Look, I want to say to the Friendsters of the world, we already invented a social network for friends and strangers. It's called the Internet. Why are you privatizing it? Why do we need a proprietary sub-network to do what the Internet has already done in an open way?
And the right response is: Sit down, old man!
I don't like Friendster because, well, I don't like it. I'm not dating. I'm not even looking for more friends. I love meeting new people — not a statement I would have made before the Net — but I like meeting them because we first engage in discussion about some topic. An email to me saying, "I disagree with your blog entry about X or Y, and let me tell you why" is much more likely to lead to a friendship than one that says, "Hey, I see we're both interested in video games and Peeps art!" That's just the way I am. And I do think it's generational.
I don't like this thing coming along that implies that the existing social networks on the Internet — my social networks, the ones that constitute my social world — are so inadequate that some badly designed system with a derivative name (enoughster with the "sters" alreadyster!) sweeps the Net like photos of Janet Jackson's poppin' fresh wardrobe malfunction. What's a matter, the Net wasn't good enough for you?
Hey, you kids! Get off of my lawn!
Well put. I'll see you at the cribbage table in the nursing home game room, David.
But, curmudgeon or no, Weinberger makes a good point. The Internet is all the social network we need. Isn't it?
Rolling Stone's 50 greatest artists of all time The April 15 Rolling Stone features the 50 "immortals" of rock'n'roll, with essays on the immortals by current rock and pop figures. Link via U2 Sermons, which notes that Bono writes about No. 3 on the list, Elvis for this issue but overlooks that U2 guitarist the Edge writes about The Clash. Alas, The Only Band That Matters is all the way down at No. 30 on the list and thus not hyperlinked; The Clash should be in the top 10, but I'm happy to see them in the middle of the mix.
A recent post on Dan Hughes 's blog alerted me to the fact that the book is now available. Yesterday while killing time at Anheuser-Busch (no I wasn't imbibing but awaiting an appointment to interview an A-B staffer), I read the Wall Street Journal review of Free Culture (which unfortunately isn't available online to non-subscribers; talk about big media locking down culture). The review by Stewart Baker, a tech lawyer, calls the book "an insightful, entertaining brief for changing our copyright policy." I'm all for that; copyright needs an overhaul.
In his review, Baker points out the hypocrisy of the recording industry, which established itself by stealing intellectual property:
As Mr. Lessig reveals, the recording industry was just another new-age pirate when it began. In a 1906 copyright hearing, Sen. Alfred Kittredge thundered against the new technology: "Imagine the injustice of the thing. A composer writes a song. ... Along comes the phonographic companies ... and deliberately steal the work of the brain of the ocmposer" by, uh, recording it. And Hollywood, that staunch defender of intellectual property, owes its very existence to filmmakers who fled New Jersey -- then the center of the industry -- to escape Thomas Edison's lawsuits over unauthorized use of his patented cameras.
Moreover, while Lessig "aims most of his arguments at people like himself -- standard-issue Howard Dean liberals," he ought to be appealing to conservatives, Baker writes.
Viewed up close, copyright bears little resemblance to the kinds of property that conservatives value. Instead, it looks like a constantly expanding government program run for the benefit of a noisy, well-organized interest group -- like Superfund, say, or dairy subsidies, except that the benefits go not to endangered homeowners or hard-working farmers but to the likes of Barbra Streisand and Eminem.
Meanwhile, in a somewhat related forum, No Rock&Roll Fun has posted a couple of excellent pieces about how the recording industry is trying to sell us on the idea that file-sharing is stealing from the artists -- the likes of Eminem and Streisand, as Baker would say. (See Do as daddy tells you and You just haven't earned it yet, baby.) As someone who has created quite a bit of copyrighted material and tried to make some money off it, I know the artists deserve some of the fruits of their labor. But I also agree with Simon @ No Rock&Roll when he writes: "Remember, when the record labels start to talk about morality, it's like being lectured on happy marriages by Bluebeard."
'Under God': What's the big deal? Our youth group discussed the Supreme Court case over the pledge of allegiance last Wednesday, and apparently most of the youth in our church share the views of teens and children quoted in this article (links via CT Weblog). They don't see any problem with the words "under God," nor do they see it as a particular expression of religion. They have the choice of reciting the pledge or not. Some do, some don't.
The list, the whole list, and nothing but the list... Well, my time's being eaten up by work-related projects, which means blogging time is becoming more and more limited. (What, you expect me to blog on my own precious time?) So rather than unveil my own personal list of greatest pop/rock albums in chunks of 10 at a time, I'm just going to throw the whole list at you -- also, without links to Amazon, and without much commentary. (Although I've stuck a few comments here and there to rationalize some picks.)
So, here it is, the list:
100. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Wilco
99. Boy, U2
98. Elephant, The White Stripes
97. Hotel California, Eagles
96. Automatic for the People, REM
95. The Stranger, Billy Joel
94. Woodstock, Various Artists
93. Leftoverture, Kansas
92. Abraxas, Santana
91. Back in Black, AC/DC
90. Toys in the Attic, Aerosmith
89. The Rising, Bruce Springsteen/E Street Band
88. 2112, Rush
87. Billion Dollar Babies, Alice Cooper
86. Heaven Tonight, Cheap Trick
85. Q: Are We Not Men?, Devo
84. Paranoid, Black Sabbath
83. Fleetwood Mac, Fleetwood Mac
82. Human Wheels, John Mellencamp -- Mellencamp at his most creative. Runner-up Scarecrow.
81. Before These Crowded Streets, Dave Matthews Band
80. The Cars, The Cars -- "Let the Good Times Roll" is still one of the greatest party tunes of all time.
79. October, U2
78. Dire Straits, Dire Straits
77. Diamond Dogs, David Bowie
76. Jars of Clay, Jars of Clay
75. The Specials, The Specials
74. Reggatta Del Blanc, the Police
73. Quadrophenia, The Who
72. Off the Wall, Michael Jackson
71. The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust & The Spiders From Mars, David Bowie
70. Houses of the Holy, Led Zeppelin
69. Electric Ladyland, Jimi Hendrix
68. A New World Record, ELO
67. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Elton John
66. Sticky Fingers, The Rolling Stones
65. Magical Mystery Tour, The Beatles -- The first album I ever bought, by the way.
64. Warren Zevon, Warren Zevon -- "Poor, Poor Pitiful Me" alone is enough to put this on the charts.
63. Achtung Baby, U2
62. Supernatural, Santana
61. Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin
60. Born in the USA, Bruce Springsteen
59. Armed Forces, Elvis Costello and the Attractions
58. Violent Femmes, Violent Femmes
57. OK Computer, Radiohead
56. Rust Never Sleeps, Neil Young and Crazy Horse
55. My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, Brian Eno (with David Byrne)
54. Destroyer, Kiss
53. Return of the Horse, Wallflowers
52. Live at Folsom Prison, Johnny Cash
51. IV, Led Zeppelin
50. Damn the Torpedos, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
49. Excitable Boy, Warren Zevon
48. Rumours, Fleetwood Mac
47. Autobahn, Kraftwerk -- the grand-daddies of electronical
46. Deja Vu, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
45. Let’s Dance, David Bowie
44. Fly Like an Eagle, Steve Miller Band
43. ELO II, ELO
42. Rubber Soul, The Beatles
41. Tapestry, Carole King
40. Born to Run, Bruce Springsteen
39. Murmur, REM
38. On the Border, The Eagles
37. Tres Hombres, ZZ Top
36. Tommy, The Who
35. Van Halen, Van Halen
34. Let It Bleed, The Rolling Stones
33. Duty Now for the Future, Devo -- best Devo album ever
32. Graceland, Paul Simon
31. Remain In Light, Talking Heads
30. Parallel Lines, Blondie
29. The Doors, The Doors
28. All That You Can’t Leave Behind, U2
27. More Songs About Buildings and Food, Talking Heads
26. Exile on Main Street, The Rolling Stones
25. The White Album, The Beatles
24. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, Lauryn Hill
23. The B-52, The B-52s -- They took the "un" out of punk, added an "f" at the front, and made "fun"
22. Nevermind the Bollocks, The Sex Pistols -- Maybe this should be higher?
21. Live at Budokan, Cheap Trick
20. The Wall, Pink Floyd
19. Harvest, Neil Young -- I learned guitar to this album
18. Night Moves, Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band -- Glad to see Bob Seger being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
17. The Clash, The Clash -- Oh yes
16. Highway 61 Revisited, Bob Dylan
15. My Aim Is True, Elvis Costello -- A wonderful record. I never get tired of it.
14. The Joshua Tree, U2
13. Revolver, The Beatles
12. Fear of Music, Talking Heads -- The bridge between early Heads and later, more polished stuff; fun experimentation with different rhythms, electronica, etc. Produced by Brian Eno.
11. Who’s Next?, The Who
10. Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd -- The Sgt. Pepper's of my generation
9. Zenyatta Mendatta, The Police -- Underappreciated; less polished and poppish than later Police (and Sting) efforts, Zenyatta Mendatta was their finest hour
8. Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd, Lynyrd Skynyrd -- from my redneck junior high days, and another album I learned guitar from
7. Ramones, The Ramones -- stupid, stupid songs; taught me that sometimes three chords is one chord too many
6. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles
5. 77, Talking Heads -- still and always the classic Heads album
4. Pretenders, The Pretenders -- "Not me baby I'm too precious..."
3. Abbey Road, The Beatles -- a mix of beautiful fragments that somehow come together (right now....over me)
2. Are You Experienced?, Jimi Hendrix -- a guitar demigod; I wish I could have learned to play guitar from this album
1. London Calling, The Clash -- with London Calling, the Clash broke free from the shackles of raw punk and produced the finest rock and roll album ever
Free will or predestination? Reading David Heddle's post today about free will reminded me of a story I once heard on a Christian religious broadcast. For his a vignette to introduce the questions of free will and predestination, Chuck Swindoll told a story about a man who missed church services one Sunday -- a Sunday when the congregation just so happened to split over the issue of free will versus predestination. The group who believed in free will left and started a church of their own, while the predestination group stayed at the current house of worship. When the clueless guy who missed a service showed up for churcn the next Sunday, he was asked by the predestinators, "What are you doing here?"
"I'm here of my own free will," he replied.
"Well, you can't join us if you believe in that free will stuff," he was told. "Go join that free will church down the street."
So he went down the street where he found some members of the old congregation who clinged staunchly to the doctrine of free will. "What are you doing here?" they asked him.
"I was sent here," he replied.
* * * * *
That story has nothing to do with Heddle's post; Heddle's post just made me think of it. For some reason.
Creativity toys I've been thinking about purchasing some creativity toys for my staff and me. We must write for a living, and sometimes it's easy to put everything on auto-pilot. Anyone got any good ideas for creativity toys? Besides this?
Vanity of vanities, all is vanity It's been awhile since I've Googled myself, so I thought I'd do a bit today. It's an exercise in vanity, yes, but sometimes the results are a bit disconcerting -- like when I find people selling my used books at rock-bottom prices. Googling can be humbling.
Nobody knows what to believe about you, and you know least of all. You spent most of your time convinced that the ends justify the means, but your means were, well, downright mean! And the end is nigh. Meanwhile all you want is to travel back in time, if not to change, then to just delight in the way it used to be. You are who you pretend to be. Oh yes, you're the great pretender.
Yeah, that sounds about right. Link via James Joyce's Ulysses, aka Scriptorium. (Also, David Hopkins took this quiz and found out he was David Copperfield. Best line from that analysis: "Lots of people keep mistaking you for a magician and are waiting for you to disappear." David, I'm not one of them.
You aren't really much of your own person, but everyone around you wishes you'd go away, so you might as well be independent. You're sort of loud-mouthed and abrasive, but you do have a fair amount of power. You like big trucks, big cattle, and big oil rigs. And sometimes you really smell. But it's not all bad, you're big enough to have some soft spots somewhere in all that redneck madness.
And now, an exclusive excerpt, brought to you exclusively by this blog:
E-Church: What do you want the audience to take away from the film?
BD: Again, that we are all human and make mistakes and are struggling to come to terms with our understanding of God and the world we live in. Of course, I hope they laugh and I hope they think and I hope it opens the door to discussion surrounding the issues that film explores.
Back, by no demand whatsoever... Here's the first installment of my very own countdown of the top 100 pop/rock albums. I'll post these periodically, probably 10 at a time, but will intersperse these posts with the usual commentary and waste of time.
99.Boy, U2
My college roommate had this album, and hooked me on U2 as soon as I heard the opening riffs of Edge's guitar on "I Will Follow." It's rock and roll, it's out of control.
98.Elephant, The White Stripes
This probably should be higher on the list, but it's so new it hasn't yet stood the test of time. Nice job on the Elvis Costello tune, "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself." "The Hardest Button to Button" is infectious.
97.Hotel California, The Eagles
I never was crazy about this album. As I mentioned earlier, it hit the scene at a bad time in my life. But I like Joe Walsh's guitar on songs like "Victim of Love," and the title song does have a way of insinuating itself into the psyche.
96.Automatic for the People, REM
"Man on the Moon," Michael Stipe's tribute to Andy Kaufman, makes this album.
95.The Stranger, Billy Joel
The most consistent album of the piano man's career. "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" and "Only the Good Die Young" make this album a classic.
94.Woodstock, Various artists
A big mess of a live album, with some stellar parts. Where else can you find Sha Na Na and Jimi Hendrix on the same disc?
93.Leftoverture, Kansas
Yeah, I confess: I used to listen to a bit of prog rock back in the day. I no longer own Leftoverture, but tunes like "Carry On Wayward Son" and "What's On My Mind" are forever burned into my memory.
92.Abraxas, Santana
Three words: "Black Magic Woman." What a sexy song.
91.Back In Black, AC/DC
Raucous, cartoonish, hedonistic, all about sex and booze and rock'n'roll. Another classic from my wasted youth.
Christ was crucified because he would have nothing to do with the crowd (even though he addressed himself to all). He did not want to form a party, an interest group, a mass movement, but wanted to be what he was, the truth, which is related to the single individual. Therefore everyone who will genuinely serve the truth is by that very fact a martyr. To win a crowd is no art; for that only untruth is needed, nonsense, and a little knowledge of human passions. But no witness to the truth dares to get involved with the crowd. -- Soren Kierkegaard
Not-so-Sweet 16 Guess I'll have to reconsider my aspirations for becoming the next great ESPN bracketologist. I managed to pick only 6 of the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. No great shocker that Stanford fell, but Kentucky? Anyway, here's how it looks now (my wrong picks with the lines throught them).
Simon Dawes, 
