by Brett Warner
They call it “loss prevention”- an attempt to minimize shrinkage, shoplifting, and all other sorts of profit loss. Standing behind a computer screen, fake smiles all around, the word “Information” hanging like a halo over your head… it’s easy to start thinking about things you’ve lost along the way. A soccer mom asks for the Self Help section and like a prized show dog, you walk to her through the aisles, handing her a copy of He’s Just Not That Into You with a chipper “Have a good day!” the first of hundreds you’ll give out before closing time. The truth is that you silently hate this woman, and the next customer, and the next. You hate her because you never planned on selling books for a living. And each query, each title search, each cash register transaction is a blunt reminder of what’s gone missing, of what little there is left. Management worries about lost product – a bookseller worries about losing themselves.
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by Andrew E. Konietzky
This week I had a great round-table discussion with friends concerning the state of new media and the changing world around us. Being a writer and podcaster, I have long been a supporter of CC. Whoops! I may have to give a bit of a refresher course first: Creative Commons is a nonprofit organization that works to increase the amount of creativity (cultural, educational and scientific content) in “the commons” – the body of work that is available to the public for free and legal sharing, uses, re-purposing and remixing. So I sat down to do a bit of research for my benefit and to show I am not created just out of cheesy films, zombies and strange culture. Well, actually I am, but I do have a stake in this changing world of media.
The world is now a hyper-expanding WikiNation, with information flowing back and forth faster than ever before. Plug in your cranial jack and download the info-burst on this documentary from the global networks. Rip: A Remix Manifesto, in which web activist and filmmaker Brett Gaylor explores issues of copyright in the information age, mashing up the media landscape of the 20th century and shattering the wall between users and producers. He is also the web producer of HomelessNation.org, a web project dedicated to bridging the digital divide and allowing everyone to participate in online culture. Brett is one of Canada’s first video bloggers and has been working with youth and media for over 10 years, and is a founding instructor of the Gulf Islands Film and Television School.
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Jamity Suicide in So Long…
- INTO: MSI, Morningwood, Tenacious D, Stolen Babies, Cream, The Left Rights, John Murphy, The Living End, Paramore, Retard-o-bot, Clock Work Orange.
- MAKES ME HAPPY: Romance, chocolate, sunshine, SEA, BEACH, GIRLS!
- MAKES ME SAD: Boyfriend, being sick, racism, monthlies.
- 5 THINGS I CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT: Art, photos, comics, tea, cartoons!
Get to know Jamity better over at SuicideGirls.com!
by Ryan Stewart
Your last glimpse of Michelle Rodriguez was probably in the third act of Avatar, when, as heroic marine pilot Trudy Chacon, she turned on her colonial military bosses and went down with her ship, fighting for the rights of the native Na’vi cat people. It was a typically badass finish for an actress who has garnered a reputation for both kicking much on-screen ass and almost always biting it in the end.
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by Nicole Powers
This Sunday (9/12) on SuicideGirls Radio our very special in-studio guest will be original Guns N’ Roses drummer and Celebrity Rehab alum, Steven Adler, who recently rocked the Sunset Strip Music Festival with his new band Adler’s Appetite. We’ll be talking about his storied life, as told in his recently published memoir, My Appetite for Destruction. Tune in for two hours of totally awesome tunes and extreme conversation – and don’t let your moma listen in!
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by Damon Martin
“Save the cheerleader, save the world”
It seemed like such a winnable premise. A comic book come to life on the small screen, with genuine comic book writers being an integral part of it all, and a television network willing to sink time, money and production into the series to make sure it’s a winner. That’s the beginning that was the hit series Heroes, which soon became the dwindling ratings show Heroes, and is now the canceled TV show Heroes. How did a show with so much promise and critical acclaim become such a superpowered fail for NBC??
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by Pandie Suicide
Welcome to a new series of “Brief Histories”, where I attempt to tell you a little about the history of certain aspects of heavy music, condensed into 600 words or less. If you have any suggestions of further topics to discuss please leave a comment here on the blog, here, or here.
But for today’s topic: Headbanging.
That heavy metal tradition of sore necks and long locks swirling around in the air to the tune of a frenzied double kick and wailing, crushing guitars, known as “headbanging,” is described by Wikipedia as “a type of dance which involves violently shaking the head in time with music, most commonly rock music and heavy metal music.” As this instructional article, on “How to Headbang” will tell you, there are several different styles of headbanging, such as the “windmill” and the “headslam.”
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