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12.11.2009
03:54 am
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Crazy cool animated fashion gifs created by Pamela Reed and Matthew Rader for Spiral Mag.
 
Reed + Rader
 
(via Today and Tomorrow)

Posted by Tara McGinley
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12.11.2009
03:54 am
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Sarah Palin Parking Lot, Part 2
12.11.2009
12:00 am
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This time around: what does Sarah Palin mean for womankind?

Posted by Richard Metzger
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12.11.2009
12:00 am
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The Fabulous South Korean Chanteuse: Kim Jung Mi
12.10.2009
10:20 pm
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Why hello there everyone. First of all much thanks to Brad, Richard, Tara and Jason for having me here. I shall do my best to keep pace (a little) with your collective geniuses.
 
I thought I might begin by offering a sampling of the mysterious South Korean chanteuse Kim Jung Mi. I’ve been bewitched by her stylings and especially the raw production and playing on her early 70’s records ever since being introduced to her by the amazing vinyl archivists over at Mutant Sounds (about whom much more in future posts). I’ve found virtually nothing on her in English so I certainly welcome information from any Korean pop aficionados out there. So far the best bit I could glean was from YouTube user “ProudKoreanGuy” who claims : “Her songs kept getting censored so much by the South Korean government at that?ج

Posted by Brad Laner
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12.10.2009
10:20 pm
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Jukebox Hero: Jonesy’s Jukebox returns online
12.10.2009
10:14 pm
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When I moved to Los Angeles from New York in 1991, one of the first things I noticed right off the bat (besides the 99 Cents Only stores, the vast number of strip malls and the LA Weekly ads for butt cheek implants) was how great L.A. radio was. Notice I wrote was... as in past tense.

Cut to 2009 and the radio landscape in the City of Angels is getting kinda lame. If you’re not into the far right talk of Dr. Laura, the all reggaeton, all the time stations or Britney Spears, you’re pretty much out of luck these days. When Indie 103.1 morphed into the Latin format of El Gato earlier this year, it really felt like the final nail in the coffin for L.A. rock radio. High-profile rock DJs like Henry Rollins and Sex Pistol Steve Jones were cut adrift from their loyal listening audiences and there was sadness in the streets.

But now rock fans, rejoice, for Jonesy is back! Jonesy’s Jukebox is operational again, but this time on the Internet, streaming live for one hour a day on the www.iamrogue.com website run by producer Ryan Kavanaugh.

Now L.A.‘s finest DJ can spin for the rest of the world. I, for one, certainly will be listening.

Below: Young Mr. Jones and some of his mates swearing on live television in 1976:

Posted by Richard Metzger
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12.10.2009
10:14 pm
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Please help: Animal shelters in California seeing glut of Chihuahuas
12.10.2009
08:48 pm
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As the proud owner (parent?) of an ultra-cute little Chihuahua mutt myself (he’s half Chihuahua and half cartoon), I read this item from today’s Los Angeles Times Metro desk with tears welling up in my eyes. About 20 to 30 of these CUTE little guys and gals are being dropped off at Los Angeles dog pounds every single day. Call it the “Paris Hilton syndrome” if you like, she—and the Taco Bell commercials—are only partly to blame: It’s really the dog breeders who went way overboard in recent years.

As Maria L. La Ganga reports:

“We need a constant supply of new foster homes, because we have a constant supply of new Chihuahuas,” [Kim Durney, administrative director of Grateful Dogs Rescue] said, calling for a halt to “irresponsible” backyard breeding.

In January, Santa Barbara County will begin an effort aimed in part at such breeders. That’s when a new ordinance will go into effect requiring owners of unaltered dogs to get a special license.

Fourteen months ago, the county staged Adopt-a-Chihuahua Week to find homes for more than 100 of the abandoned breed that had ended up in its three animal shelters.

Each dog came with its own pink carrying case, trimmed in black fake fur.

Look into those soulful little eyes. Can you stand the idea that this sweet little creature probably won’t live into the new year? Feel your heart strings being tugged here? Full disclosure: I am trying to manipulate you. If you can provide a home for one of these sweet, hyperactive li’l critters—trust me, rescued dogs know they’ve been rescued and they love you all the more for it—why not pick up the phone right now, before you change you mind, and adopt?

Kudos to actress Katherine Heigl for her generous support of these defenseless creatures. Heigl’s charity, the Jason Debus Heigl Foundation, paid for 25 Chihuahuas to be airlifted to New Hampshire last week, where all of them found loving homes in a single day. On Saturday, the charity’s mobile adoption center will be at Topanga Feed and Seed, 106 S. Topanga Canyon Blvd., from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Cross posting this from BrandX
Photo: A Chihuahua at the East Valley Animal Care Center in Van Nuys on Dec. 9, 2009. Credit: Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times

Posted by Richard Metzger
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12.10.2009
08:48 pm
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Jamais Cascio: A Cold War Over Warming
12.10.2009
06:11 pm
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Jamais Cascio discusses the possibility of states getting into a Cold War-like situation over who can adapt to global warming fastest. Eerily plausible. And I don’t think the United States would be anywhere near the top of the pile.

What happens if global efforts to set and abide by strong carbon emissions cuts fail?

The standard answer to a question like this is that “we all suffer.” While that’s probably true, it misses the point—we may all suffer, but we don’t all suffer equally. Some nations will be hit harder by storms or droughts than others; some nations will have the resources and technologies to adapt better than others. And therein lies the potential for what may end up as a nasty tool of international competition.

There is, I believe, a non-zero chance that an extended period of climate instability could induce a state that believes itself to be better able to adapt to global warming to slow its efforts to decarbonize in order to gain a lead over its more vulnerable rivals.

(Open the Future: A Cold War Over Warming)

(Check out my interview with Jamais Cascio on the future of green business here.)

Posted by Jason Louv
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12.10.2009
06:11 pm
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Obama’s Immunity Doctrine for Torturers
12.10.2009
05:50 pm
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The ACLU took a hard swing at the Obama administration today for upholding the Bush administration’s torture policies. Almost a year on into the Obama administration (quite hard to believe), we’re opening more secret prisons and upholding all the torture doctrines that got us into this mess. What next, starting more wars? Oh wait…

“The Bush administration constructed a legal framework for torture,” Jameel Jaffer, Director of ACLU’s National Security Project, said in a conference call with reporters. “Now the Obama administration is constructing a legal framework for impunity.”

While he credited Obama for having disavowed torture under his watch, Jaffer said that “on every front, the administration is actively obstructing accountability by shielding Bush officials from civil liability, criminal investigation and even public scrutiny for their role in authorizing torture.”

“It’s the last month of 2009, and not a single torture victim has had his day in court,” said ACLU Attorney Ben Wizner. “Not a single court in a torture case has ruled on the legality of the Bush administration?

Posted by Jason Louv
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12.10.2009
05:50 pm
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Space, You So Crazy
12.10.2009
05:38 pm
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In honor of the announcement of the UK’s new ahem Ministry of Space, here’s a picture of a half million galaxies.

Fit that into a 140-word Tweet, puny mortals, and remember what we were SUPPOSED to be doing with the 21st Century!

Note: Every dot in above picture is a galaxy, not a star. Discover’s Bad Astronomer says:

Whoa. That?

Posted by Jason Louv
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12.10.2009
05:38 pm
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Dangerous Minds Welcomes Brad Laner!
12.10.2009
04:30 pm
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Dangerous Minds welcomes today a fifth member to the team, main Medicine man, another proud Angeleno, and one of my dear childhood friends, Mr. Brad Laner.  You might have read some of his earlier contributions (see this, and this), but he’s now boldly leaping from guest to regular contributor.  Welcome aboard, Brad!  And here he is in action:

Posted by Bradley Novicoff
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12.10.2009
04:30 pm
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Salinger On Why “Catcher” Will Never Be A Movie
12.10.2009
12:50 pm
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The Catcher In The Rye as a play or film?  Not if J.D. Salinger has anything to say about it:

I keep saying this and nobody seems to agree, but The Catcher in the Rye is a very novelistic novel.  There are readymade “scenes”—only a fool would deny that—but, for me, the weight of the book is in the narrator’s voice, the non-stop peculiarities of it, his personal, extremely discriminating attitude to his reader-listener, his asides about gasoline rainbows in street puddles, his philosophy or way of looking at cowhide suitcases and empty toothpaste cartons—in a word, his thoughts.  He can’t legitimately be separated from his own first-person technique.

The letter from which the above is culled is currently on sale for $54,000.  You can see a copy of it here.

(via LettersOfNote)

Posted by Bradley Novicoff
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12.10.2009
12:50 pm
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