randomWalks

Did you know? Some people enjoy sharing books via binary newsgroups and even p2p!

originally posted by xowie

Far out PYL home game. (No trivia questions, just prizes and whammies.)

originally posted by xowie

The primary goal of Ftrain.com, the goal which all other goals serve, is to make the site fully conscious and self-aware by 2051.

Nathan Crombie -- who plays a creature called an orc in the blockbuster movie trilogy -- claimed he and a group of fellow actors got high EVERY DAY on ultra-strong grass called Thunderweed. They would sneak away between takes in New Zealand to smoke spliffs at the top of a tower on the set.

originally posted by xowie

Mumia lives! Now let him disappear by Dan Kennedy. Harsh, with interesting links.

originally posted by xowie

Your own body is a phantom, one that your brain has temporarily constructed purely for convenience. I know this sounds astonishing, so I will demonstrate to you the malleability of your own body image and how you can alter it profoundly in just a few seconds.

Rachel’s Compendium of Online Book Discussions, et al. – “Currently there’s a lot of interest in book clubs, and, as far as I know, there’s no place on the Web to find a listing of all of them. Hence, I’ll give it a shot. To be a book club, in my mind, I believe there needs to be some type of time-sensitive element, and, preferably, some type of guided discussion. I’d further classify book clubs in four ways: Web-Based (text and comments on the web); Web-Enhanced (books read off-line and discussed via a web site); E-mail-Oriented (discussion occurring via an e-mail list); and Live Chat (via IRC or some other medium).” This page has a good set of links to mine for active book clubs and other resources.

Lone Wolf and Cub Ogami Action Figure “This is the main character of the classic manga saga. He comes complete with a detailed wheeled cart and Daigoro (Cub) figure, cloth banner with calligraphy, costume accessories (sandals, hat, cloth costume, etc.), and all the swords and other samurai weapons we see in the story, and is highly articulated. This figure stands 12 inches tall."

“like the needle… needle and spoon”

Palestine has finally been published. I wonder if it will sell out quickly given the Current Situation. You can order it from the publisher Fantagraphics which is probably the best option, or from Amazon if like me you don’t care about all those patents and things you pretend to care about when it’s fashionable.

It was a dark and stormy month… (eastbayexpress.com)

From his Oakland apartment, they watched in wonder as thousands of total strangers vehemently debated NaNoWriMo protocol and formed writing klatches groups on the official Yahoo site and dozens of unaffiliated ones. On MetaFilter, people posted queries such as “I wonder if it would be cheating to put together an outline before the November 1st start date?” and “Is it within the rules to use Benzedrine to fuel the fury?” There also were dissenters, who called the idea “fantastically horrible” and likely to produce “a stream-of-consciousness crapfest.” “I was avidly following all of these things with my mouth agape,” says Baty.

The full list of 110 films used to make the three-minute montage The Spirit of America. Oh, the patriotic three-minute montage, I should have said.

originally posted by xowie

At the gym and on the BART, San Francisco welcomes you.

originally posted by xowie

Phil Agre’s latest RRE pointers mailing includes links to some year-end “top ten” music lists. I’ve probably spent more time singing about the itsy-bitsy spider this year than I have listening to new music. What did I miss?

• best albums of 2001 (Onion AV Club)
• Best of 2001: Music (artforum.com)
• The Best (and Worst) of 2001's Concerts and CD's (washingtonpost.com)
• year's best classical CD's (economist.com)
• Best Electronic CDs of 2001
• Jazz: Our Picks (Borders)
• Time's Best and Worst Music of 2001

It looks like maybe 100,000 people, at least 80,000 people, most of them black, were not permitted to vote who had a legal right to vote in Florida. That story was simply not covered in the U.S. press. And that is how the election was won.

Here’s how they did it:

Socialcritic.org’s Selected Readings in Social Criticism is a stupendous directory of texts available online for your perusal and edification. Don’t miss the concise list of war on terrorism readings – an excellent primer of dissenting thought in these times of stifling conformity.

Lots of folks have linked to Owen Briggs' Design Rant recently but I just now got around to looking through it, and I see that this is crucial stuff – required reading for anyone involved with web design in any capacity.

I’ve heard a lot about how beautiful they are on Marketplace lately, but I hadn’t seen any Dutch banknotes before now. Wow.

The ritual consists of interested humans arriving at a predetermined Wal-Mart at 12 noon on the first Sunday of every month and proceeding to push empty shopping carts slowly and silently through the aisles. Eventually, all of the participants locate one another and form a single-file chain of anti-shoppers which weaves, wanders, and whirls throughout the different departments of the store for about an hour. Overall, it is a soothing and fun experience for the actors, and perhaps a memorable spectacle for shoppers. It is a collective reclamation of space that is otherwise only used for buying and selling. It is a symbolic display of the will to resist the capitalist ideology. And, it is a living, breathing, moving, evolving sculpture.

Avoiding and Recovering from Colds and Flus

Abu-Jamal Death Sentence Thrown Out (AP)

A federal judge on Tuesday threw out the death sentence imposed nearly two decades ago on Mumia Abu-Jamal, revered by supporters worldwide as a crusader against racial injustice but reviled by others as an unrepentant cop-killer.

U.S. District Judge William Yohn cited problems with the jury charge and verdict form in the trial that ended with the former journalist and Black Panther’s first-degree murder conviction in the death of a Philadelphia police officer. The judge denied all of Abu-Jamal’s other claims and refused his request for a new trial.

The judge said Abu-Jamal is entitled to a new sentencing hearing within 180 days. ``Should the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania not have conducted a new sentencing hearing … the Commonwealth shall sentence petitioner to life imprisonment,'' the judge said in his 272-page ruling.

The ruling could be appealed to the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals.

We don't manufacture much of anything; just war. We don't concern ourselves with education; just war. We don't attend to the 40 million Americans without health coverage; just war. We don't focus on the 30 million American children living in poverty; just war. We don't support the arts; just war. Even though a a multitude of human needs were in existence prior to September 11, and have only increased since then, we continue to direct our attention and our resources into what we do best: war. Just war.

originally posted by xowie

Sensi in Hollywood.

originally posted by xowie

Some film-makers in Los Angeles see the current relationship between Hollywood and the White House as a mutual back-scratching function, with President Bush seeking to win over the normally pro-Democratic entertainment community while Hollywood wins brownie points which it may be able to employ later in its relationship with the government.

originally posted by xowie

Say it ain’t so, the Sorting Hat sent me to Slytherin!

Four thousand one hundred one pages on Abbie (Abbott) Hoffman, courtesy the Federal Bureau of Investigation, via newbreed librarian.