The history of the right-wing approach to terrorism is laden with irony, but none starker or easier to understand than this.
[Link is dead but still available though the wayback machine]
Found this rich little gem in the comments section:
"No, Bill, it was supposed to be ALBANIA, not AFGHANISTAN you were supposed to bomb, don't you remember? You didn't read the script very well!"
Sunday, September 24, 2006
What more can I say?
Phil Rockstroh tells it like it is far above my poor power to add or detract.
"Corporate “reality” is all about “perception management". Hence, a corporate, utterly commodified, life usurps, exploits and diminishes not only the outer environment -- but our internal ones as well. How could one not play off the other and visa versa? How can one spend all day in a so-called "work environment," spending a large percentage of one's life beneath florescent lights, with sweatshop-cobbled shoes touching industrial carpeting, and bodies supported by bland, utilitarian office furniture -- then return, by way of a hideous, dangerous freeway, home to some ugly suburb or exurb -- all the while having one's senses incessantly inundated with commercial imagery calculated to manipulate -- hypnotize one, actually -- into a particular way of viewing the world, and not become subject to the sort of psychic pathology that is pandemic among the populace of the empire."
"Corporate “reality” is all about “perception management". Hence, a corporate, utterly commodified, life usurps, exploits and diminishes not only the outer environment -- but our internal ones as well. How could one not play off the other and visa versa? How can one spend all day in a so-called "work environment," spending a large percentage of one's life beneath florescent lights, with sweatshop-cobbled shoes touching industrial carpeting, and bodies supported by bland, utilitarian office furniture -- then return, by way of a hideous, dangerous freeway, home to some ugly suburb or exurb -- all the while having one's senses incessantly inundated with commercial imagery calculated to manipulate -- hypnotize one, actually -- into a particular way of viewing the world, and not become subject to the sort of psychic pathology that is pandemic among the populace of the empire."
Beware the ides of October
The signs that George Bush is going to attack Iran are everywhere.
If you don't believe me maybe you'll believe Gary Hart.
Oh, God, I think I'll just go throw myself off a bridge now.
If you don't believe me maybe you'll believe Gary Hart.
Oh, God, I think I'll just go throw myself off a bridge now.
More than a little scary
Stumbled on a little quiz to see if you can tell the difference between expensive modern art and paintings done by children.
What scared me was that I actually did well on the quiz. This rocked my worldview, which includes the belief that moden art is a game whose object is to con people into paying outrageous amounts of money for random crap. (Money is only the secondary objective. The real point is the laughs you get at the buyer's expense at the secret artist beer-bash following the auction.)
I think (hope?) that the quiz wasn't well constructed. The positive examples were mainly by very famous artists with very distinctive styles. It's not hard even for an amateur like me to spot a Picasso or a Pollack. I think they would have made the point better if they had picked less canonical paintings.
Oh, I also think Stanislav Shpanin has a bright career ahead of him. You heard it here first.
What scared me was that I actually did well on the quiz. This rocked my worldview, which includes the belief that moden art is a game whose object is to con people into paying outrageous amounts of money for random crap. (Money is only the secondary objective. The real point is the laughs you get at the buyer's expense at the secret artist beer-bash following the auction.)
I think (hope?) that the quiz wasn't well constructed. The positive examples were mainly by very famous artists with very distinctive styles. It's not hard even for an amateur like me to spot a Picasso or a Pollack. I think they would have made the point better if they had picked less canonical paintings.
Oh, I also think Stanislav Shpanin has a bright career ahead of him. You heard it here first.
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Well at leat there's... never mind
Even with all the things going wrong in Iraq at least we can say we made things better by getting rid of a brutal dictator. Right?
Wrong:
"Torture may be worse now in Iraq than under former leader Saddam Hussein, the UN's chief anti-torture expert says."
Wrong:
"Torture may be worse now in Iraq than under former leader Saddam Hussein, the UN's chief anti-torture expert says."
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Downfall
It only takes a moment to figure out why the American people are taking the Iraq war so much more calmly than they did Viet Nam: no draft this time. Well, that approach may be coming to an end.
So let's take stock: On September 11, 2001, 2973 people were killed in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.
The death toll of American dead in Iraq reached 2974 just about five years later.
We have abandoned the most cherished principles our country was founded on by imprisoning 14,000 "enemy combatants" without a trial, without any opportunity to defend themselves, without any reason to believe that they are a threat to us except that someone may have denounced them, very likely under torture. And the President is trying to strongarm Congress into making all this retroactively legal before the next election.
George Bush still says that the war in Iraq was justified because "Saddam was a threat" despite the fact that it is now clear that he had no WMD's and no contacts with Al Qaeda. Saddam may have been a threat, but to the Kurds and the Iranians -- not to us. (The Iranians, meanwhile, are taking advantage of the newfound security we've provided them by eliminating Saddam to develop nuclear weapons. How this can be considered progress is beyond me. But I digress.)
The Tailban are making a comeback in Afghanistan. Al Qaeda recruiting is more robust than ever (and not entirely without justification). Iraq is coming apart at the seams. And amidst the chaos we still hear the rallying cry of "Stay the course. Don't cut and run."
I can't help but be reminded of the story of the final days of another political leader who used legally questionable tactics to launch unprovoked attacks on other countries, and who in the end could not (or would not) face reality. I can't help but be reminded also of part of a poem by Tim Powers (writing as William Ashbless):
...They move in dark, old places of the world
Like mariners, once healthy and clear-eyed
Who, when their ship was holed, could not admit
Ruin and the necessity of flight,
But chose instead to ride their cherished wreck
Down into darkness...
It is clear now that George Bush, Dick Cheney, and Donald Rumsfeld will ride their cherished wreck of a foreign policy down into the very depths of hell. Like fanatics throughout history, nothing -- no amount of blood or death or disaster -- will dissuade them from their convictions that they (and only they) are righteous. The only question that remains is whether the American people will go along for the ride.
We'll know the answer in about two months.
So let's take stock: On September 11, 2001, 2973 people were killed in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.
The death toll of American dead in Iraq reached 2974 just about five years later.
We have abandoned the most cherished principles our country was founded on by imprisoning 14,000 "enemy combatants" without a trial, without any opportunity to defend themselves, without any reason to believe that they are a threat to us except that someone may have denounced them, very likely under torture. And the President is trying to strongarm Congress into making all this retroactively legal before the next election.
George Bush still says that the war in Iraq was justified because "Saddam was a threat" despite the fact that it is now clear that he had no WMD's and no contacts with Al Qaeda. Saddam may have been a threat, but to the Kurds and the Iranians -- not to us. (The Iranians, meanwhile, are taking advantage of the newfound security we've provided them by eliminating Saddam to develop nuclear weapons. How this can be considered progress is beyond me. But I digress.)
The Tailban are making a comeback in Afghanistan. Al Qaeda recruiting is more robust than ever (and not entirely without justification). Iraq is coming apart at the seams. And amidst the chaos we still hear the rallying cry of "Stay the course. Don't cut and run."
I can't help but be reminded of the story of the final days of another political leader who used legally questionable tactics to launch unprovoked attacks on other countries, and who in the end could not (or would not) face reality. I can't help but be reminded also of part of a poem by Tim Powers (writing as William Ashbless):
...They move in dark, old places of the world
Like mariners, once healthy and clear-eyed
Who, when their ship was holed, could not admit
Ruin and the necessity of flight,
But chose instead to ride their cherished wreck
Down into darkness...
It is clear now that George Bush, Dick Cheney, and Donald Rumsfeld will ride their cherished wreck of a foreign policy down into the very depths of hell. Like fanatics throughout history, nothing -- no amount of blood or death or disaster -- will dissuade them from their convictions that they (and only they) are righteous. The only question that remains is whether the American people will go along for the ride.
We'll know the answer in about two months.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
What a relief
Rummy sez that the U.S. is still able to start a new war despite being bogged down in Iraq.
Gee, I'll sure sleep better at night knowing that.
Gee, I'll sure sleep better at night knowing that.
Friday, August 25, 2006
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Monday, August 21, 2006
Now he tells us
Dubya, in a rare moment of candor, has finally admitted that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11.
Of course, Bush apologists will claim that he never said that Iraq had anything to do with 9/11. Strictly speaking, that's true. George Bush never uttered the words, "We should attack Saddam Hussein because he aided and abetted the 9/11 hijackers." The argument was that he might aid and abet some terrorists some day. But one can lie by omission as well. Supporting a pre-emptive invasion of Iraq was a major change in policy that happened almost immediately after 9/11. It is natural to draw the conclusion that 9/11 had something to do with that change in policy. If you're asking the country to go to war, then failing to make clear that the country you propose to attack had "nothing" to do with the reason that policy is suddently being changed is, at best, a sin of omission.
It is amazing to me that the apologists can still breathe with their heads buried so deeply up their [ahem!]... in the sand. It should certainly be clear by now that Iraq could not have done us any harm, and so attacking them on those grounds was, at best, a collossal mistake. But it's actually even worse than that. There is no coherent policy that can justify the invastion of Iraq. 9/11? Bush just admitted Iraq had "nothing" to do with it. WMDs that could fall into the hands of terrorists? He didn't have any, and the only reason we didn't know it is that we didn't do our homework. A pre-emptive strike against fundamentalist Islamic fasism? Saddam Hussein was a secular dictator. And the only reason he was in power is that we put him there to help check the rise of Islamicists in Iran. Indeed, our invasion of Iraq has emboldened and strengthened Islamic fundamentalists in Iran, Lebanon, and even in Iraq.
The goal of stopping the spread of Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism is a noble one. But to believe that Bush Administration policies are advancing that goal requires an almost complete disconnect from reality. It is exactly the same sort of disconnect that is required in order to believe that martyrdom is noble. The most supreme irony of this entire situation is the inability of the two sides to see that in the respect that maters most they are in fact exactly alike.
Of course, Bush apologists will claim that he never said that Iraq had anything to do with 9/11. Strictly speaking, that's true. George Bush never uttered the words, "We should attack Saddam Hussein because he aided and abetted the 9/11 hijackers." The argument was that he might aid and abet some terrorists some day. But one can lie by omission as well. Supporting a pre-emptive invasion of Iraq was a major change in policy that happened almost immediately after 9/11. It is natural to draw the conclusion that 9/11 had something to do with that change in policy. If you're asking the country to go to war, then failing to make clear that the country you propose to attack had "nothing" to do with the reason that policy is suddently being changed is, at best, a sin of omission.
It is amazing to me that the apologists can still breathe with their heads buried so deeply up their [ahem!]... in the sand. It should certainly be clear by now that Iraq could not have done us any harm, and so attacking them on those grounds was, at best, a collossal mistake. But it's actually even worse than that. There is no coherent policy that can justify the invastion of Iraq. 9/11? Bush just admitted Iraq had "nothing" to do with it. WMDs that could fall into the hands of terrorists? He didn't have any, and the only reason we didn't know it is that we didn't do our homework. A pre-emptive strike against fundamentalist Islamic fasism? Saddam Hussein was a secular dictator. And the only reason he was in power is that we put him there to help check the rise of Islamicists in Iran. Indeed, our invasion of Iraq has emboldened and strengthened Islamic fundamentalists in Iran, Lebanon, and even in Iraq.
The goal of stopping the spread of Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism is a noble one. But to believe that Bush Administration policies are advancing that goal requires an almost complete disconnect from reality. It is exactly the same sort of disconnect that is required in order to believe that martyrdom is noble. The most supreme irony of this entire situation is the inability of the two sides to see that in the respect that maters most they are in fact exactly alike.
Now this is getting creepy
I swear to God that I had not seen this when I wrote the last line of my previous post.
Carrying too much cash is a crime
Further evidence that the war on drugs is completely out of control, the police confiscated $124,000 in cash from a man on the grounds that it was drug money. But the only evidence that it was drug money was the cash itself. No drugs were found, nor was there any evidence that the man was engaged in any illegal activity. The seizure was upheld by the eight circuit, overturning a lower court ruling. the majority opinion states that "Possession of a large sum of cash is 'strong evidence' of a connection to drug activity."
Next I suppose they'll be throwing people in jail for having shifty eyes.
Next I suppose they'll be throwing people in jail for having shifty eyes.
Saturday, August 19, 2006
No wonder the Chinese are kicking our butts
From BBC NEWS:
"Apple Computer has said a report of labour conditions at its iPod plant in China found workers did more than 60 hours a week a third of the time.
Staff making the world's most popular MP3 player also worked more than six consecutive days 25% of the time.
Apple said the hours were 'excessive' and said its supplier would now be enforcing a 'normal' 60-hour week."
I also had occasion to spend the evening with someone who works at the port of Los Angeles who told me that freight container traffic has increased 40% over the last two years. That's a mind-boggling rate of growth, but what he told me next really made my jaw hit the floor: once a container enters the U.S. it never leaves! It's cheaper for the Chinese to manufacture a new container than it is to ship an empty container back!
I wonder where all the containers end up. There must be quite a stack of them now. At least a few of them are being made into buildings. Maybe this is the answer to our homeless problem?
"Apple Computer has said a report of labour conditions at its iPod plant in China found workers did more than 60 hours a week a third of the time.
Staff making the world's most popular MP3 player also worked more than six consecutive days 25% of the time.
Apple said the hours were 'excessive' and said its supplier would now be enforcing a 'normal' 60-hour week."
I also had occasion to spend the evening with someone who works at the port of Los Angeles who told me that freight container traffic has increased 40% over the last two years. That's a mind-boggling rate of growth, but what he told me next really made my jaw hit the floor: once a container enters the U.S. it never leaves! It's cheaper for the Chinese to manufacture a new container than it is to ship an empty container back!
I wonder where all the containers end up. There must be quite a stack of them now. At least a few of them are being made into buildings. Maybe this is the answer to our homeless problem?
Thursday, August 17, 2006
How indeed?
George Bush asked a mother who lost a son in Iraq, How do you know his life would have been good?
Funny how he never thinks to ask this question about frozen embryos.
Funny how he never thinks to ask this question about frozen embryos.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Security as Kabuki Theatre
Perry Metzger talks about why blowing up planes with liquid explosives probably wouldn't work.
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Two down, eight to go
The first and ninth having been safely dispatched, the neocons are starting to go to work on the Fourth Amendment.
In other news...
We interrupt this blog to bring you word that ten thousand people died yesteday because they didn't have access to clean water. Another ten thousand will die today. Another ten thousand will die tomorrow. And the day after that. And the day after that.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled war on terror.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled war on terror.
Careful what you wish for
Ever wish you could put an end to world hunger? Yes? Then I guess this is all your fault.
Monday, August 14, 2006
Crazy news roundup
An Alaska Airlines flight was evacuated on landing at Los Angeles International Airport on Monday after the flight crew became suspicious of a toy found on board.
A five-year-old girl's passport application was rejected because her photograph showed her bare shoulders. The contentious passport photo
Hannah Edwards's mother, Jane, was told that the exposed skin might be considered offensive in a Muslim country.
Who would have thought that it would be on the Republicans' watch that we'd see all this runaway paranoia and political correctness? Not me. Nope.
A five-year-old girl's passport application was rejected because her photograph showed her bare shoulders. The contentious passport photo
Hannah Edwards's mother, Jane, was told that the exposed skin might be considered offensive in a Muslim country.
Who would have thought that it would be on the Republicans' watch that we'd see all this runaway paranoia and political correctness? Not me. Nope.
Nuf sed
On August 15, 2006 21:30 EST the United States will have been at war in Iraq longer than it was at war with Germany in World War II.
And we wonder why they hate us
I challenge anyone to look me in the eye and tell me that we're still the Good Guys after reading this.
We imprisoned and tortured a person whom we knew to be innocent of any crime for five years. Then when a court finally ordered him to be released we try to imprison him again because he overstayed his visa!
And we wonder why the world hates us?
We imprisoned and tortured a person whom we knew to be innocent of any crime for five years. Then when a court finally ordered him to be released we try to imprison him again because he overstayed his visa!
And we wonder why the world hates us?
Saturday, August 12, 2006
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
I hate to say I told you so but...
Back in April I prophesized that George Bush intended to start a war with Iran before the November elections
I regret to report that it appears that I was right.
I regret to report that it appears that I was right.
Friday, July 21, 2006
Blackout blackout
100,000 people in Queens, New York, have been without power all week. You wouldn't know it from reading the headlines.
Ho hum?
The Cato Institute has it figured out: neocons want war because peace is just too boring.
Yes, it would be funny if it weren't so plausible.
Yes, it would be funny if it weren't so plausible.
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
At least he's not a hypocrite
Tennessee Congressman Lincoln Davis wants to outlaw divorce and make adultery a felony.
Sunday, July 16, 2006
A little too happy?
Is anyone but me bothered by the gleeful tone behind Newt Gingrich's proclamation that World War III is underway?
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Too much of a good thing
Having gotten fed up with the inexcusably shitty manner in which the record industry treats its potential customers I decided to go straight to the source and solicit original music directly from the artists. After all, you can't walk three blocks in this town without tripping over a few dozen musicians.
I sent out an ad to a Hollywood insider's mailing list and in 24 hours I got over 140 submissions (and they're still coming in). At first I was going to respond to every one individually because I know how much it sucks not to get any kind of response at all, but I think I just won't be able to. Instead I'll try to set up a sort of a bloggy thing over at the movie web site to communicate en masse. If any of you who have submitted tunes are by chance reading this, know that I am listening to each and every submission. Not all the way through necessarily, but I am listening to every one. All in all I'm pretty impressed by the general quality of the music. So far I haven't heard anything that really sucked, and a couple of tunes have really shined. (And if you haven't heard of Marina V go check her out. She really knocked my socks off.)
But mostly it's pretty mediocre fare. I've gotten to the point where if I hear a strumming guitar in the opening bars I groan. Synthesizers and MIDI sequencers are really cheap nowadays. So unless you're all about the lyrics (in which case you can just dispense with the intro altogether -- which is fine with me, I'm a Dylan fan after all and he couldn't sing his way out of a paper bag) please please please get something besides a guitar into the opening bars. Pianos, harpsichords, pipe organs, I don't care. Cellos, people! Haven't any of you ever heard of cellos? Doesn't anyone listen to Eleanor Rigby any more? It doesn't have to be concert quality, it just has to be not a guitar! Please! I beg of you!
OK, I feel better now.
I've developed a few other pet peeves as well, including: filtered vocals, vocals that sound like the singer is on drugs (and yes, I know that one of my target songs, Comfortably Numb, is about taking drugs, but the singer is administering the drugs, not taking them himself!). And as long as I'm on my soap box, why on earth are people sending me light bouncy love songs? I'm picking songs for a murder scene and a film about homeless people for crying out loud! I'm looking for existential angst and biting social commentary, and people are sending me things that would be right at home on Love Songs on the Coast. Geez.
But then I stumble on things like this and it all seems worthwhile.
I sent out an ad to a Hollywood insider's mailing list and in 24 hours I got over 140 submissions (and they're still coming in). At first I was going to respond to every one individually because I know how much it sucks not to get any kind of response at all, but I think I just won't be able to. Instead I'll try to set up a sort of a bloggy thing over at the movie web site to communicate en masse. If any of you who have submitted tunes are by chance reading this, know that I am listening to each and every submission. Not all the way through necessarily, but I am listening to every one. All in all I'm pretty impressed by the general quality of the music. So far I haven't heard anything that really sucked, and a couple of tunes have really shined. (And if you haven't heard of Marina V go check her out. She really knocked my socks off.)
But mostly it's pretty mediocre fare. I've gotten to the point where if I hear a strumming guitar in the opening bars I groan. Synthesizers and MIDI sequencers are really cheap nowadays. So unless you're all about the lyrics (in which case you can just dispense with the intro altogether -- which is fine with me, I'm a Dylan fan after all and he couldn't sing his way out of a paper bag) please please please get something besides a guitar into the opening bars. Pianos, harpsichords, pipe organs, I don't care. Cellos, people! Haven't any of you ever heard of cellos? Doesn't anyone listen to Eleanor Rigby any more? It doesn't have to be concert quality, it just has to be not a guitar! Please! I beg of you!
OK, I feel better now.
I've developed a few other pet peeves as well, including: filtered vocals, vocals that sound like the singer is on drugs (and yes, I know that one of my target songs, Comfortably Numb, is about taking drugs, but the singer is administering the drugs, not taking them himself!). And as long as I'm on my soap box, why on earth are people sending me light bouncy love songs? I'm picking songs for a murder scene and a film about homeless people for crying out loud! I'm looking for existential angst and biting social commentary, and people are sending me things that would be right at home on Love Songs on the Coast. Geez.
But then I stumble on things like this and it all seems worthwhile.
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Bad days
The initial adrenaline rush of making a film has definitely worn off and I think I'm now getting into the long, hard slog stage. I watched someone else's film about homeless people today (I don't want to say which one for reasons that will be clear shortly). It really took the wind out of my sails. The message of the film was basically that it's a hopelessly intractable problem, which is not what I needed to hear just now (even if it may be true). I need to believe that there's a solution out there somewhere. I need to have faith. Ironic, isn't it?
The belief that nothing can be done is a self-fulfilling prophecy. If there's no hope, why bother to try? And if you don't try, of course you won't succeed, which of course reinforces your belief that it really was hopeless after all. If ever there was a vicious cycle, this is it.
I have had two people cancel interviews with me so far. One said he didn't want to invest any more emotional energy on the homelessness issue, which I could certainly understand. The other didn't give a reason, which really annoyed me, and I'm finding that I'm having a really hard time letting that one go. This person -- I'll call her B -- is not homeless (by a long stretch), and the one sentiment she did express to me before deciding to cut off contact was that the homeless problem is the fault of the ACLU for challenging laws making it illegal to sleep in public places (or, as she put it, to "pick the homeless up out of their own urine"). And if by some chance B is reading this, please note the pains I am taking to conceal your identity. And if you think I am distorting your position, and you really have the courage of your convictions, then call me and talk to me and set me straight, damn it.
I suspect that the people who support vagrancy laws are afraid to come forward because in their heart of hearts they know that they too have given in to despair. If you can't solve the problem then you only have two choices: sweep it under the rug, or face it day in and day out. And that second option, as I am coming to understand, is very, very unpleasant.
I think supporters of vagrancy laws support those laws for the same people that Walter the bum drinks: because neither one has the inner strength to look their problems squarely in the eye and say: I am going to fix you. Whatever it takes. I will not succumb to despair. I will not accept the premise that the problem is intractable. I will have faith even against all evidence that there is a solution out there, and I will proceed on that premise.
I hope I manage to find the inner strength to do that. Right now I'm not so sure.
The belief that nothing can be done is a self-fulfilling prophecy. If there's no hope, why bother to try? And if you don't try, of course you won't succeed, which of course reinforces your belief that it really was hopeless after all. If ever there was a vicious cycle, this is it.
I have had two people cancel interviews with me so far. One said he didn't want to invest any more emotional energy on the homelessness issue, which I could certainly understand. The other didn't give a reason, which really annoyed me, and I'm finding that I'm having a really hard time letting that one go. This person -- I'll call her B -- is not homeless (by a long stretch), and the one sentiment she did express to me before deciding to cut off contact was that the homeless problem is the fault of the ACLU for challenging laws making it illegal to sleep in public places (or, as she put it, to "pick the homeless up out of their own urine"). And if by some chance B is reading this, please note the pains I am taking to conceal your identity. And if you think I am distorting your position, and you really have the courage of your convictions, then call me and talk to me and set me straight, damn it.
I suspect that the people who support vagrancy laws are afraid to come forward because in their heart of hearts they know that they too have given in to despair. If you can't solve the problem then you only have two choices: sweep it under the rug, or face it day in and day out. And that second option, as I am coming to understand, is very, very unpleasant.
I think supporters of vagrancy laws support those laws for the same people that Walter the bum drinks: because neither one has the inner strength to look their problems squarely in the eye and say: I am going to fix you. Whatever it takes. I will not succumb to despair. I will not accept the premise that the problem is intractable. I will have faith even against all evidence that there is a solution out there, and I will proceed on that premise.
I hope I manage to find the inner strength to do that. Right now I'm not so sure.
Monday, July 10, 2006
Guilt by association
One of my papers has been cited on Bill Dembski's blog.
For the record, I do not consider that paper to support Dembski's views in any way.
For the record, I do not consider that paper to support Dembski's views in any way.
Birthright
Dealing with the homeless has gotten me thinking about the question of birthright: what is a human being entitled to merely by virtue of the fact that they are human? There is a universal consensus that they are entitled not to be murdered. If someone is killed, even a homeless person, the police will make at least a token attempt to find and prosecute the perpetrator. But beyond that there seems to be very little consensus. Certainly there seem to be a lot of folks out there who believe that a person is not entitled to a roof over their head. What then? Are they entitled to food? Clean water? A place to defecate? Toilet paper? A toothbrush? A blanket? A kind word? To sleep? To sleep where they can be seen by ordinary, decent, hard-working, god-fearing, money-spending tourists?
I have been at this just over a week now, and I've probably talked to twenty or so homeless people. Without exception they have all (with the exception of one grouch who wouldn't talk to me) been nice, mostly coherent, ordinary folks. Even the crazy guy who calls himself Ra, wears glasses painted to look like windows, and spends day after day standing on the same corner reading verses from the Bible at the top of his lungs ("100% born again Christian" is how he describes himself) is a pretty nice, albeit strange, guy once you get to know him.
And yet there are still a lot of them that I'm afraid to approach: the ones who hang out in the "druggy" part of the park, the guy dressed in the winter parka with God only knows how many layers underneath (picture a dark version of the Michelin Man) who was ranting at a photographer who wasn't even trying to take a picture of him, the bag lady sitting on the bench crying, the psychotic guy digging through the trash can while shouting at things unseen.
They are all human. What are they entitled to?
I have been at this just over a week now, and I've probably talked to twenty or so homeless people. Without exception they have all (with the exception of one grouch who wouldn't talk to me) been nice, mostly coherent, ordinary folks. Even the crazy guy who calls himself Ra, wears glasses painted to look like windows, and spends day after day standing on the same corner reading verses from the Bible at the top of his lungs ("100% born again Christian" is how he describes himself) is a pretty nice, albeit strange, guy once you get to know him.
And yet there are still a lot of them that I'm afraid to approach: the ones who hang out in the "druggy" part of the park, the guy dressed in the winter parka with God only knows how many layers underneath (picture a dark version of the Michelin Man) who was ranting at a photographer who wasn't even trying to take a picture of him, the bag lady sitting on the bench crying, the psychotic guy digging through the trash can while shouting at things unseen.
They are all human. What are they entitled to?
I am a criminal
I learned yesterday that it is a crime to sit on the sidewalk in Santa Monica. It's a misdemeanor, on a par with petty theft, prostitution, and vandalism. So is brushing your teeth in a public restroom.
When the policeman I was talking to told me that (off camera of course) I decided to put it to the test: I sat on the sidewalk right in front of him, looked up at him and asked, "You mean I'm committing a crime right now?" "That's right," he said. "So why aren't you arresting me?" I asked. His answer was that the police have a certain amount of discretion deciding which cases to pursue. Translation: I, with my clean shave and clean clothes and bag full of expensive video equipment, didn't look like a homeless person.
Ironically, later in the day I met a homeless person who actually had more electronic gadgetry than I do. He's a veteran in his seventies who gets about $900 a month in Social Security, which is not nearly enough to afford a place in Santa Monica (rents here start at about twice that) but if you're on the street with no bills to pay it's quite a lot of money. He showed me his stash: a thick wad of $100 bills (which he said he had a hard time spending because none of the business establishments that will actually let him in will accept hundreds), a laptop computer, a top-of-the-line PDA (which he couldn't actually use because he had forgotten the password).
When the policeman I was talking to told me that (off camera of course) I decided to put it to the test: I sat on the sidewalk right in front of him, looked up at him and asked, "You mean I'm committing a crime right now?" "That's right," he said. "So why aren't you arresting me?" I asked. His answer was that the police have a certain amount of discretion deciding which cases to pursue. Translation: I, with my clean shave and clean clothes and bag full of expensive video equipment, didn't look like a homeless person.
Ironically, later in the day I met a homeless person who actually had more electronic gadgetry than I do. He's a veteran in his seventies who gets about $900 a month in Social Security, which is not nearly enough to afford a place in Santa Monica (rents here start at about twice that) but if you're on the street with no bills to pay it's quite a lot of money. He showed me his stash: a thick wad of $100 bills (which he said he had a hard time spending because none of the business establishments that will actually let him in will accept hundreds), a laptop computer, a top-of-the-line PDA (which he couldn't actually use because he had forgotten the password).
Sunday, July 09, 2006
A day in the life of a pair of socks
I've had an interesting 36 hours.
I got myself a Sony HDR-HC3 camera. It's a true miracle of modern technology: a real 1080i HD camcorder that fits in the palm of your hand. Not as many bells and whistles as the HDR-FX1 I rented for my first couple of days, but vastly more portable. When you're shooting on the street that makes a huge difference, though I do kind of miss the aura of shlepping around a big camera. People seem to take you a little more seriously when it's obvious you're not a tourist. But I wouldn't go back -- not without a camera man.
So I went out onto Ocean Front Park with my new camera and talked to Walter, the self-described "bum" who got me started on this little adventure, and he introduced me to a fellow named Tex. Tex is, suprisingly enough, from Texas, and he ended up in California like so many people do when he lost his job and went West looking for work. Now he goes "canning" as it is called on the streets: rummaging through trash cans for cans and bottles which he collects in huge sacks to sell to recyclers for a couple of bucks. There are lazy homeless people to be sure, but Tex isn't one of them.
I interviewed Tex for about half and hour and when I was done I gave him five dollars, which is more or less my standard "tip". He thanked me and then said that if I really wanted to help him out what he could really use was a pair of socks.
That broke my heart all over again.
So yesterday I went over to Macys and bought a six-pack of cheap (by my standards) cotton socks. I carried them around with me all day, but I was never able to find Tex to give them to him. I hope he shows up again.
I think I'm going to take today off.
Oh, I almost forgot: Michael, the ex-therapist in my trailer, has found a place to stay for two weeks. Some friends of his have gone on a trip, and he's apartment-sitting for them.
I've followed up on quite a bit of Michael's story now, and so far all of it checks out.
I got myself a Sony HDR-HC3 camera. It's a true miracle of modern technology: a real 1080i HD camcorder that fits in the palm of your hand. Not as many bells and whistles as the HDR-FX1 I rented for my first couple of days, but vastly more portable. When you're shooting on the street that makes a huge difference, though I do kind of miss the aura of shlepping around a big camera. People seem to take you a little more seriously when it's obvious you're not a tourist. But I wouldn't go back -- not without a camera man.
So I went out onto Ocean Front Park with my new camera and talked to Walter, the self-described "bum" who got me started on this little adventure, and he introduced me to a fellow named Tex. Tex is, suprisingly enough, from Texas, and he ended up in California like so many people do when he lost his job and went West looking for work. Now he goes "canning" as it is called on the streets: rummaging through trash cans for cans and bottles which he collects in huge sacks to sell to recyclers for a couple of bucks. There are lazy homeless people to be sure, but Tex isn't one of them.
I interviewed Tex for about half and hour and when I was done I gave him five dollars, which is more or less my standard "tip". He thanked me and then said that if I really wanted to help him out what he could really use was a pair of socks.
That broke my heart all over again.
So yesterday I went over to Macys and bought a six-pack of cheap (by my standards) cotton socks. I carried them around with me all day, but I was never able to find Tex to give them to him. I hope he shows up again.
I think I'm going to take today off.
Oh, I almost forgot: Michael, the ex-therapist in my trailer, has found a place to stay for two weeks. Some friends of his have gone on a trip, and he's apartment-sitting for them.
I've followed up on quite a bit of Michael's story now, and so far all of it checks out.
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Another homeless Michael
Ran across this blog written by another homeless man named Michael, this on in North Carolina.
English needs some better words than "interesting", "fasinating", "compelling" and so on. They all have far too positive connotations for this situation. And yet, Michael's blog is all of these things.
Merely thinking about homelessness can be emotionally draining. I just got an email from someone cancelling an interview he had previously scheduled with me because he decided he just didn't want to deal with it any more. Too hard.
I know how he feels. I've only been at this four days and I'm already finding myself sometimes wishing I hadn't let this particular genie out of the bottle. I'd be sleeping a lot better at night if I'd never picked up that damn camera. (It's a fact I'm not particularly proud of, but there it is.)
English needs some better words than "interesting", "fasinating", "compelling" and so on. They all have far too positive connotations for this situation. And yet, Michael's blog is all of these things.
Merely thinking about homelessness can be emotionally draining. I just got an email from someone cancelling an interview he had previously scheduled with me because he decided he just didn't want to deal with it any more. Too hard.
I know how he feels. I've only been at this four days and I'm already finding myself sometimes wishing I hadn't let this particular genie out of the bottle. I'd be sleeping a lot better at night if I'd never picked up that damn camera. (It's a fact I'm not particularly proud of, but there it is.)
A trailer for the homeless
It's rushed and it's rough but at least it's done. I finally finished editing a trailer of my interview with Michael, a man who has a master's degree in Psychology and used to be a marriage and family counselor, and who has been homeless for over four years. It's about eight minutes long.
If anyone has any ideas of how to help this guy please let me know. It's really starting to tear me up.
By the way, one of the most common reactions to seeing the clip is that he is lying. While I have not yet had a chance to follow up on everyting, I have been able to do enough background checking to convince myself (and I'm a pretty skeptical guy) that he is telling the truth at least about the substance of his story. He has given me a lot of verifiable background information, and so far everything that I have been able to check confirms his story. I'll post details when I have more complete information.
If anyone has any ideas of how to help this guy please let me know. It's really starting to tear me up.
By the way, one of the most common reactions to seeing the clip is that he is lying. While I have not yet had a chance to follow up on everyting, I have been able to do enough background checking to convince myself (and I'm a pretty skeptical guy) that he is telling the truth at least about the substance of his story. He has given me a lot of verifiable background information, and so far everything that I have been able to check confirms his story. I'll post details when I have more complete information.
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
There but for the grace of God...
The reason I'm grousing about iMovie's brokenness is that I've embarked on a most unlikely adventure. I have always been interested in making movies, and a few years ago I wrote a screenplay that I've been shopping around Hollywood for a couple of years now (which is par for the course I am given to understand).
I have also been kicking around the idea of making a documentary about homeless people, who have always fascinated me in a macabre sort of way. I have long found it puzzling how a society as rich as ours could have so many homeless people, and I wanted to find out for myself how they got to be that way.
I have started working with a venture capital firm in Santa Monica, which is the homeless capital of the world. The relatively mild climate and liberal politics attract homeless people from all over. In order to make the commute less annoying we got a little apartment near the office, and my wife and I spend about a third of our time there now.
The other night I was walking my dog out in the park that overlooks the Pacific ocean, and he went up to a bum (that is how he later described himself) lying on the grass to say hello. The bum petted my dog for a bit and then he thanked me for letting him pet my dog. He said, "I'd forgotten how nice it is to pet a dog." That nearly broke my heart. So I decided to grab a camera and start filming.
What I found has really shocked me. I don't have time to go into details right now, but suffice it to say that there's an amazing variety of homeless people in Santa Monica. Some are ex-hippies who turned on, tuned in, and dropped out. Some, like Walter, the one who petted my dog, had some tragedy strike them (Walter's wife and four children were killed by a drunk driver) and were never able to recover from the trauma. (Ironically, Walter is now an alchoholic. But he doesn't drive.) Some are Katrina victims dumped here by FEMA. Some have a few screws loose. And some have a whole hardware store rattling around inside their heads. (I have some great footage of a guy named Daniel explaing how he knows all the world's leaders thanks to his psychic powers.)
And then there's Michael.
Michael has a master's degree in psychology. He used to be a licensed marriage and family counselor. His father was a radio and television director. He had a wife and a son. The family had a few million dollars in the bank.
Then Michael's twin brother stole all his money and his father's money and left the country. And then Michael had a heart attack which left him with a $100,000+ hospital bill.
Michael has been homeless for over four years.
Yesterday he turned 60. The stories he tells are heartbreaking and very, very scary.
And I have them all on tape.
Unfortunately, it's HD video, which takes for bloody ever to download and edit on my little Mac Mini. I was really hoping to get a short segment edited out that I could put on the web to try and draw some attention to Michaels case to see if anyone knows a way to help the poor guy. (The situation is very, very complicated.)
It's after 1:00 in the morning, I've been working on the damn thing for six hours and only have it about half done, and I have to host a Fourth of July party tomorrow, so I probably won't be able to finish it until the 5th at the earliest. So this poor sod has to spend two more nights on the street, maybe more, because I'm going to get together with a bunch of friends and eat hamburgers and swim in our pool.
It seems wrong. Very, very wrong.
I have also been kicking around the idea of making a documentary about homeless people, who have always fascinated me in a macabre sort of way. I have long found it puzzling how a society as rich as ours could have so many homeless people, and I wanted to find out for myself how they got to be that way.
I have started working with a venture capital firm in Santa Monica, which is the homeless capital of the world. The relatively mild climate and liberal politics attract homeless people from all over. In order to make the commute less annoying we got a little apartment near the office, and my wife and I spend about a third of our time there now.
The other night I was walking my dog out in the park that overlooks the Pacific ocean, and he went up to a bum (that is how he later described himself) lying on the grass to say hello. The bum petted my dog for a bit and then he thanked me for letting him pet my dog. He said, "I'd forgotten how nice it is to pet a dog." That nearly broke my heart. So I decided to grab a camera and start filming.
What I found has really shocked me. I don't have time to go into details right now, but suffice it to say that there's an amazing variety of homeless people in Santa Monica. Some are ex-hippies who turned on, tuned in, and dropped out. Some, like Walter, the one who petted my dog, had some tragedy strike them (Walter's wife and four children were killed by a drunk driver) and were never able to recover from the trauma. (Ironically, Walter is now an alchoholic. But he doesn't drive.) Some are Katrina victims dumped here by FEMA. Some have a few screws loose. And some have a whole hardware store rattling around inside their heads. (I have some great footage of a guy named Daniel explaing how he knows all the world's leaders thanks to his psychic powers.)
And then there's Michael.
Michael has a master's degree in psychology. He used to be a licensed marriage and family counselor. His father was a radio and television director. He had a wife and a son. The family had a few million dollars in the bank.
Then Michael's twin brother stole all his money and his father's money and left the country. And then Michael had a heart attack which left him with a $100,000+ hospital bill.
Michael has been homeless for over four years.
Yesterday he turned 60. The stories he tells are heartbreaking and very, very scary.
And I have them all on tape.
Unfortunately, it's HD video, which takes for bloody ever to download and edit on my little Mac Mini. I was really hoping to get a short segment edited out that I could put on the web to try and draw some attention to Michaels case to see if anyone knows a way to help the poor guy. (The situation is very, very complicated.)
It's after 1:00 in the morning, I've been working on the damn thing for six hours and only have it about half done, and I have to host a Fourth of July party tomorrow, so I probably won't be able to finish it until the 5th at the earliest. So this poor sod has to spend two more nights on the street, maybe more, because I'm going to get together with a bunch of friends and eat hamburgers and swim in our pool.
It seems wrong. Very, very wrong.
Monday, July 03, 2006
Five things I hate about iMovie HD
1. It is almost hopeless to actually edit HD in iMovie HD unless you have a dual G5 with 27 GB of RAM, even though all the Apple literature, their sales people, and the guy at the camera shop said that a Mini should be able to handle HD, no problem. I have no problem editing regular DV, but HD just brings the poor little thing to its metaphorical knees. If I try to import more than about half an hour of HD at a time (which takes four hours by the way because a Mini can only import HD at 1/8 speed) it hangs the OS X kernel. Even the mouse stops moving.
2. There is no way to add a simple block of text in the center of the screen in a single font size that doesn't move around in some obnoxious way. For a company that prides itself on minimalist aesthetics this is an unforgivable omission.
3. If you have split a clip into two pieces there is apparently no way to join them back together again (if, for example, you cut something too short for a transition that you want to apply).
4. Rendering effects takes forever, and there is no apparent progress indication. (I'm still waiting for a fade to render as I write this.)
5. There are a bunch of features that have visible controls on OS X 10.3 but which don't actually work unless you have 10.4.
Bottom line: if you're considering stepping up to HD, don't do it unless you're prepared to fork out for a brand new top-of-the-line Mac with OS X 10.4 and Final Cut. Anything less will just cause you pain.
2. There is no way to add a simple block of text in the center of the screen in a single font size that doesn't move around in some obnoxious way. For a company that prides itself on minimalist aesthetics this is an unforgivable omission.
3. If you have split a clip into two pieces there is apparently no way to join them back together again (if, for example, you cut something too short for a transition that you want to apply).
4. Rendering effects takes forever, and there is no apparent progress indication. (I'm still waiting for a fade to render as I write this.)
5. There are a bunch of features that have visible controls on OS X 10.3 but which don't actually work unless you have 10.4.
Bottom line: if you're considering stepping up to HD, don't do it unless you're prepared to fork out for a brand new top-of-the-line Mac with OS X 10.4 and Final Cut. Anything less will just cause you pain.
Thursday, June 29, 2006
All quiet on the musical front
No word from either of the two companies from which I am trying to obtain music licenses. I guess they just don't want my money. But then again, what would you expect from a company that sues people for parodying songs that are in the public domain.
Happily, I have discovered that copyright law makes granting certain kinds of licenses mandatory. So I can't use the original recording, but I can hire a band to record a cover version for me. Cool! That will almost certainly cost less, and might even sound better. (I've always wanted to tweak one of the lyrics in "Comfortably Numb". It should be "When I was a child I caught a fleeting glimpse/Out of the corner of my MIND.")
Happily, I have discovered that copyright law makes granting certain kinds of licenses mandatory. So I can't use the original recording, but I can hire a band to record a cover version for me. Cool! That will almost certainly cost less, and might even sound better. (I've always wanted to tweak one of the lyrics in "Comfortably Numb". It should be "When I was a child I caught a fleeting glimpse/Out of the corner of my MIND.")
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
The stupidest leaflet ever
A picture is worth a thousand words. Or in this case, five. This leaflet was actually included in a box of medicine. Go figure.
Music licensing adventures continue
I wonder if the people at the music companies have been reading my blog. Here's the response I got from one of them today:
Dear Mr. Garret,
Further to your request for the use of BRAIN DAMAGE in the production entitled “Control,” please note that the song is not available for this use.
Thank you for the request.
Best Regards,
Brooke
I'm bummed.
There are two interesting things about this. First, I asked for a quote on a performance license, which I know they do give out because the Lounge Lizards did a cover of Brain Damage. (It's one of the funniest things I've ever heard. You can find it on iTunes.) Second, why didn't they just tell me this up front instead of asking me for all the term and territory information?
I've sent the following response:
Hi Brooke,
Thanks for getting back to me.
Do you mean that it is not available for use in movies in general, or just not in this particular movie?
Is there anything else in your library with a similar feel that is available that you might suggest as an alternative?
How much is a performance license? (I know those are available because at least one band has done a cover version.)
rg
Dear Mr. Garret,
Further to your request for the use of BRAIN DAMAGE in the production entitled “Control,” please note that the song is not available for this use.
Thank you for the request.
Best Regards,
Brooke
I'm bummed.
There are two interesting things about this. First, I asked for a quote on a performance license, which I know they do give out because the Lounge Lizards did a cover of Brain Damage. (It's one of the funniest things I've ever heard. You can find it on iTunes.) Second, why didn't they just tell me this up front instead of asking me for all the term and territory information?
I've sent the following response:
Hi Brooke,
Thanks for getting back to me.
Do you mean that it is not available for use in movies in general, or just not in this particular movie?
Is there anything else in your library with a similar feel that is available that you might suggest as an alternative?
How much is a performance license? (I know those are available because at least one band has done a cover version.)
rg
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Music license quote quest part 3
The quest to wrestle a price quote from the music industry for a license to two Pink Floyd songs continues. I got an email today from one of the two companies involved. I was actually somewhat surprised that they got back to me at all. They said they needed more information, including the time period and the territory, which I don't know because the film I want to use the songs in isn't even in production, let alone in distribution.
I sent back a response asking for quotes for various permuations of periods and territories. Haven't heard back.
Still waiting to hear anything from the first company.
If anyone in the music industry is reading this and wondering why your business is in the toilet, it's very simple: your problem isn't pirating, your problem is that you treat your customers like shit. What could you possibly be doing that makes it take days or even weeks to generate a price quote to use a song in a movie? It's not like I'm the first one to do this. And even if there really is a reason for it to take this long, how hard would it be to shoot me an email saying, "Sorry this is taking so long, we have to do X and Y and Z, expect to hear from us in N days."
I can't help but wonder what it is the industry is hoping to accomplish by making it this hard to do business with them.
I sent back a response asking for quotes for various permuations of periods and territories. Haven't heard back.
Still waiting to hear anything from the first company.
If anyone in the music industry is reading this and wondering why your business is in the toilet, it's very simple: your problem isn't pirating, your problem is that you treat your customers like shit. What could you possibly be doing that makes it take days or even weeks to generate a price quote to use a song in a movie? It's not like I'm the first one to do this. And even if there really is a reason for it to take this long, how hard would it be to shoot me an email saying, "Sorry this is taking so long, we have to do X and Y and Z, expect to hear from us in N days."
I can't help but wonder what it is the industry is hoping to accomplish by making it this hard to do business with them.
Monday, June 19, 2006
Music licencing adventures, chapter 2
It turns out that the situation for licensing music is not quite as bad as I had thought once you know the system, but there is still a lot of room for improvement. There are two companies, BMI and ASCAP, that are the main gateways to the music industry's licensing machinery. Thay have searchable on-line databases that will give you the name and contact information for the publisher of most popular songs, including the ones I'm looking for.
From there the procedures vary by company. In my case I'm dealing with two different publishers, both of which require you to send in a written request for a quote by fax. Why they don't have a web page set up for this in this day and age is beyond me (but is pretty much in keeping with the music industry's general attitude of being too important for their customers). Maybe there's a business opportunity here.
One of the things I've been told is that the quotes for licensing music for movies vary by term (which is to say time period) and territory. Since my film isn't in production I have no idea what the term or the territory might be. We'll see how much of an obstacle that presents to getting them to name me a price.
Stay tuned.
From there the procedures vary by company. In my case I'm dealing with two different publishers, both of which require you to send in a written request for a quote by fax. Why they don't have a web page set up for this in this day and age is beyond me (but is pretty much in keeping with the music industry's general attitude of being too important for their customers). Maybe there's a business opportunity here.
One of the things I've been told is that the quotes for licensing music for movies vary by term (which is to say time period) and territory. Since my film isn't in production I have no idea what the term or the territory might be. We'll see how much of an obstacle that presents to getting them to name me a price.
Stay tuned.
Friday, June 16, 2006
It shouldn't be this hard to get someone to take my money
One of the things I've been doing on the side is writing a screenplay. It's a mystery thriller about a killer virus, and I've written two copyrighted songs into the script. I've bene toying with the idea of producing the movie myself, and so as an experiment I decided to try to find out how much it would cost to license these two songs for my film.
You'd think that the music companies would make this easy. After all, I want to buy something from them. Not only that, but the music industry is on somewhat of a crusade against piracy. Surely they would have things set up so that if someone actually wants to pay them for a song instead of pirating it that it would be easy to find out how much it costs and where to send the money.
Not so. In fact, it turns out to be nearly impossible.
The two songs I'm interested in are Pink FLoyd's "Comfortably Numb" from The Wall, and "Brain Damage" from Dark Side of the Moon. The Wall is copyright 1979 by "Pink Floyd Limited", and it was produced by Columbia Records. Neither company has any contact information on their web site. Dark Side of the Moon was produced by Capitol Records (now EMI), which actually does have contact information on its web site. I was even able to call the company and get the switchboard operator to put me in touch with someone in the licensing department, but of course this person didn't actually answer their phone and they haven't returned my call.
This is no way to treat your customers.
Not that any of this came as a great surprise to me. The music industry has a rather ignominious history of treating their customers like shit. For all the effort they spend on rootkits and legal action, I wonder if any of them ever once considered that they might make more money if they only made it easier for people to figure out where to send the check and how much to make it out for?
Stay tuned for future installments on this saga.
[Update: I finally found this page on the RIAA web site. It was well hidden.
You'd think that the music companies would make this easy. After all, I want to buy something from them. Not only that, but the music industry is on somewhat of a crusade against piracy. Surely they would have things set up so that if someone actually wants to pay them for a song instead of pirating it that it would be easy to find out how much it costs and where to send the money.
Not so. In fact, it turns out to be nearly impossible.
The two songs I'm interested in are Pink FLoyd's "Comfortably Numb" from The Wall, and "Brain Damage" from Dark Side of the Moon. The Wall is copyright 1979 by "Pink Floyd Limited", and it was produced by Columbia Records. Neither company has any contact information on their web site. Dark Side of the Moon was produced by Capitol Records (now EMI), which actually does have contact information on its web site. I was even able to call the company and get the switchboard operator to put me in touch with someone in the licensing department, but of course this person didn't actually answer their phone and they haven't returned my call.
This is no way to treat your customers.
Not that any of this came as a great surprise to me. The music industry has a rather ignominious history of treating their customers like shit. For all the effort they spend on rootkits and legal action, I wonder if any of them ever once considered that they might make more money if they only made it easier for people to figure out where to send the check and how much to make it out for?
Stay tuned for future installments on this saga.
[Update: I finally found this page on the RIAA web site. It was well hidden.
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