the dredwerkz - nothing is written

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For the latest Sinclair Boycott info, head over here.

posted at: 2004-10-12 16:40:56 with 0 comments

Thinking of getting a TiVo? Before you do, drop me a line. I'm now a member of the TiVo rewards program...which means that if I get five friends to purchase a TiVo, I get a free one. Sound too good to be true? It isn't...

posted at: 2004-10-12 16:03:58 with 1 comments

Going On Offense | edward

werkz advice: worth it if you can stomach it.

The latest from the creators of "South Park", "Team America: World Police" is probably the most offensive movie you'll ever watch and enjoy. It is sort of akin to a twisted episode of the "Orbitz Patrol", with marionettes doing things they shouldn't be doing.

Although the movie ostensibly makes fun of Hollywood actors, it satirizes militia types just as much, leaving no sacred cow uneaten. If you can handle the sheer lunacy and dirty humor, it's well worth your money. The title song alone about America is worth the price of admission.

posted at: 2004-10-12 15:03:52 with 1 comments

Sinclair Tuesday | edward

The blogosphere is abuzz with action surrounding Sinclair's decision to broadcast an anti-kerry screed.

JMM weighs in .

Atrios also speaks.

All in all, everyone is banding together to fight this flagrant abuse. Are you?

posted at: 2004-10-12 14:50:24 with 0 comments

Debate Hate | carroll

If my team wasn’t consistently coming out ahead, I would SO be in favor of banning televised debates. Seriously, they have become nothing more than televised statements and spin. Don’t get me wrong, I find them incredibly entertaining – and kudos to campaigns for manipulating the media system for some free exposure. Every debate is so scripted & scheduled by camapigns. Spontaneity is dead.

Right or wrong, I really don’t believe debates have any REAL significant impact on most voters. The impact & influence, unfortunately, comes from the days & days of media spin following the debates. TV feeds obese America. I really don’t think most Americans have the necessary knowledge to truly decipher the content & rhetoric of a presidential debate. And PLEASE, they so aren’t real debates.

I am in AZ. In two days we will be swarmed by national self-important politicos & media – 2 WEEKS BEFORE E-DAY!! Not cool. The events & preparation surrounding these things are so incredibly superfluous. Consequently, I am taken away from other responsibilities in order to staff our Chairman at dinners with peeps such as Walter Cronkite, Hugh Downs & Larry King, etc. (aren’t they like - dead already?!), I am being required to attend numerous foo-foo receptions & meetings. Benefit, or perk you may say….fall of democratic politics, I say. Everyone is doing everything BUT what they are supposed to be doing 2 weeks out from the election. I have been in this mess called politics for more than 10 years - not long, but long enough to see that things seem to be increasingly more about animation than foundation. Being a swing state, this is not good. All we are doing is feeding America’s media dependence – a sound-bite understanding of the greatest political process in the world. I hate the media.

posted at: 2004-10-12 02:11:56 with 0 comments

Berzerkeley | helena

Some do call it "Genocide Day," though certainly not in the context of celebration. That would in fact be the pithy response to why we don't take the holiday. (Yes, I'm at work today)

Berkeley, though, has officially renamed the holiday to Indigenous Peoples Day. Since the initial change to Native American Day almost 15 years ago, they have changed it many more times, always in response to complaints from interest groups who feel more oppressed by the new name. We are very PC out here and try not to hurt anyone's feelings.

So, now it's Indigenous Peoples Day, although the Italian Americans are still unhappy. As it turns out, the most appropriate name would probably be Oppressed Peoples Day. I don't say that to be mean or insensitive, or to make light of the offense suffered by groups whose heritage is not honored, mis-honored, or de-honored. Instead I offer the suggestion as a point of logic: anyone who feels left out that they don't have their own holiday or offended by the moniker Oppressed Peoples Day is automatically included by virtue of their own distress.

I realize I sound like a heel, and I don't really mean it. I just think it's a silly waste of energy to play tug-o-war over a holiday that to 99.9% of people is just permission to get drunk on a Sunday night. Or maybe I'm just bitter because I have to go to work anyway.

A far better use of time and money could be spent getting modern textbooks into public schools so that kids stop growing up with a white-centric version of history that glorifies conquest and overtaking other people's homes and cultures.

posted at: 2004-10-11 15:02:45 with 0 comments

Clydes | edward

There's a new Clydes going into Gallery Place next to the 14 screen theater. Bliss.

I made some of their famous chili this weekend. Also bliss, thanks to peppercorn cheddar cheese.

posted at: 2004-10-11 14:12:29 with 0 comments

prepare for The Treading | edward

The sun was bright, the sky blue, the weather cool. A burst of map-inspiration and a full tank of gas led me to Mt. Vernon, where I enjoyed the grounds immensely.

The entrance was spectacular, consisting of half a mile of chain-link fence covered smartly by black tarps.

In the process, I passed by a large 16-sided building described as a replica of a barn originally miles away. Thinking such a process to be at best mundane and at worst a waste of the historical society's limited funds, I walked around to the back of the structure, where I noticed a large ramp leading to the second story of the barn. It turns out that I was wrong about the barn. It was not an ordinary structure designed to hold hay or feed or animals. It was, instead, designed for the Day of The Treading.

The siren song of the loudspeaker beckoned poor tourists to come inside and witness the majesty of The Treading, although it would be days until all the materials were assembled and the place was properly prepared. Desperate to escape, I walked quickly away toward another building called the "Pioneer Video Celebration Room". Upon entrance, I noticed that this room too, had a far sinister purpose. The walls were covered upon every surface with a variety of cutting and drilling instruments of torture. Anxious to escape from adzes and augers, I avoided the "instructional video" and made for the wharf.

Other than these moments, the day was spent pleasantly.

Afterward, I traveled with Jill to Mason Neck, in our pursuit of an afternoon spot near the river. We somehow stumbled upon the breeding grounds of the upper-class adventure addict: the area was full of fresh water windsurfers with expensive audis, some kayakers and even a couple of parasurfers. Definitely wet-suit high society, which segued nicely into our evening entertainment, of watching Pride and Prejudice from netflix with a little chipotle love. Having never read the book itself (yes, I'm an English major gone rogue), I was delighted to see the story end, very un-vikram-seth-like, with the girl getting the right guy, with the big estate, that she actually likes. A model for us all: never settle.

Football game followed. Ronald whooped it up over me for the first half, but as the second dawned, and Ed Reed scored the quafecta of forcing a sack, causing a fumble, recovering a fumble and scoring a touchdown, Ron realized the problem: the Redskins just love to choke. The Ravens, thank god, managed to overcome an anemic offense to triumph by the skin of their teeth again.

Now it's Columbus Day. Or as they say in Helena's workplace, "Genocide Day". So I'm off. Thanks to ICapture, I was able to resolve some stupid mac-issues with the backend this morning. And post this. Now it's time to do a little gardening, followed by shopping. Another full day ahead.

posted at: 2004-10-11 12:12:53 with 0 comments

Response from the Peanut Gallery | dwight

I missed the debate because—here’s a sentence I never thought I’d type—my anti-Bush jug band, George Washington and His Wooden Teeth, had a gig at College Perk Coffeehouse. My favorite post-debate sound bite came from NPR the next morning:

BUSH: You tell Tony Blair we're going alone. Tell Tony Blair we're going alone. Tell Silvio Berlusconi we're going alone. Tell Aleksander Kwasniewski of Poland we're going alone. There are 30 countries there. It denigrates an alliance to say we're going alone, to discount their sacrifices. You cannot lead an alliance if you say, you know, you're going alone. And people listen. They're sacrificing with us.

KERRY: Mr. President, countries are leaving the coalition, not joining. Eight countries have left it. If Missouri, just given the number of people from Missouri who are in the military over there today, were a country, it would be the third largest country in the coalition, behind Great Britain and the United States. That's not a grand coalition.

I’d like to salute the grand people of the sovereign state of Missouri, even if their reputation as the “Show Me” state is all too appropriate...and damn annoying.

posted at: 2004-10-11 09:46:30 with 0 comments

Brad Wins | brad

Sometimes I really think the whole scene in 'Unbreakable' dealing with simple odds could be materially correct, at least dealing with serendipitous circumstances. Take tonight for instance.

The Ravens are losing, looking as always particularly inept on offense. Boller? For once it was not his fault, but with Heap out and Gibb's boys blitzing half of the time, a first down was pretty rare. And then Ed Reed single handedly turns the game around. Seconds later, a friend shows up in the King's palace, and we're off to poker.

You know how the story ends - Brad smokes the competition and almost triples his money by the time people call it quits. A good weekend, you say? Nah, par for the course...

posted at: 2004-10-11 03:59:24 with 0 comments

Ravens Win | edward

Okay, so our team's best offensive scorer is our kicker. And our leading rusher is going to jail for a few months. So what? We still beat the skins, due to our exceptional defense and terrific special teams.

The Skins are hurting, frankly. I was just happy to see the Ravens come from behind to dominate the final half.

posted at: 2004-10-10 23:37:48 with 0 comments

Free Dred Scott! | kevin

I had just a few thoughts, one of which is that Kerry was exceptionally successful at answering coherently with fact filled answers, while avoiding sounding like a know-it-all. There is I'm sure to be debate about the worst of the evening, but let me submit this.

Another example would be the Dred Scott case, which is where judges years ago said that the Constitution allowed slavery because of personal property rights. That's personal opinion. That's not what the Constitution says. The Constitution of the United States says we're all - you know, it doesn't say that. It doesn't speak to the equality of America

C'mon, seriously, didn't the Reagan-Carter debates of 1980 settle the Dred Scott case?

More in a Freudian-slip column is the allusion to wanting the vote of all Supreme Court judges.

I'm not telling. I really don't have, haven't picked anybody yet. Plus I want them all voting for me.

On a side note, I read this morning about the Afghan elections and the wide-spread boycott because the ink which was meant to prevent people from voting twice actually washes off, and I wondered, do you think the woman who designed the butterfly ballot could be at fault with this too?

posted at: 2004-10-09 08:41:31 with 0 comments

Kerry Wins Debate | edward

Kerry was flawless in tonight's debate. His best line?

I just think I can do that far more effectively, because the most important weapon in doing that is intelligence.

Yeah, intelligence. Nice double entendre there, John. Any other thoughts from the peanut gallery?

posted at: 2004-10-08 23:39:48 with 0 comments

Awkward Work Conversation #456 | jill

Funny Picture

(from one of the sponsors of Get Off The Internet And Vote)

posted at: 2004-10-08 12:12:03 with 0 comments

Job Growth Weaker | edward

It's clear, the WaPo headling says it all.

96,000 jobs a month isn't enough to keep up with a growing population. Period. We're losing ground, not gaining it.

posted at: 2004-10-08 11:34:32 with 0 comments

Look Away Look Away D.C. Land! | edward

JibJab has done it again.

It's worth it for two reasons: hearing politicians sing a song to a rebel tune, and getting to see John Ashcroft rip off his shirt to reveal a gay pride t-shirt underneath.

Go check it out today! It's sedilicious!

posted at: 2004-10-08 10:54:16 with 0 comments

Pop Smatters II | dwight

It’s nice when a blog entry can combine the mutual obsessions of Edward (keeping America free) and myself (keeping America entertained). (For the record, Helena wants to keep America green, Deborah wants to keep America Deutsch, and Brad wants to keep America apprised of Edward’s health the way C.O.B.R.A. operative Xamot did for Tomax on G.I. Joe.) Anyway my $25 donation to MoveOn.org rewarded my helping the cause with a great compilation. (That promotion is over now—read: you’ll pay half what I did—but profits still go to defeating Bush. At time of writing Barsuk Records will give you a discount on future orders, and Amazon will get it to you for cheap as well.) Future Soundtrack for America is packed with awesome bands who top the indie charts and hover at the edge of mainstream media consciousness—Bright Eyes, Death Cab for Cutie, Flaming Lips, OK Go, Sleater-Kinney, Yeah Yeah Yeahs—as well as some actual hit-makers—Jimmy Eat World, Elliott Smith, They Might Be Giants—and genuine big names like David Byrne, R.E.M., and even Blink-182.

I’m addicted to compilations, but even I have to admit that most comps are full of B-sides and ill-considered covers, or are just showcases for the bottom of the label’s metaphorical barrel. But since these artists actually care about the success of this disc, the quality of this collection is uniformly high. As far as commenting on the generating impulse behind the album, many of the songs speak to a sense of urgency or obliquely touch on politics. Some are less oblique, which may put the listener off a track or two. For instance, even after several weeks of spinning this, I haven’t figured out how I feel about (or deciphered the meaning of) David Byrne’s fable “Ain’t Got So Far to Go”—“It’s genius! No, treacle! No wait…”—but Soul Coughing’s Mike Doughty delivers the most straight-up lyrics of his life (“Yeah, I believe the war is wrong / I don’t believe that nations can be steered”) that manage to be an anthem to MoveOn and yet still really, really groove. There’s a dash of alt-country/folk thanks to Laura Cantrell, Old 97’s, and Tom Waits, and a light dusting of rhythm courtesy of will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas. (To those readers whose unofficial mascot was an ungulate of a shade not found in nature, class of ’89 alums Fountains of Wayne also have a nice acoustic track.) All in all, a great addition to your collection—even the graphic design is cool—that will be the least guilty of the pleasures you indulge in this election season. (Listen to Future Soundtrack for America here or request it here.)

posted at: 2004-10-07 12:42:56 with 0 comments

Code Changes | edward

I'll cover the VPOTUS debate in a bit (hopefully Meat posts first) but for now, just three minor code notes.

There is now a music reviews section to the website. If anyone has any other sectional requests, just e-mail me and I'll add them. (Dwight, I moved your article into the proper section, fyi.)

Also, evidently there was a problem for IE users who wished to add articles. Normally, I'd say I don't care, but I want everyone to be able to post, so I fixed it. However, it's several days late...so next time, if you try to add an article and cannot, you should tell me. I'm happy to help.

Finally, when you make links to places on the website, you now need to include the full path. In the past, you could use a root symbol "/" to indicate a path relative to the root. Unfortunately, because of the way the RDF feed works, you need to have full paths specified in the link. Yes, this conflicts slightly with the archive system. (In the past, using an archive page would keep you at that time period as long as all the links were relative.) But the archive page is rarely used, so I'm not concerned. Besides, you can still go back in time...you just can't move between certain pages the way you used to without using the back button. Which I assume most people can use.

posted at: 2004-10-06 14:16:52 with 0 comments

Pop Smatters I | dwight

So I’m late posting this, but the Track You Should Be Listening To Right Now (actually, August’s TYSBLTRN) is White Mud Free Way’s “Mercury,” from their album Last Year’s Junk. The female-fronted White Mud Free Way is everything great about Luscious Jackson without the noted downside of being…well, Luscious Jackson. “Mercury” opens with the plaintive line “I don’t think about cowboys anymore,” and an image of long, lonely desert stretches. It then quickly manages to morph into a meditation on space, distance, and the perils of asteroids colliding with Earth. Meanwhile, the hurried bass rhythms combine with laidback vocals for a unique combination of urgency and resignation. Most songs couldn’t successfully conjure up images of dusty, worn cowgirls and sterile, lab-coated astronomers in the same breath, but “Mercury” does it, both in music and in imagery. The linking factor is the invocation of the Western sky—a star-studded expanse that can’t help but be massive, fraught, empty, exhausting…and worth dancing under. (Listen to "Mercury" here or request it here.)

posted at: 2004-10-06 09:52:36 with 0 comments

go back a week...

...go forward a week