02010-11-06 | Uncategorized
Cage Against the Machine – enjoy the silence
In other words, ubiquitous music isn’t really a new problem, but it has become worse.
Bogus Grass-Roots Politics on Twitter
Health Warnings On Cars
Modern Chapel
Saturday morning I rote a letter to a pal in Australia who was diagnosed 2 years ago with inoperable lung cancer and emphysema, which was followed by blood clots in the lung, then a collapsed lung, shingles, a 4cm x 1cm brain tumor that was removed, a spot on the hip, tumors on the left and right sides of his neck, and laser bronchoscopes, whatever that is… it does not sound good.
I spent the longest time trying to find a good ending for my letter, looking for something clever or uplifting, but in the end I simply wrote that I was happy to know him.
TG founded a distribution company when he heard NF and because of his hard work NF went double platinum in Australia and platinum in New Zealand. A feat that will probably never be repeated by an indie because of the cultural changes, i.e. people don’t buy albums… they prefer to spend the money on Starbucks.
So, Jon and I both wrote letters, which I will send off tomorrow. TG quipped that his kids have probably never seen a real letter…
HTML5 Audio Safari Extension // ShaunInman.com
HTML5 Audio Safari extension replaces a number of Flash-based audio players with the HTML5 audio element.
I removed Flash from my laptop. This Safari extension allows me to listen to audio content, like the music in this Journal without Flash. Safari is my favorite browser, although I also have Firefox and Chrome installed. I use Firefox for a few sites that don’t play nice with Safari, and Chrome for Flash content only. Chrome has built-in Flash support, so if I come across Flash content in Safari, I will copy the URL and open that site with Chrome – but that doesn’t happen often.
SM observed:
It really works efficiently as well. I was watching the CPU% as the clip played. Flash used to take CPU% by as much as 30% when watching a movie, and around 15-20% when listening to an audio clip. This thing moves it up around 1-3% … Now I can live with that.
Unfortunately the ottmarliebert.com homepage is Flash, and the non-Flash version looks really crappy, I think. Will have to get together with Canton and redesign a new non-Flash homepage pronto.
Follow up from the 23. October post: the Roy denim jeans are now available at Self Edge. Ordered. Just in time – now just about sold out.
02010-11-05 | Photos
A tour through Stone Island‘s headquarters and research lab in Modena, Italy. (Vimeo)
Very impressive!
As I mentioned before, I am currently going through nearly twenty thousand images for the new slide show. Here are a few I noticed in passing:
02010-11-04 | Uncategorized
Good luck with that thing!
Study will see if calm mind can mean healthy body
I think this should be worded differently and suggest: “Study will prove that a calm mind means a healthier body.”
Twitter Chatbot Debunks Climate Change Skeptics Without Tiring
Noodler’s Bulletproof black ink and a Speedball nib holder with a B-6 nib. Writes beautifully, even on lesser paper, like a Moleskine. Wrote several letters with this already and love it. Less costly than a fountain pen… about twenty bucks for 3 ounces of ink, the holder and the nib. Might even be less online, but I bought the holder and several nibs at our wonderful local art supply store, Artesan. The holder ($2.85) is covered with a silicon-like substance, which gives it a nice non-slip texture.
Breakfast with Jon. Afterwards I had a stranger waving at me through a window:
Rather large, don’t you think?
02010-11-03 | Uncategorized
In the current issue of Monocle I found a short piece on Tateo Shimizu, a retired journalist from Japan, who in his Sixties decided that he wanted to live in Barcelona and open an authentic traditional tofu shop. His store is called, appropriately, Tofu Catalan, and sells all kinds of tofu as well as bento boxes.
I must admit, I love stories like that, about people who imagine where they want to be and what they want to do, and then go and do just that, regardless of their age. We can either stay on the safe and well-trodden path, or we can think up new adventures. Tonight I will fill a cup with sake and toast to Mr. Shimizu!
It’s crazy fan celebration day at our office. We received a number of very strange letters and emails this week… one of them mentioned casino police who belong to a dope cartel and stole a bag I would love, embroidered with a snake, and which is claimed to be worth $50,000,000.
We used to have a folder simply named “Crazy”, stuffed full with fan mail. Must find it. Well, I will toast the fools tonight as well. May you live long and prosper.
02010-11-02 | Uncategorized
Shaolin Monk Throwing Sewing Needle Through a Piece of Glas (YouTube)
Shaolin Monk Balances On 2 Fingers (YouTube) – music is awful and you might want to get ready to mute
David Hockney’s iPad Drawings
Steve Hagen Interview (Zen)
My Flickr account renews in December and I am not certain I will renew for another year. I am giving you this warning in case you might want to download this or that image.
Sat with Bella at the edge of the property, where I found her this morning. She couldn’t get up and the tumor in her eye grew a lot overnight, perhaps ruptured. The old girl smelled something fierce, and I assumed the tumor was the reason. It was a smell unlike anything I have smelled before. For some reason my mind wondered about the smell of a battlefield a day or two after the battle has ended. Thankful that it’s not something I have experienced.
Later a friend came to help me get the dog to the vet. We improvised a stretcher with Bella’s pillow on a piece of plywood. She was already too weak to make a sound of protest.
Bella was 13 years old, which translates to 104 dog years in her size/weight category. I will miss her.
Afterwards my friend and I talked in my kitchen about death and dying over a few glasses of water, and he mentioned an interest in Tibetan Buddhism. Then the conversation turned to Gary Snyder and Edward Abbey, and since my friend is a fan of Ed Abbey, I was able to give him a book Jack Loeffler gave me, a book he wrote about his best friend, Edward Abbey.
As he was leaving he said simply, I think of it as a life completed rather than a life lost. So simple, and so true, and so beautiful because it is true.
Now I have to get back to the new slideshows. I am looking through 17,000 photos to put something new together…
But first this:
neo bohemia
Heaven or hell, love or hate,
No matter where I turn
I meet myself.
Holding life precious is
Just living with all intensity
Hold life precious.
(Via neo bohemia)
Actually it is all said in the first three lines, I think:
Heaven or hell, love or hate,
No matter where I turn
I meet myself.
Nothing more needs to be said.
