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 Wed, 13 Aug 2003 08:36:30 EDT 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/2003/08/13/083630.php John FogdeI wrote this entry for my own weblog, but figured if I added it here as well it might spark some debate:I'm entering the final phase of the writing process in regards to my weblog paper. I'm five pages shy of reaching the 60 page minimum and I haven't written a conclusion yet, so meeting the requirement shouldn't be a problem. However, there is still some stuff I want to add and I'm sure I still need to do a lot of rewrites, but suddenly handing it in on October 1st doesn't look impossible anymore.While working on my paper I've done a lot of research, read a lot of weblogs and a lot of articles, and I feel like I've learned a lot about why other people read and write weblogs. But there's one thing that I've thought about for a while. I claim in my paper that weblog publishing by nature is a dynamic media. By that I mean you can update them quickly from anywhere in the world and if they aren't updated on a regular basis they cease to be relevant. A lot of people seem to enjoy that they're able to quickly published brief entries with observations and links and the prize you pay for this as a reader is that weblogs often are filled with dead links and spelling errors.During a conference recently author David Weinberger said: "As rhetoric, I think it's important that many Weblogs are written badly. When reading a Weblog, you assume that you're reading a first draft. You know that it wasn't carefully edited, not much spell checked. You have the sense, wrongly, that it's closer to the person who wrote. Second of all, by reading what you assume to be a first draft, Weblog readers tend to be forgiving. You have to forgive the broken link. You have to forgive the bad spelling. You have to forgive the fact that the second paragraph should really be the lead. Social forgiveness is not a bad characteristic." People who know me won't be surprised to learn that I'm rarely that forgiving. Now, I think it's brilliant that you can publish your entries really fast and get your thoughts out there as quickly as possible. But would it kill you to go back and reread what you've just broadcasted to the entire world? How busy are you that you can't check if the link to your favourite gerbil page is working?When I started blogging I used Blogger, whose tagline is "Push-button publishing for the people". I consider whatever is written on a weblog something which is published (meaning it should be able to withstand the same scrutiny as any book or newspaper) and therefore I like to think of my entries as (small) articles. This means even though my entries on occasion are filled with irony, slang, rubbish, and lies I try to take each entry as seriously as I would an article I was paid to write. This doesn't always happen, but generally I check the spelling, edit, and reread everything which goes up here. Therefore I find it hard to accept that weblogs should generally just be considered first drafts and obviously this also means I get annoyed when people publish entries full of mistakes and broken links in the same way I get annoyed when I find mistakes in a newspaper or in subtitles.Obviously mistakes happen and I'm sure you'd be able to find several errors in my entries as well. But my point is I think that if you want to be taken seriously by your readers you need to spend a bit more time writing coherently and do a bit of editing. But if you think I'm wrong let me know. Are broken links and spelling errors an integrated part of weblogs that we shouldn't try to do anything about? Or would it be helpful to us both as readers, but also as a community if everyone spent an extra two minutes on each entry to weed out the worst mistakes?Update: I'm not suggesting there should be blogging rules, but I think a change in mentally mentality from accepting that it's okay for weblogs to be poorly written to setting personal standards would be an improvement. Sci/Tech7545@blogcritics.org Wed, 13 Aug 2003 08:36:30 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/03/27/183705.php John FogdeI just came back from seeing Ed Harcourt, who's touring around Europe, and it was pretty good. I'm not a huge fan nor have I actually gotten around to buying his records. But I have heard them and he's written some really good songs especially for the first one. Anyway, he played a good show and what was most surprising was that they actually tore it up on quite a few songs. He was labeled a Tom Waits disciple when his first record came out, which is fair, but there are definitely also an Eels thing going on, when the band play live. Which is totally cool by me. Any time you wanna E it up you should definitely go for it. It was cool hearing Apple of My Eye and Shanghai, but the coolest songs were the ones, where the band really went to town like they did on their versions of He's Building a Swamp and Undertaker Strut. He was pretty talkative and some of the funnier comments were: "Who wants my spunk?", "So, has anyone here bought Here Be Monsters at all?", and "We went to Superbixen today and you guys have a lot of porn. You're a very liberal people. We applaud that!".The only bad thing at the show was this complete spazz, who kept doing these weird over-the-top Michael Jackson dance moves, which reached its peak of ludicrousness when he went into chicken-dance overdrive. Dude looked like he needed to get back on the Ritalin. And he was standing in the second row wearing a white shirt so everyone could see him, too. But other than that the show was cool. So between the Nada Surf show, my recent CD purchases, and this show it's been a pretty good week for music. Music4168@blogcritics.org Thu, 27 Mar 2003 18:37:05 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2002/12/11/153944.php John FogdeThe big story here in Denmark today is that the Danish Parliament has finished a bill, which will make it illegal to make copies of copy protected CDs, DVDs, and computer games and to parallel import (import not using the Danish branch of a company) these items from non EU countries. According to the article passing the bill will be a formality meaning that we should expect that making a copy of a CD for the car stereo or the iPod will be illegal in the future. I'm not an expert on EU politics, but from what I've been able to find out the bill is "our" way of implementing the infosoc directive, which is designed to make copyright laws the same all over Europe.I can understand why people would support legislation, which tries to help the entertainment industry fight "pirates" (I wouldn't have supported it, but I can understand why others would). But why they would support legislation making it illegal to parallel import CDs, DVDs, and computer games is beyond me. Obviously, it is hurting the Danish branch of Warner Bros that you can buy a copy of Analyze That on DVD in parallel import shops before it opens in cinemas here, but how is that a problem for the Danish government? Isn't that just one of the joys of free trade? It's apparently not enough that there's a region system making it impossible to screen American or Asian DVDs on a regular European DVD player. Now there will be laws against importing the DVDs as well. This means that people, who want CDs, DVDs, and computer games, which haven't been released here will have to start ordering them themselves through Amazon or other companies. This sucks, because of shipping expenses, the taxes added on by the Danish postal service, and having to wait ages for your order to arrive. But people will do it anyway, because the DVDs sold by the Danish companies are released months later than the American ones and usually don't have all the bonus material the American ones does. So all this will mean is that a bunch of stores will close and people will have to start buying their movies and music online.And if it's illegal to make copies of CDs it'll be hard for internet radio stations to stay in business. Right now it's legal to make copies for personal use and you can apply for a license to make copies for work related use. But with the latest initiative from IFPI saying that they won't give out any more special digitalizing permits in Denmark it's hard to see how internet stations can stay in business. I'm following the development of this case, the cases mentioned in my last postings, and several other cases at my own weblog, but if something major happens I'll post it here as well.If anyone has any insight into how the copyright laws have been changed around Europe I'd be curious to hear more about it. I have no idea if people living in European countries that dub movies buy a lot of original languaged movies. But even if they don't they're probably as affected by the law against copying copyright protected material as we are here in Denmark. So if you have any insights on this please leave a comment. Culture2222@blogcritics.org Wed, 11 Dec 2002 15:39:44 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2002/12/10/093641.php John FogdeAfter reading Eric's entry about file sharing in Denmark I decided to write an entry for my own weblog, which I figured some of you might want to read as well.Once again something is rotten in the state of Denmark. A couple of weeks ago it was revealed that something called The Anti Pirate Group had sent out bills to 150 Kazaa users, who had shared copyrighted material. The group is, according to this article, nothing more than lawyer "(Morten) Lindegaard, 29, and his helpers--four Danish university students-- (who have) developed a software program that monitored Danish file swappers on the two perr-to-peer (sic) networks, honing down to the users' Internet Protocol, or IP, address to confirm they were logged on from Denmark". The APG represents record companies and others who believe file sharing makes them lose money (I checked APG's website for more information, but that part of the site is being "updated"). And looking through their website (which, unfortunately, is only available in Danish) makes you like them even less than you already did when you just thought they were logging your traffic. They have a news page, where they write about who they've busted and they even have a little map with red dots marking where they've been (in the Sager section). Above the map it says "Map of Denmark - Have we been near you?... Watch out...". So as you can see they're a real class operation.Personally, I think this whole thing stinks. Obviously, there is a good chance that the people, who have received bills, have broken copyright laws. But the practice of sending out a bill saying that nothing more will happen if the culprit deletes the copyrighted material and pays up does seem to be close to blackmail. Especially when you're told that if you don't pay up you'll be sued and the claim will be doubled. In the previously mentioned article a professor mentions a couple of ways that shared files don't violate copyright claims. Others have questioned the way APG have calculated the copyright holders' loses and some are calling the whole thing an invasion of privacy. According to this article about half the people, who have received a bill have either paid up or contacted the APG (and according to this article, published five days before, around 80% have already paid up). But hopefully someone will refuse to pay and have this thing settled in court, so we can have a judge decided whether all this is legal or not.The latest on this situation (this isn't a part of my original posting) is that Danish web portal Jubii has sent out a newsletter (written by a guy, who has been threatened with lawsuits over a DVD website he ran) encouraging people not to pay the bills they've been sent. Based on rulings in cases, where people have been sent huge phone bills for calls to phone sex lines they claim they haven't made the author of the newsletter advocates denying everything and let the APG prove that you used the computer and you made files available for sharing. The newsletter is written in a humorous tone and explains how the APG found the culprits, it points out helpful laws and rulings, and notices that all the APG's prior cases have been against people living in the sticks, who "are used to getting pushed around by suits" and who are easily intimidated by lawyers and their fancy jargon. It's also mentioned that the APG doesn't have the manpower to sue 150 individuals and that people, who in the past have ignored bills from the APG, haven't been pulled into court. So the author of the newsletter suggests that the bills have been sent out to random Kazaa users hoping that some of them would be stupid enough to pay up. So far the APG hasn't responded to the newsletter, but it'll be interesting to see if this will encourage people to either ignore the bills or attempt to have this thing settled in court.On a related note a brilliant investigative journalist recently found out that copyrighted material was also being distributed on Usenet. Yeah, what a shocker! A part of Jan's job is to deal with the pirate company's news servers, so he has written this entry about the article. Culture2201@blogcritics.org Tue, 10 Dec 2002 09:36:41 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2002/12/03/174614.php John FogdeI'm not the kind of person who goes nuts around Christmas and spends a lot of time decorating, baking and trying to get everyone in the Christmas spirit. So I usually get quite annoyed when the airwaves fill up with saccharine sweet Christmas songs, so therefore I've made a list of ten songs that won't drive me nuts in the month of December. They may not all be Christmas songs in the conventional sense, but they all mention Christmas in one way or another and every one of them should be a nice break from Last Christmas and Silent Night. 01) The Pogues: Fairytale of New York Shane MacGowan and the late Kirsty MacColl duet about being a pair of bums in New York at Christmas time in a song, which is both absolutely beautiful and funny. Not surprisingly the song was The Pogues' biggest hit and it still stands as the best Christmas song ever written. Best line: You scumbag, you maggot, you cheap lousy faggot Happy Christmas your arse, I pray God it's our last 02) Fountains of Wayne: The Man in the Santa Suit This song is only available on the I Want an Alien for Christmas single (which features The Man..., Alien..., and Haunakah under the Stars). It tells the story of a guy, who has to suffer the humiliation of having to work as a department store Santa, so he can make a few bucks around Christmas. It's a classic Fountains of Wayne song, which blends melancholy and humour with a catchy tune. Best line: And he's a big red cherry, but it's hard to be merry When the kids are all laughing saying hey it's Jerry Garcia 03) D-A-D: Sad, Sad Christmas Danish rockers D-A-D (formerly Disneyland After Dark) released this corny Christmas single about a single Dad, who has trouble getting into the spirit of things after his wife left with the car, the credit cards, and the furs. It's not exactly a brilliant song, but it is quite funny and the chip monks singing back-up really takes the song over the top. The song is available on the record D-A-D Special, which features the best songs from their first two records. The album was released to pave the way for the album No Fuel Left for the Pilgrims, which was supposed to have been their big break in the US. Best line: Well, now we can't afford to celebrate The Lord Daddy, what a Lord? He made Mother take the Ford 04) Nada Surf: 80 Windows Probably not meant so much as a Christmas song as a song about whining about being alone at Christmas time. Taken from the overlooked follow-up album to High/Low this is actually a cool indie track with nice harmonies that'll make you forget that the lyrics strictly speaking don't make sense. Best line: I feel far away from you, so what else is new The moon is closer to the sun than I am to anyone 05) Everclear: Hating You for Christmas This is the bonus track on the So Much for the Afterglow record in which Art Alexakis rips into his ex, who's left him and has gone on to better things. Getting dumped right before Christmas seems to a theme here. Best line: I just want to sit in our apartment and hate you Yes, I will be hating you for Christmas 06) John Prine: Christmas in Prison An incarcerated John Prine leaves the whining to the indie kids on this beautiful country track. It's a great love song, where love isn't exactly lost, but just put on hold by the American Penal System. The song is both available on Sweet Revenge and the album John Prine Christmas. Best line: It was Christmas in prison and the food was real good We had turkeys and pistols carved out of wood 07) Mew: She Came Home for Christmas Danish indie band Mew released this song as a single a couple of years ago (and will release it in England next week) and it's as beautiful as it is sad. It's a bit difficult to decipher the lyrics, but they could definitely deal with someone being sexually assaulted. So again not exactly a cheery Christmas tune, but definitely one of the most haunting ones I've ever heard. Best line: Don't touch her there. He watched her. She knew his look. 08) Ben Folds Five: Brick When is the most depressing time for you and your girlfriend to have an abortion? Well, 6 am day after Christmas has to be up there. Brick was a surprise hit for Ben Folds Five especially considering the seriousness of the song's subject matter. But as a Christmas song I'll take it over Mariah Carey's version of All I Want For Christmas Is You any day of the week. Best line: I pace around the parking lot Then I walk down to buy her flowers and sell some gifts that I got 09) Badly Drawn Boy: Donna and Blitzen The Badly Drawn Brit ended of his About a Boy soundtrack with this optimistic song about returning reindeer. Thankfully, there isn't a version of Santa's Super Sleigh on the album, so this is the only Christmas song on the record. Best line: Maybe tomorrow we're gonna see Things we'd never believe 10) Pearl Jam: Let Me Sleep (It's Christmas Time) Pearl Jam has since 1991 released a single at Christmas time, which is only available to members of their fan club. Let Me Sleep was the first of these singles (since then it has been mainly cover versions) and it's basically a song about longing for the joy you felt as a kid at Christmas time. Best line: Oh, when I was a kid... Oh, how magic it seemed. Oh, please let me sleep, it's Christmas time Honourable mentions go to: The Nightmare Before Christmas Soundtrack, Ben Folds', Eels', and Barenaked Ladies' contributions to the How the Grinch Stole Christmas Soundtrack, and the song Just Like Christmas from the Low album Christmas. So this is my list of decent Christmas songs. Which ones did I miss? [Update: People have added Christmas song suggestions to this and this entry over at my weblog] Music2100@blogcritics.org Tue, 3 Dec 2002 17:46:14 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2002/09/25/101933.php John FogdeLast night I went down to see The Czars at Voxhall in Aarhus, Denmark and unsurprisingly the place was more than half empty. And it seemed like a lot of people had shown up to see local act Yellowish and not the main act. But it was a good show all the same. Singer John Grant is a big Shannon Hoon-looking mother with long, braided hair and the full flannel getup. He has a killer voice that's deep, powerful, soulful and just generally pretty outstanding. They mixed styles a lot and would jump from alt-rock to blues to country, but most of the time they played moody and atmospheric tunes carried by the dreamy vocals and melancholic arrangements. Therefore it was the more annoying that I eventually had to go up to some people I know and tell them to shut the hell up. They'd been standing with their backs turned at the bar and talked through the concert oblivious to the music and the fact that they were getting angry stares all the time. I hate it when people at concerts (or the cinema) talk through the show. If you're at a packed rock show it's just annoying to the people standing in the crowd. But when you go see a band play quiet music in front of an almost empty house then it's annoying to the band as well and it just pisses me off that people have so little respect for the performers and the paying customers. After the show the band hung out and sold merchandise. I think it's really cool when the band sells their own stuff instead of having some roadie do it. That way people can have their CDs signed and talk to them if they want. I just picked up their latest, The Ugly People Vs The Beautiful People, and I'm glad I did. I've been listening to it today and it's just a beautiful record. I'd heard some of their songs before, but hearing a full album after you've heard a lot of the songs live is usually always a cool experience, because you already feel very familiar with the music. They're playing Copenhagen tonight (Sept. 25th) and will then be touring all over Europe until the end of October, so if you have a chance you should check them out. Music: Alternative Rock835@blogcritics.org Wed, 25 Sep 2002 10:19:33 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2002/08/13/171017.php John Fogde The garage rock revival has gotten so much press the last year that critics have had to invent the term New Garage to keep track of bands like The Strokes and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. But before you decide to jump off this already overhyped bandwagon and go searching for the next big thing you should definitely check out The Raveonettes. The band consists of Sune Wagner (ex-Psyched Up Janis) and Sharin Foo and according to Rolling Stone's David Fricke they are:"not only Denmark's hot gift to the New Garage. They make tight blazing pop of the top order, the kind that can quickly become a personal passion -- and a radio phenomenon". Not bad for a couple of kids from Copenhagen. Earlier this year the Danish duo released the EP Whip It On, which is now available outside of Denmark, and there has been a buzz surrounding the band ever since. The eight track EP clocks in at a hectic 21 minutes and combines the noise of The Jesus and Mary Chain and the power of The Ramones with cool sounding melodies. Every song has a wall of fuzz-guitars and loud drums, but the thing that lifts the songs is the blend of Wagner's dark voice with Foo's seductive harmonies. The duo usually sings in a monotonous style with a lot of tight harmonies, which makes them stand out from the rest of the garage bands. And when Sharin Foo sings in that breathy femme fatale-like voice in the chorus of Veronica Fever it'll make the hairs on your arms stand up straight. Other highlights include opener Attack of the Ghost Riders (which sounds like The Jesus and Mary Chain sprinkled with Dick Dale guitars) and the anthem-like Cops on our Tail, which will have you screaming Going Fast That's The Way We Go in no time. And the EP's closer Beat City has tempo and badass lyrics, which will leave you wanting more. The only miss among the eight tracks is Bowels of the Beast, which is a lot slower than the rest of the songs and sounds too much like Black Sabbath. The Raveonettes are touring Scandinavia this fall with a one-off gig in London in September and has since the release of Whip It On recorded three tracks with producer Richard Gottherer (who produced early Blondie, Richard Hell, and The Go-Go's records), which will probably appear on a full length album next year. But until then you'd be well-advised to check out this roaring debut from the hottest Scandinavian act since The Hives. This is your shot at checking them out before they get huge. Music: Alternative Rock44@blogcritics.org Tue, 13 Aug 2002 17:10:17 EDT