STFU

kthxbye,
Sean

Abstract: How hacking- or ‘maker’ friendly can we make our world? How many of the products that you buy are designed to be tinkered, customized, and modded by you as a consumer? How important is it for you to live in a world where your tools and technologies can be molded collaboratively by users to their own needs? How important do you think this maker capability is in emerging nations who have access only to our earlier-generation, hand-me-down technologies?

If that little snip peaked your interest at all then you’ll want to be at UCLA tomorrow evening where Xeni Jardin and Mark Frauenfelder will be speaking at the LA Futurists Salon. All the details are in this Boing Boing post.

With talk this week of Artforum.com and the LA Weekly, I wanted to mention that two European magazines have recently opened up editorial offices in Los Angeles…continue reading

I’ve just reached the last straw with my bank, the ubiquitous Washington Mutual. I’m not going to get into all the details of what happened – the short version is that there was an overage charge, which led to another one, which led to multiples on the same day. But the real problem is that there was NO COMMUNICATION from them at all about it. I only found out over a week later. Doesnít it seem odd that a company that can instantaneously transfer funds in and out of your account can only notify you of overages via snail mail? Is it technological incompetence? Or is it that they make bucketloads of money from fees, and the harder they make it to get an accurate picture of whatís in your account, the more cash they make?

I’ve had this problem with them in the past, and every time, the people I’ve spoken with at the branches have been courteous and helpful, even if there was nothing that they could do about the situation. But today, I spoke with snotty, snide, arrogant Renee, who could care less about keeping me as a customer. In the end, I just asked her what they were prepared to do to keep me as a customer. She had no answer.

I experienced this when I lived in New York -as the big banks got bigger, they started caring less and less about the smaller customers and adopted a take-it-or-leave-it attitude. Sad to see it happening here.

So I’m in the market for a new bank. Who do you use? Anybody have one that they love? That has figured out the mysteries of communicating by email?

While I’m reading and re-reading about all those young, hipster, poor galleries here in LA in the Weekly’s bold, and impressive, first all art issue, I highly reccommend that you go through it as well…continue reading

Rumor has it that Los Angeles might soon be the home of a new professional sports team. Reportedly there’s an upstart league that is trying to make a big splash in the nation’s second biggest market. They call themselves the National Football League, but apparently their balls are shaped differently than real ones.

Depending on whom you read in the latest greatest news, in the next few years it might be the woebegone Saints from New Orleans, or the Jaguars of Jacksonville. That’s a city in ‘Florida’, which I am told is a ‘state’. Kids these days.

Anyhow, I’m not sure we really need a so-called professional football team here in our fair megalopolis. Don’t we already have one?

There’s a completely mindkicking post on the geometry of traffic control here in LA over on BLDG/BLOG that I just found thanks to Defamer. That’s some crazy nutty stuff I tell you, yet it still takes me an hour to get from Culver City to Silver Lake at 6pm on weekdays.

While friends of mine saw Imogen Heap at the Hotel Cafe or Lucha Va-Voom at the Mayan Theatre earlier tonight, I saw The Like at The El Rey Theatre.

Sadly, no sign of their friend Mark “The Cobrasnake” Hunter, who was still reportedly in Europe.

More photos here.

UPDATE: Photo links updated.

The first all art issue of the LA Weekly is now online. It’s a lot to take in so I’ll be writing more about it on abLA very soon. Must get back to reading…

Where the hell are you! Blogging.la’s Heathervescent and Will Campbell are pirating the airwaves of Theory Radio playing weird shit like Information Society doing an electro-goth version of Prince’s “Controversy” right this very second! Why aren’t you listening and showing Heather the strangelove with your requests for weirdness? I mean Lost is a freakin’ repeat, right? Tune in and be talked about.

Being a ninja myself, I totally relate. This is from blogdowntown:

” Walking to lunch today I saw a guy sitting at a corner holding a sign that started ‘Entire family killed by ninjas…’ I didn’t take a picture, but back in July flickr user Michael Heilemann took one of a similar sign (pictured).”

Eric goes on to ask how memes like this spread in the panhandling world, but forget that, this guy’s whole family was killed by ninjas!!

Fresh from hanging out with the homeless and destitute of downtown’s skid row, L.A. Times columnist Steve Lopez has now turned his talents and today’s column to another dark side of city living: raccoons. Apparently Lopez and his daughter are fed up with the “cowardly” critters that have wreaked nocturnal havoc on his yard and garden — to the point that he’s flashing a hundie and willing to contract out a “professional,” if you get his drift… someone who’ll off of the pesky varmints, winkwink, nudgenudge, say no more.

Not that doing so would be in violation of any animal abuse/protection laws or nothing.

City Councilman Eric Garcetti shares the news of a new Friends of Atwater Village mural commemorating the venerable Pacific Electric Red Cars going up on one of the pylons across the L.A. River that used to support the railway’s bridge across the waterway. The artwork currently in progress is visible from the recently dedicated Red Car River Park located adjacent to the Hyperion Bridge in Atwater Village.

At some point, everyone gripes about their job. There are lots of reasons: it isn’t fulfilling, you’re a square peg in a round hole, it’s never enough money, there’s too much stress, you’re working for idiots. Yet most people are too afraid to trade their status quo unhappiness to uncertainty.

I recently came across an article by Po Bronson on having the guts to go out and actualize your dreams.

If you need inspiration, pick up Reckless by Gloria Mattioni. Gloria tells the story of nine women who created their own destiny, followed their dreams and made them come true.

If this seems impossible for you to do, I’d like to introduce you to Carmen de Jesus, a hypnotherapist who can get you beyond your blocks and onto being in your optimal mindset as you make your dreams a reality.

If you want a quick way to wish fulfillment, read my six easy steps to getting your heart’s desire.

I’ve hit my limit. There may be those out there who enjoy L.A. all costumed up just in time for Halloween as the universe’s biggest gray whale but now into almost a week of swimming in this dreary San Francisco soup I’m tired of it! Sick actually. This day after day of drizzly gun-metal skies is bumming me out on a massive level. Sapping my energy. Making me look fondly down the barrels of guns and upon the edges of knives. And sure, the forecast today is calling for the sun to do more than peekaboo through the steely tent and actually burn the crap off, but when, eh? Probably around 5 p.m. when it’s almost dark and the clouds and fog are formed back up on the edges of the city ready for a counterattack that will overrun us once more. Run away! Run away!