7.31.2001

Not only are SUVs stupid for environmental reasons, they're also ridiculously unsafe.    3:44:20 PM

boardwalk, jersey shore    3:39:37 PM

I've been really enjoying the blog at consumptive.org which focuses mostly on photographic stuff. Recently, I bought a wonderful old twin-reflex camera and have been relearning to take pictures with it. It's a frustrating process, since the image is composed in a waist level viewfinder that is reversed, so when I turn the camera right, the picture goes left, make the whole process quite tedious, but also forcing me to focus on composing the picture just right.    2:37:40 PM

7.26.2001

"Company officials [at Philip Morris] last month distributed an economic analysis in the Czech Republic that concluded cigarettes are not a drain on the country's budget, in part because the government saves money on health care, pensions and housing when smokers die prematurely." Oops.

    5:00:01 PM

7.20.2001

With this, everything changes.     1:54:33 PM

7.19.2001

    8:55:55 PM

Wow! Wow! http://theyrule.orgo.org/ puts together a hell of lot of information about how corporations are linked, and represents in graphically, while also allowing you to build your own corporation maps that show the sort of incestuous relationships you may have always assumed, but never actually seen firsthand.    12:22:20 PM

7.15.2001

Whenever I become discouraged (which is on alternate Tuesdays, between three and four) I lift my spirits by remembering:

the artists are on our side!

I mean those poets and painters, singers and musicians, novelists and playwrights who speak to the world in a way that is impervious to assault because they wage the battle for justice in a sphere which is unreachable by the dullness of ordinary political discourse." - Howard Zinn, Artists of Resistance.

    4:31:34 PM

7.12.2001

Spin is a movie by Brian Springer which captured political events through satellite backhauls (essentially a live, uncensored feed that is edited out in the final reel). He captures lots of well-known politicians acting weird, like one might do behind a closed door with the shades pulled down. The internet's a beautiful thing, and now you can see the entire movie here, and enjoy watching your favorite politicians get makeupped and do funny things with his/her mouth.    6:50:35 AM

7.10.2001

"Many people are interested in photography in some nebulous way; they might be interested in the seemingly glamorous lives of top fashion or war photographers; or in the acquisition and admiration of beautiful, functional machines, the cameras; or in the arcane ritual of the darkroom processes; or in the persona which they could adopt if only they took pictures like . . . whoever. But these interests, no matter how personally enjoyable they might be, never lead to the person becoming a photographer. The reason is that photography is only a tool, a vehicle, for expressing or transmitting a passion in something else. It is not the end result. An analogy would be to buy a car for its status appeal, for the idea that it will improve your sex-life, for the smell of the new upholstery, for the fascination with its beautiful engineering, and so on. But it is useless unless it actually takes you somewhere." - David Hurn, On Being a Photographer

    9:17:33 PM

I was surprised to see Gil Scott-Heron on the front page of the New York Times this morning. I had first heard him in a black literature class I took over the summer in order to make up some credits. I had no idea about his drug problems, but I remember getting shivers when I first heard The Revolution Will Not Be Televised. It's an angry, proud song that really soundtracked that time in America (1971), when the country seemed ready to blow. Hoping for his quick and complete recovery, I give you GilScottHeron-TheRevolutionWillNotBeTelevised.mp3.     8:50:22 AM

7.8.2001

I don't need to look hard to find news stories about the various toxins that we are exposed to on a daily basis. But when I read a story where one of my professors is quoted, and I think about his six year old son running through the yard and digging in the grass, not far from where they dug up canisters of mustard gas, it makes me so worried, and furious. I'm furious that the Army chose to cover up their findings at the risk of "diminished property values, community uproar and fear", when people were getting sick and an entire community was, and continues to be at risk.    8:24:10 PM

Asbury Park, NJ    8:01:40 PM

7.6.2001

"I'm looking for change even though I'm broke."
-The Figgs "Wait On Your Shoulders"    12:57:07 PM

7.3.2001

It's interesting to see the way people's faces change as they grow older. This seems like an excellent photo project, as long as you don't forget the date.    2:46:01 PM

7.1.2001

7 days, 1600 miles, back at home a bit of sunburn and tons of web projects to complete.    8:50:59 PM