“Oh my God!!!” Anderson’s reaction when today’s Mystery Guest was revealed.
Watch Friday (1/27).
I could watch this gif all day, really.
-from 1984 by George Orwell
I’m finally reading the book named after the year of my birth. It’s actually kind of hilarious that I haven’t read it before considering I’ve made Team Orwell jokes for a long time. But holy shit, you guys. Holy shit, read that quote. Breathtaking stuff. You could write essays, dissertations, about controlling the narrative by changing the meanings of words, about propaganda and the destruction of regimes and societies—or you could just sum it up in this jaw-dropping, elegant paragraph.
And by the way, this is happening now. It’s been happening for a long time. Think about all the girls you know that say “I’m not a feminist, but…” Yeah, who wants that equal pay/voting rights/control of your own body and life bullshit anyway? Oh, that’s not what you meant? Because that’s what it means. And that’s far from the only example.
Words are everything. They can be powerful, beautiful, yes, even dangerous, in a way nothing else can. That’s why I love them so much.
The Max Headroom Broadcast Signal Intrusion Incident was a television signal hijacking in Chicago, Illinois, on the evening of November 22, 1987. It is an example of what is known in the television business as broadcast signal intrusion. The intruder was successful in interrupting two television stations within three hours. Neither the hijacker nor the accomplices have ever been found or identified.
The news reports about this scared the shit out of me when I was a kid. Watch what happened here.
One of my favorite TV stories ever, and in fact I have been tossing around the idea for a novel for years inspired by this incident. Could something like this even happen today?
As a little kid at the end of the world, I grew up with C-Band satellite, which had lots of weird channels. Like Videodrome, but with less torture porn (maybe that was on Ku-band? Much love to the five people that got that joke). C-Band was the home of another famous intrusion, the Captain Midnight incident, where someone infiltrated HBO and put up a message in front of colorbars.
I love this stuff. I could start a Tumblr just about C-Band craziness but my two favorite bizarre C-Band channels: a feed from a Canadian “trotter” horse track and a CGI dog calling bingo. I miss it still, even though I would never again live in the country (and C-Band died about 10 years ago in favor of DirecTV and Dish). All my love for weird TV, like the Max Headroom incident, stems from C-Band.
:D :D :D !!!!
Man. Why am I not on a plane to SNA right now??? Miss u, Disneyland.
A video I made - a little Phoenix/brat pack mashup that I made for fun (and later which took on a life of its own) - becomes an example of fair use freedom in this TED Talk (about 4.5 minutes in it really begins).
I think it’s worth sharing today, given Google’s anti-censorship façade regarding SOPA/PIPA. The same Google that permabanned me & froze my gmail account for this fair use which they considered ‘copyright violation.’ Those ‘violations’ which have now been swiped and reuploaded by others. But I’m still banned. What freedom?
So maybe be careful with that Google petition that everyone is linking to today. Go direct to your congressional representatives instead. Don’t rely on a company that values corporate lawyer threats before your freedom to fight your congressional battles.
/avoidantconsumer out!
Important stuff, friends.
Good stuff.
Catchy track, awkward kids dancing, and a sweet zebra print sleeveless hoodie.
Scissor Sisters are back.
Feelin’ it!
Day 3 brings the first awesome jam of 2012.
(Source: youtube.com)
In 2011, this changed everything.
And in 2012, everything’s about to change.
Happy New Year from the CST.
then I found out the print shop that makes it also makes this
Which, obviously, I need in my life as well.
Words and Eagles: Two of my favorite things, especially when well-designed.
