Working On: (2.25.2007)

1. Book chapter. About 2 paragraphs from completion. 8,660 words.

2. Book review. Page 300. 284 to go.

Gleanings: "The Arts, The DRMs, and The Rush"

• The NY Times reports that corporate contributions to the arts are in severe decline. As such, relationships between corporations and arts organizations are becoming more like business partnerships. Fascinating and sad.
• On a positive note, Slate has a story on the 60 larest charitble contributors of 2006 .
• A new trend in independent bookselling. Established stores, new owners (via Readerville).
• Cory Doctorow rebukes Steve Jobs's Down-with DRM note (via Boing Boing).
• A look at Philadelphia's burgeoing tribute band scene (via LHB).
• Brief item on a new Rush album, tentatively called Snakes and Arrows (I keep wanting them to do an album called Sight and Sound), tentatively due out March 1. With The Arcade Fire's new one hitting shelves next month and The Polyphonic Spree's soon after, it's shaping up to be one hecka good spring for music (via Scott Andrew).

One Sentence Movie Reviews: "As Good As it Gets" (1997)

As Good As it Gets (1997): "Some of the best movies are simply unforgettable characters bumping up against one another"

Notes: I last saw this movie in the theater almost a decade ago. Still love it. Seen as part of my mission to rewatch old favorites.

Siriu-XM? A Paradise up Ahead?

Maybe you heard that Sirius and XM are considering a merger? Wall St. has been encouraging this for some time, contending there isn't room for both of them and the bifurcation of a still-developing media space is harmful to both companies.

Unless you worked for a competitor, I figured this would be good news all around, an end to the VHS or Beta debate that really doesn't benefit anyone. But it seems I was wrong.

According to this small sampling, fear of "corporate consolidation" persists. Couple this with the music book I'm reviewing right now and the following is on my mind: One of the most powerful myths in music is music as a weapon against the oppresion of some evil overload. Their has to be a "the man" so our tunes can knock him on his ass.

This myth sticks around for two reasons: It mirrors perfectly how we feel when we become interested in music i.e. our teens and 2) It is a myth, a delicious one yes, but no longer anchored in any known reality.

Before the Internet, if you didn't like the music on the radio and didn't live somewhere big enough to offer you other choices in listening, buying or concert going, you were stuck. No one understood you and rightfully, you were angry about it. You sought out a community. And one filled with kids your age who felt the same way and had created an alternative society based on that alienation to you was like coming home.

But this is a product of world split in two, a mainstream and a reaction to it. But the world isn't split in two anymore, it's split into a billion. Now with three mouse clicks, you can instantly find musical comraderie. The playlist makes every song equal, no matter how large the marketing budget behind it. The major labels are self-destructing by the day and the influence of the mainstream isn't nearly what it used to be. Oppression works on lack of options. Thanks to the Internet, we have more options that we could ever possibly exercise.

Music is now cheaper, easier and more diverse than at any time in history. And it is all there for the listening. In the darkest days for the music business has emerged a golden age for music fans.

Granted there is a class issue here. In a fantastic article in the Chronicle of Higher Education called "Cultural Renaissance or Cultural Divide?" (subscription only), authors Bill Ivey and Steven J. Tepper point out that the wealth of options the Internet provides only exist if you have continual access to the Internet. The same holds true for Netflix, Last.fm or LibraryThing, leaving poorer media consumers with what they can get for free i.e. network television, top forty radio and movies at the multiplex and Blockbuster. As my friend Justin points out in the comments, does this mean that folk who can't afford otherwise get stuck with the least progressive media images of others? Of themselves?

Let us refocus the struggle then. Instead of hoarding lesser known culture for ourselves, how do we in fact share it with others who can't get to it.

We have the freedom to reframe this debate because, to a large extent, we have already won. Music is everywhere, at our fingertips and largely free. Satellite radio is a ship's portal into this hull filled with riches. It's a small example but an indicator of something much bigger

This battle is over and the victory is ours. There's nothing in it to rail against anymore. Can we now move on to music a gift shared amongst everyone instead of amouring ourselves against an assault that no longer exists?

And on this day in literature...

Happy birthdays to Chuck Palahniuk, David Foster Wallace and Ha Jin. CP and Foster Wallace are two of the only authors in recent memory to become bestsellers thanks to their young male readers (via The Writers Almanac).

Working On: (2.20.2007)

It's all about finishing two big projects before I head to Austin next month:

1. Opening chapter of my book. 2,983 words so far and I've outlined the last dozen or so paragraphs. 2 hrs a day minimum but probably more.

2. Review of a biography for the LA Times. On page 203 of 584 pages.

I push on, feeling oddly like I could get this all done.

Word of the Day: "Limerence"

Limerence: "The emotional state of being in love" (as said by my friend Liane).

Notes: I'd never heard this one before. The spelling makes it look like "The emotional state of smelling like a lime."

Thought of the Day: "Memory"

"The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living" --Cicero

One Sentence Movie Reviews: "Breaking and Entering"

Breaking and Entering (2006): "Our need for human connection can make us do awul things in spite of how absolutely necessary it is."

Extras: Interview with director Anthony Minghella.

Today in Literary Birthdays...

Jonathan Lethem, Carson McCullers and Amy Tan. (via the Writer's Almanac)

I'm Sorry...

Between the San Franciso Writer's Conference and my parents coming to town, I've got no time to blog. I'll see you on Monday.

And Now Romney:

This from the New York Times...

With his 20-minute announcement, Mr. Romney took the latest step in his transformation from a Republican who managed to get himself elected governor of Massachusetts, one of the more Democratic states in the nation, to a someone trying to capture the Republican presidential nomination in a process dominated by social conservatives.

Man, this is going to be an interesting election year. Or year and a half.

Update: Guiliani says he's in too.

Tomorrow we drive...

I head home tomorrow. San Francisco, I've missed you. Los Angeles, I will miss you after I'm gone.

Elie Wiesel Attacked in a San Francisco Hotel:

I'd really like to write a bunch of posts about my time here in Los Angels which has been both lovely and transformative but this item caught my eye and bears comment.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports the following:

Elie Wiesel, the renowned Holocaust author and Nobel Peace Prize winner, was attacked and dragged out of a San Francisco hotel elevator last week, possibly by a Holocaust denier who claims to have stalked Wiesel for weeks, police said Friday.
Wiesel, 78, was at the Argent Hotel on Feb. 1 for an interfaith conference when he was confronted around 6:30 p.m. in an elevator by a man insisting that he wanted to interview the author, said police spokesman Sgt. Neville Gittens.

Wiesel said he would do the interview in the lobby of the Third Street hotel, but the man insisted on going to Wiesel's room. The man then stopped the elevator at the sixth floor, dragged Wiesel out and tried to force him into a room on that floor.

"That's when (Wiesel) started yelling," Gittens said. The man fled, and Wiesel went down to the lobby and called police.

Wiesel was not injured. He decided to leave the conference on "Facing Violence: Justice, Religion and Conflict Resolution," and police escorted him to the airport.

I've had a few hours to cool my blind fury. Speaking then wouldn't have been the best expression of what was in my head as well as my heart and the ignorant psychotics who engage in this behavior wouldn't understand it anyway. Therefore, let's talk reason.

Let's say you don't like Elie Wiesel. Despite having surived Buchenwald, won a Nobel Peace Prize, authored more than 40 books and been called a "messenger to mankind," he has his detractors. Professor Norman Finkelstein has accused Wiesel of profiteering from his experience as a Holocaust survivor, a claim not without merit, and Wiesel's unwavering support for Israel is, at the very least, troubling. Let's say you're tired of hearing about the Holocaust or you're one of the willful imbeciles who believes it never happend. Even if you've agreed with everything I just said...

Elie Wiesel is a 79 year old man. I draw the line at abusing children, the impaired and the elderly. Got a fight to pick? Chose someone who can fight back. If they can't physically, take it to a public forum and beat them with your arguments.

Attacking an old man, even one with the stature of Elie Wiesel, is what cowards do: slimy, punk-ass, thuggish cowards. If this is the best the opposition can mount, Elie Wiesel and the rest of us who believe in acceptance and humanity, who believe as Wiesel has said that we walk towards the future "carried by profound fear and extraordinary hope", then we have already won. We have won and feel sorry that you have wasted your lives not seeing it yet. (via Michelle Richmond)

Gleanings: Harvard, DRM, Slow Reading

On my mind and in the reading queue this week...

• According to the New York Times, Harvard Univeristy is about to appoint its first female president in its nearly 400-year history. The president-elect is Dr. Drew Gilpin Faust, a historian and dean of the Radcliffe Institute of Advanced Study.
• Similarly, The Supreme Court's first female justices have a word or two to say about the role of feminism in their lives.
• Apple's CEO Steve Jobs calls for the music industry to stop putting Digital Rights Management restrictions on its downloadable music. Depending on how the major labels respond, this could be huge.
• Heard of the slow food movement? How about the slow reading movement?

Working On: 2.9.2007

Even this weekend while I'm in Los Angeles it's book, book, book. I owe my agent a first chapter by the end of the month. Between then and now, I'm giving two talks at the San Francisco Writers Conference and reviewing a book for the LA Times. My parents are also coming to town next weekend. It's going to be a busy month.

Yesterday's word count: 1,228

One Sentence Movie Reviews: "Freedom Writers"

Freedom Writers (2007): "In 'inspirational teacher' movies, all is forgiven if they make you cry."

Links: The Freedom Writers Foundation

In Los Angeles:

I have arrived safely in Los Angeles. Must sleep now. More tomorrow.

A 'Stately Pleasure Dome'

So yesterday I dodgeballed from Hearst Castle and called it a "stately pleasure dome", as Orson Wells had done in the movie Citizen Kane, not realizing I had never read the full text of "Kubla Kahn", the poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge that contains that line. So I've copied it below.

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree :
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.
So twice five miles of fertile ground
With walls and towers were girdled round :
And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills,
Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree ;
And here were forests ancient as the hills,
Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.

But oh ! that deep romantic chasm which slanted
Down the green hill athwart a cedarn cover !
A savage place ! as holy and enchanted
As e'er beneath a waning moon was haunted
By woman wailing for her demon-lover !
And from this chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething,
As if this earth in fast thick pants were breathing,
A mighty fountain momently was forced :
Amid whose swift half-intermitted burst
Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail,
Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher's flail :
And 'mid these dancing rocks at once and ever
It flung up momently the sacred river.
Five miles meandering with a mazy motion
Through wood and dale the sacred river ran,
Then reached the caverns measureless to man,
And sank in tumult to a lifeless ocean :
And 'mid this tumult Kubla heard from far
Ancestral voices prophesying war !

The shadow of the dome of pleasure
Floated midway on the waves ;
Where was heard the mingled measure
From the fountain and the caves.
It was a miracle of rare device,
A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice !
A damsel with a dulcimer
In a vision once I saw :
It was an Abyssinian maid,
And on her dulcimer she played,
Singing of Mount Abora.
Could I revive within me
Her symphony and song,
To such a deep delight 'twould win me,
That with music loud and long,
I would build that dome in air,
That sunny dome ! those caves of ice !
And all who heard should see them there,
And all should cry, Beware ! Beware !
His flashing eyes, his floating hair !
Weave a circle round him thrice,
And close your eyes with holy dread,
For he on honey-dew hath fed,
And drunk the milk of Paradise.

I think I'm gonna have to see Citizen Kane again when I get home and maybe check out RKO 281. Also I hear David Nasaw's biography of William Randolph Hearst is pretty damn good.

Greetings from SLO:

Time: Evening

Place: San Luis Obispo, California. Two Hours north of Los Angeles

How I got here: In a fury of 5 hours worth of driving. I made great time.

Some things I've learned:

1. San Luis Obispo looks a lot like Portland--overcast, wide sidewalks, lots of ranch houses--but quieter and less flannel.

2. Hearst Castle is nowhere from nowhere. 5 hours from either San Francisco or Los Angeles in the blink-and-you'll-miss-it town of San Simeon then 5 miles by bus up a giant hill surrounded by ranch land and cows.

3. Somewhere between the Castle and SLO is the town of Harmony, California, population 18.

4. Most of the towns between say Gilroy and Paso Robles on Highway 101 have Spanish names. So, after a little research, I now know what esperanza ("hope"), mariposa ("butterfly") and obispo ("bishop") mean.

5. The sink in my hotel room's bathroom roars slightly when you turn on the hot water, like there's a baby lion trapped in the piping.

Word of the Day: "Cascade"

Cascade (noun, verb): a flowing of any object in a waterfall-like design

Also: A mountain range, a cleaning product, an industrial machinery corporation and how Norman Mailer described Marilyn Monroe's hair in this book.

One Sentence Movie Reviews: "Afropunk"

Afropunk (2004): "Young, angry and powerless transcends the color line."

Notes: This documentary about African-American punks ccomplishes much in not a lot of time. Manages to be smart and thoughtful instead of simply a promotional film about the punk lifestyle. Actually hints at what you do when you get too old to define your life by what you are against. Highly recommended.

Thought of the Day: "Intellect"

"If we listened to our intellect, we'd never have a love affair. We'd
never have a friendship. We'd never go into business, because we'd be
cynical. Well, that's nonsense. You've got to jump off cliffs all the
time and build your wings on the way down."

--Ray Bradbury (via Keely)

Austin is Calling:

For those headed to South by Southwest this year, The unoffcial conference blog SXSW Baby is back in operation. SXSW Baby is a great source for insider tips on how to make the most of your time at the conference as well as a line on events not on the official conference program.

It also means we're a mere 5 weeks away from it all happening again. I can't wait.

Oh Joyful Podcasty Day!

Fresh Air, the Michael Jordan of NPR shows and a long podcast holdout, has come into the light and is now available as a daily download. Happy days and the hills will sing.

Thought of the Day: "Taste"

"I thank God I have low tastes" -- Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

The Oscar(s):

25 Days of Oscar begins today. Except in this case, Oscar is a 2 year old. (via Michelle Richmond).

My Kingdom for a Little Radio:

I would pay a tidy penny for someone to turn this desktop widget into a google desktop gadget. I just want to listen to Morning Becomes Eclectic from my desktop.

Gleanings: Paris, The Police, Wal-Mart

• The New York Times asks "Is the Champs-Elysees turning into the Times Square of Paris?"
• Jim Hightower examines what's realy behind Wal-Mart's attempt to appeal to a more affluent customer.
• Yahoo News reports that The Police will be reuniting for the Grammy Awards on Feb 11. The band hasn't played together since they broke up in 1984.
• The trailer for Reign Over Me is amazing. I'm counting the days until March 23.
• iConcertCal is an iCal plugin that uses your iTunes library to generate a custom calendar of concerts in your area. Looks like a similar solution getting a bunch of rss feeds from SonicLiving, which is what I do.

Senator Al Franken?

Salon reports that he's running in his home state of Minnesota. What an election year 2008 is going to be.