Author: jbenton

shift goes under

Worthwhile Canadian initiative finally falters: Alas, Shift Magazine appears to have published its final issue. Conspiracy theorists will note this happens only five months after naming this site one of the 75 “cultural movers and shakers in the digital era.” The meaning is clear: Write about this site at your peril!
I hope this doesn’t mean Saturday Night, a former crabwalk.com favorite published by the same company as Shift, is also on thin ice.

gregg easterbrook is everywhere

Gregg Easterbrook has been everywhere lately! Dissin’ on the space shuttle (in Time), dissin’ on hydrogen-powered cars (in The New Republic), dissin’ on chemical weapons in The New York Times. For 20 years, he’s had a pretty steady beat in the world of journalism: the don’t-trust-scientific-hyperbole, researchers-screw-up-a-lot beat. Depending where your faith in machinery lies, he’s either comforting or frightening.

uk and canada cd imports

A hint for indie snobs like myself who try to track down import CDs: Ordering via Amazon.co.uk is usually cheaper than you think. I just ordered Mark Eitzel’s new disc there for GBP 11.58 (about $18) total. Not bad, since it might not ever get released here in the states. (It’s a collection of old Eitzel/American Music Club favorites, rerecorded with traditional Greek instrumentalists. It’ll either be brilliant or absolutely miserable.)
Maple Music‘s always been a good source for Canadian imports, for those times you just need that great Flashing Lights EP that’s somehow gone unreleased south of the 49th parallel.

john cage for 639 years

John Cage piece to be performed for 639 years (bottom of page).
Seven years after his death, the John Cage Organ Foundation has begun the performance of what will be Cage’s longest piece. Entitled “As Slow As Possible (ASLSP)”, the work will be performed on a town organ in Halberstadt, Germany over the course of 639 years…
Cage originally wrote “As Slow As Possible” in 1992 as a 20-minute piano piece. According to Art in Action, “musicologists have deliberated over just how slow, as slow as possible really is.” The group agreed on the figure 639, representing years since the construction of Germany’s first single-block organ.
At the piece’s opening performance, approximately 360 people paid $15 USD to see someone turn the organ on. They’ll have to return in another 18 months to hear the first chord. Notes will be played on similar intervals until the performance ends in 2640, provided sponsors can be found over the next several centuries.

kobe bryant’s shoes

Why Kobe Bryant can’t get a shoe deal: He’s not “urban” enough. And he speaks Italian.
At the public courts on Venice Beach, the mention of Bryant’s name provokes mixed emotions ? not the urge to splurge on his footwear. After a spirited pickup game, Rich Baderinwa said he respects Bryant’s game but can’t see himself in Bryant’s shoes. He scoffed in particular at Bryant’s attempt at rapping. “His rap was whack,” said Baderinwa, 26, of Venice. “When he put out that CD, nobody bought it. And you know why nobody bought it? Because nobody bought him.”