Art Machine
Just another former infatuation junkie

Just to make sure I’ve got it all straight:

Homemade Lite-Brite featuring Cartoon Network character flipping off passers-by=willful attempt to convince people of a terrorist threat.

Realistic dynamite bundle complete w/ timer emblazoned with scary, cryptic message=clever public service announcement when left scattered throughout the mall.

I’m thinking I have to have seen this somewhere in dystopian sci-fi, but I can’t think where.

[link via BoingBoing]

At long last, the triumphant return of the ten! Or some such.

You know the rules. If you know the artist and the song, post it in the comments.

1. “Rough Stuff,” by Adam Ant – “You never hear the shot – the shot that gets you, and the girls sing-girls sing…”
2. “Once in a Lifetime,” by Talking Heads [guessed by Fred] – “And you may ask yourself, ‘How do I work this?’”
3. “Incense and Peppermints,” by Strawberry Alarm Clock – “Yardstick for lunatics, one point of view.”
4. “Sunshine Superman,” by Donovan – “When I say we’ll be cool, I think that you know what I mean.”
5. “Get Rhythm,” by Johnny Cash – “It only costs a dime, just a nickel a shoe.”
6. “Blueberry,” by Lita Ford – “I call him over, I concede the ball and chain.”
7. “Springtime for Hitler,” from The Producers [guessed by Fred] – “We’re marching to a faster pace.”
8. “Wonderboy,” by Tenacious D [guessed by Fred] – “How about the power to kill a yak. From 200 yards away. With mind bullets.”
9. “Saving Grace,” by Tom Petty – “There’s a guard on every door, and a drink on every floor.”
10. “The Philosopher’s Song,” by Monty Python [guessed by Fred] – “Aristotle, Aristotle was a bugger for the bottle.”

In case you still had any doubt. The MPAA does not like you. (link via BoingBoing) In the past, this intense dislike of you (coupled with an obsessive, kinda creeeepy love of your money) has resulted in lawsuits for file sharing. Lawsuits that included children’s parents or legal guardians. Lawsuits that included service providers. Lawsuits that included employers. All in the name of protecting intellectual property.

Of course, if you produce intellectual property outside of their system, they like you even less. Witness Patrick Robin, whose freeware blogging software has been ripped off by the MPAA. How do you “rip off” freeware? By completely ignoring the license, of course.

Now I know I’m not exactly reknowned for my legalese but I did think that the terms and conditions that I had released Forest Blog under were pretty solid, specifically the section relating to removing the back links:

You may not remove, alter or otherwise disable all or any of the hyperlinks to the Host Forest website (http://www.hostforest.co.uk). All images, links or text must remain unchanged and intact and visible when the pages are viewed unless you first obtain explicit written permission from the copyright holders.

The story gets better. After a second e-mail, Robin receives a reply from the MPAA informing him that the infringing material has been taken down. What’s most interesting is their list of reasons why they didn’t do anything wrong.

1. No Web links were ever provided to the blog.
2. The blog was never assigned a domain name.
3. The blog was never advertised to the public in any way.
4. The material on the server was a proof of concept awaiting approval to move into production.
5. The blog was only ever used for testing purposes.
6. Should we have decided to make the move to production, then we would have paid the 25 Pounds that would have authorized us to run a version of the blog without the logos and links.

I think Robin has a great point. If you download a movie to watch it before deciding whether or not to pay $20 for a DVD of it, the MPAA still considers you to be just as guilty as if you downloaded it with no intention of even considering buying it. They don’t recognize “testing purposes” as an excuse when they fire up their lawyers – but they expect other copyright holders to do so. And Goddess forbid that I should invite five or more people to my apartment for a private screening of Shock Treatment (that’s an affiliate link, yo). That would be an unauthorized performance of the work.

But your software? Hey. That’s fair game.

If life were a comic book and corporations its heroes and super-villains, then Clear Channel would be Doctor Doom. Looming in the shadows, sending others to do their dirty work, then occasionally surfacing with an echoing, metallic “HAHAHAHAAA!” and a giant doomsday device aimed at decaffeinating all of the coffee in the world and making everyone late to work.

Why, Clear Channel? Why must you sit in your idyllic old-world kingdom of Latveria, planning the overthrow of civilization as we know it? Don’t you know that Reed Richards isn’t responsible for your hideously scarred face, but rather it is the fault of your own hubris?

This time around, Clear Channel has cut costs by laying off most of the news staff at one of its smaller television stations. Their plan is to provide news by using independent filmmakers, college professors, and civic leaders among others to report on local events.

Many people are already predicting thousands of “MySpace is teh suxx0rz” stories. I, however, know that there are plenty of citizen reporters out there who are ready to step up and deliver real, hard-hitting news of their area. Which Clear Channel will more than likely edit down to remove most of the actual content and replace it with product endorsements for their national sponsors. No, what bothers me about the story is this:

Over the next few months, the station’s management plans to ask people in the community—its independent filmmakers, its college students and professors, its civic leaders and others—to provide programming for the station.

Will they be paid? That’s being worked out. Who will cover the harder-edged stories? Some will be culled from local newspaper and TV online sites, Spendlove said, and “other sources” that are still being discussed.

Emphasis mine, naturally. See, we’re talking about Clear Channel. Good ol’ money-grubbing, consumer-hating, talent-shafting, vertical-monopolizing Clear Channel. Something tells me that they’re not going to be the most equitable users of independently-produced media.

Frankly, I hope they’re inundated with inane, poorly-executed stories on topics nobody cares about. I hope their news report becomes something like The Onion, only unenjoyable because of the crushing seriousness of the people producing it. Because I believe that Clear Channel should get two things – what they’re willing to pay for, and what they genuinely deserve.

CNN does their teaser for their upcoming entertainment stories.

“The Dixie Chicks take the stage at last night’s Grammys. Did they use the opportunity to make some comments about the President – take a few more shots? Or are they ready to make nice?”

Oh! I get it! Because that’s the title of their single! Ha! Funny!

Bite me.

The “shots” they took at the President were at their own concert where they set the tone and the mood of the show. Last night they were at an awards show. If they just took the trophy and said thank you, it doesn’t mean they’re “making nice,” it means they recognize they’re there to receive an award and not to make political speeches.

And I like the use of the term “take a few more shots.” Very nicely subtly accusatory, suggesting they have no right to voice their own opinions, that it amounts to taking cheap shots.

Of course, the real insult?

The report said absolutely nothing about their acceptance speech. They noted that the Dixie Chicks took five awards before quickly moving on to say that Justin Timberlake “brought the house down” with his number. Although I’ve noticed a slight deflating effect on structures when large numbers of people flee the premises, so it’s not particularly surprising.

Still, after the vaguely accusatory and definitely condescending teaser for the story, CNN did not even cover their own question. They were too busy announcing that The Police are going to announce a reunion tour.

Feh.

I missed the random 10 this week, but the answers for the last one are up now.

Tune in this Friday for the next set of 10. Or, y’know, tune in before then, because I’m going to be writing this week.

If you’re keeping up with my new No Sleep ‘Til Minsky’s vodcast, then you’ll be pleased to know that episode 2 dropped this weekend.

If you’re not keeping up with it, then that fact probably will cause you very little distress, which in itself could be considered joyous. Huzzah! My vodcast causes no pain!

As always, you can subscribe to the vodcast feed or you can watch it online.

Hey! It’s Friday! Well, technically, it’s Saturday morning. But this is the Friday 10! If you know the artist and the title, drop it in the comments.

And if you’re curious, the answers to last week’s 10 have been posted.

1. “Every Breath You Take” by The Police [guessed by Thud,” Carl, & Fred] – “Every single day, every word you say, every game you play…”
2. “I Wonder Who’s Kissing Her Now” by Harry Nilsson – “I wonder if she’s got a boy, the girl who once filled me with joy.” [multiple artists possible]
3. “Superfly” by Curtis Mayfield – “The only game you know is do or die.”
4. “About Schroeder” by No More Kings – “She’s mesmerized by his concentration, closes her eyes and tries to see what he sees.”
5. “Swim” by Ani DiFranco – “You keep telling me I’m beautiful, but I feel a little less so each time.”
6. “Country Roads” by John Denver [guessed by Thud & Carl] – “Miner’s lady, stranger to blue waters.” [multiple artists possible]
7. “Goodbye Cruel World” by Pink Floyd [guessed by Thud] – “Goodbye all you people, there’s nothing you can say.”
8. “Dear Sweet Filthy World” by Elvis Costello & The Brodsky Quartet – “Put seaweed in my hair and vow that you won’t cry.”
9. “Fairytale of New York” by The Pogues – “They’ve got cars big as bars, they’ve got rivers of gold.”
10. “Broken Dreams” by Lita Ford – “I’d tell you whispers, a little story – that there’s a place in my heart for you tonight.”