Moved This Blog

This blog has moved to: http://www.chattablogs.com/kodachromenights/

Please come visit. I wanted both of my readers to know the new blog is up and running.

Magazines Exist Only to Hawk Crap

Just read this in MediaPost's "Magazine Rack" online column:

I realize that the magazine business exists for no other reason than to hawk as much crap as humanly possible - and if there happens to be a readable story or two between the advertisements, all the better - but InStyle beats readers over the head with commerce. The main challenge in navigating the mag, in fact, is locating editorial content among the super-posh ads, which becomes a "Where's Waldo?"-type exercise after a while. In the September issue, it takes 19 page turns before one even reaches the table of contents. Just out of curiosity, how does a marketer distinguish itself in an environment featuring somewhere north of 300 ad pages?

Great question. I'm a big fan of the truism/cliche that you get what you pay for, which holds true in some cases, but in the media is unreliable. For example, I love the NYTimes. I read the print edition daily, and leave half-read portions of it strewn about the house for days at a time. But I tried to cancel it the other day, mostly because I felt that I wasn't reading it enough, but also because I'm trying to trim the budget so I can make a trip to Edinburgh, Scotland next month somewhat less traumatic financially. I already pay a ridiculously low rate, but when I tried to cancel the woman gave me a deal now where I'm paying less than I pay for my morning cup of java for the Grey Lady. And I love the ads! They're half the reason why I enjoy the paper so much. Network television is free. Network television is the devil. The New York Times is nearly free. The New York Times is super liberal, but quite a good read, especially for the culture-starved denizen of middle Tennessee.

Katrina Photograph

Here's what Katrina looked like as she rolled through Chattanooga last week. I took this as a 30 second exposure at about midnight from my front porch in North Chatt.

Top Ten Spam Subject Lines

Okay, I've been keeping a list of funny e-mail subject lines for some time, and now I've culled them down to the top ten, Letterman-style. These are all real subject lines from actual spam I have received. By the way, they're all sexual, and you have to respect the creativity of the copywriters trying to dodge all the spam filters.

Here goes, the Number Ten Best Spam Subject Line is "Your thing on call instantly"

Number Nine: "Shagging more frequently. Oh Yeah!"

Number Eight: "Are you a 2 pump chump? Go all night and drive her crazy!"

Number Seven: "RE: the size of your manhood"

Number Six: "Your thing on call instantly"

Number Five: "Be her hero in bed!" happens to be tied with "enhance your anatomy"

Number Four: "Like an afterburner for your schlong."

Number Three: "The mighty cucumber lives again!"

Number Two: "24 x 7 dangle readiness"

And the Number One Best Real Spam Subject Line is "Makes you great in bed. Now all you have to do is get laid."

Thank you, ladies and gentleman, and spammers.

Help Katrina Victims Now

If you've been watching the devastation of New Orleans it seems to only be getting worse as the levees continue to spill water into the city and lawlessness reigns. Pray for this city and the surrounding area, and please either give blood or money to the Red Cross.

Rock/Creek Outfitters has set up a blood drive in Chattanooga and is seeking donations for local refugees: http://www.rockcreek.com/events/nola_blooddrive.asp

This page also has a link to the Red Cross where you can donate by credit card on the Web.

I've heard from Jack McCown in Mobile and he said their yard didn't look good but the house wasn't hurt. I still haven't heard from Jeff Wheeler from Mandeville across the lake but I pray his family is okay. I'm sure they fled to Chicago. My friends the Plummer family on Audubon Avenue in the Garden District probably need our prayers the most as their house is completely under water and they will almost certainly be unable to return for months. This is a city I love very much and I hope we all can help in some way during the reconstruction.

Breaking Amerca's Dependence on Oil

I just have to pass this Onion article on... It's too good.
http://www.theonion.com/news/index.php?issue=4132

Sorry to not have updated recently...been super busy. We'll get there.

Hometapers of the world, unite!

I'm psyched on Charles Allison's new site design. It's clean and simple and very blog-like. As always, you can download the entire Kil Howlie Day catalogue (pretentious English spelling alert!). Go get 'em, they're free, and good. Do it now.

Baby Book for Hipsters

So a couple of my best friends are pregnant, or at least one of the couple is, and I immediately knew what I had to get them... this is a really funny book:

That Show Totally Post-Rocked

Well, Lamar's came through again with really strong drinks and a fun show on Friday night. In fact when my neighbors wanted me to go to the Local to watch Melelee Roots on Saturday I almost thought about it but realized that it would be so ridiculously awful in comparison to Friday's show that my head might explode, so I didn't go. Anyways, Keith John Adams opened, then Casper and the Cookies played and then Elekibass. They were all really fun to see, starting with me walking in on the middle of KJA's set and him following me with a guitar and asking my name and then later dedicating a song to me while threatening me if I left because, as he said, "it's really embarrasing when you dedicate a song to someone and then they leave."

Well, I didn't leave, I stayed and loved both bands after him. Elekibass came out dressed in three-piece suits, something you sort of expect from Japanese alt-punk-post-whatever musicians, but with carnival masks as well, something I didn't expect at all. I ended up blowing a huge amount of money at the merch booth, but that gave me an excuse to stay home Saturday night and relive the night before with the assistance of my new stereo.

Here are some links:

Toothpaste for Dinner Comics

Keith John Adams

Casper & the Cookies

Elekibass' "Elekipage"