Godspeed You Black Emperor!, in addition to be one of the most marvellous bands in activity, can’t help but astonish me by the way people react to their music and philosophy. Most recent exemple : how they were trapped by a Dutch interviewer and the thoughts of a member of the band on this affair. [via Adam Kempa, who’s back, and this is good news]
Hier :
Collègue n°1 : P’tain, chier ! J’ai supprimé tous les « a » de mon fichier !
Moi : Du vrai Perec…
Collègue n°2 : Ah non ! Faut arrêter. C’est encore un coup des journalistes qui l’ont attaqué et deux mois après on s’est rendu compte que c’était n’importe quoi…
Moi (dubitatif) : Euh, c’est vrai ? Il y a eu un problème récemment ? Je ne suis pas au courant.
Collègue n°2 : Oui, tu sais bien, quand elle a eu des problèmes il y a quelques mois…
Moi (perplexe) : Mais, hum… Qui, « elle » ?
Collègue n°2 : Ben, Marie-Jo Perec !
Moralité : Ne jamais surestimer les trentenaires (géniteurs de surcroît).
[Georges Perec (1936-1982), écrivain français incontournable (Les Choses, La Vie, mode d’emploi…) a publié en 1969 le roman La Disparition, qui ne contient aucun « e ».]
Reminds me of someone…
« Margret doesn’t like to watch films on the TV. She says she does, but years of bitter experience have proven that what she actually wants is to sit by me while I narrate the entire bleeding film to her. « Who’s she? », « Why did he get shot? », « I thought that one was on their side? », « Is that a bomb » – « JUST WATCH IT! IN THE NAME OF GOD, JUST WATCH IT »! » [Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About (be warned, they argue a lot), via bitsage]
Avec sa pertinence habituelle, Emmanuelle nous propose ce terrifiant article sur les pertes de mémoire des 20-35 ans à l’ère numérique. Evidemment qu’on s’y reconnaît tous.
A ce propos, Overwhelmed by the world est un article d’Utne Reader, où beaucoup d’entre nous se reconnaîtrons aussi [*] :
« …highly aroused by new or prolonged stimulation; strongly reactive to external stimuli such as noise and light; intolerant of pain, hunger, thirst, caffeine, and medication; susceptible to stress-related and psychosomatic illnesses; and deeply affected by other people’s moods and emotions … »
[*] j’exclus bien entendu mes collègues de travail ici, et la plupart des spécialistes en marketing.
Quand on est con, on est con. (itw w/ Michael Moore, WTO Head)
« If you ever get the chance to follow a dream, or take a big stupid risk on something that can help out a lot people, by all means do it. »
[Haughey’s Blogger : Behind the Website essay].
Les Big Brother Awards français : les trophées des entreprises et organismes « qui nous fichent et nous espionnent ».
Un des rares bloggeurs français, Bug Brother (respect!), publie le Off, les nominés non retenus. Dont cette magnifique institution, dont j’ai pu admirer de l’intérieur les méthodes vichystes et dont les pièces à charges présentées ici forment un délicieux euphémisme.
Much much respect to At The Drive In :
« We guess you know the shit : no crowd-surfing, ’cause this is bullshit !
There are small people in the front, who are gonna be hurt. This is about the music, not about the fist !
Don’t do what the TV tells you. This is not MTV. Repeat after me :
THIS IS NOT M.T.V. »
Apart from that, the show was mind blowing, as expected, but way too short (even for the cheap entrance fee).
And the Trabendo’s sound is poor, with all the frequencies mixed up.
Good surprise : (Beastie Boy) Mike D. did the mix before ATDI came on stage. This man IS cool.
« His Word » (can be sung to the tune of « Hell’s Bells »)
His Word. Christ is calling to you.
His Word. He’s proclaiming His news.
His Word. You’ll sing and you’ll dance.
His Word. Satan don’t have a chance.(…)
I mean, we KNEW we were fucked in high school, and perhaps even college, but the web came along, and gave us a bit of pause. That pause is, painfully, over.
Everyone’s favourite start-up is in trouble.
(Update)
Blogger is a great tool. It deserves to live, because it epitomizes what the web should be (should’ve been). Personnal expression, community, democracy, exchange.
So far, the dot-coms downfall has mainly affected useless companies, and poorly managed ones. It was a relief.
But now the great ideas, the responsible companies are on the brink of collapse, too.
I strongly support the idea of a mostly free Internet. But sometimes, when it’s worth the price, when I feel I’m considered like a responsible citizen of the world, I’m okay to pay. I wouldn’t mind giving away, say, $1 (or 1 euro) per month for Blogger. Micro-payments are a possible solution. For a web where every hyperlink doesn’t lead to BigCorporateTrust.com.
And, who knows ? we, the tenths of thousand webloggers, could make Blogger the first profitable company on the web.