I had an interesting discussion with Jere about the whole flash mob thing, with some random musing on dada. I wound up saying: I’m not sure that there’s not a paradox inherent in the concept. The need to draw in a lot of people conflicts with the need to keep the details under wraps. Once People Magazine does a story on it (which will be next week, I understand), it’s no longer mysterious. ...
Don’t let anyone tell you affirmative action is only for minorities these days. I’m thinking Bishop Caldwell is crazy like a fox — he’s picking up a fair amount of attention, which easily assists with both his stated objectives and any yearning for publicity he might feel.
There are worse ways to spend a Saturday than browsing through the Dead Media Working Notes. Don’t miss the uncategorized notes, either. I regard this as a museum of ways in which human beings have tried to touch one another; it strikes me as deeply Cronenbergian. And what goes around, comes around (original).
Pictures of last night’s flash mob are here (original) (mmm, lots of cops), here (original) (mmm, lots of media), and here. I forgot to mention that the Coop had a bunch of copies of Smart Mobs (original) piled up at one of the registers. Lucky guess on someone’s part.
Tonight was the first Boston flash mob (original). (The mailing list isn’t hard to find, but I think I won’t link to it; email me if you want to know.) It went OK. I showed up and got instructions around 6:50, and hit the designated spot at the designated time. People were kind of quiet, as per instructions, but not really. Then someone hushed the crowd, and the crowd obeyed. Cool. ...
Kill Bill is just gonna be a big huge sprawling mess. Hopefully in a good way. Over three hours! Tarantino goes wild! Man, the guy doesn’t have any self-restraint as it is. But I’m gonna see it. I’m even looking forward to it. His lack of self-restraint has led to some amazing things, so what the hell? I’ll think of it as his big unrestrained double album rock opera and see how it sounds.
Welcome to the 1st International Love Hotel Moblogging Conference. ( Snooze finds the coolest links.) You sort of missed it, because it was yesterday. A bunch of people independently sought out love hotels, took pictures, and blogged the whole thing. It reminds me of the Lessig Starbucks weekend (original), but with a single centralized blog. I wanted to do a central blog for the NBA draft, but I thought of the idea too late. I still want to do my nomoblog, too.
I was just browsing around the Apple iTunes Music Store, contemplating the new Liz Phair album. Despite the warnings of friends, yeah. I was all geared up for the experience of buying the thing and being hugely disappointed by a sellout. Then I noticed a Clean Lyrics badge on the album. Clicked it, and discovered that the album was an expurgated version. (Didja hear about the expurgated Liz Phair concert? “Hi, thanks for coming out! It’s gonna be a great night! I hope you enjoyed my show, and have a safe drive home!”) ...
Katharine Hepburn, rest in peace.
It’s a victory for masked politicians everywhere! The Great Sasuke just won the right to sit in the Iwate Prefectural Assembly while masked (original). Good on him.