Ey, Stadtentwickler: Bitte mehr Kontrabässe in den ÖPNV!
OK, das hier ist so, ähh, sagen wir »unbelievably underground«, dass noch nicht einmal klar wird, wie die Band heißt. Nat King Thomas? Smack Dab Music? Und das Lied: »Nachtleben im Hamburger Schanzenviertel«? Oder ist dieser YouTube-Titel nur der Googleability geschuldet?
Jedenfalls bleibt die Forderung: Mehr Kontrabässe in den öffentlichen Raum, bitte!
Is the Web advancing democracy?
Lee Siegel doesn’t think so:
I’m very suspicious of populist arguments for democracy, because in the last century the most terrible totalitarian movements began with a populist base. And what concerns me is the way the individual voice is drowned out by all this rhetoric of the crowd, the wisdom of the crowd, the page rank algorhythm, which exalts popularity as the highest criterion of success I don’t know if democracy can express itself on that level. What I always look for in democracies is a society’s ability to allow an individual to emerge from the mass with his individuality intact, so that the example of his individuality can inspire other people (…) I see too often on the Web individuality getting drowned in this mad rush towards popularity, towards the most generic appeal.
Taken out of context from his Authors@Google talk.
Further reading at achtmilliarden.com:
Fashion publicists ♥ some strange kids. »NYT« on how the web is changing who gets front row seats at fashion shows
It must be upsetting to übereditor Anna Wintour of »Vogue« to be spotted gazing at a fashion show in Milan, sitting second to next to some kiddy blogger she probably wouldn’t even accept as an intern at her magazine. However, as Eric Wilson of the »New York Times« teaches us:
“There has been a complete change this year,” said Kelly Cutrone, who has been organizing fashion shows since 1987. “Do I think, as a publicist, that I now have to have my eye on some kid who’s writing a blog in Oklahoma as much as I do on an editor from Vogue? Absolutely. Because once they write something on the Internet, it’s never coming down. And it’s the first thing a designer is going to see.”
Everybody hates the guy who f#cked up your Google search results, so why not make them your friends before it’s too late? Someone once recommended to put more effort into texts that are bound to be published online and thus for eternity, rather than concentrating on texts that are print-only and thus doomed to end up in dusty archives and trash bins fairly quickly. And yet: pay won’t match effort on this one. Yet.
Further reading at achtmilliarden.com:
Marilyn Manson: Is he brilliant …or is he a bore?
His stage name, drawing on All-American actress Marilyn Monroe and psychopath cult leader Charles Manson, seems a lot less original when you learn that Andy Warhol had a nickname based on pretty much the same idea: Warhol was called »Drella«, drawing on Dracula and Cinderella. (Also, Marilyn Manson’s super-clichéd »Tainted Love« video sucks, but it’s the only embeddable video I could find on YouTube…)
»Village Idiocy«: Jennifer Bradley and Bruce Katz on Sarah Palin, American Economic Geography and »Small-Town Triumphalism«
Essential to Sarah Palin’s narrative of herself — the way she crafts herself into a living advertisement for her candidacy — is her being from Alaska (a sparsely populated state reminiscent of the old days of the Frontier?!) and more specifically her being from Wasilla, a city of about 10,000 inhabitants that becomes the quintessential American »small town« in the Palin narrative.
By lauding the »small town« as »real America« in the last campaign, Sarah Palin may have continued the tradition of Thomas Jefferson. However, this sentiment excludes the majority of Americans today: The US, just like much of the rest of the world, are becoming more and more urbanized, with the creeping death of many remote rural places. Metropolitan researches Jennifer Bradley and Bruce Katz extend this criticism of the Palin narrative by challenging the myth of Wasilla:
In fact, even the „small town“ of Wasilla, Alaska is fast becoming a satellite of the state’s largest city. [...A]ccording to the Census Bureau, half of all „rural“ residents live within the boundaries of a metropolitan area. [...] Thinking of the United States as a nation of small towns fundamentally misunderstands our economy, which is disproportionately driven by metros.
It’s worth reading the comments, too, where readers challenge the notion of discussing Palin’s system of reference in economic terms only, stressing that the narrative of the »small town« is much more of a moral argument than it is an economic one (which again continues the agrarian populism of some of the Great Men in American history). Who’s going to challenge that myth? Lou Reed tried it — with a rather beautiful style –, but looking at his very own personal narrative he doesn’t quite seem fit to convince the Palin crowd…
Frohes Fest …für alle!
Sarah Silverman: »Give the Jew Girl Toys« (Videoclip).
…alternative Version als Mp3-Download im Rahmen der »Menorah Mash-Ups«, via Music For Maniacs.
Yeah, Yeah, Sakropop-Revival: »The Power of German Lashcore IV« & »Godly Grooves – Rare German Christian Funk in the Mix«
Christliche Popmusik in Deutschland — vor der Professionalisierung — kommt erneut zu Ehren: Nach dem unvergessenen Sakropop-Sampler (auf Kassette) der Kunsttypen von Monochrom legen zwei DJs namens Scientist und Arok pünktlich zu Weihnachten nun ein funky Sakropop-Mixtape (als CD/Stream) nach. Ganz großartig!
Things to Consider For 2010: Fighting Illegal Advertisement by Applying Illegal Art…
New York City is covered with illegal billboards and advertisements. One random day, civilians decided to take back the public space by covering over 120 illegal billboards with original works of art.
…by Public Ad Campaign, an initiative dedicated to »Expanding Curatorial Responsibilities in the City.«
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