have to admit the audio wasn’t as clear as I would have expected (which is surprising for the Lips)–it was very hard to hear Wayne when he was talking.  That may have worked well for the singing though as he sounded almost exactly like David Gilmour on most of the songs.  The stage was also filled with people.  In addition to the four band members, there was a cast of dancers dressed like Swiss maids, there were some extra musicians  and two women.  One, dressed in a gold lame body suit (with wings) sang all of the wailing vocals on the album (and did a very good job) and the other I’m not sure what she did–neither woman was introduced during the aired set so I don’t know who they were.

Many bands throw things out into the crowd during a set, well, during “Money,” Wayne Coyne tossed out giant confetti balloons that were filled with actual money, allegedly $10,000 donated by none other than Dave Matthews.  That’s pretty intense and hopefully didn’t cause any damage.

Check Palladia for when they’re going to air it again.  I just learned that there is a You Tube video of the whole concert (more than just Dark Side of the Moon) and you can watch it here:

It’s a good fun set and shows just how much Stephen Drodz does on stage (I mean, seriously, check out the guitar he plays in “The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song”) and that Wayne’s hands must be either very cold or have no sensation.

[READ: September 24, 2012] Between Time and Timbuktu

I have been reading a lot of Vonnegut lately. I had it in my head that I would just blow through all of his books.  But I admit I’m getting a little burnt out.  Deadeye Dick and Galàpagos were kind of numbing and Bluebeard which I’m working through now is fun, but a little exhausting.  There’s no reason I should be ordering new Vonnegut books to read now, but I saw that the library had a copy of Between Time and Timbuktu (which is hard to find) and since I won’t be using that library for much longer, I decided to order it.

And I’m glad I did.  Between Time and Timbuktu was a TV movie made by compiling a bunch of scenes from Vonnegut’s first few books.  The basic script was by David O’Dell and Vonnegut himself had a hand in working on it (like “grafting the head of a box turtle onto the neck of a giraffe”).  And as the story progresses you can see some of the best set pieces from his novels.

But the framing device is new.  A man, Stony Stephenson has won a jingle contest for Blast-Off Space Food.  The TV crew appear at his house (and meet his mother in a dressing gown (she’s a funny character)) to break the news.  He gets dragged away and a few months later we see the blast off of the rocket.  When he gets into space, Stony will launch into the Chrono-Synclastic Infundibulum (the Infundibulum comes from Sirens of Titan). (more…)

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William Gaddis–Agapē Agape (2002)

Posted in Books about writers, Canadian Music, History, Scholarship, Short Books, Siskiyou, Technology, The Flaming Lips, William Gaddis on September 17, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: SISKIYOU-“Bad Days” (2012).

Siskiyou has had some medical problems and have canceled their recent tour.  They are also going on a brief haitus.  This is a shame as after their second album, they really had momentum and they sounded better than ever.

As a kind of peace offering to fans who would not be able to see the band, they recorded a cover of The Flaming Lip’s “Bad Days.”  The cover souds remarkably like the original, with one big difference: rather than squalls of feedback, Siskiyou uses only piano.  And it works very well, getting down  to the basics of the song and sounding a bit like Wayne Coyne singing.

It’s a nice tribute and  a nice “until later”

[READ: August 27, 2012] Agapē Agape

I have a long history with this book.

I was working at Baker and Taylor, a book supplier, when this book was released.  Some of the higher ups were able to get free books from the publishers they dealt with.  The guy who dealt Viking was not the friendliest guy, but since B&T paid absoluet crap wages, I was going try to get any books I could for free.   So, I asked for this book.  It was embarrassing enough to walk in and say this title with confidence, since I knew how it was pronounced (yes I took Greek in college), but knew he didn’t.  After some groveling, his reaction led me to think I wouldn’t be getting it.

But lo and behold a few weeks later it was sitting on my desk.

And now, ten years later, I’ve finally read it.

In JR, Jack Gibbs is writing a book with the name Agapē Agape, it is a jumbled history of the mechanization of the arts, starting with the player piano.  JR was finished in 1975–who knows for how long he had been working on it until then.  According to the Afterword of this book by Joseph Tabbi, Gaddis was pretty all-consumed by the idea of the player piano.  (It’s really quite an obsession).

This book is the culmination of all of Gaddis’ work on the player piano and how it removed all of the artistry from music (this theme of art and mechanization is in JR as well).   But rather than write this as an essay, which he didn’t think would be very effective, Gaddis decided to make this a novel.   I admit to not really knowing if he finished it–Gaddis died in 1998.  While it doesn’t feel unfinihsed, I’m just not sure if he was “done” with it. (more…)

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William Gaddis–[Week 10] JR [#OccupyGaddis pages 668-end] (1975)

Posted in #OccupyGaddis, Africa, Anarchy, Art, Big Books, Books about music, Books about writers, Consumerism, Death, Funny (ha ha), Huh?, Ludwig van Beethoven, Marriage Trouble, Native Americans, Political Humor, Politicians, Puzzles, Racism, Radio, Religion, Sex, Technology, The Producers, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory on August 27, 2012| 3 Comments »

SOUNDTRACK: LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN-“Für Elise”

I didn’t know a lot of the music mentioned in this book, but like most people, I know and enjoy “Für Elise.”  It’s an interesting choice of music to end such a crazy chaotic story, although I suppose there are some less than peaceful moments ion the song too.  It’s a shame Bast never gets to play it.

I find the most engaging moments to be when the lone high note comes before the reintroduction of the initial melody.  The middle, minor key section that sounds kind of menacing is also neat–a big switch from the delicate opening.

Why not take 3 minutes and enjoy it now:

[READ: Week of August 20, 2012] JR Week 10

The end is here.  After endlessly interrupted conversations, the book has actually hit a period.

As the last week ended, Bast was being dropped off at the hospital by Coen.  And the bulk of the end of the book takes place in the hospital.  There are many similarities between this book and a big 60s/70s comedy romp, and here is another one–all the characters seems to pile into one location for a big finale.  (Technically the finale happens at Bast’s house, but you get the idea). (more…)

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Tony Abbott–Danger Guys series (1994-1996)

Posted in Adventure, Boredom, C., Children's Books, Chris Rock, Fantasy, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, Mad Scientists, Madagascar, Star Wars, Technology, Tony Abbott, Waffles on August 24, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: “Neverending Afro Circus” (2012).

If you’ve seen the movie Madagascar 3, you’ll recognize this song as the earworm that you will be singing all the way home.  And that your kids will no doubt be singing for days.

I actually want to jump in and say that I saw Madagascar 3 without seeing Madagascar 2 and I was quite lost (and missed a lot of in-jokes, apparently) for the first 20 or so minutes.  Who would have guessed that a kids movie could do that to you?

Anyhow, back to this song.  C. and T. love it.  And it turns out that YouTube loves it too.  There are dozens of different videos of varying lengths (from 10 seconds to 59 minutes!!) repeating this wonderful nonsense.  But for real neverending Afro Circus, please visit AfroCircus.com and see how much you can stand.

For a measly ten minute loop, please enjoy this:

[youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aELcXyjpts%5D

[READ: July 2012] Danger Guys series

We loved Droon so much we had to see what else Tony Abbott had written.

Turns out that he has written a lot of books and a bunch of series.  In addition to Droon he has written four books that are not part of any series, a series called The Haunting of Derek Stone and a brand new series called UnderWorlds.  UnderWorlds looks like a great series for C., although Haunting and the stand alone books seem like they might be a little too old for him.  He also has some older series like Don’t Touch That Remote!, Goofballs, Time Surfers and The Weird Zone.  (I think that’s all of them).

He also has this Danger Guys series, which I believe comprised his first novels.

My major complaint about the series is…why is it out of print?  Why was it so hard for me to find?  I had to do an Inter Library Loan and the copies I received were so beat up that we may wind up being the last people to read them!  This is a real shame because these books were fantastic!  The series is about two boys Noodle (the smart one) and Zeke (the athletic one).  They are best friends and do everything together.  I’m not exactly sure how old they are…I’m guessing middle school?  In each book they get into an escalating series of adventures which can be resolved by logic, brains, strength and sometimes a little luck.  The books are mildly scary (the Halloween one is the most scary but even that…not really), they’re not violent or gross, but they are full of adventure and they’re very funny (an Abbott specialty).  There were several moments that C. was laughing very hard at these.

There are six books in total in the series.  And because the books aren’t radically different from each other, I’m only going to say a few lines about each. (more…)

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Felicia Day–The Guild: Beach’d (Free Comic Book Day 2012)

Posted in Adam Rex, Adventure, All Songs Considered, Beach House, Death, Fantasy, Felicia Day (author), Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Jonathan Case, Short Books, Technology, The Guild, Video Games, Violence on June 23, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: BEACH HOUSE-“Myth” (2012).

I‘ve really been enjoying the previous Beach House record.  And in the meantime, he has released a brand new one.  “Myth” was selected as one of the best songs of the year by the folks at NPR, and it’s hard to disagree with them.

It’s not groundbreaking for Beach House (or anyone, really)–nice keyboards and guitars melodies, soaring vocals, a shimmering effect.  But like any band that hits its stride, Beach House makes a simple and beautiful song seem effortless.  How he hits some of those notes I’ll never know.  (Well, because he is actually a woman, duh).

You can see the NPR list here.  Or listen to the song (no video) here.

[READ: June 22, 2012] The Guild: Beach’d

My friend told me that the free comic book day was featuring a Buffy and a Guild together.  I misunderstood and thought that the two worlds would be intertwining.  No such luck. Rather, it was a split issue with one half being taken up by The Guild and the other half by Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  Which is still pretty awesome.

The members of Codex’s guild are lost for a place to gather now that Cheesybeards has burnt down.  Of course,  they are squabbling big time about it.  Codex doesn’t understand what the fuss is–just pick someplace. Tink just suggests that they never meet face to face again.  Ever.  But everyone else has some suggestions about where to go.

And when tensions flare up, they decide to battle it out.  Bladez proves the most formidable foe, killing most of his teammates.  The battle is awesome (I’m not sure what this does to their lives in the game, actually).  And he is pretty psyched that his spot–a strip club–will be there new permanent meeting place. (more…)

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Jennifer Egan–“Black Box” (New Yorker, June 4 & 11, 2012)

Posted in Adventure, All Songs Considered, Chuck, Fears, Jack White, Jennifer Egan, New Yorker, Sex, Sexism, Short Story, Spies, Technology, The Future, The White Stripes, Threats, Violence on June 22, 2012| 1 Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: JACK WHITE-“Sixteen Saltines” (2012).

I really liked the first White Stripes album.  After that things were just a little too samey to me.  So I pretty much stopped listening to him.  This new album is all the rage (as is everything he does), and this is a song that NPR picked as one of their favorites of the year so far.

And as with everything Jack White does, it’s immediately fun.  It’s also simple as anything, with a raw and aggressive sound–just like everything else he does.  I usually don’t mind when an artist plays the same stuff over and over, I mean it’s called a signature after all, but for some reason it bugs me with him.  Or maybe I just don’t like him as a “person.”

Anyhow, I can’t deny that this song is fun (the vocals done in a kind of R&B vein (sounding like Michael Jackson a bit?) and the addition of keyboards half way through are a nice touch.  But I can’t say that I’ll remember the song much after it’s over.

[READ: June 16, 2012] “Black Box”

I have been meaning to read Jennifer Egan’s A Visit From the Goon Squad for quite some time.  But in the meantime, I’m happy to have read this short story, which I assume is nothing at all like her novels.

“Black Box” is written in a series of small numbered black boxes.  And each box contains a number of statements in the second person.  It’s a striking and unusual way to concoct a story.  I didn’t really think it would be all that intriguing because the tone is so matter of fact and instructional.  But I was thrilled with how much of a story Egan created out of this style.  And, yes, it is a full story.

So Box number one begins: “People rarely look the way you expect them to, even when you’ve seen pictures.”  Then, “The first thirty seconds in a person’s presence are the most important.”  Then, “If you’re having trouble perceiving and projecting, focus on projecting.”  Then, “Necessary ingredients for a successful projection: giggles; bare legs; shyness.”

So, what is this?  instructions?  advice?  quips to live by?  Well, it turns out that they are instructions to a “beauty.”  And this beauty is working for her country, to take down a bad guy.  She is a spy, although not a professional spy, she’s just a beauty doing her country’s work.  The instructions show (in a very unexpected way) how the story unfolds: “‘Shall we swim together toward those rocks?’ may or may not be a question.”  And so, “you” and your Designated Mate swim to an island where sex in inevitable.  “Begin the Dissociation Technique only when physical violation is imminent.”  For indeed, “you” are married, but your husband approves of this mission, for the good of United States and the world.

As the story unfolds, the reader realizes that this is not just a beautiful woman who has been called into the service of he country, but something a little more. “If you are within earshot of his conversation, record it.”  Well, how will she do that one wonders.  “A microphone has been implanted just beyond the first turn of your right ear canal.”

Cool. (more…)

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William Gibson–“Olds Rocket 88, 1950” (New Yorker, June 4 & 11, 2012)

Posted in Depeche Mode, Essays, History, J.G. Ballard, Jack Kerouac, Michael Moorcock, New Yorker, Nostalgia, Outer Space, Sci-fi, Surfer Blood, Technology, The Future, Ursula K. Le Guin, William Gibson, William S. Burroughs on June 17, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: SURFER BLOOD-Tarot Classics (2012).

I really enjoyed Surfer Blood’s debut album.  This EP is a little stopgap until the next one. Although the sound is unmistakably Surfer Blood–poppy hooks and a very recognizable singing voice, the band sounds a little bit different here.  They haven’t lost any of their catchiness–there may be even more on the opener, “I’m Not Ready” (who doesn’t love when the guitar and vocals match each other?)  “Miranda” has that fun thumping chorus that is always fun to sing along to.

“Voyager Reprise” moves away from the surf-styled songs of their debut into an alt-rock of the 90s sound–when guitars were noisy (until they were quiet for a bit) and guitar solos happened between verses instead of as the third verse.  And “Drinking Problem” has a kind of early Depeche Mode (in vocals, not synths) feel–quite a departure from their debut.

In the way of EPs, the final two songs are remixes.  I’ve never been a fan or remixes and these don’t do much for me, but i do wonder if they will have any impact on their future sound.

[READ: June 14, 2012] “Olds Rocket 88, 1950”

All this time I thought there were only five of these short essays in this sci-fi issue of the New Yorker.  And yet tucked away near the back was the sixth one by William Gibson, a pioneer in science fiction.

Gibson’s recollection is of being a child and having everything seem like science fiction–something that is notably absent these days.  Like the chrome trim on his father’s Oldsmobile Rocket 88, the prevalence of spacemen and space-themed ideas everywhere.  Even the word Tomorrow was capitalized.

Then he recounts a personal incident.  He got in trouble with his parents for arguing with an Air Force man.  The man said space travel would never happen. But Gibson knew it would.  How could it not?  And science fiction shaped this worldview.  Not that he believed the stories would come true, but that his entire mindset was that in the future “things might be different…and different in literally any way you could imagine, however radical.”

What a wonderfully freeing notion.  To me, this sort of future-looking lifestyle accounted for the unprecedented achievements of post 1950 America.  Now that we no longer think of tomorrow with a capital T, we don’t seem as enchanted by the future.  Perhaps it was a naive outlook, but you need a certain degree of naiveté if you hope to do anything radically new.

Gibson ties in the sci-fi books he bought for a dollar to other fantasists: J.G. Ballard, Ursula K. Le Guin, Michael Moorcock, and how these thinkers weren’t all that far off from the likes of Kerouac and William S. Burroughs.  And he believes that without science fiction, he might not have been interested in what these other radical writers had to say.

It’s a short piece, but it really made me wish for more chrome and space-age technology in our lives–when people weren’t afraid to dram big.

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Jonathan Lethem–“My Internet” (New Yorker, June 4 & 11, 2012)

Posted in All Songs Considered, Canadian Music, Carly Rae Jepsen, Jonathan Lethem, New Yorker, Short Story, Technology on June 15, 2012| 2 Comments »

SOUNDTRACK: CARLY RAE JEPSEN-“Call Me Maybe” (acoustic) (2012).

I had never heard of this song until about three days ago.  I’m led to believe that this song is massive, and yet somehow I missed it (which is fine).  I first read about it  as “the song that Justin Bieber made famous.”  So I listened to it and I hated the overproduction of it.  Then one of the folks at NPR picked it as her favorite song of the year (the discussion was split 50/50 between love and hate).  And I had to agree that after another listen, it was really catchy.  But I still hated the overproduction.

One of the people in the discussion said that an acoustic version would be great.  So I found one (there are actually a ton online…this song really must be huge).  And indeed, the acoustic version is pretty nice.  It is insanely catchy (and remarkably sweet).   And her voice is very intriguing–I think her voice really makes the song.  Absent all of that obnoxious production, this is an enjoyable pop song (although, the keyboards are pretty awful still on this version–loose the keys, Carly).

One acoustic version (that’s barely 2 minutes long) is available here.

[READ: June 13, 2012] “My Internet”

I was poisoned against the story because I read just one line of Karen’s review: “Let’s face it – without Jonathan Lethem’s name on this, it’d never get out of a slushpile.”  That was a pretty big hurdle for this story.  And it never cleared it.   I’m going to have to agree with Karen—possibly not as harshly, but with a general….huh?  I have a hard time believing that this found a publisher.

The idea is kind of interesting:  there is a another internet tucked away inside the internet we all know.  There are only 100 people who are on it, and they were all sent special invitations to join.  There are only two rules on this Internet—no money and no animals.  But for some reason (explained by the end), the narrator is unhappy here, and he wants to create his own internet within this other internet (which is within the global internet).

And that’s pretty much it. (more…)

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Margaret Atwood–“The Spider Woman” (New Yorker, June 4 & 11, 2012)

Posted in Books about writers, China Miéville, Culture Shock, Essays, Fantasy, Fears, Margaret Atwood, New Yorker, Nostalgia, Sci-fi, Squarepusher, Supernatural, Technology, The Future on June 10, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: SQUAREPUSHER-Solo Electric Bass 1 (2009).

Yesterday I said that one Squarepusher CD was enough for me.  I did some digging and found out that he has put out a whole bunch of CDs.  And, to the surprise of me, at least, not all of them are crazy electronic music.   This CD, as the title states, is a collection of electric bass solo songs.  The songs were performed live as part of the Jazz à la Villette 2007 festival and were played on an electric six-string bass with no pedals or effects.

And that is all you get—serious solo bass songs.  The man behind Squarepusher, Tom Jenkinson, is apparently a virtuoso musician (who knew?) and these songs really show off his chops (just listen to the insanity of “Seb-1.05” (catchy title, eh?)).  He can play some impressive Spanish-sounding songs–that would probably sound better on a guitar, but sound more impressive on a bass (“Seb-1.06”).  He’s got some great slap stuff going on (“Seb-1.03”), and he really knows from melody (also “Seb-1.03”).  True, 12 all bass songs can meld into one another, but the crowd really loves it (and like a lot of things, seeing it is probably more impressive than just hearing it).

It’s not exactly “fun” listening (even if you love bass solos).  Only 850 copies of the disc were released, so it’s not like they expected a big audience for this.  But it is pretty neat to hear a) how good he is and b) that his main musical output is noisy electronic noodling.  That gives me even more respect for his electronic output.

[READ: June 5, 2012] “The Spider Women”

Margaret Atwood is another author I wish I had read more of—and I’m getting there.  I often wonder if I should just read an author start to finish and be done with him or her or if that just leads to madness.

Much like Miéville says in the previous essay, children don’t read genres, they just read what they like.  I loved Atwood’s idea that “below a certain age, [children] don’t distinguish between ‘true’ and ‘not true,’ because they see no reason why a white rabbit shouldn’t possess a pocket watch, that whales shouldn’t talk, or that sentient beings shouldn’t live on other planets and travel around in spaceships.”  After all, sometimes reality lives under the bed and has sharp claws. (more…)

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