Off and Away:

Heading to Philadelphia today for Mix Weekend then onto Chicago for BEA. Updates sporadic until then. Have a good week ya'll.

A Magazine About Magazines:

The New York Review of Magazines takes a long hard look at the business they themselves are apart of. Another fine product of the Columbia School of Journalism. Who knew (via Arts Journal)?

Chaos not Crashes:

I was fascinated by this article in Salon on new trends in traffic science, one of which argues that more chaos and less control on the roads leads to calmer traffic and fewer accidents and pedestrian fatalities. That means blurring the boundary between sidewalk street, fewer traffic lights and stop signs, and letting car, pedestrian, bicycle and yes, trees using the street space equally.

Pedestrian activist Linda Baker wrote the article so you can guess where her sentiments lie. But no matter how interesting I found her reasoning, I couldn't quite buy it because I didn't get to see it in action. How about some picture, or, saints alive!, a video? Traffic has been so the same for so long that I need to see it different to believe it.

Say What, Deafie?

Bumper sticker seen on the way home today:

"I Love Airplane Noise"

Say what?

In Your Pocket and Two Inches High:

Rumors of a Video iPod have been greatly exaggerated.

Well thank god for that. I'm still waiting for the dual-headed firewire cable that will allow me to run into a friend on the bus, who coincidentally is also listening to their iPod, and be able to trade songs back and forth just as you can beam files on a Palm Pilot (via Gizmodo).

Art Hike North:

Suzan and I took a drive northward today that evolved into a treasure hunt for some of the area's better art work. We visited Florence Ave. in Sebastopol, where found-object sculptor Patrick Amiot had installed his pieces on the lawns of his neighbors. In front of his house is an enormous jukebox with Elvis Presley crooning on top. The whole thing is made of scrap metal and coffee cans.

On a tip from Bay Area Backroads (where we first heard about Patrick's work), we also took in the Quicksilver Mining Co., a gallery specializing in Northern California artists. Their upcoming show features Monty Monty an assemblage artist who makes vehicles, animals and devices out of vintage antiques and collectibles. Isn't this stuff great?

Suzan has informally banned me from buying anymore three dimensional as we're practically out of shelf space but I see this sort of thing and drool. It reminds me of what beauty there is in everything, so long as you have an eye for how it all hangs together.

Huge News:

Oh, lord this is big. Michael Moore's new film Fahrenheit 911 has won the Palme D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, perhaps the most prestigious award in world cinema.

Its still unclear how the film will be distributed in America, but oh my it will be now.

I can't wait. I plan on attending a screening on the day they escort George W. Bush from the White House and the whole country knows what a lying, spineless, dangerous lot they all are.

I'll be there and I will laugh.

A Sizzling Development:

Seems that we'll be seeing healthier french fries any year now. Who wants to sample them for me (via Rebecca Blood)?

Last to Know Edition #49

My friend Anil Dash is defying the exodus of blogger titans out of San Francisco and moving here. I hope to see him some (via Torrez).

Slapping Your Inner Critic:

Wretched Reviews puts history's worst book reviews on T-shirts, mugs, journals and postcards. Just to keep you and your creative impulses honest.