Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Paranoid Android

I once attended a concert featuring Atari Teenage Riot, the Wu-Tang Clan, and Rage Against The Machine. I really only wanted to see ATR, my buddies and I were big Rage fans, and we kinda figured Wu-Tang would be an added bonus. ATR turned out to be a wash; German thrashcore ends up sounding like total crap in a big outdoor pavilion. Rage was pretty good, since this was before de la Rocha went nutty, but I got beaten so badly in the mosh pit I ended up throwing up in the lawn. When you're 16 and 130 pounds soaking wet, don't put yourself in a pit where everyone else has the size, build, and demeanor of Henry Rollins. I'm just saying. But Wu-Tang spoiled the whole escapade. Hip-hop music, like thrashcore, really doesn't work outside at anything bigger than a block party. And the Clan, who has more members than Parliament (and I don't mean the George Clinton kind) kept shuffling people on and off stage so we had no idea from the cheap seats what was being sung or if we were even looking at anyone famous. At any given time there were at least 5 people schlepping around the stage shouting, with no indication they were even doing the same song. ODB didn't even show. Instead, vast portions of the show were screamed by somebody's (RZA's?) 7-year old nephew, who didn't give a shit about the words and whose voice kept clipping the amps. Wu-Tang would easily lead the list of "Worst Performers I've Ever Seen" if not for that David Bowie concert.

I bring this up because I'm pretty sure these guys could've put on a better show.

Sunday, July 29, 2007

Positive Reinforcement

One of the things technology gets us is the ability to communicate, quickly and easily, with those who share similar ideals, visions, hopes and dreams. The Internet takes this to the next level; newsgroups, chatrooms, message boards and blogs allow rapid gatherings of those with like minds to share and develop great and powerful ideas.

At least in theory. In practice it allows people to build insular communities shielded from those who might think of disagreeing. While at the worst case it helps build al-Qaeda cells, the more common examples are more mundane. If, at least, you consider dressing up like an animal and having sex with other people dressed as animals to be mundane. (Note: Do not, ever, actually follow the second link.) As the title of this post states, it becomes a self-reinforcing feedback loop, with no hope of correction.

Which brings me to the reason for this post. These glasses.


Click on the picture and you'll get the Coolhunter post describing some fashion designer making it huge with her "fun and funky" yet "quirky fashions." Coolhunter every now and then has some bitchin' resorts I'll never have the millions to afford to go to. But in the end most of what's on the site is ridiculous, and remains so because it focuses on the avant-garde of the fashion industry, and the fashion industry has such a flawed feedback loop. You would need to have your head firmly ensconced in your own sphincter to really believe that a guy who looks like this is a hip trendsetter. The creme de la creme, though, is these glasses.


Look, I don't know why these women have some unidentifiable but clearly not sweat fluid on their faces. (Maybe they're crying after seeing their visage in the mirror.) They look like they might even be attractive in person. We'll never know, because they look like they decided to get their accessories from a Happy Meal.

Don't make their mistake. Seek exterior feedback today.

Tuesday, July 03, 2007