http://blogcritics.org/ A sinister cabal of superior bloggers on music, books, film, popular culture, politics, and technology - updated continuously. en Copyright 2005-2007 by the authors Sat, 12 Feb 2005 07:34:26 EST http://backend.userland.com/rss Blogcritics.org custom software http://blogcritics.org/ Phillip WinnSunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. Two other factors are involved: full-content feeds have resulted in an unprecedented level of content theft, with BC content appearing on many websites, usually spam sites, without attribution or permission. This duplicate content causes a cascading set of problems, not the least of which is that search engines generally aren't favorable to duplicate content, and don't always guess correctly. Finally, our RSS advertising partner is strongly in favor of short-content feeds. We hope that you'll continue to subscribe to BC via RSS, and when an article grabs your eye, it's only a click away, still free on the BC website. Thank you for your understanding. Administration0@blogcritics.org Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/02/12/073426.php John Ess"Latin America Does Not Exist . . . Who is Latin in Central America? What delicate Roman gallops eternally over the pagos of the pampa?." Cuban Writer G. Cabrera. Well it does on this CD - that sweet sound of A Guitar of the Americas wafts like smoke in the air from Anthony Weller of Boston's North Shore. For those who love this stuff you must hear Modinha (Antonio Carlos Jobim), and Nostalgicas No. 3 (Marco Pereira). If you love sound that delivers you deep into a culture, get into Anthony Weller's A Guitar of the Americas (Vasca Music). Simple to pick up - and check out the player's outstanding fiction here, and here. Music25403@blogcritics.org Sat, 12 Feb 2005 07:34:26 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/01/31/202930.php John EssWhat an ineresting group this Wilco is . . . Lawrence Lessig writes this about Wilco. The AllMusic Guide (AMG) puts these words in their describer mixer: Summery, Earthy, Wistful, Rambunctious. We own their CD Summerteeth, and have always thought the sound innovative, eclectic, and peaceful. Great thoughts wind up this article. Maybe AMG should add Inspiring to their list? Whatever word(s) we use, the music experience is excellent. Music24957@blogcritics.org Mon, 31 Jan 2005 20:29:30 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/01/29/164415.php John EssTelevision? That's right, the title referred here is One Nation Under Television, and that's apt. Some folks think that's exactly what we've been for over 50 years. Author J. Fred MacDonald is a scholar and man of immense experience in the history of TV, its birth, envelopment of radio and many of its stars and business practices, and the rise and decline of the networks.Because of the sheer density of the information he has to impart the book is fairly disinterested and not a smash of Mainstream Media. He is a disciplined, fair writer of history - that delicious and rare find. History is all we've got in life once you boil it all down and when it is delivered with a broad and sturdy base of fact, it is gold.The facts themselves numbed me with the realization that since nearly the inception of TV the issues of programming dominance by advertisers, and then the networks for the sole purpose of selling more ads for more, have been decried over and over again. Take these questions about the 'new' arts of TV, posed by Prof. Herman S. Hettinger of the Wharton School (cited by MacDonald at p. 149) that "still demand answers":Will they make us less reasoning, more given to catchwords and the over-simplification of issues, more prone to follow the attractively presented shibboleth, swaying from one extreme to another? Will these new arts add further to the pressure of speed, which is the enemy of reflection, and the mass of detail, which impairs assimilation? Will they provide increasing escape in passive entertainment? Or will the increasing supply of knowledge, attractively presented, open up new vistas to the average citizen, lay the basis for a growing discrimination in enjoyment and in the judgment of issues, and eventually develop a more wide-awake and civically conscious public? Who knew this man asked these compelling questions before most of us were born? Who knew these questions were burning throughout? J. Fred MacDonald.If your interests relate in any way to TV - working in it or questioning its effect, this book is a very important read. Get it here. Cheers! Books24842@blogcritics.org Sat, 29 Jan 2005 16:44:15 EST