faviconized version of this GIF that found Travis Hallenbeck
October 2008
Fall TV Show Plot Mechanics
AP article via Salon (prob. subscription only) notes that
General Motors Corp. [placed] two of its newest vehicles in NBC’s new drama "My Own Worst Enemy," which premieres Monday night.
The show's central character, played by actor Christian Slater, has two different personalities. There's Henry, a suburban dad who drives GM's recently launched family-oriented Traverse crossover. Then there's Edward, a secret agent who speeds around in the new version of GM's Camaro sports car set to go on sale early next year.
That reminds me of Don DeLillo, from White Noise, a Dad watching his young children snoozing:
Steffie turned slightly, then muttered something in her sleep...
She uttered two clearly audible words, familiar and elusive at the same time, words that seemed to have a ritual meaning, part of a verbal spell or ecstatic chant.
Toyota Celica.
...But how could this be? A simple brand name, an ordinary car. How could these near-nonsense words, murmured in a child's restless sleep, make me sense a meaning, a presence? She was only repeating some TV voice. Toyota Corolla, Toyota Celica, Toyota Cressida. Supranational names, computer-generated, more or less universally pronounceable. Part of every child's brain noise, the substatic regions too deep to probe. Whatever its source, the utterance struck me with the impact of a moment of splendid transcendence...
Manovich jokes belabored
A comment I made on Paddy Johnson's blog about an earlier post here:
All of my considerations of [Lev] Manovich were meant as sardonic jokes. My conception of new media is about 180 degrees from his. The LoVid patchwork is the antithesis of numerical data-–it is made of video “noise” printed out on cloth and hand sewn–-a unique unrepeatable object. The “tree” from CPB’s blog, translated from French, reduces the priorities of the network to images, dogs, and cats. The mouse scribbles were an over-the-top literalization of the concept of “automatic writing.” Your description of Item 4 was what I intended: repeatability of an idea is not necessarily good. And item 5 is a Mac misreading a crisp animated GIF by adding undesired anti-aliasing effects.
Erika Somogyi
from a 2-person show with Evan Greenfield, upcoming at Mountain Fold gallery, NY
sherrie levine and luc tuymans folded back onto meaning ("sensitivity and turbulence reconciled," "female icon of chaos and calm," etc.). the browser becomes the locus of brain-gripping equipoise. oh, and then there's visiting the gallery for the physical analog of the lightbox experience you just had. Will you go?
Brokaw Tire-Swingin'?
"Swinging on the tire" is blogger code for DC media types becoming way too chummy with John McCain--just learned the exact reference last week. The in-joke originates with a Talking Points Memo reader appalled by the YouTube footage McCain's daughter posted, documenting a fun barbecue for journalists at one of the candidate's summer homes (referred to in Washington journo-speak as a "cabin" or "humble cabin"). It includes footage of a reporter swinging on a tire.
It would be hard to top the 2004 party at the Madison Ave restaurant La Goulue where reporters sang Happy Birthday to McCain. Tom Brokaw was there.
And here's Chris Bowers' description of Brokaw's debate moderation tonight:
--Brokaw keeps telling Obama to stop talking and then, when McCain interjects with a barb, Brokaw laughs again. Yeah--nice.
[...]
--The last time Obama talked, Brokaw sarcastically warned the candidates about taking too much time. Then, when McCain talked, Brokaw laughed and said "thank you, Senator."