For all of you technophiles, history buffs, wanna-be social commentators, or just curious plebeians, watch this video of an episode from 1994 of BBC's "The Net".
Skip ahead on this video to 7 minutes, 40 seconds for some priceless thoughts on the then-new uses of the world wide web.
Note: This content is pretty much stolen entirely from www.waxy.org, a significantly better blog than my own.
In this first installment of what will hopefully become some kind of recurring feature, something must be said about Douglas Coupland. I just finished his newest book, The Gum Thief, last night. I was going to write some kind of lengthy and delightful review, but instead, I insist that you watch this (adult language and themes; don't say I didn't warn you):
This video was made by Crush Inc., a production studio based in Canada. They made these nine shorts as a promotional campaign for Coupland's novel and won Toronto's biggest advertising award for the campaign, the first ad campaign for a book to ever win the 35 year old award.
To be very clear, the book is much more fun to read than to watch in a series of commercials.
Coupland got his 15 minutes of real celebrity back in the early nineties when he coined the term Generation X. This was the name of his first best-selling novel and his voice, the same weirdly calm and natural tone he applies to most of his novels, resonated enough that an entire generation was named after this book.
My personal favorite, Life After God, is more of a collection of short stories than a novel, but it is beautiful in that weird and supernatural way that normally only poetry can achieve. A passage that sticks with me:
"I think there was a trade-off somewhere along the line. I think the price we paid for our golden life was an inability to fully believe in love; instead we gained an irony that scorched everything it touched. And I wonder if this irony is the price we paid for the loss of God."
Coupland is not a Christian, but he has an ability to represent the fallen state of humanity and the lose grasp of our need for grace. A warning- his books are disturbing. They are disturbing without violence or sexuality. They are disturbing because they are so blisteringly honest that you waver between embarrassment and awe while you get into his characters' minds.
So, if you've never read any of his work, pick up any one of the many novels he has written over the last 15 years. Reading his work is always a strange experience, but a strange experience worth having.
I was reading an interview on Murketingtoday with Brian, author of the blog, Buy-by-Brian. The night before his cross-country move from San Francisco to Chicago, Brian's moving truck was broken into and everything he owned (with the exception of his laptop and an overnight bag with a couple changes of clothes) was gone forever. This included his sketch books and portfolios (Brian makes his living as a graphic designer) and other irreplaceable items.
This was last August, and since then, Brian has documented every non-disposable item he purchases as he rebuilds his material life, along with a brief explanation of the product, its price and weather he considers it a want or a need.
The blog is very straightforward, but it documents a significant experience as Brian has a unique opportunity to honestly observe his relationship to his possessions and the psychology and relative necessity of "stuff".
I'm not entirely sure what to think about this. Essentially, it is a robot programmed with basic if/then logic. Supposedly, it is teachable, but I haven't quite figured it out. Anyway, I've named him Sweeney and he gives me a headache, but I am also determined to figure out his rules. If anyone has any insights here, please pass them on.
"Why don't you sit right down and stay awhile? We like the same things and I like your style. It's not a secret. Why do you keep it? I'm just sitting on the shelf."
M. Ward has great taste. She and Him, the name under which Zoey Deschanel and M. Ward recorded their album "Volume One"sounds like an essay more than a masterwork, but Deschanel's lilting voice is perfectly anachronistic and creates a kind of music that recalls the best of 60's AM radio.Like Jenny Lewis, another of Ward's occasional collaborators (and former child actress), Deschanel has a voice that swings wildly between sweetly underdeveloped and almost frighteningly mature, often within the same few measures. The effect is stunning.
While spring sweeps in and overexcites the membrane, this album has a sweet kind of magic that recalls all the best things about naivety. Sometimes sweet is ok.
