David Erik Nelson's Blog, page 46
March 8, 2012
TSA Bodyscanners Busted by Annoying White Guy
I agree with almost none of this guy's stated *opinions* and policy positions, and am put off by his tone--which, to my ear, is the outraged hysteria of the perpetually privileged--but I have complete faith in his findings, and agree in the broad strokes: Real-time full-body scans are an expensive and risky solution in search of a problem. Well-trained TSA agents, existing bomb residue detectors, and conventional metal detectors serve us better.
As an aside--because this guy also hammers the "pat-down molestation program" button: I've been searched by all sorts of law enforcement in all sorts of contexts (e.g., while visiting correctional facilities, in airports, while crossing international borders, during police stops, while under suspicion, while not under suspicion, while obviously guilty, etc.) Of all of these, the TSA's "molestation searches" were, in my experience, the most respectful. Yes, the screener touched my body in ways I'm not cool with, but he was also not threatening or degrading at any point, and fully acknowledged that this was not pleasant for me. The search was no different from being searched for drugs (where a finger run under the waistband of the pants and contact up the entire leg to the crotch is far from unheard of). Your mileage, or course, may vary. I've had the good fortune to have never suffered an assault--sexual or otherwise--that unpleasantly sensitized me to this sort of contact with strangers, and I've clearly been searched enough that the trauma of the novel was well in my past. But, that said, all I could think about when I was being politely frisked out in the open, in broad daylight, accompanied by my wife and son, was that a large percentage of my fellow citizens--disproportionately males a tad younger than me with darker complexions--are subjected to a much ruder version of this with depressing regularity. That the hubbub over "airport pat-down molestation"--hubbubing I disproportionately hear emanating from my fellow pale faces--has basically failed to extend to larger questions about the liberal use of questionable stop-and-frisk in our inner cities makes me really, really sad in that "I thought you guys were yelling about 'justice,' but I guess what you really said was 'just us'" sorta way.
March 6, 2012
"Everything is a Remix" finally complete!
I've loved every portion of the Everything is a Remix series; the argument is graceful and concise, and really artistically important for us, as a culture of creators, right now (I'm especially digging Part 3, still). Watch these if you haven't already, and then go make something new out of something old.
(Part one is below; the remaining three--in chronological order--are after the jump.)
Everything is a Remix Part 1 from Kirby Ferguson on Vimeo.
(Oooh! The filmmaker, Kirby, has a new project on Kickstarter! Support this!)
Everything is a Remix Part 2 from Kirby Ferguson on Vimeo.
Everything is a Remix Part 3 from Kirby Ferguson on Vimeo.
March 5, 2012
Must Read: Make Your Thing: 12 Point Program for Absolutely, Positively 1000% No-Fail Guaranteed Success
Most of Poor Mojo's "Must Reads" are about how thing have gone to shit out in the world. This bums me out, both because it is negative (duh) and because it leaves me with any overwhelming sense of helplessness; these are statements of *fact,* often divorced from *process,* which makes them feel inevitable.
This article, on the other hand, is a statement of *opinion*, and it's focused on process, and it instructs Us Folks Who Like to Create in how we can improve the world. SPOILER: We don't necessarily improve the world by making a head-on run at all the things in the other Must Reads; we can maybe improve it by keeping our hearts and keeping on making more, even when that seems at best quixotic, and at worst wasteful, selfish folly.
Also, I really like Thorn's read on the Insane Clown Posse--whose work he clearly doesn't enjoy, but whose achievements he certainly understands. It's probably the most concise and incisive thumbnail exegesis of "community" that I've ever read. Take *that* "social marketing gurus."
That said, I'd never call Faygo an "off-brand citrus soda." That totally ignores the rich diversity of the Faygo universe--and, let's come correct: Rock & Rye is clearly the canonical Faygo flavor. Citrus? Fuck that noise, Thorn.
I don't really think that most of what you need is born into you, though. Mostly, you just need to care, and try. You need to make something, and then make it again, a little better. You need to look around for money. You need to reach your hand out to meet someone when it would be easier to keep to yourself. You need to make something for you when it would be easier just do what someone else tells you to. All of these things are hard, but none of them require anything more than gumption. Which I bet you have.
March 2, 2012
Poor Mojo's Almanac(k) Classic issue #458 (published October 29, 2009) "Sometimes contains disappearing humanity."
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Poor Mojo's Almanac(k) Classic issue #458 (published October 29, 2009)
Sometimes contains disappearing humanity.
Giant Squid: Ask the Giant Squid: Pledge Your Allegiance to My Hat by the Giant Squid. . . How, you may wonder, have I come to be so enlightened? It was not by process of long self inspection, nor by having myself butterflyed and damp-roasted on a spit, nor by imbibing ibogaine toddies, nor through esoteric religious (or anti-religious devotions), nor even by way of a brief self-improvement seminar. Rather, Dear Readers, through the fleshy and faithful conduit of my sub-editorial staff, I have experienced the Coming of the Glory of the APE. . . .
Fiction: Les Brers in A Minor by Ray SikesLes Brers was the kind of guy we couldn't help but notice. Not too many kids show up halfway through ninth grade weighing well over two hundred pounds and sporting a full beard and shoulder length hair. When I first saw him in the hallway, I assumed he was a substitute teacher, one of those just-out-of-college hippie types who were sometimes called in to ride herd on us when the real teachers were away, but there was nothing collegiate about Les. He looked more like a mountain man who lived off the land and killed what he ate. . . .
Poetry: This Goddamn Society: Five Poems by Papa Osmubal by Papa OsmubalDon't just sit around.
Put that book down and wash up.
You smell like you have been marinated in beer.
Dammit, Kennett, pursue your dreams.
If you have none, create one.
Dammit, Kennett, you can be a CEO. . . .
Rant: The Philosophy of Furniture by Edgar Allan Poe. . . In the internal decoration, if not in the external architecture of their residences, the English are supreme. The Italians have but little sentiment beyond marbles and colors. In France, meliora probant, deteriora sequuntur—the people are too much a race of gadabouts to study and maintain those household proprieties of which, indeed, they have a delicate appreciation, or at least the elements of a proper sense. The Chinese and most of the eastern races have a warm but inappropriate fancy. The Scotch are poor decorists. The Dutch have merely a vague idea that a curtain is not a cabbage. In Spain they are all curtains—a nation of hangmen. The Russians no [do] not furnish. The Hottentots and Kickapoos are very well in their way. The Yankees alone are preposterous. . . .
February 24, 2012
Spread the Gospel of Universal Emancipation and unfettered robosexuality!
Hey All: It's the LAST DAY for regular Janes and Joes to get a FREE copy of my Nebula-nominated post-Civil War steampunk-sexpot novella, "Tucker Teaches the Clockies to Copulate"
Let's catapult the propaganda, monetize the eschaton, and show those Fat Cats in Richmond that we support Universal Emancipation and unfettered robosexuality!
Low-budget but palatable: The pit-fighting kids of "Nickel Children"
Yet another reason to be thankful the South didn't win the War 'twixt the States:
Nickel Children (2010) - Full Short Film - YouTube
February 23, 2012
"Tucker and the Clockies"--dave-o's celebrated steampunk sexbot novella about race and belonging--has stalled in the mid-20s!
My novella "Tucker Teaches the Clockies to Copulate" is stalled around #22 on the Amazon Bestsellers "Free Kindle Scifi eBook" list. Folks are still downloading copies at a steady clip, but we're pinned behind a dense deposit of OFFICIAL STAR WARS FRANCHISE UNIVERSE novels. Wanna help Tucker power through? Spread the word about this FREE ebook, available to all *gratis* for just ONE MORE DAY! Please share/tweet/blog at your discretion.
ADDED BONUS: If we break #20, I'll release a picture of me dancing at Mojo's wedding with the engineer who ended up doing much of the technical advising for my geeky DIY book! I'm making a really odd face and totally wigging out!
What's Dave-o been up to? Gettin' down with the CraftFoxes!
Hey Mojonauts and Mojoketeers,
Over the last couple weeks I've been working on a few little things with CraftFoxes--a very cool new crafting/DIY community. First off, we've added my FedEx Diamond Kite to their database of free projects (you'll need to login to get access). To go along with this newly released sample, I've also posted some additional tips on kite launching and flying as a handy-dandy, DRM-free downloadable PDF.
CraftFoxes also posted a really long interview with me, and were really nice about my rambling, evasive answers. Check it out:
What is your craft medium of choice, and why do you like it so much?
This shifts around. When I was little, I loved LEGO, Capsela and cardboard boxes. In high school, I loved weaving and ceramics, then briefly delved into figure drawing. In college I was really into ironic, swear-leaden cross-stitch, which I'd actually learned from my mom in elementary school (not the swearing, just cross-stitch itself). After that I went through a sock-animal phase and a more general sewing phase. An abortive attempt at crochet came next, followed, almost a decade later, by a successful crochet phase. I also learned to knit once, despite having no interest, because my wife wanted to learn and couldn't decode the damn instructions in any of the books (which, I agree, are bizarrely algorithmic and technical; it's like trying to figure out integral calculus using a textbook written in Middle English. Any time I hear some blowhard characterizing women as being "naturally" poor at math and physics, I think of how damn complicated those knitting books are, and how few male engineers I know can figure them out).
180 words, and not a one of them *actually answering the question*! The whole thing is like that! It's more than 1700 words, and I skipped some questions! There are even pictures of me as a kid with a tame raccoon!
Finally, CraftFoxes is giving away a copy of my book; click on over and enter to win before Monday, Feb 27.
