I generally manage to tune out the content of the data I herd, but today I noticed that a couple of ER high utilizers have had ER visits with a diagnosis of Lichen. I knew they were hardy and could adapt to many climates, but yeesh, or possibly yaarghughah.
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11:20:40 AM,
Wednesday 22 October 2003
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Are pedestrians allowed to have bells? I really need a bell for my bicycle, if simply to exert peer pressure on all the people who shout "On your left!" in my ear. Bells seem much friendlier, they say, I knew there would be pedestrians here, and I acknowledge your right to use this path by having special equipment for communicating with you. But you know, they wouldn't want any extra weight on their bikes. The bells at the bike shop actually advertise their weights.
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11:00:04 AM,
Wednesday 22 October 2003
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Merge Records will be in iTunes in the not too distant future!
"who knows, maybe merge will be on [eMusic] someday. its not impossible to imagine. i'm not even aware of how things are set up at this time between
labels and Emusic. i'm not even sure of the specifics of the relationship they proposed to us back in the day. just that Mac and Laura decided it wasn;t in our best interest at the time. i do know that the reason that we decided to sign on with Itunes is that they gave a very fair royalty rate. a rate at which we could compensate our bands and make it worth their, and our, while.
another factor that led us to pass on Emusic back in the day, if i remember
correctly, is that they were asking for exclusivity. something that we simply were not willing to give. "
This presumably means Magnetic Fields, Ladybug Transistor, The Clean, Neutral Milk Hotel, and many of other bands I know nothing about.
I think I'm going to write emails to a couple other small record labels.
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(2)
06:24:46 PM,
Tuesday 21 October 2003
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The talk about Napster having a strong brand name is off. Sure, everyone knows it's name, but everyone knows K-Mart as well. Anyone have a positive brand image of Napster? It wasn't as sleazy as some of the stuff that came after, but it collapsed on it's user base with very little warning, and messily, it dragged out the shut down, and turned extremely user-unfriendly before going offline, then sold out. As the target market for these businesses (hate record stores, don't like the and inconvenience of file-sharing) they'd have to beat iTunes to the indie and european labels for me to even look at them. If they get Merge and Minty Fresh, and the files play in my lovely iTunes player, sure.
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(4)
06:05:24 PM,
Tuesday 21 October 2003
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Things which annoy me: Linear flow charts. Flow charts are the fashion in my company, so every list of sequential tasks is being put in a flow chart, with little squares and arrows, but without any branches.
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03:17:01 PM,
Tuesday 21 October 2003
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What's the billing number for lying on the floor waiting for your back to calm down, General Administration or Multi-Client work?
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(1)
10:25:52 AM,
Tuesday 21 October 2003
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Happy thoughts:
I found birds on the bike path this morning, including a mockingbird, which didn't seem to mind an audience.
The maples are turning.
First frost today.
My back is getting better.
My job isn't all awful, just this one project, and it will end one day.
iTunes for PC is out, and makes a very good mp3 player / money eating device.
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08:58:16 PM,
Monday 20 October 2003
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Why do I care about the Easterbrook Kerfuffle?
1: I was reading his blog, and enjoying it. I'm reading "High and Mighty", the book on SUV's, their history, and why they're evil on his recommendation, and enjoying it. I found the Kill Bill entry wierd and ugly, so I'm fine with that being roundly denounced and apologized for. However, I want him to keep writing. When his blog went silent last week I kept going back and wondering what was going on.
2: Because I don't like ethnic or national or religious identity movements, and find them frightening, partly because I don't identify with anything. This includes Zionism, among many, many, many others. This distaste looks similar to what is sometimes called anti-semitism, in particular one article I read in a bagel shop once by Abe Foxman, which scared me witless, so I have an interest in keeping the definition narrow. If the Mr. Foxman and the ADL win this fight, I'm going to be even more frightened, and will probably never blog anywhere near this subject again.
3: In particular, I agreed with Easterbrook's Passion post when I read it a week ago, before this whole mess, so if that is judged as Anti-Semitic, I'm being judged as well.
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08:43:03 PM,
Monday 20 October 2003
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Why do I go out of my way looking for aggrevation?
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(4)
07:11:56 PM,
Monday 20 October 2003
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The New Republic defending itself against charges of anti-semitism. When I read Gregg Easterbrook's blog entry attacking Kill Bill I was a little surprised by the sentence at issue, but didn't see anything wrong with sentiment, of holding Eisner accountable morally for the films his company bankrolls. I'm dumbfounded by the size of the uproar about it. He's been fired from his sportswriting gig for ESPN, TPM suggests this is more for who he was criticizing, than how he did it. I'm curious how much of this was compounded by his entry on Mel Gibson's probably awful Passion, where he pointed out that disagreeing with the Anti-Defamation League or upsetting jews should not constitue anti-semitism by themselves, and shockingly, considering whose website he was writing on, came out as Christian. Now he's being crucified for upsetting TNR's core audience, for using a phrase with bad bad historical echos, though he said nothing explicitly anti-semitic.
I feel nervous about using the word crucified in this context, but can't bring myself to change it because I'm nervous, since I'm saying I shouldn't have to be nervous about that sort of thing, and that this over-sensitivity is bad and ugly and dangerous. If you find it offensive, let me know, and pretend I said hung out to dry.
I remember being able to read The New Republic and enjoy it. Today I only barely managed to get through their sneering rejection of a bi-national Israel. Has it always been this insular?
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(11)
03:25:49 PM,
Monday 20 October 2003
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Today was the health care enrollment meeting: Aetna, Harvard Pilgrim and Tufts. I'm not sure who won the free trinket competition: Aetna gave out travel first aid kits. (4 generic brand bandages and some Lidocaine cream) Harvard went for the wacky: one of those potato chip bag clips, and a gimcrack flashing red light, both with the website and logo. (the Harvard Pilgrim logo looks for all the world like either a mutant space invader, or perhaps 2 bullies holding a smaller kid upside down with their feet, against a collegate looking shield. Creepy.) Tufts was very traditional, just a decent pen, nothing flash, a fat-gripped bic ballpoint, again with logo and website. I was fascinated by the Tufts and harvard reps, they didn't even look at each other, but they must see either other constantly, and give competing spiels, where they don't say the name of the other plan, but rattle off studies which show they're the best or only plan according to something or other of some criteria in some geographical area. Both just going through the motions. How do the decide who goes first? Do they take turns?
Overall, Harvard loses for having a glossy, car brochure smelling packet with carefully selected racially balanced but segregated pictures of grinning people. Freckled mother with two girls, a couple, with the woman looking proud of herself and the husband looking happy, either south-east asian or latino (efficiency!) and a light skinned black woman. I'd guess that there's a study somewhere showing that women make the health care plan decisions.
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01:22:02 PM,
Monday 20 October 2003
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I now have evidence. My back started hurting as soon as I walked into my cubicle, yet it didn't hurt much yesterday when I was working on one of the Good Projects, and ignoring the Bad Project.
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09:52:38 AM,
Monday 20 October 2003
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site & script courtesy of Moss