"the destroyer" (mp3)
"I dreamed I was Super Double-X Man, flying over Texas"

While "And I Again" is a better song, this one has samples from Williams' Defender (I think).
(Friday, August 30, 2002)

home-buying tips (the onion)
The best five tips:

• The first step in buying a new home is having much more money than you do now.
• On any house purchase, be sure to save the receipt in case anything goes wrong.
• Check the foundation of a house by playing AC/DC's "Shake Your Foundations" as loud as possible. If the house isn't rocked to the ground, it's a solid house.
• Make sure the neighborhood has a good high school, one close enough to see with a telescope.
• If you cannot afford the home of your dreams, perhaps you can afford the home of Barbie's dreams.

andrea zittel in joshua tree (nyt)
"In the world of Zittel, where theories and ideologies are served up like flapjacks, to A-Z means to redefine conventional notions of home, be it a patio, a kitchen table or a desk, 'to invent new options beyond Crate & Barrel,' as she puts it. As much anthropologist as artist, she concocts utopian habitats that tweak the status quo, then enlists herself to test them. If Mr. Clean morphed into a mad scientist, he might marry Ms. Zittel."

I've been interested in Zittel's work since coming across her A-Z Living Units on ada'web. It's inspiring on a lot of levels.
(Thursday, August 29, 2002)

minisnack
lisa seaman is a damn good designer.
(Thursday, August 29, 2002)

logan tom
i was watching a women's volleyball match on espn2 the other night and was blown away by how good logan tom is. later in the match they mentioned that she's the only collegiate player on the u.s. national team, and that after the match i was watching she was going to fly to germany for a match a day or two later. amazing.
(Wednesday, August 28, 2002)

kirin green label
good value and quality. brewed for good times.

check out the desktop patterns.
(Wednesday, August 28, 2002)

placing
it's good to go back and look at things online from years ago; it's a reminder of what was new, and in this case of just how much cool work carl was doing. i miss working with him and reading his industry standard column.
(Wednesday, August 28, 2002)

"i'm going to work for myself. i won't need to deal with morons like you ever again!" (dilbert)
oh, how close to home it is. but i'm laughing.
(Wednesday, August 28, 2002)

comedian
this trailer is really good.
(Tuesday, August 27, 2002)

gm bets big on fuel cells (wired)
"Realizing that a fuel cell system could allow for an utterly new shape, [GM's] designers tossed out the design requirements of a conventional engine and devised a car from scratch. Once GM walked through that door, a universe of possibilities opened up; except for the familiar four wheels, the AUTOnomy bears almost no resemblance to a traditional auto. The implications go way beyond design and deep into the economics of manufacturing. By replacing most of the hardware in today's cars with wires and circuits that will be standard across multiple models, the AUTOnomy will allow GM to streamline its production system and drastically cut costs...It turns out that concentrating on the car, instead of just on the fuel cell, makes all the difference. And nobody is more surprised than General Motors."
(Tuesday, August 27, 2002)

dressing up the photo badge (wsj)
"Sony in Los Angeles commissioned hundreds of Tibetan prayer beads made of sandalwood, and glass rosaries to mix spirituality with security. Its employee gift shops sell them for $10. 'Boeing wants us to make theirs out of ball bearings,' Ms. Foxman [founder of Moonbabies, which has sold over 100,000 badge holders] says. Boeing carries three models of Moonbabies in its stores, including a silver one with clear beads."
(Tuesday, August 27, 2002)

the last of the rock steady crew (nyt)
"A park jam meant a battle, and a battle meant that crews would dance to win bragging rights and shirts. It was just like the Kung-Fu movies Crazy Legs would watch back then: Your style is good, young man, but your style can't beat mine."

(Tuesday, August 27, 2002)

nyc looks to extend smoking ban (nyt)
"Nationwide, secondhand smoke causes an estimated 65,000 deaths a year, mostly from heart disease. The various gases and particles in secondhand smoke can harm the heart and lungs of anyone who inhales them. Among those chemicals are arsenic, benzene, cadmium, chromium, formaldehyde, lead, 2-nitropropane, polonium 210 and vinyl chloride.

"The gas phase of secondhand smoke contains at least 16 known or probable carcinogens. The particulate phase contains nicotine, as well as known or suspected carcinogens for which there is no safe level for human exposure. Neither phase can be effectively removed by mechanical filters, electrostatic precipitators or ion generators."
(Tuesday, August 27, 2002)

new dehli harvests rain (iht)
"As demand burgeons and reckless consumption chokes the water supply, officials paint a frightening scenario. The city, they say, might even dry up by 2010.

"New Delhi requires 3 billion liters (800 million gallons) a day of water but the water authority is only able to supply 2.5 billion liters. And at least 40 percent of the water supply is lost in leakage, theft or unpaid for. New Delhi gets about 27 days of rain every year.To make matters worse, city residents have bored underground tube wells in their homes and, as a result, depleted the groundwater table."

Are you scared yet?
(Monday, August 26, 2002)

asia is running out of water (iht)
"Fresh water supplies in Asia are very unevenly distributed within and between countries - a factor that officials and analysts say heightens the risk of conflict over control and access to water. Overall, potable water supplies in Asia are among the scarcest in the world. South Asia, where more than one sixth of the world's population lives, has the lowest level of water resources per person, and availability per capita has dropped by almost 70 percent since 1950."
(Monday, August 26, 2002)

the global struggle for water (iht)
Continuing today's water obsession.

"'As countries press against the limits of available water between now and 2015, the possibility of conflict will increase,' the National Intelligence Council said in a report last year.

"By 2015, according to estimates from the United Nations and the U.S. government, at least 40 percent of the world's population, or about 3 billion people, will live in countries where it is difficult or impossible to get enough water to satisfy basic needs."
(Monday, August 26, 2002)

india's water woes (economist)
"All of India, not just Andhra Pradesh, is prone to water rage. Louder versions of Mr Balu's spat are occurring within states, between states and between different sorts of water consumer. They are bound to get worse. India is expected to have another 400m people by 2025; industry and households will demand a larger share of fresh water from agriculture, which now consumes 85% of it. Nearly three-quarters of Indians will then be living in regions with less than 1,000 cubic metres of water (264,000 American gallons) per person per year, too little to sustain economic development. The government is aware of this slow-motion crisis, but unprepared."

Andhra Pradesh (a province) has one possible solution to the quandry of private/public control over water, though there are still kinks in the system.
(Monday, August 26, 2002)

florida never ceases to amaze, or appall (nyt op-ed)
"This new state law [in Florida] requires women — even 14- and 15-year-old girls, even rape victims — to disclose the name and address of the father of a baby offered for adoption, or else to publish these ads [listing and describing the men she most recently had sex with] for four weeks. Perhaps not since a tribal council in Pakistan ordered a woman to be gang-raped in June has a government treated women with such contempt."

Also mentioned in this editorial: "Just last month the Bush administration launched a commission to re-examine Title IX, which requires schools to give girls and boys equal opportunities in athletic programs."

The next time you talk about the good old days, be careful what you ask for: the right in this country is determined to bring those days (when blacks were kept segregated and women couldn't vote) back again.

For fuck's sake, vote this fall.
(Monday, August 26, 2002)

privatizing water (nyt)
"By 2025, as the world's population grows to eight billion, the United Nations expects the number of people suffering from an inadequate supply of clean water to grow to five billion from the current two billion.

"The vast potential to make money by filling that gap has prompted several large multinationals like Vivendi and Suez to target what they see as a lucrative market for the future.

"The case for privatization germinated decades ago after the World Bank unsuccessfully tried to fix the public water supply system in Manila. Despite five repair attempts over the years, water loss was as high as 64 percent."

It's worth remembering that many have predicted that the next set of wars will be fought over access to water.
(Monday, August 26, 2002)

Charles Nelson Reilly alive and well (wsj)
"[Former producer of the David Letterman show Robert] Morton says late shows stepped up their courting of younger audiences in about 1994, when Mr. Leno's NBC bosses 'made a big deal that they judge ratings on demographics, not households. Once demographics became what we were selling and being judged on, that was definitely a stumbling block' for older guests. He adds: 'Now executives are terrified of not delivering the demo. If you put old people on, they think young people will turn it off.'

"Merv Griffin, 77, hosted talk shows for 24 years. 'In my time, the older they were, the more outspoken and funnier they were,' he recalls. Older guests aren't booked today because their older fans are an annoyance to TV executives, he says. 'The networks want you to sell your television and leave the country when you hit 55,' so viewership numbers don't skew old."
(Monday, August 26, 2002)

"remind me"
this royksopp video is damn cool. they're the nordic pop band responsible for 'eple', as well.

(courtesy goodexperience)
(Friday, August 23, 2002)

sportscenter desk
for you rupert pupkin types out there, looking to fulfill your fantasy of being a sportscenter anchor in your own basement.
(Thursday, August 22, 2002)

critical response to art product
another great example of mini's corporate voice. as part of a new contest they have the critical response to art product (c.r.a.p.) generator online, as well as portable versions for pocket pc and palm os. download it and go to your local museum.
(Thursday, August 22, 2002)

flight tracker
find out exactly where any flight is, as well as what sort of weather it's flying through.
(Wednesday, August 21, 2002)

two months off
this new underworld single (to be released 2 september) is just wonderful, a slice of pure sunshiny sunshine techno. it's been putting a smile on my face this week.
(Wednesday, August 21, 2002)

the color line at polo (wsj)
An amazingly honest account of racial issues at that bastion of country-club style, Polo. This is yet another example of why the Wall Street Journal is a very good newspaper.
(Monday, August 19, 2002)

rookie education camp (nyt magazine)
"Mike Haynes, a Hall of Fame defensive back who is now vice president for player and employee development for the N.F.L., joins Henderson onstage. 'How many of you guys know what you want to do when your N.F.L. career is over?' he asks. Only a few dozen rookies raise their hands. Haynes gives a chiding smile. This is a paradox the rookies would confront throughout the symposium. As athletes, they must have blinding confidence in their abilities; now they are being asked to envision their careers flaming out at any moment. 'The N.F.L.,' as Sandra McDonald would say later, 'stands for Not for Long.'"
(Sunday, August 18, 2002)

heroes
a parody of both clerks and marvel comics at once. (via captaincursor)
(Friday, August 16, 2002)

mark eitzel dot com
sigh. a nice simple site for a wonderful singer.
(Friday, August 16, 2002)

quitter (morning news)
A nice snapshot of what the boom was like; it was about negative space: the areas around work were the important things.
(Friday, August 16, 2002)

gynneth whines
Apparently not enough British men were asking her out. "Someone will come up to you and ask you for dinner and you'll say 'Sure.' It's no big deal and no weight should be attached to it. It's only dinner for God's sake," she says. So if you happen to see her walking down the street, ask her to dinner. After all, she says she'll say "Sure."
(Friday, August 16, 2002)

don't be rude: relationships (morning news)
"Having ignored etiquette for most of their lives, freewheeling sorts aren't quite sure how to make a favorable impression when the time comes."

How to do so when "you want something from someone else. Sex, for example."
(Friday, August 16, 2002)

how mit geeks beat vegas (wired)
"Ten minutes pass in near silence. I keep to the minimum bet, and I notice that Lewis’ pile of chips changes shape as we move deeper into the deck. I try to see if he’s counting, but it seems he isn’t even paying attention. His head is cocked to the side, his face relaxed, his eyes barely moving. It takes me a moment to realize that, indeed, he is watching the cards — through the reflection in my whiskey glass."
(Thursday, August 15, 2002)

big eaters slimming down (wsj)
"But these days, in order to remain in the game, eaters like Mr. Jarvis, who weighs 420 pounds and is 6-foot-6, are trying to slim down. The reason: Some nutritionists say that thinner people can actually eat more food faster than overweight people, and their bodies don't send as many hormonal signals to the brain to stop eating when they are full."
(Thursday, August 15, 2002)

how long can the housing bubble last? (wsj)
"'I don't see bubbles bursting -- I see bubbles deflating,' says David Lereah, the chief economist at the National Association of Realtors. Still, he adds that prices could continue soaring a little longer if mortgage rates remain low. But it is also true the current housing market is beginning to show disturbing similarities to the late-1990s technology-stock boom."
(Thursday, August 15, 2002)

shelter magazines go DIY (nyt)
Trading Spaces and its ilk (see: ReadyMade) seem to be having a big influence on the shelter magazine category. More articles about doing good things with less money. Though ReadyMade seems to be the most hardcore in terms of the DIY aesthetic.

I used to own a bunch of classic midcentury furniture, but I've sold the majority of it out of necessity more than anything else. I'm moving back to the M.Arch student mentality: design and build it yourself. It's a big plus to be able to take pride in authorship as opposed to taste.
(Thursday, August 15, 2002)

heatwaves' toll (iht)
"[Sociologist Eric] Klinenberg sees the high death rate as a symptom of a problem that already exists in American cities, even when there is no heat wave. 'Heat waves are like urban particle accelerators,' he said. 'They speed up and make visible conditions that are always there but are difficult to perceive. Living and dying alone is one of those conditions. When hundreds of people die alone and at home behind locked doors and sealed windows out of touch with their families and community support, it's a sign of sweeping social breakdown.'"
(Thursday, August 15, 2002)

freeze lego people into your mouse
(via captaincursor)
(Thursday, August 15, 2002)

underworld live
three live festival shows, all in mp3. perfect work trance music. perfect.
(Wednesday, August 14, 2002)

why bryan berard came back (espn magazine)
"Bryan Berard turned down a guaranteed $6.5 million insurance payment [for nearly losing an eye to Marian Hossa's stick] to lace up his skates in an NHL rink for a fraction of that. A man who grew up expecting to win All-Star honors and Stanley Cups now wants simply to have his name on a playoff stat sheet."
(Wednesday, August 14, 2002)

the effects of treating options as expenses (wsj)
"[C]ompanies will account for the costs of options on their income statements just as they do today for rents, salaries or travel expenses. Companies currently disclose the effect of stock options in financial-report footnotes.

"As companies begin expensing options, they are almost certain to get stingier about handing them out because it will hurt their bottom line. That will have major implications for how a wide array of employees negotiate their compensation packages. What will replace stock options isn't yet clear. Some companies may give employees stock grants or cash bonuses. However, in today's tough economy, many employees may find they get nothing to compensate them for the loss of options."

As usual, the executive suite will still get options in their comp packages. Which, of course, means that the new accounting rules, while making corporate finances clearer, will also have the effect of nullifying stock options as a way for rank-and-file employees to share in a company's prosperity. Surprise: every action has consequences. This one, I think, will be for the better all the way around. Employees can now ask for other perks in lieu of options. A more flexible schedule sounds good to me.
(Tuesday, August 13, 2002)

SC25K
SportsCenter is a great show on a great network, and they're coming up on their 25,000th show (since starting in 1979). The microsite for it has a bunch of commercials (some of Weiden-Kennedy's very best work) and other goodies, including an auction of SC stuff coming up soon.

Anybody want to buy me an anchor desk?
(Tuesday, August 13, 2002)

outdoor showers (nyt)
"The cult of the outdoor shower...has been making a comeback with homeowners and architects weary of excess. 'It opens the mind,' said David Dee, a former film and video editor, one of many to recognize its practicality and poetry. The little stall out back is appreciated for what it represents: a more innocent and carefree form of summer living. 'You can't be without one at the beach,' Mr. Dee said."
(Tuesday, August 13, 2002)

the insider
i've never seen this before, but it looks like it could be awfully cool to use. i'm interested in how it works, since it seems to be a wireless, closed-circuit private tv network, with cable feeds. pretty neat.
(Monday, August 12, 2002)

subway as sanctuary (nyt)
"[T]he one place in New York City that could be considered its dense urban heart, its frantic circulatory system, is also the last true redoubt of cellphone silence: the subway."
(Sunday, August 11, 2002)

bloomberg seeks to ban smoking in nyc bars and restaurants (nyt)
"In California, where the Legislature passed a law in 1994 that banned smoking in all workplaces, including bars and restaurants, many tavern and restaurant owners feared dire economic consequences. Some studies, including one by the state's sales tax collection agency in 1998, actually showed an increase in sales after the law was enacted."

All I can say about this is how fabulous the change in California was after the 1994 law went into effect: I no longer had to change my clothes after coming home from a bar, I could enjoy my food without a cloud of smoke hanging overhead, and I could actually see the stage from the backs of nightclubs. Traveling (and living) outside of California has been a tough adjustment.
(Friday, August 9, 2002)

le poulet en colere
This is the best Nike ad in ages. I don't think the English translation matches the French narration, but who cares?
(Thursday, August 8, 2002)

urban rooftop gardens (nyt)
"Green roofs can combat the urban heat island effect, Ms. Hoffman said. All the stone, brick and blacktop absorb so much heat that cities are six to eight degrees hotter than surrounding suburbs. Energy experts estimate that New York could save as much as $16 million a year in energy costs by growing green roofs, which not only cool buildings in summer, but insulate them in winter."

Besides, how beautiful would New York look with a bunch of green on every rooftop? Residents could have organic vegetables off of their own rooftops, birds would have better places to nest, and it would be cooler all over town.
(Monday, August 5, 2002)

new job (exploding dog book #2)
A really cute book about going to work. If it was twice the size it'd be a great children's book.

Speaking of which, there's a new Maira Kalman book appearing this month!
(Thursday, August 1, 2002)

spurned trista returns as "the bachelorette" (espn)
ESPN is owned by Disney, as is ABC. Have ESPN plug an ABC show, with the plug skewed to appeal to ESPN's audience. This is how synergy is supposed to work.
(Thursday, August 1, 2002)

new indicator (nyt)
Oral-B is replacing the old simple Indicator toothbrush with a new, more swoopy one. Minimal products are definitely not in right now.
(Thursday, August 1, 2002)

an adman's dream house (nyt)
Dream life, is more like it. Sign me up!
(Thursday, August 1, 2002)

keep fishin
I love that the Muppet Show is being used as the framework for a video. I'm guessing this is Spike Jonze's work, which just reinforces my high opinion of him.
(Thursday, August 1, 2002)

paypal money clip
Does this seem ironic to anyone else?
(Thursday, August 1, 2002)