clarkblog

LOW-TECH LIFESTYLE

Like most nerds, I crave the latest and highest tech. But do I really need it?

A new blog called Last Year's Model is a reminder to us all that, no, we don't. Most of us will be happier (and more green, with yet more green in our pockets) if we just make do with what we have. A quick inventory happily confirms that my existing gear is very reliable.

• Cell phone: original iPhone I bought used from a friend over a year ago.
• Computer: Mac G5 dual 2.0 MHz tower and Dell flatscreen monitor (both purchased in 2006).
• Laptop: iBook purchased in 2001 (it barely runs but it's there when I need portability).
• iPods: 60 GB iPod (gift from friends) and original Shuffle (3+ years old).
• DVR: TiVo box (2 years old).
• DVD: Philips region-free player (2 years).
• TV: 27-inch Toshiba tube from 1990-something that I bought used.
• Camera: Nikon CoolPix 5700 (from 2002).
• Recorder: Sony MiniDisc recorder/player I won in a contest almost a decade ago.

I use most of this gear every day and it rarely, if ever, lets me down. Over the last year, my tech-related purchases were either peripherals (Bluetooth headset) or blank media (USB flash drive, DVD-Rs, etc). Making this list gives me a sense of satisfaction to counter-balance my tech envy of friends with swank new HD flatscreens and netbooks.

If I'm patient, I'll probably get some good deals when my friends upgrade in a couple of years. Like The Police said: "When the world is running down, you make the best of what's still around ..."

BACKSTAGE AT FOX

CHARMING MOTORWAYS

There are some books whose visions will live in my head forever. Among them are the post-apocalyptic urban ferocity of High Rise, the sex and metal eroticism of Crash and the surgically-precise insanity of The Atrocity Exhibition -- all written by J.G Ballard, whose most famous novel, Empire of the Sun, was also his most sedate. His visions even come with their own culturally-penetrating soundtracks courtesy of musicians who found inspiration in his clinical post-mortems of our cold and alienating world.

Over at Ballardian, lots of friends and admirers bid a fond farewell to Ballard, who died this month after a long bout with cancer. I found Michael Moorcock's touching remembrance to be the most revealing portrait of Ballard, who valued and cultivated his privacy.

Here's a great quote from Ballard himself:

I believe in the power of the imagination to remake the world, to release the truth within us, to hold back the night, to transcend death, to charm motorways, to ingratiate ourselves with birds, to enlist the confidences of madmen.

I believe in the non-existence of the past, in the death of the future, and the infinite possibilities of the present.

THE CRAMPS: GARBAGE MAN

"Exhuming the bones of so-called trash culture and rearranging them to fit the punk times, the Cramps explicitly brought life to the late ’50s and ’60s era of exploitation, from B-horror to grindhouse sleaze, and set it to a rock ‘n’ roll beat with just drums and guitars." --  Denise Sullivan @ Crawdaddy

Here's a report from a wake held for Cramps frontman Lux Interior, who died in February. Still can't believe this guy is gone. One of the best performers I ever saw -- and I saw Elvis.

RISE ROBOTS RISE

The Global Hawk, an unmanned aerial vehicle that's seen action in Iraq and Afghanistan, is now being used to study the environment.

Earlier this year I wrote a story on the Global Hawk's new mission for Unmanned Systems, the magazine of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International. I traveled to Edwards Air Force Base for the unveiling of the aircraft and interviewed the program scientists and engineers. It's a fascinating science-based project using a drone that can stay aloft for 30 hours, allowing it to travel from the equator to the polar regions and back in one flight.

It's a members-only magazine so the online content is restricted to subscribers, but NASA liked the article so much they asked to make it available at their website. You can download a 4.6 MB PDF of my story here (the photos are mine as well).

IS THERE ANY OTHER WAY TO TIME TRAVEL?

From Tom Gauld. More here.

WEAK TEA

I'm a free speech freak. I back the hell out of anybody who wants to say anything. My motives are not so much patriotic as they are purely selfish, because free speech lets me make fun of people.

Few things this week were funnier than the Tea Parties sponsored by Fox News. I'm actually pretty glad so many right-wingers are becoming reacquainted with the First Amendment. Most of them can only recite the Second Amendment, right? There are many other fine amendments I hope they take time to read one day.

I wish the Teabaggers wouldn't take the nation's ridiculing of them so seriously. Then again, these people just have no sense of humor. Remember that they nominated Sarah Palin with a straight face.

 

The Tea Party idea was a big ol' jug of sun-brewed stupid. Here are but a few reasons why:

1. Um, you didn't, like, make a clear , uh ... statement. Look at photos from these rallies. The damned signs are all over the place. I wish I'd known this was a protest for everything because I woulda been out there ranting against that new Burger King /Spongebob commerical. That thing scares the holy hell outta me.

Some of you were protesting against taxes, which at least sorta ties into the idea of the original Boston Tea Party, so you get points for that. But, um, did you notice that Obama is cutting taxes for most people making less than $250K a year?

Other protesters were clearly against spending of all sorts. So how many Tea Parties did you organize between the years of 2001 and 2008, when George Bush and a predominantly Republican Congress rang up the biggest deficit in history? When Vice President Dick Cheney declared that "Deficits don't matter," when confronted by Paul O'Neill, former Secretary of the Treasury? C'mon, let's see some hands.

Okay, I see very few hands here. Wait, you're the Ron Paul supporters? Okay, you folks are cool because you've been protesting spending all along. You are the folks I wanna hear from down the road when we start cutting after the economy has kicked back in. But for the rest of you, one simple question: what the fuck? You were totally fucking silent when the Bush administration borrowed massive amounts of money for an unnecessary war and tax cuts for the rich. But now when we have to borrow money to help the economy through the rough waters caused by the policies you once supported, that's when you start bellowing?

Now, some of your protesters were just plain fucking stupid, like this welfare queen decrying the very tax dollars that allow her to be a lazy overfed pig. There are several other winners in that story and undoubtedly plenty more like them around the country. I know all political factions have their freaks. But yours are really, really stupid, especially when you confuse a democratic election with fascism or the Nazi Party.

2. You didn't get much of a turnout. Tens of thousands of people is nothing to sniff at? Well, yes it is. And we took our millions to the polls and elected a man to do precisely the things you're now protesting. That's fascism? That's America and we're glad it's back.

3. Your actions directly contradict your cause. You held your protests on public property which is funded, of course, by tax dollars. If you look at the costs of post-protest clean-up and police presence, you actually caused an increase in the tax-funded spending you say you're against. That's like starting a war to protest wars. Stoopid!

4. Your grassroots smell funny. Maybe these tea parties at one time had a true grassroots energy to them -- they certainly did when Ron Paul supporters held them. But this week's events were openly planted and fertilized and watered by FreedomWorks (run by insurance industry bailout lobbyist Dick Armey) and Fox News, the propaganda arm of the GOP. And they're very, very proud of you.

5. You named your movement after a freaky sex act where someone drags their ballsack across you. Contrary to what Ann Coulter says, it's not just for homosexuals, though it is a man-only thing (which means Ann can probably do it). You didn't know that? That's what you get for being conservative. Next time maybe you can call yourselves the Blumpkin Brigade or the Lemon Party.

Go Google those terms. While you're at it, check out those other amendments.

And welcome back to America. Based on what most of you supported over the last eight years, I honestly thought you'd forgotten what the hell it stood for.

CULT OF DONE

Inspiring graphic design from spatulated, via Kung Fu Monkey

LOW-BUDGET WONDERS

While big-budget sci-fi can flat-out deliver spectacle to the masses, I'm always keeping my ear to the ground for low-budget wonders that might slip under the radar.

Opening over the next month are two promising independent sci-fi movies: Moon and Sleep Dealer. The first is a one-man show starring Sam Rockwell and directed by Duncan Jones, son of musician David Bowie. Sleep Dealer promises an intriguing blend of high-tech virtual reality with improverished Third World realism.

I'm sure the combined production budgets of these two movies wouldn't cover the costs of food catering on the new Star Trek, but sometimes less is more.

Moon

Sleep Dealer

FLAMING LIPS: BORDERLINE

from Covered: A Revolution in Sound