Books that must be mine: Back in the day, Mark Z. Danielewski fried my head like an egg with his first novel House of Leaves. That book featured multiple narrators, stories within stories, footnotes out the wazoo, and other distractions - yet they all fed the story. His latest book, Only Revolutions, tells the story of two teen lovers. On opposite sides of the page. The idea is to read a few pages in, flip the book around, and start reading the other person’s story back the other way. I’m all over it. The book’s web site is a little freaky.
Mocking Children: The AJC responds to complaints to their “No Crying In Baseball” front page. The giant picture of a kid crying on the front page for a story that ran pages later was not meant as an attempt to humiliate. Besides, people wouldn’t have been so taken aback if it was a girl.
New Orleans: Poynter has an amazing Essay by James O’Brien of the (New Orleans) Times-Picayune. The essay details the personal impact that Katrina had on the paper’s employees with pictures of many of their homes as they were found post-storm. The essay drives home the impact of the storm on organizations, as well as people. If you multiply this example by the number of companies in the region, you may get a feel for what the City is up against.
The Hobos: I should have mentioned in yesterday’s post that the National Hobo Convention is held annually in Britt, Iowa, home of the Hobo Museum. I was remiss in that regard. From the Hobo Convention FAQ:
Can we still ride a freight train to the Convention?
Freight train riding is illegal! Train service to Britt, Iowa is sporadic at best. There are 2-3 trains daily in either direction. While we don’t condone freight train riding, we recognize that there will be individuals who will choose to travel that way. Please be careful.
Where do the hobos stay?
Most of the hobos stay at the hobo jungle, located on the Northeast side of town, by the railroad tracks.
Can we drink at the Convention?
The Convention events are located on public property. Local laws do not allow for drinking alcoholic beverages on public property. There are a number of taverns located in Britt.
How can we trace a loved one who was on the rails or possibly still on the rails?
You may contact the Hobo Museum for more information. Call 641-843-9104. During Hobo week, you may ask at the Hobo Jungle.
Friday video: 80’s southern jangle pop - starring cute puppies and new wave hair.
[youtube]NgCX2PEKF5c[/youtube]
September 8th, 2006 at 1:39 pm
Speaking of …
Did you see Margaret Atwood at Emory last night? I did. I thought she was wonderful. Will try to post about it later today or this weekend.
September 8th, 2006 at 3:29 pm
I did not. Somehow that slipped past me. That seems to happen a lot. I first heard about it on your blog yesterday. I’ll check your report.
September 8th, 2006 at 10:30 pm
Omigod! I couldn’t access the YouTube link at work … so I had no idea until I got home. I LOVE LET’S ACTIVE. Must sign off and dance around the room for an hour … then maybe I’ll get to that Atwood post. She was great, BTW.
September 11th, 2006 at 11:04 am
Let’s Active opened for REM the first time I saw them at the Fox. I’m guessing that was 1986 or so. (REM used to play multiple shows at the Fox every November. That didn’t suck.) I liked Let’s Active so much that I drove up to my local Turtles Records store (on Roswell Road, natch) and purchased what I thought was a tape version of their latest LP. As I read it, it was cleverly titled “Reversible Cassette.” Turns out it was an EP with 4 songs on one side… and the same 4 songs on the other side. And Turtles sold it to me for full price.
Me = Dummy.
Mitch Easter, LA’s lead singer, ended up producing a lot of the great southern alternative artists of that era. If memory serves, he produced Murmur, which will get him into heaven all by itself.
September 11th, 2006 at 11:28 am
One more thing. I’m pretty sure the drummer in that video is Sarah Romweber, sister of Dexter. If you saw “Athens Inside Out,” the incredible documentary about the Athens music scene from back in the day, you remember Dexter Romweber as the most insane person on the planet. He has a couple of scenes in the movie where he’s hanging out with Howard Finster (who lived nowhere near Athens, but still), and he makes Howard seem completely normal.
Dexter lived in Chapel Hill while I was in school there. One day my friend Josh said, “Hey, Dexter Romweber is playing at a party way out in the woods tonight. I got directions. Do you want to go?” Did I ever. I remember the combination of that party and Dexter’s performance as the best mushroom trip I ever had. But here’s the thing: I didn’t eat any mushrooms that night.
September 11th, 2006 at 12:05 pm
See, I think there is a genuine need for a definitive oral history of the era to be compiled and published. There are so many stories floating around that desperately need to be collected and memorialized - before we get too old to remember.
I saw David Cross on TV last week wearing a 688 Records t-shirt. Solid.
September 12th, 2006 at 12:42 pm
If we only knew an oral historian.
September 12th, 2006 at 4:25 pm
This is what I’m saying.