In the last book in the Series of Unfortunate Events (which I have entirely missed), one finds this:

"Call me Ish," commands the latest supporting villain in the final book, the leader of an island cult whose followers drink coconut cordial rather than Kool-Aid.

Hm!

You're going to want to check this out. A really cool new music blog from a friend of mine here in Colorado and his two buddies. More stuff than I can even begin to keep track of. Go see the wonder that is Moving In Stereo.

Time Out For Big Ink! Actually, more like slowing to an irregular sputter. BI posting will be light while I hack my way through the thesis process (and a few other things). Still posting when I can, though; see you around the ranch. Don't be strangers! c

Now in Big Ink! Clap your hands, little neocon!; Major P.R., General Disaster; say it with me: po-lit-i-cal; murdering the poor with food; brown is the new guilty; firing up the old swiftboats; Jonah, flailing in the blackness of his own soul; Pretty Girls Make Graves full album download!; some Histories of Labor Day; eavesdropping liedropping; grabbing labor by the blue collar; economic less is more; Rotten Anniversary I: Katrina; the "doc" in "docudrama" means "doctored"; where Bushes meet Bears; Joey Nutmeg gets his cut; student debt to society; Olberman II: nailed it!; Walt's boys skip a $200 million payday; Couric must be on drugs; Disney Hitler cartoons (whee!); the schlockudrama scandal picks up steam; history rewrit; donkey v. mouse; NY Times, hack factory; journalist market still strong; 9/11 caused by gays and loose women (duh); the Nowrasteh Code (is pretty dumb); rats in the walls in Burbank; journalistic origami; something loose in the machinery?; Karl's revenge; Rotten Anniversary II: 9/11 (featuring a very important Bonus Olbermann!); But wait... there's French pop! and Appenzellers! and Rollergirls! and Psychobilly! Kapayapaan!

This Week In Big Ink! (Okay, Ten Days) The Times gets it momentarily; haters make me blow my top; Senator James Inhofe (R-Fantasyland); Suskind on W and alQ; a great Navy story for the outmanned idiot; YouTube as time machine; enabling racism; the mathematician returns; Plame ensnares Armitage; covering up the bodies of journalists in Iraq; blogging across no-man's-land; hurricanes sweep away the underclass; academic death cult tactics revealed; Zippers from beyond the grave; conservative compassion means choking the life out of the opposition; Greenwald points out the silver lining's cloud; it's 2002 and you're a git; Fox girds loins (probably with loofa); Must-See Political TV: Keith Olbermann Goes Murrow On Rumsfeld's Ass; remember pushback?; making sure the terrorists win. Buffaloes!

Briefly in Big Ink! The VRWC tries to stick it to Big Al; DOD skulduggery; Conason on the neocon con; Columbia in reverse; terror alert raised to nutmeg; the Onion nails it; the Times does not; fear! it's not just for breakfast anymore; until HP7, enjoy the new Conyers report; let's play Hope/No Hope!; CSI: Mathmagic Land; courts are entitled to their opinion, I guess; the Daily Show Horrorshow; JonBenet versus Iraq; Newsflash: Schoolhouse still Rocks; How Right-Wingers See The NY Times; cheerleader of the free world; watch your back, hippies!; at 33% approval, the truncheons come out; Bush pretty much blames you for Iraq; and Pat Buchanan is totally trippin'! Ssssssss!

Blood and Crip gang territories of Compton and surrounding unincorporated areas of Willowbrook, Athens, Rosewood and the areas of Carson, Lynwood and N. Long Beach. (Bonus points for most contextual 404 page graphic evah.)

A major backlog of Big Ink! I've been in three cities (four if you count Portland twice) since the last update, and my computer was back in the shop. But I refuse to apologize! Instead, allow me to distract you with the following: Disney gets its GOP on; if you're still following the Middle East SNOAP (the new SNAFU), you might as well be getting your facts from an expert; the Cowardly Lion goes to J-School; Tony Snow, the foot-in-mouth poster boy; the Gray Lady gets uppity; when newspapers are soap operas; behind the scenes with George and Tony; perspective from a Park Slope sandbox; who's a big slut now, hm?; global thermonuclear drama club (or the intercontinental ballistic backrub); when nosy neighbors meet the police state, it's a bad thing; one-time golden boy Ralph Reed runs smack into reality in Georgia; W finally gets to veto something and it's "hope for Alzheimer's patients"; Froomkin on yet another of the kudzuu-like coverups in the current administration (with fun Fox facts as a bonus); the Times tightens its belt and trims down (I'd suggest leaving Brooks out in the woods, but that's just me); our terror-sniffing infrastructure is getting all Rube Goldberg; W is incapable of fault and Nixon, apparently, was a piker; stem cells or terrorist cells, it's a no-brainer; the people who got bounced out of W's 2004 political events are trying a little Law & Order of their own; Ken Blackwell, the Katherine Harris of the Buckeye State, goes a-thumpin'; looks like the lawyers are now telling president jokes; the press secretary through history; Oklahoma, where the wind blows freely through the Senators' ears; presidential focus has never been focusier, we promise; Reed: "if the papers hadn't reported all that stuff I did, this wouldn't have happened"; the man behind the curtain says no looking behind the curtain; Denis Leary's a conservative jerk, but unlike these idiots he's a conservative jerk you can respect; Fox News is all about smoking and mushrooms, but not in the good way; welcome to the future, where politics is the environment is politics; not to be missed Colbert repor*t* on the media; detain U.S. citizens indefinitely? sure, why not?; Ted Kennedy states the obvious, but at least that's something; our pretty, pretty war; "vote early and often" redux, campaign finance style; when bloggers are journalists enough to get tossed in the pokey, is that good for bloggers or bad for journalists?; more on the fastly fading First Amendment; not to be overly shrill, but the game Rove, Inc., is playing could cost us a goodly chunk of our democracy; Wikipedia party people; Joe Lieberman, not feeling the love, gets indie fever; flashbulbs pop for Lamont; you no good rotten bloggers, get off my lawn; Joe sees phantom voters, officially goes off his nutmeg; and finally, we kick off the real campaign season with a conveniently timed terror alert and a new Personal Item of Death: energy drinks! Abracadabra!

Okay, while Mike's away I have a discussion question for you. It comes in multiple parts:

Q: What was the last rock concert T-shirt you bought?
-When did you buy it?
-Is that the last one you're going to buy?

I ask this because I saw some big guy wearing a big concert T on the street (with some anthemic paint-spatter-font slogan on the back, etc.). And I thought: you know, it's been a long time since I bought a concert T. I started to think back ... and it's been a LONG time since I bought a concert T.

I thought back to more recent stuff -- late-era Elvis Costello, Cake, Gogol Bordello, the Moonlighters -- and realized that there are several things going on. First, and most importantly, I'm much more likely to buy a CD, if I buy anything. Also, I definitely wanted T-shirts from those shows, but they either sucked, didn't quite seem cool enough, or didn't exist. (I see a lot more tiny pre-T-shirt bands these days).

So I thought back to the 90s...

Sometimes in Big Ink! A nasty cold, humidity, intermittent Web access, and the Brooklyn Cyclones have all conspired against me this summer, but they won't win in the long run. (Well, the humidity might.) Here's what we're talking about in the meantime: Greenwald reminds us that we're all traitors; the GOP is flipping a two-headed coin; truth in the media turns out (go figure) to have consequences; Kristoff clues in; Rupert sees future, rubs hands together ominously; Al Gore goes mano-a-robot with Bender; Digby sees future, writes useful chalk diagram; though time continues to pass, as of today David Brooks is still no closer to reality; though they doth protest too much, you know who's the hatahs; I try to get in on the Ennis explosion; budget math so fuzzy it could be a muppet; and a very special treat (for being such patient readers), the unaired Buffy pilot. Gooooooooooaalllll!

Lately in Big Ink! As of a few days ago, I have my computer back at last. (Have you backed up lately?) Now, whenever the humidity drops below a certain point, I can actually get a post in. Your topics: DIY Star Trek fanatics boldy produce what no one has produced before; 15-year-old Ava Lowery schools CNN and triple snaps the neocons; we reinvent the book and the old school quakes in its boots; and finally, what force is powerful enough to save us from global warming? Synergy, baby. A little Orwellian apertif, and we're good to go. More asap. Up, up and away!

Once Upon A Time In Big Ink! Hey there. I've been traveling and—lucky me—had a major hard drive meltdown last week. Thus, I have been far away from my computer, which is probably good for me but doesn't feel like it. Anyway, there are a few new links that might interest you. Once I have my own gear again, I can get back to regular posting (which I know you're all like totally on tinterhooks). So for now: The Judy and Bill Show just gives and gives, unfortunately; Billmon's travels in Egypt; Foser on one-way hype; John Solomon and the WaPo seem to be saying that journalism is hard work; Digby on moving beyond 9/11; despite thinking the worst, my imagination gets undercut again; Matt Cooper's legal Catch-22; Stephen Colbert lets the grads have it; Daou on the media's rope-a-dope strategy; the Solomon case illuminates the blogosphere/MSM dynamic; the PI says "our bad"; hurricanes won't be the only deadly spinning this season; the Plame scandal panel smells like freshly mown justice; and behind the scenes in the VRWC. More after Tekserve calls. Don't tread on me!

Recently in Big Ink! An unscheduled brain vacation happened last week, so I've been slacking on BI and OOB (sorry, Mike; although since Ennis and Andrea and Greg and Dot and the Owlanphy's refuse to battle me for space here, I'm carrying this corner solo). In any case, I do have a few Scooby snacks for you meddling kids. First, perhaps my favorite Big Ink post ever: Tony Snow Job hits the bigs. The newspapers didn't seem to like this invasion- of- privacy thing so much. A serious look at the police state, by Billmon. Frank Rich, on fear and loathing. In the W era, hindsight is simply painful. If it's Midterm Season, it must mean we're off to the (inferior) races. Fox News to Whites: Missionary Imposable. Being Newt means never having to say... the truth. Race (baiting) to the bottom. New Blue: Maps for a repentant nation. Mea culpa, now with headlines. The case of Web v. Print is murkier than it appears. More Big Ink to come! I'd buy that for a dollar!

This Week In Big Ink! Finally finished up the term, and not a minute too soon. Still groggy, but here are few posts from this ridiculous week. The Randy Duke had many friends; "I'm not evil, I'm an idiot!" Er, ah, either way...; It's all some meta-joke on 'hook, line and sinker'; NPR=Not Particularly Reliable; Say Again, Mr. President?; We may never know, but there are certainly some ominous rumblings; and finally, Tony Snow will be taking questions when he's damn good and ready, thanks. Yoiks! And away!

That is the question. The answer is a little Jacob's Ladder for my taste, but cool nonetheless.

This Week In Big Ink! I'm totally bringing it in hot here at the end of the term, so apologies for being late and keeping it short/sweet! Here's the better part of two weeks' postings. Click! Enjoy! Billmon on the Mother of All Dozens; the press won't; talking heads! (for political geeks, sorry); old school goes old school on W; a little more on Det. Zadroga; they broke it, we bought it; family values and the estate tax repeal; spy toys!; tough love at Gitmo; O'Reilly... in... Spaaaace; the (Josh) Marshall Plan; when I think about this, I do solemly swear; Big Ink 101! (Thanks, Mike!); Horowitless; mind like a Steele trap. Serenity now!

Colin's Law: On the Internet, everyone will get mashed up with everyone else eventually.

"Straight out of London: lunatike freke namede Geoff C,
From the covin callede 'Kynges Affinitee.'
Men who confronte me, my dagger beth killynge them
Hange them on a hempe-rope lyk ther name was Tresilian-"

brought to you by the letter V.

This Week in Big Ink! First, the bad news. This might sting a little: the black helicopters of the corporate media are about to get their dirty mitts on your Internet (but, for a nominal fee, you won't notice a thing). Michael Savage makes his bid for worst person of 2006 (and at the moment, he's number one with a bullet). Meanwhile, the Decider Two-Step is all the rage in D.C. But wait! It's not all doom and gloom! My close personal friend Kos dropped by for a chat. I debate the Public Sphere on the topic of Al Gore and the Internet. We take a sneak peek behind the Democratic political strategery and how it gets processed from officials to reporters to bloggers. Carl Bernstein goes where Bob Woodward never can. And the Pulitzer Announcements are positively adorable. Never surrender!

And while you're just sitting there, you might as well organize your library. Please enjoy: LibraryThing.com.