M.I.A. - THERE'S SPACE FOR OL DAT I SEE

New video from M.I.A. posted on her twitter.



unofficial MP3:  http://www.mediafire.com/?mw0fo1imwxg

EDIT:  The song is called "Odyssey" and the beats are by Rusko.

JAY REATARD DIES; EDITOR TAKES OPPORTUNITY TO PROMOTE HIS MAGAZINE

Indie rock star Jay Reatard was found dead today around 3:30 a.m. at the age of 29.  No cause of death has been reported. 

In an attempt to promote his magazine's cover story on Reatard, the editor of Death + Taxes commented on BrooklynVegan.com saying:

I'm the editor of the Death+Taxes magazine. Jay Reatard is our current on-stands cover story and I had the opportunity to spend some time with him this fall.
He was a great talent and his passing is a big loss to the music world. We'll continue to celebrate Watch Me Fall as one of the best records of 2009 and remember him fondly.
He was honest and revealing in his cover story, and we appreciate the special access we were given to one of the great songwriters of our generation.
If you'd like to join us in remembering him, you can read the cover story here: http://www.deathandtaxesmagazine.com/?p=1445

The crass timing of the comment incensed several anonymous commenters who stated:

i love how the editor of Death+Taxes magazine just used this as a way to promote their publication. stay classy.

and:

To all the people either making jokes about his death or speculating on the cause go fuck yourself you are seriously the scum of the earth.

 Same goes for you Death & Taxes Editor, using this to promote your mag is disgusting.

We at chrysler5thavenue.blogspot.com find theeditor's of Death + Taxes statement to be tasteless and inappropriate.

UPDATE (7:21pm EST):  The R.I.P Jay Reatard bebo skin has surpassed 1000 downloads.

DIGG THIS STORY

THE SCIENTIFIC CONSENSUS REGARDING HUMAN-INDUCED CLIMATE CHANGE

Here is a graph posted by informationisbeautiful.net:

Here is a breakdown of the skeptics by their field:

The article further states:

In fact, when you adjust the PetitionProject’s odd categorisation – they filed ‘chemical engineers’ as chemists and physical engineers as ‘physicists’ – the total number of engineers who signed the petition, by our reckoning, jumps to 49%

Why so many engineers?

I think it's because engineers tend to work for the industries that are being challenged to change their practices to lessen their impact on climate change.  Their stance is based on politics, not science.

KYLE DEAN REINFORD VS. HIPSTER RUNOFF FEUD SETTLED; "CARLES STILL WINS" SAYS BEBE ZEVA

After days of negotiations with Kyle Dean Reinford, internet blogger Carles has replaced photos taken by Reinford with fan art on his Hipster Runoff blog to placate the outraged photographer/actor/singer.  The week-long feud stemmed from Kyle Dean Reinford taking issue with the photos he took being used without his permission on a blog which "completely disregard[s] the English language and its structure"

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WHY IS KYLE DEAN REINFORD FREAKING THE FUCK OUT?

Photographer/actor/singer Kyle Dean Reinford is really mad that Hipster Runoff published his photos without his permission.  (Read more here.)  According to an update on The Village Voice, what really 'ticks him off' is not just that Carles used his photos, it's that:

1. One of the photos was altered:  "What I'm objecting is mainly the defacing of one of my photos. I don't appreciate it."
2. The blogger, Carles, uses non-grammatically correct English: "It's crazy to think that some asshole can anonymously steal copyrighted work, completely disregard the English language and its structure, . . ."
3. Carles' makes money with his blogging:  ". . . and somehow make money off of the ads from his site."

Original photo by Kyle Dean Reinford and photo altered by Carles:

HIPSTER PHOTOGRAPHER FREAKS OUT--THREATENS TO SHUT DOWN HIPSTER BLOGGER

New York 'scene' photographer/actor/singer Kyle Dean Reinford recently found out viral blogger Carles republished one of his photos on  Hipster Runoff blog with attribution and a link to Reinford's site but without his permission.  Now Reinford is bringing out the big guns to protect his intellectual property:  he is filing a DMCA request.  His twitter stream indicates he may also be 'losing his shit'.

(Photo of Kyle Dean Reinford by Kyle Dean Reinford used in accordance with the fair use doctrine.)

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HOW BACON IS MADE

THOUGHTS ON THE GLOBAL WARMING DEBATE

It appears to me that there's a good number of people who aren't funded by any one specific industry saying that "global warming" needs to be addressed by government and until recently there was not a lot of money to be made off of "solving global warming".  The interest for it grew out of scientific studies and started becoming an "environmental" meme.

Then in the 90s, "denying global warming" became a meme.  The arguments "against global warming" come from organizations set up by public relations agencies and research funded by businesses who would incur losses from government regulations.  And the research isn't so much hard scientific research as it is rhetorical research gathered to discredit "global warming" specifically so that it can't be used to justify regulation.  The arguments "against global warming" are always defensive and the only people that are passionate about it are paid by the industries that stand to be regulated, the Republican Party which is closely aligned with those interests, and dumb "Republicans" to whom it's simply an ideological left/liberal/Democrat vs. right/conservative/Republican issue.  There weren't people arguing against the idea of global warming that came out of the scientific community until it became a political issue and the argument against it doesn't seem to be so much a scientific argument that discredits it as much as a political argument against regulation.

C5A BEATS

THE PBR PHENOMENON DECONSTRUCTED

You may have noticed a trend over at least the past couple of people raging against hipsters for being shallow trend-followers.  You don't necessarily have to actually know what a hipster is to complain about them, but more astute complainers will know that they drink Pabst Blue Ribbon beer for the "ironic effect".  This meme has even recently been cemented in the mainstream media with reports mentioning PBR's "[adverb, e.g strangely, highly, etc.] effective" "word-of-mouth campaign" playing up to the hipster sense of irony.  No evidence of this "word-of-mouth marketing campaign" is cited other than other articles repeating the same thing while relishing the irony of an anti-conformist, anti-corporate subculture being seduced by corporate marketing.

Having no preference, a hipster may be likely to choose PBR because of the can design.  The design hasn't changed in years, signifying a more authentic relationship with the customer than those beer companies that update their labels to entice customers.  Not so ironic a choice, just a conscious evaluation of the design as it reflects on the choices the company makes.

A hipster may choose to drink PBR because their friends drink PBR:  not much different from any social group that has their favorite beers such as Budweiser or Guinness.  If everyone in a group agrees on a brand of beer, it's easier to buy a 12-pack or a case for a party that no one will bitch and moan about.

The most important reason hipsters drink PBR is economic.  Hipsters are generally people from a middle-class upbringing who are involved in the local indie music scene.  What that should tell you is that they hold aesthetics above affluence.  Having a lesser drive towards affluence, they tend to not make much money.  Being middle class tells you they're advantaged enough to not have to drink the cheapest form of alcohol available like bums and welfare cases.  PBR is the beer of choice of people who have enough money see a band at a bar, but not enough to waste it on upgrading their beer while they're there.  It is in fact the drink of choice for white bar patrons living above poverty conditions with a limited disposable income, at least in the South.

Tennessee Rounders - 2007-01-12 - Pabst Blue Ribbon [128kbps vbr]

In the South, PBR is the cheapest beer you can get in most bars.   It's also the cheapest non-light, non-ice brewed beer you can get at just about any gas station, aside from Milwaukee's Best which sux.  This doesn't have as much to do with customer demand as it does with Pabst Brewing Company's pricing and distribution.  Bar owners there don't sell it because customers demand it, they sell it because customers there tend to go to bars that offer cheap beer and PBR has chosen to cater to that market. 

It shouldn't be surprising that traveling indie bands playing in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, artists, and liberal arts majors who move to New York and live on a tight budget while starting their careers would bring their preference in beer with them.  In New York, PBR is expensive, like all beer, so it's particularly hard for people there to understand why hipsters drink it, but it's still usually one dollar cheaper in bars than other beers.  Aside from saving a buck, it's better to ask specifically for a PBR than to ask for "the cheapest beer you have" in front of a girl you may want to bone later. 

I just wanted to clear all that up because it's kind of sad to see the same rant repeated by different people about "hipsters" and their "trends" and the irony of their "ironic" beers.  You can go on believing that the trend started with PBR's marketing team showing up at drug parties and dingey rock venues telling people that PBR is ironic, but drinking PBR has less to do with irony and some vaporous "word-of-mouth marketing campaign" and more with economics and Pabst's distribution model.  There's people that drink PBR based solely on the brand's cultural cache while imbuing it with an aura of irony, but is that act any worse than criticizing it based solely on the brand's cultural cache while imbuing it with an aura of irony?

MEGHAN McCAIN MIGHT DELETE HER TWITTER

Meghan McCain, daughter of John McCain, posted this picture on twitter showing off her book, got called a slut, and is now considering deleting her twitter profile.  Here are the relevant tweets in chronological order:

McCainBlogette http://twitpic.com/ljzq4 - my "spontaneous" night in... 18 hours, 49 minutes ago

McCainBlogette so I took a fun picture not thinking anything about what I was wearing but apparently anything other than a pantsuit I am a slut, this is 18 hours, 28 minutes ago

McCainBlogette why I have been considering deleting my twitter account, what once was fun now just seems like a vessel for harassment 18 hours, 28 minutes ago

McCainBlogette I am going to take some more time to think about it but seriously I was just trying to be funny with the book and that I'm a dork staying in 18 hours, 27 minutes ago

McCainBlogette when I am alone in my apartment, I wear tank tops and sweat pants, I had no idea this makes me a "slut", I can't even tell you how hurt I am 18 hours, 13 minutes ago

McCainBlogette ok I am getting the fuck off twitter, promise not to delete my account until I sleep on it, thank you for the nice words supporters 18 hours, 11 minutes ago 

McCainBlogette I do want to apologize to anyone that was offended by my twitpic, I have clearly made a huge mistake and am sorry 2 those that are offended. 18 hours, 2 minutes ago

UPDATE (04:04PM EST):  She will not be deleting her twitter, treating this as a learning experience instead.

McCainBlogette I would like to thank my family and friends for their support. This has been an embarrassing experience but also a learning one. I will not 19 minutes ago

McCainBlogette be deleting my twitter account but I will be more careful in the future about my use with the medium. 18 minutes ago

UPDATE (2009-12-01 04:07AM EST):  She said a few more things about it but I lost interest in blogging about it.  Sorry if you think this entry would've benefited from being more comprehensive.

MICKEY MANTLE RECALLS A YANKEE STADIUM MEMORY

HOW TO HOST A WINDOWS 7 PARTY

[via Valleywag]

I wonder if Microsoft meant this to go viral. I'm leaning towards thinking they didn't. It's been online since at least August 26.

ON-TIME CLOCK

This is the ON-Time clock from Fabrica Design. It runs 3 minutes fast. Personally, I'm never just 3 minutes late so it'd be kind of useless to me. Speaking of useless, I tried posting this using the Blogger accelerator in Internet Explorer 8 but the GUI doesn't allow for uploading or embedding pics like the web interface does. Google and Microsoft just wasted 3 minutes of my time with their "accelerator".

LOCAL TV NEWS BANTER: WHY IS IT SO WEIRD?

Whenever I see local news on TV, I pay attention to the "friendly interaction" between the anchor and the other reporter(s) sitting by them. Those little comments they make to each other about the previous report are always really weird. It's unlike any kind of human interaction you'd see anywhere else. It's like they're acting like they're making small talk, but it's totally not small talk because small talk is just something to fill up time or to show a stranger you're stuck next to that you're not an introverted creep thinking about how much you resent them encroaching on your personal space. I suppose it's because local news is targeted at people that don't pay attention to what words mean but how they sound, but if you're not part of this target audience, it does seem really freaking weird. Take this for example:


With most things, you don't get them when you first see them, but the more you see them the more you get it, because you learn about stuff and things make sense as you grow up. Local news though is something that seemed normal to me when I'd watch it as a kid, but the older I get the more it freaks me out. I'm not even so sure that it's these odd asides themselves that are so strange; maybe what's alienating me is the blatant realization that there's an audience for them.

Have you also noticed this? Do you even ever watch the local news? What is the anchor in that video talking about?