Links Links Links - 1/21/08

There aren't really enough links to do just a link post, or enough blog posts to do just a blog roundup, so I'll combine them:

• Once again, Deni Bonet comes through with a hilarious blog post. This time, she tells us all about winning prizes in Thailand and shares a few pictures of the odd things she and her husband won. She also breaks some good news - her new, updated website!

• Father Dan brings us some really funny studio portraits. If you are one of the people in these photos - sorry for laughing, but this is funny stuff.

• On Blogcritics, The Rockologist tells his amusing story about attempting to learn how to play guitar. This will tickle your funny bone if you play guitar or have ever tried to do so.

• Webware has a good editorial on the reality of music promotion. Their point is that people like Trent Reznor have good intentions for running their own label, but don't realize how much actual work it takes to create and promote an album successfully. Maybe record labels are actually useful, Webware concludes. I apologize for posting so many links about this new world of digital music distribution, but I find the topic interesting.

That's all for now. Enjoy these tidbits until I find some new tidbits!

Blog Roundup - 12/23/07

The 'pin' feature on Bloglines makes it easier to gather posts for the often-neglected Blog Roundup. Here are some of the latest posts I've enjoyed:

• Jeff at Imagine Echoes is back and posted his nominees for best music of 2007.

• Deni Bonet is in Thailand! She posted some really awesome pictures of her adventures there in this post. Lucky her!

• Jenny Ryan recently made a visit to the doctor, and had a really strange encounter with a loud, obnoxious person in the waiting room.

• The staff at music site Last.fm recently installed a ball pit in their London offices. That's crazy! Read all about their troubles to get the balls bought and set up in this post.

Blogs and Links

I have blog posts! I have links! I don't have enough of either for their own post, so I'll combine them.

Blog posts I've enjoyed lately:

• Molly at the Eugene Weekly Blog gives a gut-busting hilarious account of a trip to the movie theater.

• Pandagon has a great article about the truth about American poverty.

And now for the non-blog links:

• The Prettiest Images. Many of these pictures may be digitally enhanced, but they are gorgeous!
  

• Internet People. This is an animated video about the history of internet-created celebrities. All your favorites are here - the Numa Numa guy, The Kid From Brooklyn, and the Japanese Backstreet Boys lip-syncers.

The next three links are articles from Slate's Music Box page. Good, thoughtful stuff!

• Everything You Know About Sgt. Pepper's Is Wrong. This is a very smart article about what The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper album really means, or at least writer Jody Rosen's theory about its real meaning. It's a good slap in the face to critics who call the album over-rated just because it's now the 'cool' thing to do.

• Last Exit For Sleater-Kinney, Marisa Meltzer's farewell to an iconic all-female rock group. Marisa talks about what the band meant to her and Sleater-Kinney's breakup means for feminism today.

• Die, Pitchfork, Die! is a history and analysis of the love-it-or-hate-it music journalism site Pitchfork Media. Writer Matthew Shaer explains the method behind Pitchfork's wordy, confusing, often negative madness.

Blog Roundup - 9/5/07

Sometimes there just aren't enough interesting posts on my usual blog reads. I'm going to start using Blogexplosion again to find new blogs and/or posts. In the process, I'll get more visitors, and perhaps a new reader or two.

Interesting posts I've seen lately:

• Last Girl On Earth may have one of her songs used in an HBO show. I hope this happens for her!

• Deb recounts her girlfriend's surgery in a hot, dirty hospital. What a nightmare! I don't have OCD like Deb, but I don't think I'd want to visit that hospital.
  

• Blah Blah Blog, which I found through Blogexplosion, talks about the ridiculous notion of high school freshman forced to choose a "major" and stick with it. At an age when kids are changing so much, is it fair to make them choose a career they know nothing about?

And now, a few blogs I've discovered via Blogger's Blogs Of Note:

• Basic Instructions: Your all-inclusive guide to a life well-lived. This isn't your traditional blog; it's a series of funny cartoons about everyday situations. I especially enjoy this one about how to quit drinking caffeinated beverages.

• Overheard Lines. You can probably guess the purpose from the title - people submit things they hear other people saying or discussing. Each post is pretty short (so I probably won't use them for Blog Roundups), but they're funny to read anyhow.

• 1000 Days Nonstop At Sea. Now this is interesting. It's the blog of two people who are trying to sail nonstop for 1000 days. They're only on day 136, so there will be several years of adventures for them to blog and me to read.

Do you know of a funny and/or interesting blog post you think I'd like to feature? Did you write your own funny/interesting post and want me to consider featuring it? Email me (address on the sidebar) or leave a comment!

Blog Roundup - 8/29/07

I have a small, but enjoyable, Blog Roundup:

• Andrea finally got to see her Fishy live and in person last weekend, and she has the pictures to prove it. Hurrah for Andrea! Let's hope the guy wises up and emails her more often.
  

• Marvo from The Impulsive Buy tried the new Japanese Caramel Doritos Sweets, and gives them a 3 out of 5. They sound pretty good to me, and I like salty/sweet things too.
  

• One of the posts at USA Today's Pop Candy this week talks about the coolest movie props of all time. I think it would be cool to own Uncle Rico's van from Napoleon Dynamite.
  

• Scooter McGavin has the first part of a Fall Music Preview up on his blog. I can say right now that I will probably not be buying any of these albums.

• Stereogum brings you the latest Smashing Pumpkins video for the track "That's The Way (My Love Is)" off Zeitgeist. The reviewers are fairly kind to it. My take? It doesn't really work. What's up with the space cars?

Ok, now a question for the people who actually read this: Should I combine the "Blog Roundup" and "Links Links Links" features? Sometimes I stumble on a link that could work for either feature. Or should I continue keeping them separate things?

Blog Roundup - 8/23/07

Blog roundup is back! Most of you probably don't even remember it, but it's something I started last year. The last one I did was on February 16, 2007. I'm trying to increase my number of non-meme blog posts, so re-launching this will help me get there. I'm changing it a little, though - I'll search around for new blogs on comments and blogrolls instead of just looking at the blogs I read. Also, I now have an easier way to do it - I made a folder in my bookmarks where I can put any interesting posts I read!

Here are some recent posts that I like:

• Nat has a post about angry songs. I think she picked out some great angry tunes, starting with the classic "You Oughta Know" by Alanis Morrisette.
  

• Deni Bonet, the Last Girl On Earth, needs to go back in for another round of eye surgery. She had it done some months back, but her vision has been getting worse lately. She's look for suggestions for audiobooks to keep her occupied during her must-shut-eyes days after the surgery. I'll have to give that one a think.

• Closed comedy clubs, spilled coffee, foot blisters, girls going wild, and a 400-pound turtle - all can be found on this most classic post at Dawn The Webmiztris.

• Mister Peace tells us why the late 90s were full of crap in not one but two posts. I lived through the late 90s, and I think I agree with him on most of his reasons. It's funny how a decade can change your mind.

• Elton reviews the movie "Superbad" on his latest entry. His take? It's funny, but very crude and deserving of the R-rating.

• The hilarious Tony Calabrese tells the tale of a trip to a 70s-themed party gone very, very wrong.

• Deb gives us a very funny account of her mother's attempts to use the latest technology. I just love the way her mom skewers all the high-tech terminology.

What's going on in the blogosphere the world of blogs today? Let's take a look:

• Fred at Doomed To Rock has graced us with an explanation of "pretentious art rock" in this post. I'm not much a fan of art rock, but I have to say that Fred explains the genre very well and even gives us a sample playlist.

• Quirkychick has some interesting things to share lately. She tells tales of disappearing lunches, young boys who are proud of their mom, and people who call the wrong number and insist they called the right number.

• Steven Perez has a link on his blog about the latest hijinks of the RIAA. He's not happy about it. No sir, he's not happy at all.

• Deni Bonet has a new contest up here! She wants to see what bad art you have in your house, and she has prizes for the worst example sent in.

Those are some of the more interesting posts I've seen lately. Thank goodness for the option on Bloglines to save posts! I think the "make a link" button on my Blogger editor has had enough use for one day, so I'll see you all tomorrow with some memes!

Tonight I went to a University of Oregon men's basketball game with my dad. The Ducks played against USC, and lost by about ten points. As always, the score didn't matter too much because I simply enjoyed getting out the house, going back to campus, and seeing a game with 8,500 other people. It was very interesting going back to campus again and seeing all the construction that's going on there. The place is changing pretty fast, and within ten years I'll not recognize at least a fifth of the campus. Now I really wish I had taken photographs when I was back in school, so I keep forever the images of the University of Oregon as it was when I attended.

I've got a few links to share with you all today!

• Andrea at Diary Of A Music Whore posted her "life soundtrack" today, showing us how she became the music whore that she is. I thought this was a very interesting and enlightening post, and I hope she links it on her site so she won't have to constantly explain why she likes the bands she does.

• Fred at Doomed To Rock mourns the passing of another local music shop in his area, and rants about the sorry state of music stores lately. I hear him loud and clear, and that's why I choose to (mostly) buy my music from my favorite local shop. And, well, I'd be a fool not to because my local shop gives me free music for shopping there (one free disc per 12 bought)!

• Do you like libraries? Ever wonder how the Dewey Decimal System came about? Curious about how the Dewey system compares to the Library of Congress system? Then check out this report from The Straight Dope that explains why libraries use the systems they use, and how those systems are organized. I, for one, think it's quite interesting and fascinating.

That's all for today, folks. See you tomorrow with a Random Ten, and who knows what else!

As a blogger, I'm feeling quite refreshed. I'm definitely going to try and keep this place somewhat interesting. It seems like I go through boring times once in a while, but I somehow always get out of them using my creativity. Ok, maybe directing you to things that other bloggers are posting isn't the most creative thing to do, but I figure I'll make up for it by providing a little bit of commentary. Here's what's going on right now:

• Congratulations to Sarcastic Journalist, who gave birth to a healthy 8 pound, 6 ounce boy on Tuesday! You know, I've been reading SJ even before she had any kids. I was reading her back when she was still a journalist! Now look at her, two kids later. It's amazing how things change in just two years. As an uncle who has seen what it's like having not one but two toddlers around, I have to say: good luck SJ, you're gonna need it!

• What do you get when you mix cross-country skiing, wet pants, toothpicks and Diet Coke? A really bad date, according to Karen! The thing that amazes me about Karen is that she has the ability to laugh at herself, and she's allowed us to laugh right along with her. I must say, I haven't seen a story this funny in a long while! Karen continued the humility today by posting some of her more embarassing moments. It happens to us all, Karen!

Reading Karen's latest confessions has inspired me to post some of my own embarassing moments:

• In 8th grade, I puked all over one of my classmates! I was sitting in class, and hadn't really been feeling too good. That not too good feeling got really bad really fast, unfortunately. We were sitting in little sections of five, with four of the desks set up facing each other. The guy facing me asked if I was feeling OK, and right then my stomach decided to unload. I puked right on his desk! I went home right after that, of course, and no one in that class let me live it down for the rest of the year. That was easily one of the most embarassing things I've ever done.

• I am a complete klutz sometimes! In the summer after high school, I was walking around the University of Oregon one day. I was walking along the sidewalk and I totally tripped over a crack! When I trip, I almost always land right on my knees, no matter how much I try not to. I scraped myself up really bad that time! I was definitely bleeding, and went home right away. I probably should have gone to the hospital or something and got taken care of, but I was too embarassed to do so. I was wearing shorts too! I rode home on the bus and tried my best not to be noticeable. For at least a week or two after that, it was really hard for me to walk because I had scraped my knee so badly.

• When we were in Hawaii on vacation in 1998, I was swimming around in the ocean with my siblings when I got slammed by a wave and hit face first into the sand! I wasn't really that far out, but I still got slammed pretty hard. I ended up with a bloody nose. That was not very fun!

• Our dog Chloe is a VERY messy dog when she takes a drink of water. She slobbers it all over the tile floor near her dish when she's done. Several times I've slipped in her mess because I didn't see it! I haven't hurt myself yet, because I've been able to catch myself each time. It still sucks though, because it takes you by surprise! I wish she wouldn't slobber so much, because I hate slipping on the floor!
  

Those are some moments that stand out in my mind as being very embarassing. There are probably more, but I've most likely forgotten some of them.

Sorry about all the bullets. That is best for how I've been organizing my thoughts today.

As you've all probably figured out, I've completely run out of things to post except for my usual memes. Not good. I like memes, but I'm sure other people get sick of them, especially when it's all I post. So I had an idea tonight, and I think it'll help me out. Every once in a while, I'm going to highlight a few posts from people on my blogroll. That gives me something to post about, gives my readers something interesting to do, and gets my blogroll-ees some new traffic! So, here's what has caught my eye lately:

• Last Girl On Earth, Deni Bonet (one of my favorite bloggers!) is putting together a rubber band ball from rubber band donations by her blog readers. What a neat idea! Deni's so creative and full of fun, and this is just another example of that. I might send a few rubber bands in, if I can remember.

• Blog Explosion, the popular blog traffic site, has launched its own blog hosting service called Blogcharm. The cool thing about their service is that, eventually, they will allow their users to earn money from site advertising as well as a cut from the service's sponsorships. This should definitely be interesting, as long as they a) make the service easy to use, customizable and constantly improved and b) keep themselves from exploiting any potential conflicts of interest. Am I going to join Blogcharm? No, I'm not. I've been with Blogger from the beginning, and things are going well enough that I don't want to deal with the hassle of moving to another service, even if it means ad money. I don't blog for money.
  

• Brenda at Elf Girl In The City is in her home state of Hawaii right now, and in this post she tells a little about what kinds of crimes you'll get locked up for when you're on her home island of Kauai.

• Marvo at The Impulsive Buy recently reviewed a pack of Jones Soda Holiday Flavors. Are they any good? You'll have to read his review to find out. But with flavors like Turkey and Gravy, Corn On The Cob, and Broccoli Casserole, I'm sure you can figure out the answer before you read a word.

Wasn't that fun? I'll try to do this again every once in a while. I have a moderately long blogroll, so I'm sure I'll be getting good material on a constant basis.