Kennyblog Redux

On some nights, Ally works at a bar in Brooklyn, booking and curating burlesque shows. Since we live in the Lower East Side, this means that she and I both each spend a fair amount of time on the L train. I'm actually at the bar right now, sitting at the box office, typing this post into my phone. That's not strictly relevant, but I wanted to give you some excuse for any potential spelling errors - there's a good chance that there is some girl with tassles on her etcetera's in front of me, so I might be a bit distracted.

Anyway, as I was waiting for the L train, I saw a guy on the other side of the tracks run down the stairs, jump the last two steps, and then busted out the biggest smile whlie pumping his arms in the air. The reason was that he had timed his arrival on the platform perfectly, and was able to walk right onto the train that was opening it's doors as he walked up to it. I felt so good for him - I've been that guy, and it's the best thing ever.

When it happens to me, I pretend that my super power is always being able to walk right onto the train.

I just wrote the post seen below, and realized that it went on for WAY longer than it needed to. So I'll recap, in case you're busy: If you want to stop the NY Times website from redirecting you everytime you highlight text, use Firefox with the Adblock plugin, and add a blocking rule for *.nytimes.com/js/common/screen/altClickToSearch.js The rest of the post can be ignored.

There are a lot of little annoyances on the web. Popups, redirects, blogs written by idiots. Some of them we can do nothing about, but for some we do have a recourse (taking me out of your feed reader, as a quick example).

Talking with Ben the other day, I was reminded about how annoying things could be. He regaled me with a tale of having to use Internet Explorer 7 for watching some video online (that's another one of those annoyances: Why on earth would any company deploy a system that requires you to use a particular browser is beyond me. Some strategy meeting with a pointy-haired boss saying something like "I think the size of our target market is a little too large. What can we do about that?"), and he found that there were a lot of popups.

By now you should know that using Firefox goes a long way to make your web browsing popup-free (even if it also makes your machine sluggish). But it's not everything. A particular thing that bugs me is that whenever I'm highlighting text on the New York Times online, it takes me to a page that tells me the definition of a word. I'm not interested in that at all, ever, and it makes me angry. But! I just learned (from Boing Boing)that you can stop this if you are using the AdBlock plugin for Firefox, and add a blocking rule for *.nytimes.com/js/common/screen/altClickToSearch.js

It works, and makes me so happy. But why do I have to do that to make a site not suck? Didn't somebody tell that that was a horrible idea to begin with? Maybe not. I've got to go send an email.

I just posted to the old kennyblog that I was official cutting that one off and starting this one. And then I realized that the top post was about a Firefox plugin. I wonder if that would have reduced my readership. Of course, since that is pretty much comprised entirely of my fiancee and my mom I'm probably in good shape.

We live in a time when our trust in large organizations is lower than it's ever been . That's what it feels like anyway - having been around for less than three decades, I'm probably not particularly well suited to doing any sort of long term assessment. But it's just the impression I get. It's interesting that it is at this very moment that civilization has developed tools which allow us to better hunt for truth. All of the infrastructure and devices for communication and organization help us get our message out, and give each of us the potential to be heard by the entire world. Shame most of us just pass around the link to goatse, really.

And of course, the fact that we have these tools is a least a part of why our faith in those once trusted organizations has faltered; part of this is deserved (major news organizations getting caught promoting clear forgeries in order to discredit the President, soldiers in the United States Army photographed needlessly maltreating prisoners). Part less so - the issues that these organizations need to deal with are outrageously complex, far too deep to be addressed an a blog post, or even an entire career's worth of posting (unless, of course, you are Stephen Den Beste). So we are constantly faced with casual summaries and incomplete analyses of things as they happen, make snap judgments, and quickly move onto the next thing.

I've no conclusion here, just some things I've been thinking about. A good part of my job is the collection, analysis, and distribution of information. My best friends business is based on building a framework for people to build systems of communication. The vast majority of my waking day (and if you've found your way to this post, probably yours too) is spent using, helping to build, and adding content to a ginormous communication infrastructure. In my heart, I believe that it's a good thing. But to be honest, I'm not 100% sold on it.

I'm pretty late on the whole meme, I know. But I'll tell you - I cannot get enough of the lolcats. I just can't. It's the best thing ever. It mashes up every thing that is good about the internet:

I'm a little ashamed of myself tonight. It was my goal tonight, along with Ben, to get a drink at every bar on Avenue A between 1st and 2nd. At first blush, not a particularly lofty one, but still relatively adventurous for someone of my tolerance level.

I was unable to complete even this modest mission, making it to only 5 out of 6 bars (and honestly, I got water at the last one, which doesn't even count. If I remember correctly, Ben asked the bartender something like "what's your girliest drink for my light weight friend," to which the bartender replied "Well, we have a real gay water." And that's what I drank.

Still, that's not the point. My point is I wanted to mention two things I love. The first is New York City. In a mission to drink at every bar along a particular block, I was only able to get to the ones on the west side of the street. Got to love a city like that. I think probably NY and New Orleans are some of the only cities in the nation where I would have that sort of problem.

The second is the internet. As I was walking from bar 5 to Ben's place to pick up my bag, I passed a group of people and over heard "Hey - did you see the youtube video of the kid humping the ottoman?" and I burst out laughing. I decided to look for it when I made it home, and found this. I don't know what the hell it is, but I know that I love any medium that allows me to share in something this screwed up with some random people I find on the street.

Holy crap.

I just learned that Lauren Ambrose is playing the eponymous heroine in this seasons Shakespeare in the Park does Romeo and Juliet. This could be a serious problem in my relationship with Allison. Not only is she a redhead, but she's also a thespian! That's so hot.

Hey, Ben - you're not doing anything during the day. Do me a favor and score me a couple of seats.

Update: Actually, I just looked it up, and found out that the word "thespian" doesn't mean what I thought it did. But still: Woo-hoo Shakespeare!

Ally is reading a copy of WWDScoop, which has a picture of Jack and Meg from the White Stripes wearing some nonsense or another. She asked the question "Why do they dress like such idiots?" to which I responded "If you and I were the White Stripes, we'd look like complete retards all the time. In fact, I'd demand it."

And then I had the best idea ever (which someone else has almost definitely already had, but I haven't read it anywhere else so I'm planting a flag in the idea in this space). Ally and I are going to start a band called the Black Stripes, and we're each going to learn a fundamental instrument that is sorely lacking in the White Stripes. She's going to learn the bass, and I'm going learn the synthesizer. We'll write songs that can be started at specific parts of other White Stripes songs, and they'll sync up perfectly just like Dark Side and the Wizard of Oz.

DJ Danger Mouse will do a mashup record of our albums, and call it The Grey Stripes. Wait, that's too close to the other one. Maybe he'll call it Monochrome Plaid. We'll work that bit out later. I gotta go to practice.

I LOVE the internet.