Media

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He’s Angry Asian Man

If you don’t already know Angry Asian Man , you really should.  He’s one of my heroes in the blogosphere.  He writes about the Asian American experience with, let’s say a good amount of righteous indignation.  You know that righteous indignation you feel when you see the old TV show Kung Fu come on and you think to yourself, "Fucking David Carradine isn’t Chinese."1 Well, Angry Asian Man has that indignation turned on all the time and it makes for great reading.

1) Seriously. He’s not Chinese. As Margaret Cho pointed out, they should really just call the show, "He’s Not Chinese."

9Feb2009 | Ramon Arjona | Comments Off | Continued
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Speaking of The Graveyard (audio)Book, It’s Free

Well, sort of. Just thought you should know that, last year, Neil went on a promotional tour for The Graveyard Book during which he read a chapter of the book at each stop. (One particularly long chapter got split in two, much to one audience’s chagrin.) In a blessed move, his publisher consented to record these readings and place them, in their entirety, on his young readers’ website, Mr. Bobo’s Remarkable Mouse Circus. You can find the videos here. I’ve listened to parts of it at work, and sure enough he delivers the same wonderful performance during these readings that he does on the audiobook. So, turn on your speakers and open a new tab, clicky-clicky, and have Neil read you a story today while you work. Enjoy!

28Jan2009 | John | Comments Off | Continued
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The Graveyard Book wins the Newbery Medal, but It’s a Better Listen

Although technically it’s not bigger news this year than any other year, geekdom claims Neil Gaiman as its own (Neil has no say in the matter, of course) and therefore it’s a particular triumph that The Graveyard Book has been awarded this year’s John Newbery Medal, the most prestigious honor in children’s literature. You can read about it at the New York Times and also on Neil’s blog. (The blog post is doubly-interesting, because he actually refers to the mother of his children in a way that implies she’s still married to him. No, I had no reason to think otherwise, but the absolute lack of reference to her over the years has led me to suppose some unkind things. Sorry, Neil.) For all that it’s a really good book, though, you shouldn’t read it. You should listen to it.

The Graveyard Book audiobook is absolutely fantastic. The narrator does a wonderful job of giving characters accents and mannerisms that soon have you recognizing a shift in point-of-view without any “he saids” or “she saids” being necessary. These voices aren’t just distinctive, mind you, they’re a heck of a lot of fun. He’s entertaining and droll, and of course the text he’s working with is pretty good, too. I listened to this on the way to San Francisco for Thanksgiving last year, and the time I spent listening to The Graveyard Book just flew by. The kicker is that the audiobook is narrated by Neil his own self. Isn’t there a law against being that good at that many things? If he wasn’t such a nice guy (or an incredible liar on his blog) he’d really make me sick. :p Still, sick or not, he’s produced a first-rate audiobook that I can’t recommend highly enough.

27Jan2009 | John | Comments Off | Continued
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Rest in Peace, Ricardo Montalban

Ricardo Montalban has passed away. I know, a lot of geek requiems are going to show snippets of Wrath of Khan. Ha, ha, very funny. The man offered the world a tremendous amount of love and, yes, entertainment over the years. He will always be memorialized amongst my friends for this timeless classic. Goodbye, Mr. Montalban.

[youtube ZBJCoPRRDuw nolink]

15Jan2009 | John | Comments Off | Continued
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EFF One Last Time… Well, This Year

First thing’s first - I get nothing out of these EFF posts. I’m not sending you to an affiliate link, there’s no kickback, nothing like that. The closest thing to "what’s in it for me" is that my quasi sister-in-law works there, but in all sincerity I was an EFF geek before I ever met my beloved, so that’s just a happy coincidence. She’s always mildly bemused (and take your pick which "she" I’m referring to) that I’m a little star-struck by somebody who seems to have a normal-seeming job.

That being said, EFF has a new page up that’s a) cute and b) effectively (hur hur) describes what they’ve been up to for the past year. Please do check it out, and if it tugs at you at all, consider joining EFF or making a donation. The internet you save could be your own.

22Dec2008 | John | Comments Off | Continued
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Join EFF!

There are a lot of charitable causes in the world. Heaps. Tons , even. The one that gets my support these days is the Electronic Frontier Foundation ("EFF"), "the leading civil liberties group defending your rights in the digital world." I know, there are a lot of causes out there that might feel more immediate - curing cancer, say, or providing service animals to the blind. That’s easy; everybody can get behind those causes. I can explain to my grandmother that blind people get along better with a dog, and she’ll pony up twenty bucks. On the other hand, if I tell grams that the EFF is behind the lawsuit to hold AT&T accountable for facilitating illegal NSA spying , or that they’re safe-guarding the future of cultural innovation , I’m going to be rewarded with a blank look. So here’s the thing - because I do understand what EFF does, and why it’s important, I’ve got a responsibility to support them on behalf of myself and those that are unwittingly protected by them .

And so do you. At least, I hope you think so, because EFF needs your help. To quote a recent email I received, "[d]ue to the tough economic times we are all experiencing (and maybe folks with spare cash to spend on activism feeling tapped out after the election), EFF is not getting the usual end-of-the-tax-year donation love." As a result, this non-profit organization that, to the best of my knowledge, never charges their clients for representation, is coming up short. Trust me on this, there are a lot of top-flight lawyers at EFF that are working waaaaaaaaaay below their market value because they believe in what they’re doing, but they (and EFF as an entity) still have bills to pay.

Please consider becoming a member of EFF. You can become a member here and get cool swag to boot, or just buy yourself some cool swag here . My personal favorites include the metal Bill of Rights card to set off airport security ("fun" fact: nobody will tell you under what law you’re being searched at the airport. It’s a secret. Now read the 4th Amendment .) and the mini LED flashlight specially designed to reveal the hidden tracking dots produced by laser printers . Whether you buy stuff or not, though, you really do owe it to yourself (as someone savvy enough to, at a minimum, read this blog) to help support this vital organization. Join EFF !

iContent/i by Cory Doctorow

Bonus for reading this far: I’ll blog more about this later, but read Cory Doctorow’s latest collection of essays (c)ontent, about some of these very things, for free! Cory releases his books under a Creative Commons license, so this is a legal download of the entire book . Some % of you will buy it, of course, which is the point. I say "bonus," but it’s not like he’s doing this just for me - it’s just something I figure you don’t know about. :D

11Dec2008 | John | Comments Off | Continued