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Archive for the ‘Consumerism’ Category

Donald Barthelme–”The Balloon” from Unspeakable Practices, Unnatural Acts (1968)

Posted in Consumerism, David Foster Wallace, Donald Barthelme, Funny (strange), Harper's, Postmoderism, Salon.com, Short Story, The Sins, Tindersticks on October 30, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK:  TINDERSTICKS-What is a Man (2000).
This is a soundtrack to a TV mini-series called The Sins (which I know nothing about).  The song (for there is only one) is a cover of a Four Tops song (which I do not know).  The “B-side” is an instrumental version of said song.
And, sadly, that’s all that comes [...]

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McSweeney’s #32

Posted in Adventure, Anthony Doerr, Chris Adrian, Chris Bachelder, Consumerism, Corporate skewering, Death, End of the World, Gay/Lesbian, Heidi Julavits, J. Erin Sweeney, Jim Shepard, McSweeney's, Natural Disasters, Plague, Salvador Plascencia, Sesshu Foster, Sheila Heti, Short Story, Technology, The Future, Threats, Tindersticks, Wells Tower on October 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: TINDERSTICKS-Tindersticks [the red one] (1993).
Tindersticks are a fascinating band.  The first distinctive thing about them is Stuart Staples’ voice: a deep rich bass that he uses almost like a whisper.  The second thing you notice is the music.  It’s an orchestral/chamber pop collection of dark rockers with fantastic moodiness to it.  And then you [...]

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Douglas Coupland–City of Glass (2000 & Revised Edition 2009)

Posted in Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Consumerism, Corporate skewering, Danko Jones, Dip-in Books, Douglas Coupland, Drugs, Essays, Everything's Gone Green, JPod, Kid Rock, Oddities, Photo Essays, Short Books, Souvenir of Canada, Technology, Thin Lizzy on October 19, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: DANKO JONES-Never Too Loud (2008).
Danko Jones is a hard and fast rock band, with a one track mind and a straightforward sound.  They deal in excessive cliches (album titles include: Sleep is the Enemy, We Sweat Blood, Never Too Loud, etc) and play mostly short songs.  And despite all that apparent negativity, I enjoy [...]

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Lee Henderson–”Long Live Annie B.” (The Walrus, October, 2009)

Posted in Boredom, Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Consumerism, Drinking, Lee Henderson, Marriage Trouble, Sex, Short Story, The Beatles, The Trews, The Walrus, Virginity (Loss of) on October 16, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: THE TREWS-House of Ill Fame (2003).

After listening to the new Trews disc, I popped in their first disc.  Mostly because I thought their first one sounded rawer.  And it does.
House of Ill Fame has the same rock feel as the new one does, but it also feels a lot more garagey.  It rocks harder, [...]

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Mark Connors & David Foster Wallace–Signifying Rappers: Rap and Race in the Urban Present (1990)

Posted in Books about music, Boston, MA, Consumerism, David Foster Wallace, De La Soul, Essays, Gangsters, History, Ice T, Infinite Summer, L.L. Cool J, Mark Costello, N.W.A., Public Enemy, Research, Run D.M.C, Schoolly D, Sex & Violence, Short Books, Smarty Pants, Steely Dan on October 5, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: SCHOOLLY D-Smoke Some Kill (1988).
Since this disc is featured so prominently in Signifying Rappers (and the book is named after the best track on this disc) I thought I’d dust it off and listen to it again.  I got this disc probably in 1989 at the suggestion of my friend Al.  He recommended “No [...]

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Periodical: Sierra: The Magazine of the Sierra Club

Posted in Adventure, Consumerism, Corporate skewering, Essays, Nature, Sierra on October 2, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

This is another periodical that’s not really a “real” magazine.  Sierra comes free when you join the Sierra Club.  I originally didn’t really look at this magazine much either.  Then one day the cover caught my eye, and I discovered there’s a lot of cool stuff in it.  Not the least of which is that [...]

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Shiny Adidas Tracksuits and the Death of Camp and Other Essays

Posted in Bill Clinton, Books about music, Books about writers, Boredom, Consumerism, Corporate skewering, Dave Eggers, David Foster Wallace, Dip-in Books, Donnell Alexander, Drinking, Drugs, Eddie Vedder, Essays, Free Speech, Funny (ha ha), Gangsters, Glasgow Phillips, Gods, History, Jess Mowry, M. Doughty, Marc Herman, Martha McParlin, McSweeney's, Michael Moore, Might, Missoula Montana, Oddities, Paula Kamen, Political Humor, Racism, Religion, Research, Sex, Sex & Violence, Smarty Pants, Soul Coughing, Supernatural, TV on the Radio, Technology, Ted Rall, The Future, Travel, Tripp Hartigan, Wikipedia, Zev Borow on October 1, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: TV ON THE RADIO-Dear Science, (2008).
The problem with TV on the Radio for me is that their first EP is so damned good that anything else they do pales in comparison.  Having said that, Dear Science, comes really close to topping that EP.  I liked Cookie Mountain (their previous disc) but I felt like [...]

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Douglas Coupland–Generation X (1991)

Posted in Boredom, Canadian Content, Consumerism, Corporate skewering, Douglas Coupland, Drinking, Drugs, Holidays, Postmoderism, Short Books, Technology, The Dead Science, Work on September 28, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: THE DEAD SCIENCE-Villainaire (2008).
This is probably the most fascinating album that Constellation has released recently.  I’d never heard of The Dead Science, but evidently they have a few disc out already.
The main thing one notices about this disc is the lead singer.  His voice is fascinating: a sort of slow, whispered falsetto laced with [...]

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David Foster Wallace–various uncollected essays (1987-2007)

Posted in Books about writers, Boston Phoenix, Consumerism, David Foster Wallace, Don DeLillo, Essays, Fleet Foxes, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Harper's, History, Infinite Summer, McSweeney's, Rolling Stone, Salon.com, Short Story, The New York Times on September 25, 2009 | 4 Comments »

SOUNDTRACK: FLEET FOXES-Sun Giant EP (2008).
My friend Jarrett introduced me to the Fleet Foxes with their self-titled CD.  I recently picked up the Sun Giant EP and it is just as good as the main CD.  It opens with a beautiful a capella introduction to “Sun Giant” in multipart harmony that melds into a nice folksy [...]

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David Foster Wallace–[Final thoughts] Infinite Jest (1996)

Posted in Big Books, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, Canadian Content, Consumerism, David Foster Wallace, Death, Demons, Dreams, Drinking, Drugs, Infinite Summer, James Joyce, John Krasinski, Kurt Vonnegut, Meta, Postmoderism, Set at School, Short Films, Smarty Pants, Supernatural, Tennis, The Future, Threats, Violence, William Golding, Yuck! on September 22, 2009 | 9 Comments »

Okay, now that I’ve had time to digest the book (and to cope with the ending) I wanted to give some final thoughts on the book.  I also wanted to tie up some loose ends by posting my original response to the Salon.com questions as well as my letter to the posted article (keeping all [...]

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