– Dexter Sinister

About a month and a half ago, two intrepid young Germans announced their intent to launch the world’s first ‘smartpaper’—a publication that enables readers to compile their own publication from blogs and newspapers of their choosing. Extending an olive branch across the inhospitable divide of old/new media, the founders struck content-sharing deals with a few big English and German dailies, and, like their less user-friendly counterparts, even promised to deliver to readers’ doorsteps.

Around that same time, somebody sent me a link to the Twitter Times—a “real-time personalized newspaper generated from your Twitter account.” If you happen to follow Rainn Wilson and Slavoj Zizek (as I do) then you would be forgiven for quickly abandoning this form of online news, but the point here is that in spite of hype about the Death of Journalism, there’s no shortage of newspaper facsimiles; and more specifically, examples of new media toying with—sometimes uncomfortably—older and more recognizable forms.

While the project somewhat glibly claims to be “as much about the current state of news media as anything else,” the papers themselves skirt the line between media meta-commentary and art world solipsism. Although some of the content is contemporary, most of it resists time-stamping itself, and instead swims in ruminations on topics as varied as Michel Foucault, the conditions of artistic production, and most curiously, the Large Hadron Collider. (They explain what it actually does). In contrast to straight journalism, dates don’t matter (some pieces are over a century old) and the divide between reportage and opinion often runs perilously thin.

Although fun, the mishmash of old and new content doesn’t fully clarify the aim of the critique. Is Dexter Sinister suggesting that a daily publication that departs from the logic of print media—that is, breaking news first—is fundamentally unsustainable? Are they saying that the form will always lead to collapse, regardless of content? By calling TF/LN a newspaper while running content better suited for a quarterly or blog, Dexter Sinister borrows the logic of daily print media and deliberately mummifies TF/LN by ignoring it. This is clever, but at the same time leaves little difference between TF/LN and a zine.

Ultimately, though, TF/LN succeeds in a far more important regard—by publishing writing that’s highly intelligent and equally entertaining. Sidestepping punchy headlines and stale ledes (a typical headline is “They Came to See Who Came”) the writers are given space to wander across subject and genres, and usually to the reader’s benefit. In this sense, the real success of the project isn’t in staging the birth and death of a newspaper (there’s no shortage of that these days) but in reminding readers how content should carry a publication beyond its form. In an interview with the Financial Times, Dexter Sinister member Stuart Bailey claimed that because editors didn’t see the articles ahead of time, the “performance” of the project was the last-minute act of throwing the paper together. This may have been the performance, but it almost seems besides the point. Between the New York Times, Twitter Times and First/Last Newspaper, there’s no lack of journalistic models, and what form a paper takes is still, perhaps, less important than what’s inside it.

 

An idiom that has some merits perhaps? It describes somebody who avoids work by giving the appearance of toiling but not actually doing anything significant. Its origins are in naval history when the leadsman would calculate the depth of water around the coastline by dropping a lead weight attached to a measuring line. Many a sailor feigned illness to secure the easiest of onboard jobs.

A year ago, this month, my chief told me that he liked his staff to have pencil tossing time. I was amused by this metaphor which has stuck with me ever since. The comment has been reinforced recently by Michael Neill in his book entitled “You Can Have What you Want”.

Thing is! I don’t have a problem with work life balance. Never have done! Work has always been so exciting and rewarding. However, Neill mentions a quote from James Watson, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist. “It is necessary to be slightly under employed if you are to do something significant”

1. Because you need quality recovery time to give your body, mind and spirit a chance to recharge and 2. To allow the universe to catch up with you.

Now that makes sense to me. So Boys (and Girls)! Keep Swinging … http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jRODPlfhys

6.3

The tree that doesn’t root doesn’t stand.

As great as the sun is, as bright as she shines, it takes but one cloud to chase her rays away and make her disappear.

Not only in times of despair must we have hope, but also in times of progress must we resist regression.

A teacher is first and always a student, only then a teacher.

Who looks inwardly hasn’t the time to point outwardly.

Avenging breeds only revenge.

The truth need not justify itself to the fool.

Until death do we live, and so, until death shall we learn.

If the end is to be justified by any means, it is not an end that I so desire.

Thanksgiving is often recognized as an inter-cultural holiday, celebrating the cooperation of European Pilgrims and Native Americans, but it is also an interfaith holiday. After all the Wampanoag were not Christian.

For American Reform Unitarians* the interfaith nature of Thanksgiving actually reinforces its Christian importance, for we see Christianity not as a religion defined against others, but as an idiom of Truth that can be translated into other idioms.

[This Thanksgiving message was originally published in 2008]

True Christianity has from its inception been a religion that sees the good in members of other religions. Jesus praised the faith of the pagan centurion over that of his fellow Jews, and used a member of the hated Samaritan sect as a symbol of goodness in explicit contrast to leaders of his own faith community. When ministering to the Greeks, Paul even went so far as to claim that the “Unknown God” long worshiped in Hellenistic religion was in fact the very same God of Abraham and Jesus.

Some might dismiss Paul’s assertion as a marketing technique, and perhaps so. However, the willingness to seek Christian truth in other religions validates Christianity as a religion about reality rather than a religion merely about itself.

There is, in every religious community, a moral tension between loyalism and realism. By realism here, we do not mean the Christian Realism of Niebuhr, but realism in the sense that religion is seen as an idiomatic description of reality, therefore open to other forms of description.  This is opposed to the “loyalist” view in which that description becomes a mere catechetical shibboleth, a catch phrase or password, turning the religion into an entrenched camp isolated (by its own members) from the rest of the universe.

A religion about the Creator cannot be an enclave in Creation. The truth of God does not have to be spread across God’s own work by a tiny minority of creatures; God’s truth is evident throughout the universe.

Justin Martyr, despite his sainted status, is likely the primary culprit in this God-denying loyalist tradition as he was the first to attribute other religions entirely to the action of devils. One step more “realistic” is the approach of Paul and other missionaries who attempted to exapt the language and imagery of the cultures they encountered for Christian truth.

But, while this approach treats idiom properly as a tool rather than the stuff of religion itself, it is still prone to error due to the implication that only the language of other religions is valid, not the underlying reality that language describes.

Again, this sort of religion implies an agoraphobic god who fashions a vast universe only to cower in one tiny corner of it and beg mere humans to brave the immeasurable remainder. Religion that worships the Almighty Creator does not degrade God in this way.

The idiomatic approach of Reform Unitarianism takes realism one step further and recognizes that some of the underlying ideas of other religions must be valid if the God we worship is indeed the God of all Creation and not merely an imagined god of ethnic or sectarian autolatry.

For us, the Thanksgiving story represents two groups of God’s children, speaking in different idioms, coming together for a precious moment of peace and communion. The words and labels each used to discuss the ultimate nature of reality and its moral implications may have differed, but if there is such an Ultimate Truth then it must be the same Ultimate Truth for all, despite the difference in languages used to describe it.

The political, sectarian, God-denying, and autolatrous view is that the Native Americans were un-Christian heathens. The truly Christian, universal, Creator-affirming, moral view is that while the compassion the Wampanoag showed the Pilgrims may not have been “Christian” charity, it was certainly Christian charity.

Have a wonderful feast day, and give thanks for all of the blessings in your life!

* American Reform Unitarians revere Thanksgiving’s Harvest Thursday as one of the Four Great Thursdays alongside Declaration Thursday, Garden Thursday, and Ascension Thursday.

Burton Men’s Idiom Select Snowboard

For riders that want it all, the Burton Men’s Idiom Select Snowboard provides the topmost blend of velocity, muscle, and cat-like swiftness. This champion of perfection is forgiving in even the harshest conditions and is sure to serve up a steady ride.

Tear up the entire mountain and beat any terrain that stands in your way. Those that get high on an impeccable turn will take a liking to this snowboard immediately. It’s like a movable playground that gives you effortless authority everywhere you ride.

The Men’s Idiom Select Snowboard has high quality edges and provides a hold that’s precisely designed to crank out unbelievable turns, pull off more stunts, and add greater height to all your hops. Float thru fresh snow quickly without having to focus on control. Amateurs and advanced riders will immediately find that this all mountain annihilator will push you to new horizons.

Burton snowboards are definitely boards that everyone will have a blast on. They are forgiving and fun, yet incredibly frisky and domineering. Soon you’ll be doing filthy stunts that you once dreamed were impossible.

The Men’s Idiom Select Snowboard comes in Black and White and sizes of 154 cm and 159 cm. We also carry Burton boots and bindings to compliment your new snowboard. Purchase online from Altrec and we’ll deliver it to you for FREE!

• Cores: Negative Profile, Dragonfly, Multizone EDG, Park Edge
• Glass: Triax Response Fiberglass, Carbon I-Beam
• Sintered WFO Base
• Slightly Tapered Shape (4mm)
• Infinite Factory Tuning
• Stainless Steel Pressure Distribution Edges
• Pro Tip
• Effective Edge: 118.50cm
• Nose/Tail: 28.81cm
• Waist: 24.30cm
• Sidecut: 7.62m

Burton Serious Idiom Snowboard – Fast and Hard

本棚の整理をしていて、長らく埋もれていた「Test Your Idioms – Peter Watcyn-Jones, Peuguin English Guides」という本を見つけました。わたしが数年前、最後に買った英語のテキストです。
セクション７くらいまでやって放置状態。でもとても良い本なので捨てられません。普通わたしたちが大学受験で覚えるようなイディオムでもなく、GREやTOEFLに出てくるような実用的なイディオムでもなく、「こんなの知っててどうするの？」というものばかり。それがなんと、ネイティブの会話では頻出なのです。わたしの前の上司はお歳もあるのか、諺のような表現をしょっちゅうします。つい周りの日本人が「は？」と聞き返してしまうものばかり。でもこういうのが分かるとジョークも笑えるんですよね。
で、考えました。これはいっそ、自分が知らないものを毎日ブログに書いて覚えよう。
ですので、既知のものは飛ばします。たぶん「は？」って感じのものばかり登場すると思います。ちなみに、見開きで１５くらいのイディオムがあるうち、知らないものは1/4くらいです。
すぐに飽きちゃったらごめんなさい。できるだけ日課にするように心がけます。

Manny Farber via Reverse Shot

Reading collections of film criticism is always a dissociative experience. By the time the essays have been wrangled into a book, their time-stamps have expired, and the reviews have lost the “now playing in a theater near you!” relevance that inspires most people to first start reading film reviews in the first place. Once anthologized, the essays, like the films themselves, become aesthetic and intellectual markers – documents that may (or may not) have withstood the tests of time and taste. Perhaps because of transience of film and its status as a popular art, film criticism seems especially bound to the tyranny of time, although good critics are recognizable by their ability to make you forget it.

For critics such as Manny Farber, this dissociative quality works in their favor. In Farber’s writing, the foreignness of his subject material (have you heard of 1943’s Stage Door Canteen?) is negotiated by a prose style so bizarre that language tends to rise as the true subject of essays. Farber’s writing – which always hits the ground running – is flush with jokes and allusions, and marked by a conversational quality that makes him an especially astute and sharp-tongued companion.. In lieu of academic criticism – the realm of what he calls “ the professional pipe smokers” – Farber imagines himself as the critic in the bunker, armed with a verbal shotgun and a readiness to take down any film that he deems insufficiently smart or innovative.

On Max Orphuls’ Lola Montes: “Any Orphuls movie is supposed to be fluid magic, but after the first five minutes of circus, it is like hauling an old corpse around and around in sawdust.”

On Scorsese: “Scorsese’s movies are about youth’s dream squelched-by-adult-verities, the charismatic fullness of a jungle cat punk, a feisty ten-year-old, a vulgar and good-natured veteran waitress, and a visceral apprehension about an eager-messy world, a reaction he transmits through a saucing, glamour technique.”

On Jean-Luc Godard’s Weekend: “It’s a film which loves its body odor.”

Manny Farber, Drawing Across Time via artnet

Although he always considered himself a painter first, Farber’s career as a critic reads as a roadmap to writerly post-war culture. He wrote columns for The New Republic, The Nation, and Artforum, and despite only publishing one book – 1971’s Negative Space – contributed to almost every film journal of note from the ‘40s up until his death in 2008. While he was never formally trained in film, Farber got his first job as The New Republic’s film critic in 1942 in a way that would make most upstart journalists take pause – he wrote the magazine a letter informing them that he could do the job better than anybody else. He first column ran that February.

Over his thirty-five year career as a critic, Farber’s style evolved from short, punchy, reviews for TNR to sprawling, manifesto-like pieces that eyed larger philosophical and aesthetic trends in film. Never one to give in to outside opinion, Farber’s writing in the 50s and 60s – the heyday of Hollywood and French avant-garde film, respectively – maintained a critical distance from the powers at large while treating the films with the affection of a viewer, rather than an intellectual. In his 1965 essay “Nearer My Agee to Thee,” Farber accuses the “new critics” – Susan Sontag and Andy Sarris – of depersonalizing film, and inheriting James Agee’s “tensionless language with its flagrant escalations.” (Incidentally, Sontag didn’t share the feeling, and once described Farber as “the liveliest, smartest, most original film critic this country has ever produced.”)

Farber’s writing situates itself in contrast to this kind of algebraic intellectualism, and champions the little guys of film – the B-movies, horror films, and spaghetti westerns – that he contends are better equipped to break through the pretensions of High Art and strike at the core of an idea. In one of his most famous essays, 1962’s “White Elephant vs. Termite Art,” Farber attacks high, or white elephant art, as “dehydrated” – comparable to the “boxed-in shape and gemlike inertia of an old, densely wrought European masterpiece.” Against these white elephants – which include Truffaut, Antonioni and Welles – Farber celebrates termite art, which has no “object in mind other than eating away at the immediate boundaries of art, and turning these boundaries into conditions of the next achievement.” Grounding his criticism in a kind of highbrow populism, Farber recognizes the blood in the medium, and reserves his highest praise for films that evoke a visceral, as well as intellectual, response.

In this vein, the dissociative quality in Farber’s writing isn’t just due to the quirkiness of his prose style, but his allegiance to the quickly forgotten. In a profession characterized by topicality and quick turnover, Farber’s interests always lay in the periphery, and to an extent, this gave him room to philosophize rather than focus on a film’s most obvious details. While it now seems incomprehensible to read about B-movies in the pages of a major magazine, Farber’s ability to analyze without academicizing allowed him to bring lowbrow films into highbrow pages. Ultimately, then, perhaps the best way to describe Farber is to lift a phrase from his own “White Elephant.” Unlike the formulaic writing that pervades most criticism, Farber’s writing, like good film, “goes forward eating its own boundaries… leav[ing] nothing in its path other than the signs of eager, industrious, unkempt activity.”

Farber on Film: The Complete Film Writings of Manny Farber was published on October 1st by Library of America.

Recently I’ve been working on translating metaphors and idioms from Arabic to English. It can be tricky, but I love investigating and learning new sayings and phrases in Arabic, some of which have direct equivalents in English, and some are unique. Here are a couple of my favorites so far:

(Hajj wa bayya masabih)                                                                             ‘حج وبياع مسابخ’

Literal translation: ‘Both a pilgrim and a seller of prayer beads’

English equivalent: ‘To run with the hare and hunt with the hounds’

(Alf sabba ma tashuq thawb)                                                               ‘ألف سبة ما تشق ثوب’

Literal translation: ‘A thousand curses do not tear a robe’

English equivalent: ‘Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me’

(‘Araf al jamal min shiffatu)                                                                  ’عرج الجمل من شفّته’

Literal translation: ‘The camel limped from its split lip’

English equivalent: ‘A bad workmen blames his tools’

I just love these! Two books that are amazing and full of Arab proverb, sayings and their English equivalents are ‘The Son of a Duck is a Floater’ and ‘Apricots Tomorrow’ both by Primrose Arnander and Ashkhain Skipwith. I’m sure you can find them on Amazon. My husband bought me both when we were living in Egypt and I use them all the time!

there’s a video making the rounds on the ol’ internets of a pastor named Steven Anderson who rails against men — excuse me, males, certainly not men — who pee sitting down.  every single German, according to his authoritative three-and-a-half-month visit and handful of experiences, pees sitting down.  and that, my friends, is where this country is headed.  people are afraid to tell it like it is (like the KJV is, that is) and pee standing up!  those compromising scholars who have produced alternative, “soft” translations of the Bible, and certainly President Obama (probably) pees sitting down!

he takes this from a few old testament passages that use the fairly crude though entertaining idiom “who piss against the wall,” meaning men, and then expounds on what an essential quality of manliness is: peeing standing up.  he is a treasure.

anyway, I actually looked into it (if you can call a few minutes of internet searching “looking into” something) and found that, indeed, in Germany, as well as in Japan, it is fairly common for men to pee sitting down.  this may be a bit too much of a disclosure, but I decided sometime last spring or summer that I would start doing this in our home.  I mean, I’ve always considered myself a conscientious urinator and all, but when we went to wash our bathroom rungs once, just a few minutes in a closed, small laundry room and it became apparent that there was still a, shall we say, “unwelcome” smell to them.  why shouldn’t I save us the trouble of having to do more washing and cleaning up?  (not that we stopped washing our rugs now and then, but still.)  anyway, I’ll stop there, apart from adding that I wouldn’t do this anywhere — only for friends and family and/or in places where I can trust the overall cleanliness of the toilet.

and there’s this:

anyway, I guess I should be thankful to Pastor Anderson for making explicit what I had been suspecting all along.

As always, I’ve been perusing our dear Internet for ideas on how to improve this place’s visibility and appeal. My findings were quite useful, probably because I’m such a noob that nearly anyone’s advice is more than I already know. Check out this neat quote I found:

“Blogs are often too internally focused and ignore key usability issues, making it hard for new readers to understand the site and trust the author.” -Jakob Nielsen

This is the summary of an article on the top ten weblog design mistakes. I’ll interact with several of those points here, but you can click the link if you want it from the horse’s mouth. As they say. Sounds kind of offensive to me. Some of the points, while valid, were ones I chose to ignore because I’m not running a professional blog. I have strong preferences too, and where better to exercise them than on my own website? But I do care about you too. How can I serve you?

The first mistake was a lack of author biography on many blogs. Which I’m guilty of. I’ve been meaning to update that, so I’ll do that now. I’m supposed to write something that will get you to trust me – my expertise and my sincerity. My natural instinct is to let the writing speak for itself, but I guess it makes sense that you would want to know more about where I’m coming from.

I’m going to take a rain check on the author photo, however (I don’t understand that idiom either, could someone who runs a blog explaining such things enlighten me? I’m too lazy to Google it. My, my). I prefer to let your imaginations roam freely, but I will start you off by disclosing that I have brown hair. Do I have a peg leg? Is my hair naturally brown or just dyed currently? Am I Asian? Indian? Hmm…stick around.

Apparently my titles are inadequate. They’re too cute and humorous (aw, thanks for saying I’m funny! See, what you don’t understand is that I’m practically a prostitute for humor permeation. An out-of-business prostitute, ugh). Titles should be far more informational, for they’re the most valuable words I type. People on average only read the first three or four words of a title, according to the article. And they don’t want to be messed with. I think I may politely decline on this point too, however. I like my titles. I’ll count on the tags to pull you guys in.

I haven’t done too much with links yet (although you’ll notice an increase already in this article), but because I plan to this next warning is also useful. I need to be clear about where my links lead. I like this line: “Life is too short to click on an unknown.” How true. And yet not…one could argue that life is too short to only click on what you know. Those “life is too short” arguments are typically fallen. But point taken. I think I’ve been doing a decent job; you’ll find on my title page that I explain the difference between clicking on the Writing tab at the top and clicking on the categories list to the right. I also detail how to subscribe to the RSS feed, because up until recently I myself did not know about this feature and its capabilities. Even now that I know about it and use it to keep up with the news (in theory), I’m terrible about checking it. I’m sure you’re more diligent, so to be added to your subscription list would truly be an honor.

Good reminder to keep my most popular posts accessible, so new readers can get the best first, and also to link to other posts from entries that reference them, so readers can get the whole picture. Obvious stuff, but like I said, I’m a noob. I’m also completely guilty as charged of “mixing topics”. But I did tell you in my disclaimer that I wouldn’t keep these linear. I will completely knowingly wander around a bit, or a lot. I want to, so like always, the desire will trump the logic. I hope you’re okay with that. If you ask nicely, I could write a really focused post on a topic of your choice.

Here’s a helpful hint for Mac users: When clicking on links, hold down the command key to open that link in a new tab so you don’t lose the original article. There’s no telling how long a simple ‘Back’ function will take. If you have a PC, I’m sure there’s some equivalent. I’m not a hater, I used Windows for eighteen years of my life. Yes, I was using a computer from the day I was born, yes.

Mixed topics are, at present, a characteristic of this blog. You get a little of everything. I have been told it makes the entries seem more ‘real’. You may think differently. Never fear, I plan to diversify. At least I’m not putting posts in numerous categories. I would not have thought that anyone would be guilty of that, but there wouldn’t be a warning if there weren’t the mistake, right?

Funny story: I was at the contract-signing for my new job (English teacher, detailed here) and as we were going through the contract, the staff member mentioned that every clause in the document is there because some past employee has attempted said activity. That’s hilarious, considering how comprehensive the contract was. For example, I’m required to wear a dark suit to work. “It doesn’t have to be black – it could be navy, or dark ash…we just ask that you don’t show up looking like a pimp.” Haha. I would’ve liked to see that. Maybe not a funny story? Okay. Mediocre recollection of an amusing occurrence.

I’m supposed to write like my future boss will read this. Or my future wife (that wasn’t in the article but I think it goes right along with boss and might be even more worthy of consideration). I understand that. But I take it with a grain of salt. The chances that either of them will ever view this is quite low at present. The chances that they’ll be offended is significantly lower. I tend to think I’m a naturally inoffensive guy, except to easily-offended people. But on the other hand, I can never know what someone will take issue with. I do have strong opinions. You can call me out if you want. We can talk.

And finally, having a domain name owned by someone else. Yes, WordPress. I’m alright with that. Sure, it screams newbie. I’m not doing this for a living; I don’t consider it worth paying any money for just yet. At least WordPress is better than Geocities. What the heck is a Geocity.

Those are the top ten weblog mistakes I found, as told by Mr. Nielsen. I’m sure there are many more I’m committing as we speak (merely an expression used here for endearment). Ah well. Live and learn. Live and earn.

Before when I was in the bathroom I had a great idea for a new wing I could add to this building. I’m really excited about it, so maybe it’ll already be started by the time you read this. I’m thinking about calling it ‘Introductions’.

Nice to meet you.

-Grant

I was at an internet shop two days ago sitting on a sofa and waiting for my friends to finish their video gaming when I heard a male voice shouted, “BREAK A LIG”.  At first the shout didn’t bother me just one bit as funny or something.  But that same person continued to shout, “BREAK A LIG! BREAK A LIG! BREAK A LIG!”… As if he’s in a rally.

Every experience, good or otherwise, is an opportunity for growth; lack of experience is a lack of opportunity.

The expression “just a blip on the radar” doesn’t make much sense to me. I always thought the entire purpose of radar was to show you blips. Suppose, for example, you’re the radar guy in a submarine. The captain says “Hey, what’s that on the radar.” And you say “Oh don’t worry about it, its just a blip.” Then the captain says “Ya, I know it’s a blip, but it seems to be getting closer to us, we should probably be a little bit concerned.” You retort, “No it’s just a blip on the radar, it’s not important.” And then the submarine hits the blip and you all die. In conclusion, you should probably pay attention to any blips you see on radar.

Curtis Clay – Architect, DJ, Author, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Architecture at Howard University is a practicing Architect in Washington, DC.  He has been published in the book African-American Architects: A Biographical Dictionary, the journal Open Dialogue, has spoken at the Goethe Institute of German Culture, presented at the Design DC conference, served as a peer reviewer for papers presented at the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture conference, DJ’d across the USA and internationally in Greece, Italy and Spain.

His most recent publication IDIOM (http://69.25.104.81/bookstore/detail/880977) where he served as Executive Editor presents writings which offer varying perspectives on religion, beauty, ethnic oppression, architectural history, art, and theater in conjunction with several photo essays on seven cities throughout Italy.  He received his Bachelors of Architecture from Howard University and his Masters of Architecture from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign.  His architectural research addresses fundamental questions of social and cultural representations in Architecture with a strong emphasis on broadening the potential of how historical precedents are used in contemporary practice.  His DJ sets are filled with Afro-Latin rhythms, house, Brazilian rhythms, Funky Disco, Soul and recently has been trending deeper and techier in his musical sets.

Well, people, we’ve had DJ’s, we’ve had artists, and we’ve had world travelers…but in the Nov 2009 edition, we’re gonna get all three in one shot. Curtis Clay is one of our favorite people for a variety of reasons, he’s a thinker, an author, an amazing DJ, and an all-around decent dude. Let’s tune in to get Curt’s perspective on Art, Morris Day, and his version of The Great Boombox Experiment. Check him out…

Curtis Clay

photo by Abby Greenawalt of Pitchfork Studio @ http://www.abbygreenawalt.com/

1- What’s your favorite Vacation spot?

I absolutely love Barcelona…  The culture, the music, the food, the people, the vibe, the history, the architecture, the siestas, the beach, the shopping… just everything about the city makes it one of my favorite places to visit.  The first time I went, I had only planned to be there for 4 days.  On my second day I linked up with a friend from the University of Illinois who had some friends there.  After one day of kicking it with the locals they made me check out of my hotel and crash at their place.  I ended up staying for 9 days!  If I was not scheduled to meet the woman I was dating at the time in Madrid, I would have stayed even longer!  Generally, my favorite vacation spots are where I know someone who lives there.  In the same way I believe it is unfortunate when people come to DC and only see it through a tourist lens, I try to always visit places where I know I’ll have a local view on food / culture / music / nightlife, etc. to ensure I get a true view of anyplace I visit.

2- If you could change the outcome of any movie, what movie would it be, and how would you change it?

Do you mean if I could write Jar Jar Binks out of “Star Wars”? lol! This is a tough one…. For a classic, I’m going with “Purple Rain”.  I think showing Morris Day and Jerome dancing away during “Baby I’m A Star” at the end just totally drains any believability out of the fact that The Time were out to KILL Prince on stage and embarrass him trying.  I really think they should’ve shown Morris & Co. looking at Prince with contempt rather than enjoying the performance as much as they were.

3- What did you want to be when you grew up?

I had no idea what I wanted to be when I was growing up.  My parents thankfully gave me the freedom to try out a bunch of things in my youth. I played piano for a while, I had hoop dreams, but DJing was always inherently a part of me before I even knew what DJing was.  I used to stay up late and record mixes off of BMX and then when I moved to Springfield off of Majic 108.  Then I’d take two boom boxes and make them face each other and press play on one and record on the other and basically cut and paste my own versions of how songs should loop and go together onto the other cassette tape.   I know you know what I’m talking about.  The most memorable one was I took the drum break from the Force MD’s “Itchin for a Scratch” and extended it to about 5 minutes. It probably took me about 3 hours to do.  But before I even really knew what mixing was, I had an inherent need to reorganize songs differently than how they were presented to me on the radio.  But purchasing DJ equipment on my meager salary from cutting grass just wasn’t an option.  Hell, I could never even afford a pair of Jordans! So my DJ dreams were dashed for quite some time.

It wasn’t until I was a Senior in High School, about to turn 18 that my parents sat me down and gave me two options:

1. I could decide what I wanted to be, go to college and they would pay for it.

2. I could join the military.

But whichever I chose, I had to get the hell out of their house!  Since push-ups aren’t my thing, I quickly decided I wanted to be an Architect and went to Howard.

4- What’s your favorite museum?

Architecturally, and for what it represents to the entire profession from the 1990’s to the present, clearly the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao, Spain by Frank Gehry would be the obvious choice.  However, Renzo Piano, the architect of the recent addition to the Art Institute of Chicago did a small museum in Basel, Switzerland for the Beyeler Foundation that has always stuck with me since I visited.  The way it is situated on the site, the way natural light is used, the way materials are used, and the incredible detailing found throughout the building make it an incredible building.  It also has one of the largest collections of drawings by one of my favorite artists, Alberto Giacometti.

Beyeler Foundation

Guggenheim Bilbao

5- What’s your automatic cure for boredom?

Quite honestly, I have sooooo much music, particularly, music that has not ever received a proper “headphone listen”.  There is a difference between just casually listening to music while you’re cooking, studying, or on the phone vs playing music through headphones where you do absolutely nothing else but focus on the music itself.  It gives you the opportunity to actually STUDY the music.  I have developed new appreciations for records I’ve had in my hands for years after listening to them through a pair of quality headphones.  When I’m bored, I listen to music.

6- What bad habits do you need to break?

Maybe its because I’m engaged now and I just love spending time with her, but I have become a pretty private person, and a mentality has developed within me which tells me that I don’t need any more friends.  As silly as this may sound, I have some amazing people in my life and I use their presence to justify not letting anyone else in.  Maybe it is because I fear they will never be able to “live up to” the standard of the people I already have in my life? It is a terrible habit as it creates a behavior where the moment I feel the slightest hint of shadyness from a MFer I don’t really know, I’ll write their ass off!! My feeling is, why be bothered? I am blessed to have a bunch of tremendous people in my life which breeds the unfortunate behavior of being less likely to be open to new people.  I’m lucky to have people in my life that have no problems telling me exactly what they feel, sometimes too honest! Lol.  I’m working hard on this.

7- What’s the easiest way to bribe you?

I’m too stubborn to be bribed man!  I stand strong for my principles, almost to a fault.  I suppose, offering me the opportunity to DJ for a crowd of people playing whatever type of music I like would be enough to get me to accept getting paid less than what I know I’m worth.  Many DJ’s, including myself, want so bad to share music with as many people as possible, that we sell ourselves short in what we should be paid in order to share what we love with people.  I’m lucky to have a job that pays the bills and allows me to make DJing something I do strictly for fun.  You have to give respect to those that only DJ for a living and are adamant about standing on their principles of only playing quality music and not succumbing to the musical tastes of the masses.  That is a tough hustle.

8-What was your nickname growing up?

‘Cinnamon stick’.  I was always skinny as a board until I went to grad school and started drinking beer instead of liquor.

9- What’s your favorite Fall activity?

Fall is that time of year where you transition from being outside all the time, to being inside all the time, so every Fall, I reorganize all my shit… my clothes, my music, my books, my pictures, my digital music files, my ipod, my furniture… everything.  I feel like it’s that time of year to prepare your nest at home for all of the time you will be inside.

10- What’s the one luxury item you HAD to have?

I was in Jamaica for a wedding and went to the Gallery of West Indian Art and absolutely fell in love with this original painting by a Cuban painter named Abel Garcia Matos and just HAD to have it.  I had no intention on purchasing a piece at that time and I ended up buying this huge painting (30” X 60”) that just stopped me in my tracks.  One of the women I was with just walked up to me while I was staring at it and said, “You know you have to buy that right?” It was so obvious to both of us that it represented me and I bought it without even asking how much it cost.

...

Parting Shot

“Without the heart, there can be no understanding between the hand and the mind.” – unknown

There ya have it, folks. Be sure to check out Curtis’ book IDIOM ( just hit the link up top, and it’ll take you where you need to be. But be sure to come back!!!!)

Belief is not action; action is not belief.

Reason speaks louder than rage.

     To me, Tim O’Reilly’s article—“What is Web 2.0”—seems like an idiom. A person from a different country might look it up, and it would say something like this: an updated version of the web that incorporates seven core principles. For its companies, these include: Services, not packaged software, with cost-effective scalability; control over unique, hard-to-recreate data sources that get richer as more people use them;  trusting users as co-developers; harnessing collective intelligence; leveraging the long tail through customer self-service; software above the level of a single device, and  lightweight user interfaces, development models, and business models. Whew! This is an awful lot of information to take in and understand for just one simple word, a period, and two numbers. Not to mention the fact that it is difficult to comprehend in general. I.e., what is a “lightweight interface?” The technical jargon O’Reilly uses unnecessary. Even when he is trying to explain said features, it is difficult to understand.

He does list characteristics of Web 2.0, though, such as: rich user experience, and blogging. He also provides examples of web 1.0 vs. web 2.0, but never comes out and says that web 2.0 is an updated version of web 1.0—which is what it simply is. Obviously, anything 2.0 is upgraded. Instead, he chose to create a paper in which it is described as one large idiom, and I’m not hanging noodles on your ears.

[on BELIEF and ACTION]

It is possible to know one’s beliefs by looking at their actions, but it is impossible to know one’s actions simply by looking at one’s beliefs.

For belief is different than action, and rare is the person who acts according to his or her professed belief.

Humans are mortal, by definition, and know for certain very little about things immortal.

Hypothesis and superstitions, often termed belief, aim to simplify what is supernatural, i.e., what is not of this earth.

One’s beliefs cannot change reality, they cannot explain the past or define the future. At most, a belief may shape the present, and only our actions can agree with our beliefs.

If our actions do not match our beliefs, then it is only the present that we disgrace in the name of the future.

A belief which does not match our actions is but another’s, whose existence is never real enough to call our own. In this light, it is only possible to say that actions exist and beliefs are as only as real as said actions.

The action which differs from belief must relinquish any ties to that belief, for they are separate, they are an ‘other’ unto each other.

A fool professes a belief and guides not his actions to follow. The wise guide their own actions accordingly, and in doing so, set forth a belief which no soul can dispute, as it is backed with action.