MISC. WORLD for 6/25/99 Taking Measures DISCIPLINE, I heartily believe, is one of the most important ingredients in any artwork. Especially in any artwork based on one of the "popular" (or formerly-popular) art forms. As any decent jazz teacher will tell you, you must know the rules before you can properly break them. Herewith, some important disciplinary elements of time and space for the true pop-culture scholar. 0.2 seconds (five frames of film; determined by animation legend Tex Avery to be the minimum time for the human eye to "read" a motion gag such as a falling anvil). 0:58 (actual content length of a 60-second TV commercial, dating back to when most spots were edited and distributed on film, so local stations could splice spots onto one reel without worrying about the two-second differential between a frame of film and its corresponding soundtrack segment). 1:00 (standard length of a TV commercial break in the '50s). 2:10 (average minimum length of a TV commercial break these days). 3:30 (more-or-less maximum length of a Top 40 single in the '50s and '60s, so radio stations could expect to fit 1:30 of commercials and DJ patter into a 5:00 segment). 4 minutes (limit of a 78 rpm record). 6 minutes (the final standard length of a Warner Bros. cartoon; 540 feet of film). 7 minutes (maximum length of a side of a 45 rpm record, without using analog sound compression). 10 minutes (standard length of an act in a vaudeville revue; later the maximum length of a one-reel film comedy or newsreel). 16-20 minutes (average and maximum lengths of a two-reel film comedy). 24 minutes (length of a half-hour TV show, minus commercials and credits, before they started cramming more ads into prime-time; nowadays a sitcom can be as short as 19.5 minutes). 30.5 minutes (maximum length of a side of an LP record when using analog sound compression). 72 minutes (maximum length of a standard audio CD). 80 minutes (considered the minimal length of a commercial studio feature film; the standard length of most U.S. animated features). 300-400 words (average length of a book page). 750 words (standard length of a newspaper op-ed column). 800 words (standard length of an old New Yorker "casual" humor story.) 1,000-1,400 words (typical length range of a magazine page). 5,000 words (standard length of an old Saturday Evening Post short story). 90,000 words (maximum length of a mass-market-paperback novel in the '50s, when publishers were still trying to stick to a 25-cent price). 6 episodes (minimum duration of a BBC sitcom season). 13 episodes (standard duration of a '30s movie serial). 39 episodes (original duration of a TV season on the U.S. big-three networks, derived from the days of live radio; now whittled down to as few as 20 and as many as 30). 65 episodes (standard duration of the first season of a weekday animated series; the episodes may be in production over two years before premiering). 100 episodes (generally considered the minimal duration of a TV series to succeed in syndicated reruns; also the typical duration of a Mexican telenovela). Monday: More on the end of Another World. Recent highlights: A new visual-art zine with no pictures; plus the anomie of Starbucks' in-store magazine Joe. Are Seattle singles too PC for their own good?; plus the Fremont parade's joyous exhibitionists. A U.K. social critic looks at "sexual liberation" and finds consumer-narcissism and fear of intimacy. Why Seattle loves being Dr. Evil's home in the new Austin Powers movie. More of our party roundup, the Insta-Poem contest. Our party roundup starts with the MISC.-O-Rama questionnaire. Introducing the daily MISC. World. The column's 13th anniversary inspires thoughts on changing views of popular culture. Wedgwood residents fuss about saving a small supermarket; plus Robert Hughes vs. the new Star Wars. The decline of softcore; plus Denny's new "diner" look. Archives: 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997, 1996, 1995, and 1986-94 columns Longer articles and essays Background info about MISC. Media Hints at some of our future projects

CLARK'S CULTURE CORRAL BOOKS, MOVIES, MUSIC, ETC. REVIEWED AND SOLD Currently Featured: Romantic and ethereal music from Rusty Willoughby, Marc Olsen, and Jeff Grienke and Anisa Romero. Archives: Literature and art Nonfiction and cultural criticism Movies and videos Music and noise Search: Books Popular Music Classical Music Video Enter keywords... (Support MISC. Media; make your Amazon.com purchases thru this link.) X-WORD PUZZLES (UPDATED FRIDAYS) This Week: Built for X-Word, Not for Speed! MISC. TALK DISCUSSION BOARDS Does Seattle suck? Why/why not? Stake your case at our MISC. Talk discussion boards. SLIGHTLY WEIRD FICTION Currently Featured: 'Naked women and what they do.' THE BIG BOOK OF MISC. The 650 or so best Misc. items ever, now in one handy and way-fun collection. Read more about it here. Get it here. LOSER THE REAL SEATTLE MUSIC STORY How a subculture of misfits and scenesters turned 'indie rock' into a global craze, followed by media inaccuracies and industry backlashes. Pre-order your copy of the updated second edition. CYBER STUFF Hundreds of cool, useful, and just odd sites. THINGS I LIKE My favorite sites, foods, drinks, words, music, people, places, and things. Plus a few things I hate. FLY THE MISC. Media FLAG! Download a MISC. Media link button and wear it on your website. Eighteen varieties. MISC. MEDIA UPDATES As of June 14, 1999, your doses of pop-cult confusion are now titled MISC. World and come to you every weekday. The shorter "MISC." title lives on in The Big Book of MISC., now shipping. As of April 29, 1999, we've got a new URL. Re-set your bookmarks for http://www.miscmedia.com. To learn more about these and future changes, join the splendid Misc.-l mailing list. Send an email to Majordomo@lists.speakeasy.org. Leave the "subject" line blank, and in the body of the message write simply: SUBSCRIBE MISC-L (your email address) Questions? Suggested topics? Email to clark@speakeasy.org. Joe Newton drew the caricature at the top of this page. Charlotte Quinn helped originally design the site.