Death of Photography
Archive for April, 2009
CHURCH OF THE HOLY TRINITY, LEYTON TOWNSHIP
BULLETIN
Dear Friends in Christ:
Due to the persistence of slanderous rumors now circulating our fair parish community, it has become my duty as parish leader to address and dispel the untruths that riddle our aisles, our halls, and our homes.
First I would like to attend to the rumors regarding the dearly missed Olivar family. Three months ago Mrs. Catherine Erickson watched from her next-door window as Percy Olivar buried a statue of St. Joseph in the frozen mud of his backyard. It is true that St. Joseph is the patron saint of dwellings and the protector …
Radio K – Death – …For the Whole World to See
Detroit is and was the home of many music acts including Ted Nugent, The White Stripes, Moby, Missy Elliott, Ashanti, Madonna and Eminem. The famous Motown record label produced some of the most soulful and poppy hit songs ever heard. Most important, Detroit is the home of the Stooges and the MC5, both influential to the punk movement. But there is a lesser known band that bridges the blues-infusing rock goliaths with their punky offspring and, after over 30 years of being hidden away, DEATH …
Various Artists – Dark Was the Night
It’s a great album, and it is paramount that I make that immediate statement so I can segue into talk about other things than how great it is. An album with at least 29 plus artists, all of whom are top 10 in my book, defies any possibility of being bad. From Andrew Bird to Sufjan Stevens, even Yo La Tango, the list of bands is almost more than the structure of this piddly album reviewer can bear.
Now I’ve seen my fair share of charity albums, …
Fever Ray – Fever Ray
Sweden can claim yet another act which will baffle listeners and unfairly color outsiders’ perceptions. Fever Ray’s eponymous first release is the very definition of “bizarre,” and comes nearly three years after The Knife’s most recent album, Silent Shout. The new act is comprises of one half of The Knife’s lineup – Karin Elizabeth Dreijer Anderson (the other half is her brother, Olof) and was greatly anticipated following the critical success of The Knife’s recent efforts. With that exposition out of the way: Fever Ray’s release is a great …
Mastodon – Crack the Skye
Albums like Crack the Skye are very troubling. They aren’t good, so you won’t get the satisfaction of hearing a new masterpiece by one of you favorite bands, but they also aren’t bad for any easily identifiable reason. You can’t just say “they sold out” or “their new drummer sucks.” You have no choice but to maybe, just maybe, acknowledge that somebody’s run out of ideas.
That’s the feeling I get from Mastodon’s new album. Either that or they’ve decided to play to all of their weaknesses. I mean, …
This Just In: Nicolas Cage Doesn’t Actually Suck
Unlike the recent regeneration of old-man clout in the music industry (Morrisey! Leonard Cohen! Yes, they’re still alive.), the film industry has been experiencing something a little different. We might call it the Nicolas Cage Phenomenon: a dirty rash of films characterized by disaster, ancient talismans, and men sporting long, formless hairdos that try to combat receding hairlines. That is to say, a bunch of middle-aged actors with exhaustive repertoires, such as Nicolas Cage and Tom Hanks, have been turning out increasingly successful but mediocre films.
Besides telling them to JUST …
Web Comics
It seems that just about everything has become revolutionized in this digital age. You are now able to listen to music and watch full-length movies on something no larger than your wallet! Even books have their own special digital media player now. One art form, however, does not get nearly as much attention, and it is because of its heritage. I am talking about web comics.
To first understand web comics we need a little review of the elder sibling, the old fashioned regular print comics. When most of us think of comics we think stupid …
This Isn’t Real News…But it Could Be the End of the World
We live in the comforts of electricity, connectivity and water treatment. We’re spending more time than ever in front of screens, denying the presence of Mother Nature in our lives. Retribution seems to be coming in multiple forms – melting glaciers, hurricanes, wild fires and tsunamis. The next to add to the list may be the sun. As the next solar maximum approaches, the industrialized world may not be able to control the damage.
Solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are explosions of energy on the Sun, usually from regions called sunspots, that produces radiation …
Something in the Water
What, exactly, is in our water? That ages-old mystery may have some disturbing answers. A study by CHEM trust has found that the presence of feminizing, or gender-bending, chemicals in the water supply may be altering U.S. wildlife populations.
These chemicals are also referred to as endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) or “hormone disruptors” because of their ability to “de-rail the body’s chemical messenger system.” Effects of exposure include altered hormone levels, reduced sperm count, and genital deformities, among others. In egg-laying species, males are seen to produce Vitellogenin, the protein that precedes …
NASA’s STEREO Mission
The languishly manned spaceflight programs of the world are attracting less and less funding, as well as a rapidly shrinking public presence. Even the most ardent supporters balk at the extravagant launch costs and fragile safety margins endemic to human endeavors in space. However, riding the coattails of these costly missions for decades have been an extensive series of unmanned missions that operate at a fraction of these costs, with vastly differentiated mission times involved. NASA and the ESA quietly landed on Titan (largely to public chagrin and apathy) in 2005, and this 13-year mission has …
My Food is Closer Than Yours
There is an uncomfortable reality in the world’s food system that people are either unaware of or ignoring. Environmentalism is continuing to grow as both a fad and a philosophy—but the general public has little to no idea what the term really means. When it comes to sustainable eating, the reigning dictum is that local and organic foods are the solution to sustainability in our diets.
The public has learned to look for the familiar, green “USDA ORGANIC” labels on grocery items. Cooperative grocers also feature bright labels next to food items that …
Soudan Mine Neutrino and Dark Matter Research
As students pass through the University of Minnesota, it may be easy to feel insignificant or boxed-in. We have over 50,000 students on the Twin Cities campus—one of the largest student bodies in the country—and countless local functions that may live and die by University-budgeted decisions. It’s easy to feel that the University’s mandate starts at the West Bank and ends on the East, and indeed I have talked to students who have not even been so far as the Saint Paul campus. However, the U of …
White Privilege on West Bank
On February 10, in the dark of the night, someone posted a series of writings by people of color in a stairwell at the U of M Barbara Barker Center for Dance. As spring progressed more images, words and phrases like “Privilege” and “What are you ashamed of?” continued to appear, all accompanied by the word “THIS.”
THIS is an anonymous protest. It is making people angry and making people talk. It addresses institutional racism, a series of non-overt practices that are inherent in our system. It criticizes faculty members who have spent …
Throw us a Bone, El Meson
Our most recent food field trip was to El Meson, a tiny Spanish-Caribbean place at 35th and Lyndale. The restaurant has been around since the 1980s, but changed ownership in June of 2003. While we arrived hopeful, our nostrils filling with the perfume of well-seasoned grilled meats, our experience turned out to be a rapid descent into a whirlwind of disappointment.
Our server (we’ll call him Lurch) assured us he’d be back in a few minutes to take our drink order. However, a few minutes of admiring the …