Thursday, October 27, 2005
Saturday, October 22, 2005
Google Print
Here is the search engine for Google's new project:
Bringing books to the masses through the miracle of Al Gore's invention, the internet!!!
Bringing books to the masses through the miracle of Al Gore's invention, the internet!!!
Thursday, October 13, 2005
Flying Spaghetti Monster!!!
I, a ravenously devout atheist zealot, now humbly convert to the True Faith, Flying Spaghetti Monster...ism. Yes, I hereby renounce all previous and false faiths (there was that belief in my own divinity, but that kinda fell through the floor). I believe!
ALL HAIL THE FLYING SPAGHETTI MONSTER WHO HATH WROUGHT OUR PUTRID FORMS OUT OF MEATBALLS!!!
ALL HAIL THE FLYING SPAGHETTI MONSTER WHO HATH WROUGHT OUR PUTRID FORMS OUT OF MEATBALLS!!!
CNN.com - Author says Harry Potter is gay
What a way to traumatize a group of twelve year olds. They should lock this man away! I mean really, couldn't these kids be watching something on television instead of having hack sci-fi authors come and talk to their class? Please note extreme sarcasm. But bully for this guy. Harry Potter is gay. And J.K. Rowling shouldn't have sold out to the big guys for all the advertising rights and shit. Screw this stupid industry. The kids should be more important than the cash. I'm sure all those people who argue that "Oprah got this nation reading again!" will blacklist my ass but I could care less. It doesn't count if they're reading shit. My only hope lies in the fact that maybe these kids will go on to discover William Gibson and Philip K. Dick and get away from the mainstream veins of corporate children's "literature."
Oct. 6th, 2005
LONDON, England (Reuters) -- A British cleric turned top-selling author of supernatural children's novels was thrown out of a school where he was delivering a talk after he told pupils that Harry Potter was "gay."
Oct. 6th, 2005
LONDON, England (Reuters) -- A British cleric turned top-selling author of supernatural children's novels was thrown out of a school where he was delivering a talk after he told pupils that Harry Potter was "gay."
Monday, October 10, 2005
Alibris: Adding a Middle Man - Hung, Drawn, Quartered and Damned
An interesting article about Alibris, the company we sell books through online, from a perspective I have rarely heard voiced but deserves more attention.
Their ads are good. They're simply old dustjackets with a tag line based on the premise, 'Lost it then? Find it here.' And that's a shame because the company is a complete waste of time and money. Despite large warehouses and maybe a nice suite of offices they are a web-based business. But they're trying to add a layer between customer and retailer when this is exactly the fat that is being reamed from the book business. So why are they doing it and how did they get to the position they are in today?
Their ads are good. They're simply old dustjackets with a tag line based on the premise, 'Lost it then? Find it here.' And that's a shame because the company is a complete waste of time and money. Despite large warehouses and maybe a nice suite of offices they are a web-based business. But they're trying to add a layer between customer and retailer when this is exactly the fat that is being reamed from the book business. So why are they doing it and how did they get to the position they are in today?
See Sharp Press
One of our favorite underground publishers, hopefully this will send some online business their way. They've also got a kick ass free section with entire texts of a few books, anarchist pamphlets and other cool stuff.
"How fortunate it is for us all that it is somewhat unnatural for a human being to obey. Universal obedience is universal stagnation; disobedience is one of the conditions of progress.:
-Robert Ingersoll, Individuality
LOCK AND KEY, n. The distinguishing device of civilization and enlightenment. -Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary
"How fortunate it is for us all that it is somewhat unnatural for a human being to obey. Universal obedience is universal stagnation; disobedience is one of the conditions of progress.:
-Robert Ingersoll, Individuality
LOCK AND KEY, n. The distinguishing device of civilization and enlightenment. -Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary
Saturday, October 08, 2005
The ones who died strong push the rivers downstream
, pull at clouds and keep the sky in motion. They
green the grass and tug it taller, grab tree trunks and stretch them upwards in tiny bits.
The ones who died passionate kiss each bud and pinch its base until it pops open, surprised. The ones who
died shy string spider webs, almost invisible.
There’s a job for everybody. On any given day. The Dead are generous with their gifts to the living.
S. Reynolds, A Gracious Plenty
green the grass and tug it taller, grab tree trunks and stretch them upwards in tiny bits.
The ones who died passionate kiss each bud and pinch its base until it pops open, surprised. The ones who
died shy string spider webs, almost invisible.
There’s a job for everybody. On any given day. The Dead are generous with their gifts to the living.
S. Reynolds, A Gracious Plenty
Friday, October 07, 2005
FactCheck.org - Annenberg Political Fact Check
A nice tool to have on the back burner these days.
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan
We are a nonpartisan, nonprofit, "consumer advocate" for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. We monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews, and news releases. Our goal is to apply the best practices of both journalism and scholarship, and to increase public knowledge and understanding.
The Annenberg Political Fact Check is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. The APPC was established by publisher and philanthropist Walter Annenberg in 1994 to create a community of scholars within the University of Pennsylvania that would address public policy issues at the local, state, and federal levels.
The APPC accepts NO funding from business corporations, labor unions, political parties, lobbying organizations or individuals. It is funded primarily by an endowment from the Annenberg Foundation.
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan
We are a nonpartisan, nonprofit, "consumer advocate" for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. We monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews, and news releases. Our goal is to apply the best practices of both journalism and scholarship, and to increase public knowledge and understanding.
The Annenberg Political Fact Check is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. The APPC was established by publisher and philanthropist Walter Annenberg in 1994 to create a community of scholars within the University of Pennsylvania that would address public policy issues at the local, state, and federal levels.
The APPC accepts NO funding from business corporations, labor unions, political parties, lobbying organizations or individuals. It is funded primarily by an endowment from the Annenberg Foundation.
Thursday, October 06, 2005
Salon.com
Here's an eleven disk collection of Dylan Thomas reading his poetry and short prose for free download. You may have to watch a short ad if you're not a member of Salon.com, but it should work.
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
A Tribute to Skyline Books
oh my god. if we had any money we wouldn't have any money. look at the rest of this store's site. this is fucking incredible.
Jesus Christ Almighty, look at this collection of Bukowski's Books and memoribilia
and the Hunter S. Thompson stuff is beautiful as well.
Guys. We need to go visit this store.
Established in 1988, Skyline Books specializes in modern literature, with an emphasis on the Beat Generation, sixties counterculture, Pop Art, student activism, Fluxus, rock music, photography, signed books, Happenings, psychoactive drugs, Pop Culture, Avant-garde art, and more.
Jesus Christ Almighty, look at this collection of Bukowski's Books and memoribilia
and the Hunter S. Thompson stuff is beautiful as well.
Guys. We need to go visit this store.
Established in 1988, Skyline Books specializes in modern literature, with an emphasis on the Beat Generation, sixties counterculture, Pop Art, student activism, Fluxus, rock music, photography, signed books, Happenings, psychoactive drugs, Pop Culture, Avant-garde art, and more.
Arthur Magazine's Strange But Entertaining Blog
Upcoming 'Zine Convention in the L.A. area, waxing eloquent on corporate culture, productive anti-bush fervor & big-ass mushrooms!What is Arthur?
Arthur Magazine is high quality writing and artwork by some of the nation's finest scribes, cartoonists and photographers: People with good taste, people who break ground, people who have a sense of passion, humor and righteousness for what they're covering. People like David Byrne, Kristine McKenna, Michael Moorcock and Douglas Rushkoff.
"A magazine with moxie . . . which aims to agitate and inspire in much the same way early Rolling Stone and other underground publications did in the 1960s and '70s." -- Los Angeles Times
"Arthur is kind of in a category by itself . . . DIY in its sensibility but far-reaching in its goals." - The Philadelphia Weekly
"Arthur is the American counterculture's answer to the New Yorker." -- The Guardian, Dec 3, 2004
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Bookselling: Past, Present and Future
Interesting article on the history of our fine trade. Not a whole heck of a lot out there I'm afraid... I'm kind of disappointed. But I also predict a change, that in the next few years this void will be filled with hundreds of fascinating documentaries and bibliographies. Mark my words.
Monday, October 03, 2005
Nietzsche in the Streets - A Review of I Am Not A Man, I Am Dynamite! Friedrich Nietzsche and the Anarchist Tradition
Autonomedia.org & Interactivist.net bring you an excellent blog: The InterActivist Info Exchange with good reviews of some cool shit!
When is an anarchist a real anarchist? When his thoughts are in line with the teachings of Proudhon, Kropotkin, Bakunin and the like? When he engages in direct political action behind a black flag? Or when his thoughts are clearly libertarian? Anarchism has always struggled with the impossibility of becoming a movement. In a sense it fits Groucho Marx's famous paradox of not wanting to become a member of a club who would like to accept him as a member. By its own principles, becoming an anarchist is a kind of paradox - that is as long as one thinks in terms of movements or affiliations. Libertarianism, freedom for man to choose his own rules (and definitely not the so-called democratic freedom for man to accepts his ruler) and be master of his own destiny in a society without private ownership goes against affiliation. The struggle against all forms of authority and the permanent revolt against institutions that coerce freedom make it quite difficult - if not impossible - to define somebody as an anarchist. In a sense the last thing an anarchist accepts is being pinned down as such. He will probably deny it.
When is an anarchist a real anarchist? When his thoughts are in line with the teachings of Proudhon, Kropotkin, Bakunin and the like? When he engages in direct political action behind a black flag? Or when his thoughts are clearly libertarian? Anarchism has always struggled with the impossibility of becoming a movement. In a sense it fits Groucho Marx's famous paradox of not wanting to become a member of a club who would like to accept him as a member. By its own principles, becoming an anarchist is a kind of paradox - that is as long as one thinks in terms of movements or affiliations. Libertarianism, freedom for man to choose his own rules (and definitely not the so-called democratic freedom for man to accepts his ruler) and be master of his own destiny in a society without private ownership goes against affiliation. The struggle against all forms of authority and the permanent revolt against institutions that coerce freedom make it quite difficult - if not impossible - to define somebody as an anarchist. In a sense the last thing an anarchist accepts is being pinned down as such. He will probably deny it.
Sunday, October 02, 2005
The End of Suburbia — Oil Depletion and the Collapse of the American Dream
Solid book reviews courtesy of Alternative Press Review
this title reviewed by Thomas Wheeler
A simple fact of life is that any system based on the use of nonrenewable resources is unsustainable. Despite all the warnings that we are headed for an ecological and environmental perfect storm, many Americans are oblivious to the flashing red light on the earth's fuel gauge. Many feel the American way of life is an entitlement that operates outside the laws of nature. At the Earth Summit in 1992, George H.W. Bush forcefully declared, "The American way of life is not negotiable." That way of life requires a highly disproportionate use of the world's nonrenewable resources. While only containing 4% of the world population, the United States consumes 25% of the world's oil. The centerpiece of that way of life is suburbia. And massive amounts of nonrenewable fuels are required to maintain the project of suburbia.
this title reviewed by Thomas Wheeler
A simple fact of life is that any system based on the use of nonrenewable resources is unsustainable. Despite all the warnings that we are headed for an ecological and environmental perfect storm, many Americans are oblivious to the flashing red light on the earth's fuel gauge. Many feel the American way of life is an entitlement that operates outside the laws of nature. At the Earth Summit in 1992, George H.W. Bush forcefully declared, "The American way of life is not negotiable." That way of life requires a highly disproportionate use of the world's nonrenewable resources. While only containing 4% of the world population, the United States consumes 25% of the world's oil. The centerpiece of that way of life is suburbia. And massive amounts of nonrenewable fuels are required to maintain the project of suburbia.
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