2005 Material

Wed - December 15, 2004

Rhythm Science by Paul D. Miller

I finished reading Rhythm Science by Paul D. Miller (aka DJ Spooky) today. It's part of the MIT mediaworks pamphlet series.

It's fair to say right away that I'm a big fan of Paul D. Miller. I own 10+ CDs by his alter ego DJ Spooky, and have seen him perform both conventioal DJ sets and an avant-garde film remix. At the "Rebirth of a nation..." show I was able to hear him speak with a UofC prof and the audience about the film, which gave me some insight.

Rhythm Science is at once an autobiographical sketch, a meditation on the philosophical ramifications of turntablism and an appreciation for the wondrous complexities in the modern world. It is smart -- and in the spirit of turntablism tries to broaden our horizons by connecting disparate ideas/sounds/beats/vibes/sensations...

It's good food for thought. Be careful not to dismiss it as pseudo-intellectualism, because there's something real there. Beneath the textures on the surface is an appreciation of how agency can be wrested from the structures beneath.

Posted at 09:52 PM DirectLink |

Tue - December 14, 2004

C: A Reference Manual by Harbison & Steele

It's the rare technical book that gets read cover to cover, but in preparation for a class that forced me to recall whatever "C" programming I once knew, I ended up reading most of C: A Reference Manual by Harbison & Steele ... to the point where I decided I might as well read the remainder so that I could add it to the list.

The other technical book I can recall reading cover to cover is the famous The C Programming Language by Kernighan and Ritchie, which has as much of a lyrical quality to it as the genre can muster. Harbison & Steele's book takes a very different approach to referencing the C programming language and is perhaps best suited as a companion to K&R.

Digression: I've read enough of Core Java 2 (Horstman & Cornell) to consider finishing it off and writing a review. The technical book I'm looking forward to finishing is Beazley's Python: Essential Reference which is written with a certain sleekness to it that makes it enjoyable to read.

Posted at 08:37 PM DirectLink |

Mon - December 13, 2004

Bush Monkey Painting Sparks Protest

Posted at 11:17 PM DirectLink |

Season of Lists: Books Read 12/2003 to 12/2004

I posted my book list 12/2002 to 12/2003 last year at about this time.
Here's the update.

Last	First	Title	Notes
Bukowski	Charles	Last night of the Earth Poems	*[] First book by Buk that I've read**
Bowles	Paul	The Sheltering Sky	Recommended by SD
Woods	Donald	South African Dispatches: Letters to My Countrymen (1987)	*[] Slice of life from the 70s & 80s in SA**
Dybek	Stuart	The Coast of Chicago (1990)	*[] Recommended by Mayor Daley**
Feinberg	Barry	Poets to the People: South African Freedom Poems (edited by Barry Feinberg)	*[] Great South African political "angry" poetry**
Obama	Barack	Dreams from My Father: A story of race and inheritance (1995)	I read this the week before his speech at the DNC
Dybek	Stuart	Childhood & Other Neighborhoods	*[] I enjoyed this more than Coast of Chicago**
Soyinka	Wole	Samarkand and other Markets I have known	*[] Poetry collection**
Dickson	Johanna	Pamphlet Architecture 23: MOVE sites of trauma	*[] I've enjoyed both architecture books read this year**
Glendon	Mary Ann	A World Made New: Eleanor Roosevelt and the Declaration of Human Rights (2001)	Manages to biograph both E. Roosevelt and the document itself
Mailer	Norman	The Gospel According to the Son (1997)	*[] Mailer's Jesus book**
Edmonds & Eidinow		Bobby Fischer Goes to War (2004)	*[] borrowed from 2M**
Moore	Michael	Dude, Where is My Country (2003)	*[] borrowed from SV**
Weatherford	Jack	Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World (2004)	*[] Great modern history of the mongols!**
Ash	Timothy Garton	The Magic Lantern: The Revolutions of ‘89 Witnessed in Warsaw, Budapest, Berlin, and Prague (1990, afterword 1999)	*[] Well-written accounts of transitions in eastern europe**
Sachs	Jeffrey	Poland’s Jump to the Market Economy (1993)	*[] Recommended by CLJO**
Rushdie	Salman	Step Across This Line (2002)	*[] some gems in this collection of essays**
Kapuscinski	Ryzsard	Another Day of Life (1976)	recommended by SD
Sorkin	Michael	Pamphlet architecture 22: Other Plans University of chicago studies (2001)	*[] cityspace conference**
Borges	Jorge Luis	Seven Nights (1984)	*[] Borges is genius**
Lyman	Princeton	Partner To history: The US role in South Africa’s Transition to Democracy (2002)	*[] Too quick to claim praise for the US**
Cortazar	Julio	Blow-Up and Other Stories (1967)	*[] recommended by KRT**
Klima	Ivan	My Golden Trades (1992)	*[] a Reread! One of my favorites.**
Naipaul	VS	A Bend in the River (1979)	*[] I've enjoyed everything I've read by Naipaul thusfar**
Borges	Jorge Luis	Dreamtigers (1964)	*[]**
Clark	Wesley	Winning Modern Wars: Iraq, Terrorism, & the American Empire (2003)	*[] Better general than politician or writer**
Quinn	Daniel	Ishmael (1992)	*[] recommended by D**
Lahiri	Jhumpa	The Namesake (2003)	*[] Met the author**
Hornby	Nick	Songbook (2003)	*[] A fun set of stories surrounding popular music**
Cortazar	Julio	Cronopios and Famas (1962)	*[]**
Asinof	Eliot	Eight Men Out: The Black Sox & the 1919 World Series (1963)	*[] recommended by SV**
Baldacci	Leslie	Inside Mrs. B’s Classroom: Courage, Hope & Learning on Chicago’s South Side (2003)	*[] recommended by JF**

--
Note: I started keeping track of books read in 1999 when I left for the peace corps. I've been able to continue the list in the years back. The main rule is that nothing gets added to the list unless it's read cover to cover. This keeps a lot of false starts and technical books from being included.

Posted at 12:00 AM DirectLink |

Sun - December 12, 2004

Marine Chooses Wedding Ring Over Finger

With his approval, doctors severed his finger, but somehow in the chaos that followed, they lost his ring.

Posted at 01:44 PM DirectLink |

Never a City so Real by Alex Kotlowitz

Some 3 months after hearing Alex Kotlowitz read from "Never a City so Real" I finally got around to sitting down and reading it. It's good. You can't tell the story about a place without telling the stories of the people who bring that place to real. Kotlowitz was approached to write a "travel" book about Chicago, and instead gives us insight into the people who aren't the usual "cause celebre" but who give this place it's character.

The part of me that argues for spending some months writing when I'm between jobs took alot out of the way that Kotlowitz writes about people. He balances their faults and their gifts to give us a deep appreciation for their lives.

After I work through the backlog on the reading list, I'm going to do a proper chicago unit.

--
Thanks to JF for lending me the book.
Also, here's the amazon link.

Posted at 12:00 AM DirectLink |

Sat - December 11, 2004

Saul Williams @ Sonotheque 12/10/2004

I stopped by Sonotheque on friday night to catch part of Saul Williams' DJ set. I was hoping that he'd some of his own material, but it was simply a DJ set. Not too many surprises considering the artist.

Sonotheque has a hipster cool thing going for it, and had the kind of crowd you'd expect at an IDM-esque event plus the usual friday night / weekend warriors. Pretty much exactly as advertised.

Posted at 06:38 PM DirectLink |

Fri - December 10, 2004

Moolaade @ Music Box 12/9/2004

SV, JF&KF, and I caught "Moolaade" at the Music Box afterwork on Thursday. While nominally about female circumcision rituals in west africa, it is really a fairly universal tale about the challenges of transformation and the power dynamics of sex, religion, tradition and the rest. That the film was able to convey a sense that the underlying issues really did have a sense of universality to them is a great compliment to the quality of the filmmaking. The reviews below do a good job of setting up the movie.

Reader Review
Ebert Review

I'll add more to this post in the future.

Posted at 12:02 AM DirectLink |

Thu - December 9, 2004

Bulls Rout Cavaliers

My father and I caught our first Bulls game of the season at the United Center on Wednesday night as the Bulls routed the Cleveland Cavaliers 113-85! The last 4 games I've been to over the past 3 seasons have all been blow-outs. Quite frankly, it was a little odd to be on the winning side of one of these lopsided scores.

It's good a feeling. Odd, but good.

Notes:
- Rookie Ben Gordon led the way with 21 pts and displayed a real knack for taking/making some good shots.
- Rookie Luol Deng did a fine job staying with LeBron James.
- Lebron James had an off night generally, but had a few highlight reel type plays including a block on Hinrich at the end of a quarter.
- I don't have to spend any time here defending Tyson Chandler or Eddy Curry as both played solid games tonight. (I used to be a fan of Sam Smith's take on the NBA, especially all of his trade proposals... but his constant beating of the trade drum in regards to Eddy Curry has cooled me considerably to all that) They're both going to be good players. Not "max-contract" players but good players. I'd like the bulls to keep both of them (provided of course they don't overpay for either)
- Members of the Chicago Bears were involved in a "simon says" game at half-time and were sitting at the other end of our row. David Terrell, R.W. McQuarters, Jerry Azumah, Bobby Wade, and Berrian were among the Bears present. For most of the third quarter, they were mobbed by fans trying to get autographs and their tickets to the game or whatever scrap of paper they could find. One youngster asked the bears to sign the back of the shirt he was wearing. One man had one of the Bears sign his 10 month-old baby.
- With the Bulls winning the game and scoring over a 100 points, I have 48 hours to cash in on a free big mac at mcDonalds. mmm, free.
- I took my camera and took a fair amount of pictures. I'll add sorting through those pictures to my "to-do" wishlist

Posted at 12:30 AM DirectLink |

Wed - December 8, 2004

Work update

Big meeting at work this morning had some positive moments. While nothing is set, there is more cause for optimism that the "gap" funds will be found and we'll be able to finish out the school year instead of ending work in April.

While I have been beginning to perversely delight in the thought of unemployment, it is my main interest to finish out the school year.

---
Recent adds to the Collection: "Transatlanticism" Death Cab for Cutie (2003), "Genius Loves Company" Ray Charles (2004), "Skittish/ Rockity Roll" Mike Doughty (2004), "The 3 EPs" Beta Band (1999), "Lovesick (VS)" Bob Dylan (2004)

Posted at 11:59 PM DirectLink |

Tue - December 7, 2004

on Writing

AI (my cousin, not the 76ers mercurial point guard) sent me a link to this "Get Fuzzy" comic, which I though was appropriate given GC's comments on writing/learning.