Friday, January 17, 2003

The Ladder of Success Independent publisher Scala House Press just got some much-needed exposure in a glowing write-up in today's Seattle Times. Scala House are the fine folks who brought Miha Mazinni's terrific novel Guarding Hanna to American audiences, and their other stuff is worth a look too. The Scala House gang are refugees from Publishing Online, a defunct e-book outfit I was briefly affiliated with back in 2000. It's encouraging to find a corner of the economy where bits-and-bytes are yesterday's news and the promising new trend is good old ink-and-paper publishing. 5:06:11 PM    Emphasize This! []

Thursday, January 16, 2003

What’s New in Blogville   FIONA is on about Illuminati conspiracies. Hate Central has unleashed a fresh rant, always worth a look. Meg’s Food and Wine is extolling the virtues of fine Beaujolais. Scott Rosenberg has descended from the mountain to recommend the always-essential Orwell essay “Politics and the English Language.” Daniel Dolinov reflects on folk music, real and otherwise.   Beyond Salon: Oliver Willis has a new picture up and is pimping his upcoming PBS appearance. Boing Boing blasts the Supreme Court’s bizarro copyright ruling, as is 3bicle. Ernie the Attorney takes a more balanced view, while fellow legal-eagle Howard Bashman actually supports the Court’s interpretation. You learn a lot about the law reading those two guys. 8:12:13 AM    Emphasize This! []

Friday, January 10, 2003

Light Rayne Lately Philosopher, political polemicist, thinker about science and force of nature Rayne has assumed another aspect the last few days: poet of domesticity. Her closely-observed essays on the mid-day moms at McDonalds, exurban wildlife and birds of prey nesting in the backyard are all finely-wraught pieces of prose worthy of actual publication somewhere. Anyone scared off by her more tempestuous moments should be sure to give a look to these most excellent blogging efforts. 9:15:16 AM    Emphasize This! []

Monday, January 06, 2003

New Kids on the Blog Been poking around the Salon pond today and found a couple newcomers of greater or lesser interest: Instant Message... Married with a Girlfriend is, or promises to be, the story of its author's seduction into Internet infidelity. A little dramatic, but worth a look. The blog that is today called Sense No Separation has had a few other titles in its brief life. Some kind of mystical philosophy and lefty politics going on there. I guess I didn't get the memo about For Whom the Blog Tolls, a worthy news and comment soapbox, because all my pals beat me to it. Tachyon TV Weblog features the hilarious rantings of a British sf and media junky, earning it a well-deserved high ranking in the daily polls. Le Pretre Noir is trying to find out if the Salon blogosphere is big enough for two loquacious and introspective preachers. Looks to be a little less edgy than Real Live Preacher, but well-written. Incidentally, Notes from Atlanta is suddenly racking up the hits, thanks, apparently, to a reference to a gymnast named Lavinia Milosovici. Wassup with that? 2:00:15 PM    Emphasize This! []

Tuesday, December 10, 2002

Oliver, Oliver! Lately I've been enjoying the blogging of Oliver Willis, who seems on the verge of parlaying his skills into a wider career in journalism and punditry. If you like the perspective and variety offered here at Emphasis Added, you'll probably like Oliver as well. And Another Tip of the Blogroll Cap... ...to Paul Andrews, the preternaturally insightful Seattle Times tech columnist, lovely and talented husband of voluntarily-simple Cecile,  and all-around wise fellow, who just added EA to his blogroll of honor. Yay Paul! 8:56:15 AM    Emphasize This! []

Friday, December 06, 2002

First Thursday Yesterday night was "First Thursday" here in Seattle,  indicating the day of the month when galleries beckon to the unwashed public with plates of stale crackers and bottles of cheap wine. Gallery prowling wasn't really on my agenda when I met my friend Min for a beer over at Linda's Tavern, but somehow one thing led to another and before long we were sucking down Carling's Black Labels at the downtown loft space of collagist and sculptor Jesse Paul Miller. Miller had opened his second-floor studio - a working artist's space in the true sense of the word - to the public for First Thursday, but the viewing was now over and only a handful of friends were left hanging out. The impromptu gathering gave me a closer look at Miller's work, which I'd seen hanging in various spaces around town but never paid special attention to. He works in mixed media, assembling objects and collages from newspapers, old postcards, ticket stubs and all the various ephemera of modern life. Sometimes he will take an object like an old record player and ornament every square inch of the surface with abstract designs in ballpoint pen. He deliberately cultivates a throwaway quality in both his choice of materials and in the often-casual presentation of the work. Min bought a death-mask made of doodled-on newspaper and packing tape and Jesse remarked how he loved the "ridiculous fragility" of the piece as he carefully packed it in styrofoam chips. Miller, who is also an experimental musician, had been an early collaborator with the singer/guitarist of the band Min currently plays in, the A-Frames. Min had the final mix of the new A-Frames CD which the band had just finished over the weekend, so we put that on at high volume for a first listen. More about that when I get my own copy, but fans of abrasive indie-punk will rejoice when this hits the streets in the spring. 9:22:03 AM    Emphasize This! []

Wednesday, November 13, 2002

E-Books Done Right Fans of old-school popular literature must proceed forthwith, without fail, to Blackmask Online, the greatest collection of free e-books I have ever seen anywhere online. There are over 10,000 titles to choose from, in subjects ranging from serious (drama, criticism, modern thinkers) to the just-plain-fun (pulp fiction, adventure stories, humor, esoterica), all in  a variety of easy-to-download formats. Presumably most of this treasure trove is public domain (and if it's not, I'm not telling). It's totally amazing - go forth and enjoy! 1:13:50 PM    Emphasize This! []

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