Infowonk

LollapaloozA

2008-08-01T17:54:00.000-04:00

I've succeeded in sweating through all of my clothes! Gogol Bordello is on stage, and the crowd is dancin' their sweatty asses off. The next two bands are Bloc Party and Radiohead...assuming I don't die of heatstroke.

Now including transsexual hula hoopers!

2008-06-28T17:02:00.003-04:00

Here in Anaheim, CA for the annual American Library Association conference. Last night, Michael, Amalia and I went to see the stellar Lucha VaVoom show. This was a wild night, as we watched Mexican wrestlers in full costume beat the hell out of each other. In between matches, we were treated to a variety of strippers and dances. Oh, and did I mention that there were three person tag-teams featuring a match between three "whales" and three "chickens," and each team had one tiny wrestler. This was perhaps the most fun/strange thing that I've seen all year. Check them out if they are coming through you town.

Tom Waits

2008-05-21T10:50:00.002-04:00

Here's a link to Tom's latest promo material for his upcoming tour...in the format of an interview with himself. Entertainment awaits.

one

2008-03-27T00:20:00.000-04:00

In a bar called the "Fat Buddha" in Chinatown, drinking a beer, U2's "One" comes on. I sing along. So does the blonde in the green sweatshirt.

Blogging from Blackberry at ISA

2008-03-26T14:01:00.000-04:00

I got in to San Francisco yesterday, and things are going well. The Hilton where the International Studies Association conference is being held is a huge labrynth. It took me 15 mins just to find the conference registration desk. I'm looking forward to going out tonight and seeing more of the town....but now it is time to hit the pannels.

My year in music

2007-12-26T16:00:00.000-05:00

So here it is. My 2007 music list. I went to a bunch of shows this year, and of this list I saw LCD Soundsystem, Arcade Fire, Ryan Adams, The National, and Bloc Party live. I am really looking forward to seeing Cloud Cult in concert in January 2008. I hope that you also like some of this stuff.

1. LCD Soundsystem, Sound Of Silver
All My Friends
North American Scum

2. Battles, Mirrored
Atlas
Atlas (Live version)
Tonto

3. Arcade Fire, Neon Bible
Antichrist Television Blues
Intervention

4. Radiohead, In Rainbows
Bodysnatchers
Jigsaw Falling Into Place

3. Cloud Cult, The Meaning of 8
Chemicals Collide

4. Bjork, Volta
Earth Intruders
Declare Independence
Declare Independence (Live Version)

5. Ryan Adams, Easy Tiger
Two
Oh My God, Whatever, Etc.

6. Grinderman, Grinderman
Honey Bee (Let's Fly To Mars)
No Pussy Blues

7. The National, Boxer
Fake Empire
Mistaken for Strangers

8. Dizzee Rascal, Maths + English
Flex
Excuse Me Please

9. Bloc Party, A Weekend In The City
I Still Remember
Hunting for Witches

10. Gogol Bordello, Super Taranta
Start Wearing Purple
I Would Never Wanna Be Young Again

Other Great Albums:
Panda Bear, Person Pitch
M.I.A., Kala
Spoon, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Feist, The Reminder
Arctic Monkeys, Favorite Worst Nightmare
Modest Mouse, We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank
Loney, Dear; Loney, Noir
Jens Lekman, Night Falls Over Kortedala
I'm Not There (Soundtrack)
The New Pornographers, Challengers
Jose Gonzalez, In Our Nature
Lily Allen, Alright, Still
The Shins, Wincing The Night Away

Beautiful Sorta

2007-10-25T12:28:00.000-04:00

I spent 3+ hours of Ryan Adams and the Cardinals last night in Indianapolis. The show was fun, but long. I have been an Adams fan since 2000(?), and I have never seen him live. The show started late (supposed to start at 8, they went on at 8:45-ish), but they played until 12:20-ish. This was a long show, but Ryan spent huge chunks of time mucking around with guitar tuning (isn't this what a guitar tech is for?) and god knows what else.

Several songs were stretched out into what I would call "Jam Band Hell." I spent some time wondering if Ryan was summoning the spirit of Jerry and possibly Trey Anastasio. The band just isn't very good with the whole jam band crap. However, the non-jam parts of the songs were awesome...and to be fair, they didn't jam on everything. They played a bunch of my favorites and Ryan was pretty funny in talking to the audience. There were some genuine idiots in the audience who kept shouting obnoxious things through the night. I'm thinking that there needs to be a "no frat boy" rule at all shows from now on. They all have to go to Dave Matthews Band shows and leave the rest of us alone.

Here's the setlist:

Set 1:
Peaceful Valley
Beautiful Sorta
Please Do Not Let Me Go
Rescue Blues
The Sun Also Sets
Goodnite Rose
Bartering Lines
Off Broadway
A Kiss Before I Go
Shakedown On 9th Street
Cold Roses

Set 2:
When Stars Go Blue
Nightbirds
Why Do They Leave
Everybody Knows
Let It Ride
What Sin Replaces Love
Dear Chicago
Mockingbird Song
Pearls On String
Wildflowers
Easy Plateau
Games
The End
Magnolia Mountain
Dear John
Freeway To The Canyon

Encore:
Wonderwall
I See Monsters

An Average Day at Work

2007-10-10T12:22:00.001-04:00

In Rainbows

2007-10-10T12:17:00.000-04:00

I'm now on my third listen of Radiohead's newest: "In Rainbows," having downloaded it this morning and putting it on my ipod. I confess that I didn't do the thing where you name your price... I went for the big money and got the box set thingie. So far, I am really enjoying the album. With most Radiohead albums, it takes me about 15-25 listens before I am completely in love with it. We'll see if I get there on "In Rainbows." The early signs point to "Yes."

Sometimes, Exploding Dog Says it All

2007-10-04T11:54:00.000-04:00

Us Kids Know

2007-10-04T10:58:00.000-04:00

I went on down to Louisville, Kentucky last night where I saw LCD Soundsystem and Arcade Fire play an amazing show. If you get a chance, you would be well served to see either band live.

Where does it all go?

2007-07-05T14:18:00.000-04:00

"Time is making fools of us" says a wise old man. Where has my summer gone? May was a blip, with my vacation to Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. June was another blur with a conference trip to Washington, DC. Now, I'm staring at a bunch of "summer" deadlines with only five weeks left until I leave for South Africa. And, when I get back from South Africa, the semester will be starting. Damn. I guess that it is time to kick it into high gear.

Back

2007-06-18T14:53:00.000-04:00

Yep. I'm taking another shot at keeping up with this thing. Will wonders never cease?

Faith in Humanity Resored....by Lordi

2006-05-22T10:27:00.000-04:00

I opened the paper today and learned that Lordi, a Finnish metal band with a costume fetish, just won the Eurovision Song Contest. The reaction to the win is a lot of fun to read. Just go to Google News and do a search for Lordi. Also, checkout their videos on YouTube.

You just gotta love these kooky Finnish metalheads winning it all from the grasp of all manner of Euro-bubblegum-crud. Ah, the discussions of how you get a chainsaw to squirt blood.... Long live rock!

I am trying to break your heart

2006-04-18T11:35:00.000-04:00

Wilco came to IU last night, and I was able to walk from the library to the show. This is the third time that I've seen Wilco, and I must say that it was one great show. However, my favorite Wilco show was back in October 2002 at Messiah College in PA.

Anyway, here's the setlist. There are some new songs in the list (The Good Part and Walken) that sounded pretty good. Program yer iPod and make yer own Wilco show!

1. Airline To Heaven
2. Kingpin
3. Handshake Drugs
4. A Shot In The Arm
5. At Least That's What You Said
6. Hell Is Chrome
7. Spiders (Kidsmoke)
8. I Am Trying To Break Your Heart
9. Forget The Flowers
10. War On War
11. Jesus, Etc.
12. Hummingbird
13. The Good Part
14. Walken
15. Heavy Metal Drummer
16. Theologians
17. I'm The Man Who Loves You
18. Monday

Encore 1:
19. The Late Greats
20. I'm Always In Love
21. I'm A Wheel

Encore 2:
22. California Stars

Today is the greatest?

2006-04-04T16:12:00.000-04:00

Well, I am in the middle of a crazy week. I work until 10:00 tonight at the library, then I will be at a Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! show tomorrow night. Then, on Thursday, I will be at a reading by David Sedaris. It should all be fun, but April is turning into just as crazy a month as March was (sans attending a conference in San Diego...which was very cool).

Now, if I can only stay awake for the rest of the day....

I promise that I will change my mind....

2006-04-04T16:09:00.000-04:00

....and then again, maybe not.

Mr. Putin: In Need of Information Literacy

2006-03-29T11:17:00.000-05:00

It turns out that Vladimir Putin (according this story in the Washington Times), plagiarized his thesis. To quote the story:

Large chunks of Mr. Putin's mid-1990s economics dissertation on planning in the natural resources sector were lifted straight out of a management text published by two University of Pittsburgh academics nearly 20 years earlier, Washington researchers insisted yesterday.

Well, I know that Russia is on its busy way on trying to evolve back into the USSR, but I think that this story just adds to the whole bizarre decline that Putin is putting Russia through.

What About Those Who Opt Out?

2006-03-18T12:32:00.000-05:00

Interesting article from Business Week. The article: "Why The Web Is Hitting A Wall" talks about those who just don't give a damn about the internet. These aren't old folks who just don't get it, but instead people who have better things to do with their time. I don't think that this is the life for me, but I do think that I should be spending less time in front of my computer and more time living life.

It can be a bit much on the suspension

2006-03-18T12:25:00.000-05:00

Hugely overloaded vehicles, see them NOW!

The Economist: Good 'fer What Ails Yah!

2006-03-08T22:22:00.000-05:00

Here's a cool NPR story about the growth of The Economist subscribers in the US. For my money, The Economist remains the best weekly news rag in the world! I can't remember all of the times that I've told my students to read The Economist if they want to keep up with world news. Listen to the story here.

EU is getting its "Google" on.

2006-03-06T12:05:00.000-05:00

(Chronicle of Higher Education: Reg. may be required):

"The European Commission announced on Thursday that it planned to make at least six million books, documents, and other cultural works available online by 2010 via the European equivalent of the Google Library Project."

Thank God. The European Union has decided to pour millions of euros into creating their own Google Books project. Hopefully, it will be much more useful than the current iteration of the very commercial Google Books project. God knows that the entire world will benefit from a digital library of non-US published works..... Now, if we could only get a similar project for the African Union, Organization of American States, etc.... How cool would that be?

The beginning of the end.

2006-03-04T19:25:00.000-05:00

Greetings, kids.

For ages and ages now, I have thought, mulled-over, etc... the starting of a blog. After all, all of the cool kids are doin' it, so why not me?

Well, I am beginning to think that I may have something to say that others are not saying. If nothing else, this blog will be entirely self-serving as I use it to keep myself "up" on the areas that interest me most: information policy, the digital divide, politics, human rights, and a few side comments on film, music, etc....