6.29.2005
Blender, Suck and Dylan
No, it's not a new sitcom on UPN, it's just another round-up of random things.
I'm weighing in late on the Chicago Tribune's annual list of the best magazines, but I was so stunned by what topped the list that it took time to recover. Blender? The Tribune lauds it for its British-like (read: Mojo and Uncut) mix of "zippy, irreverent writing" and "serious reporting and terrific profiles," while soft-peddling its penchant for "top-notch froth." This is some seriously skewed placement. One of those British magazines that Blender tries to ape, Mojo, is all the way down at No. 27, while Paste, previously lauded here and a much better magazine (albeit not quite as "zippy,") is at No. 21. It is nice to see Wired all the way up at No. 4, while Make, a great new quarterly of DIY projects and such, notched the No. 12 spot after just two issues. It's a bit wonky for me, but their blog is a great way to learn about a lot of new personal technology and ways to manipulate it to make it more useful (also suggested in that vein is Lifehacker, which also deals with a lot of productivity issues).
The late, lamented online site, Suck, is exhaustively remembered in a 15,000-word piece on Keep Going, an online journal. The most surprising thing to learn from the piece is that Suck still exists, albeit as little more than a museum piece that offers a different old article each day. The second most surprising thing is that Suck co-creator Carl Steadman, who still maintains the Suck site, also still keeps the over-hyped and long left for dead Plastic.com as a going concern. Elsewhere, the piece offers a very thorough look at how Suck started, evolved and eventually folded. Anyone who wonders now why the site was so consistently funny and good, only need look at the list of contributors, who went on to become Wonkette, the editor of Reason and The Rake and other high profile posts.
And finally, what is Bob Dylan thinking? First, he agrees to perform at Amazon's 10th anniversary celebration coming in July. Now, he's allowing Starbucks to be the official distributor for a new live CD. And not just any CD, but the first official release of what bootleg collector's refer to as "The Gaslight Tapes," among the first live recordings of Dylan from back in 1962. That would have made a great addition to the Bootleg series on Columbia, but the next volume of that will be the soundtrack to a new Martin Scorsese biopic, No Direction Home, to air in September on PBS. As with other Starbucks exclusives, other retailers eventually will be able to stock the Dylan disc, but unlike the six-week window afforded Starbucks for the recent issue of Alanis Morrissette's acoustic take on her Jagged Little Pill disc, the Dylan disc will be exclusive to starfish for 18 months, thus ensuring that anyone who actually cares about this will be forced to go to the coffee retailer to pick one up.
I'm weighing in late on the Chicago Tribune's annual list of the best magazines, but I was so stunned by what topped the list that it took time to recover. Blender? The Tribune lauds it for its British-like (read: Mojo and Uncut) mix of "zippy, irreverent writing" and "serious reporting and terrific profiles," while soft-peddling its penchant for "top-notch froth." This is some seriously skewed placement. One of those British magazines that Blender tries to ape, Mojo, is all the way down at No. 27, while Paste, previously lauded here and a much better magazine (albeit not quite as "zippy,") is at No. 21. It is nice to see Wired all the way up at No. 4, while Make, a great new quarterly of DIY projects and such, notched the No. 12 spot after just two issues. It's a bit wonky for me, but their blog is a great way to learn about a lot of new personal technology and ways to manipulate it to make it more useful (also suggested in that vein is Lifehacker, which also deals with a lot of productivity issues).
The late, lamented online site, Suck, is exhaustively remembered in a 15,000-word piece on Keep Going, an online journal. The most surprising thing to learn from the piece is that Suck still exists, albeit as little more than a museum piece that offers a different old article each day. The second most surprising thing is that Suck co-creator Carl Steadman, who still maintains the Suck site, also still keeps the over-hyped and long left for dead Plastic.com as a going concern. Elsewhere, the piece offers a very thorough look at how Suck started, evolved and eventually folded. Anyone who wonders now why the site was so consistently funny and good, only need look at the list of contributors, who went on to become Wonkette, the editor of Reason and The Rake and other high profile posts.
And finally, what is Bob Dylan thinking? First, he agrees to perform at Amazon's 10th anniversary celebration coming in July. Now, he's allowing Starbucks to be the official distributor for a new live CD. And not just any CD, but the first official release of what bootleg collector's refer to as "The Gaslight Tapes," among the first live recordings of Dylan from back in 1962. That would have made a great addition to the Bootleg series on Columbia, but the next volume of that will be the soundtrack to a new Martin Scorsese biopic, No Direction Home, to air in September on PBS. As with other Starbucks exclusives, other retailers eventually will be able to stock the Dylan disc, but unlike the six-week window afforded Starbucks for the recent issue of Alanis Morrissette's acoustic take on her Jagged Little Pill disc, the Dylan disc will be exclusive to starfish for 18 months, thus ensuring that anyone who actually cares about this will be forced to go to the coffee retailer to pick one up.
