Saturday, December 14, 2002

IN THE 'PLACES I'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO VISIT' DEPT., the Museum of Menstruation and Women's Health in Washington DC is, alas, currently inoperative as a real-world attraction and is only available online. The site's so fascinating it makes one long for a physical display site. Take this pairing of two tampon magazine ads: a repressed American one and an outrageous British one.

posted by clark 1:07 PM

MTV2 IS CURRENTLY RUNNING Punk: Pistols to Present, a 25-year retrospective that actually includes some of the pioneer acts often forgotten in such retrospectives (Damned, Runaways, Buzzcocks). The VJ's background set and the show's "bumper" logos (what you see before and after the commercial breaks), however, look creepily like the work of a corporate ad agency trying to ape a punk look (PoMo-ironic drawings of safety pins, "graffiti" typefaces). The "...to Present" side of the show's equation is heavy on the MTV-friendly side of '90s alternarock. Green Day is playing as I write this; I fully expect to see the Offspring and Stone Temple Pilots by the show's end. I also expect to not see Fugazi. SO: Decide for yourself. Tribute? Exploitation? All of the above?

(Update: Further on in the show, there's a No Doubt video and a documentary segment about a display of oldtime punk DIY posters—at a Levi's-sponsored summer package tour!)

(Further Update: The show concludes with the predictable pairing of "God Save the Queen" and the newly-released Nirvana outtake song.)

posted by clark 12:25 PM

Friday, December 13, 2002

WHEN THREE DIFFERENT PEOPLE email me links to the same site, I know there's a buzz goin' on. Such is the case with DubyaDubyaDubya, a Flash animation comparing the ongoing political-military nonsense with a home-electronics breakdown.

posted by clark 10:38 AM

Monday, December 09, 2002

THERE'VE BEEN MANY long, ponderous anti-Bush screeds in UK papers lately. This one claims many Republicans don't want to go as far rightward as Bush, correctly fearing a less-than-completely-triumphant outcome to an Iraq war could bring long-planned schemes for permanent Republican hegemony to collapse.

posted by clark 10:56 PM

FOR THE WOMAN WHO HAS EVERYTHING: This holiday season, you can give the special lady in your life a genuine Hello Kitty "shoulder massage" stick, which, the page linked herein notes, can also be used "for other purposes."

posted by clark 3:48 PM

OLIVER WILLIS WRITES: "The left needs a marketing director."

posted by clark 3:33 PM

SEASON'S SHOOTINGS: It's been about a month and a half since we last had a new photo essay on the site. So let's get caught up, starting with the ever-fiscally-important day after Thanksgiving. This particular day started in downtown Seattle the way most days start, with men waiting for the temporary main library to open. Some of these men are homeless, seeking a place to sit indoors while the shelters are closed. Others are simply retired or unemployed, seeking a morning's worth of free entertainment and/or learning.

The "Buy Nothing Day" kids were out in force, denouncing squaresville commercialism without positing any positive alternatives. The sign depicted above was made, and then defaced, by a fan of Adbusters magazine pretending to be a conservative.

(Left-wing parodies of right-wing attitudes almost always get it wrong—nobody on the right ever speaks specifically for such lefty-insult terms as "commodification " or "patriarchy." Right-wing parodists are, natch, just as errant about lefty attitudes, wrongly imagining that anybody would speak in favor of such righty-insult terms as "special rights" or "takings.")

Outside the Bon Marche, a busy crew was handing out free samples of Krispy Kreme donuts (I refuse to use the more formal "doughnut" for such an informal snack food). The chain, which in recent years has generated media hype far beyond its size (still fewer than 150 branches nationally, concentrated in the south) has been ringing Seattle's far suburbs and will open its first in-town branch next year.

No snack product could live up to Krispy Kreme's hype. But it is an impressive product. Its lightness, fresh aroma, and melt-in-your-mouth texture all belie the massive sugar rush that hits you after six bites.

One lady did offer a proactive alternative to the bigtime shopping mania, and didn't need Photoshop to make it.

Among those who didn't heed, or didn't see, that lady's message: The nearly 100 who camped out in anticipation of the Adidas Store's moonlight sale.

THE NIGHT OF DEC. 7 featured hundreds of holiday parties around town. The one I went to was the opening of 13 Fridas, 13 Years, 13 Days, at muralist James Crespinel's studio-gallery in Belltown.

Crespinel has been painting his own impressions of Frida Klaho over the years, and displayed some of them as a tie-in to the movie and the Seattle Art Museum's current Mexican-impressionism exhibit.

The opening was a stupendous gala with authentic Mexi-snacks, singers (including our ol' pal Yva Las Vegas, above), and dancers (below).

Later that same night, a somewhat different tribute to strength and beauty was offered at the nearby Rendezvous by the Burning Hearts burlesque troupe. This is one of the seven ladies who paraded around in whimsical mini-attire for a surly drunken Santa.

Other St. Nicks of all assorted sizes, shapes, and demeanors cavorted about the greater downtown area as part of the annual NIght of 1,000 Santas spectacle, enacted in cities across North America.

posted by clark 2:52 PM

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