Quoted: The Eighties were polarised but complex times. Punk, which determined even seemingly antithetical things like Depeche Mode and ABC, was itself a reaction against Old Labour rather than New Tory and was itself part of the same coin as Thatcherism, revolting against the same, dreary, dysfunctional 70s Britain.

playlist included. =)

longass first post. looks like it's going to be some pretty invested reading. =)

Quoted: This is the first post in a series that will explore the possibility of developing some new conceptual tools through which to think through urban design. Blind spot is the first concept in a sequence that will include: attractor, bifurcation, black box, body, canalisation, cascade, cohesion diagram, double articulation, entrainment, friction, front, meshwork, organ, porosity, suspension, damping, exception and interruption. As part of a long standing project that is nearing completion, these words are meant as a bastard dictionary of urban dynamics that appropriate terminology from diverse sources in order to try to redistribute the set of questions we take for granted around the urban.

Quoted: Woody Allen quipped that every time he heard Wagner, he was overcome with the urge to invade Poland. The positions of most others are less clear in their work, although we can hear the difference between the assertive nationalism of Wagner and the gentle folk nationalism of Dvořák or Grieg. In the case of opera, of course, there are more clues. Mozart's, for example, dealt with class war (The Marriage of Figaro) and the liberal values of the Enlightenment. Biographies often provide helpful political information as well. Some composers, like Bartók, were known to have championed the underdog and sometimes clashed with the authorities as a result. Others, like Stravinsky, Mascagni and Puccini, enthusiastically embraced fascism. Still others, like Smetana and Tchaikovsky, were tolerant individualists who kept their distance from mass movements.

Quoted: McCain has entrepreneurs spooked about widespread tax hike on small business revenue, but tax experts say fewer than 2% of small business owners would pay more under Obama's plan.

correction: IF you can make $250K+ a year cleaning out shit tubes, then you should quit your whining and go brush up on basic small business laws and simple math.

priceless!

Quoted: a collaborative platform for creating concepts on the issue of war, to be invented, arranged and presented by scientists, artists, theorists and activists at public, two-day events. The aim is to create key concepts that either play a significant role in current discussions of war, have so far been neglected, or have yet to be created. The first 100 concepts have been produced in four editions in Frankfurt, Munich, Graz and Berlin over the past two years. All video-recordings, manuscripts, related material are available on this website.

Quoted: Comprehensive situationist archive and information resource, containing an exhaustive chronology, extensive links and virtually every situationist text available in the English language.

click to play

Quoted: The classic Canadian documentary Manufacturing Consent based on the Noam Chomsky/Edward Herman book by the same name. Explores the the propaganda model of the media.

this is looooong. but i sat thru the whole thing last night despite some occasional hokey directing choices.

re-reading this for the long weekend. which has been awesome so far: food, naps, youtube, more naps, and the rest of the internets. can i get a hell yea?!

Quoted: Full text of Benjamin's epoch-making work