Boom Krasch Bang

Greetings, friends,
It's that time of year again, when we're certain it's summer, the neighbors nearly blew up my car, all in the name of good, clean fun.  No trip to the Colony this year; those rich folks are way, way over me.  But I know better people in Malibu anyway...perhaps I'll be with them.  I must be upfront:  it's time for me to find a chair and get hammered in it.

My boss decided to quit today; he made it all of 11 months.  If I hadn't just bought a house I'd laugh, or try to send a message back to 1989, when I accepted that job at the American Film Institute library..."DON'T DO IT!  GO BACK TO DRUG DEALING!"  Well, whatever.

Anyway, today (Thursday) if you are in Los Angeles, Devo is playing at Hollywood Park.  No joke, and if you get there before 9 PM, it's only $8.  I am in the mood to go, I am going to see Devo, I am going to play the ponies, and verdammt if I don't play a few hands of poker in the casino.  It's going to be that kind of a weekend; go to the bank and come down to Inglewood.  Fireworks are legal here; bring money for alcohol, gambling, New Wave music and explosives.  How ugly!  If you get down here before 8 PM, come over to my house for an apéritif.  This weekend it's whiskey, whiskey, whiskey.

One more public service announcement:  I am disposing of a pile of maps at the library.  Do you like maps?  They are colorful and make great gifts, wrapping paper, or collage-fodder for young kids.  I'm getting rid of a few hundred topographic maps (about 2' by 3'), mostly of national forests in Alaska and the Midwest, and a few tubes of larger nautical maps of the Gulf Coast and the Great Lakes.  Time to clean up!  Anyway, let me know if you can join us at DEVO or if you want some MAPS.

The explosions outside have me nervous; I need a smoke and go to bed early.  Long weekend!  I am somewhat amazed that 5 years have passed since Miss Una and I were sitting in a lakefront cafe in Ascona, drinking Kir Royales and dressed to the nines, when Kimi Raikonnen broke a front axle on the last lap of the Grand Prix of Germany.

I was missing all my friends from the Mackey Apartments, indeed, as I went to my first party there in several years.  They tore down the garages finally, I can tell you, and built an "exhibition" space, a two-story monster that vaguely mocks its predecessor.  You would have liked it, though, as Peter Noever vamped in his white suit, free beer and free hot dogs (off a silly hot dog cart, no less), a huge rubbery beer tub, and Miss Glaxia dressed in a blonde wig, two slabs of beef and not much else.  I missed Vienna so much, friends, I was almost embarrassed.

Well, I will be back in September, perhaps in a swank apartment on the Ku'damm, perhaps just lost in Entropa, instead of Europa.

In the meantime, please enjoy my new favorite blog, Tea Party Jesus.

Whatever.

Tall Eye: if you dig a hole through the earth you will not, in fact, be in China

By Kate on Maps
With the exception of readers in Chile or Argentina (¡hola y bienvenidos!), your mom was wrong. Molten core of the earth aside, the hole you dug in the backyard when you were six had no chance of ever reaching China. Luckily Tall Eye exists to help answer the question - if I dig a very deep hole, where will I end up?  Wi thjust a few clicks you can find the point on the earth that is exactly opposite you.

Are there any practical uses for this tool? I'm really not sure, but I do feel like my geography knowledge has improved a little bit and I now know the meaning of the word antipode (I know, where have I been?) It's also kind of fun, and there's nothing wrong with that.

And be sure to wave the flag!

Vive le screed!