The Longest Poem in the World is a series rhyming couplets drawn from randomly selected Twitter updates. Looking only for end rhyme, the site’s script pairs one tweet with another to make a couplet, then streams couplet and couplet down the never-ending, always-creating, nonstop-scrolling site.

An example:

hide and seek ain’t the game, cos you’ll never find what you are looking for.
and why does a potential employer need my credit score?

Line 1 was written by one user, Line 2 by another. Yet the nonsense blends into a kind of tongue-in-cheek, unaware-yet-self-aware poetry.

Real poets always try to reflect our contemporary moment in some kind of contained literary form. Yet this machine is aggregating the mundane minutiae of everyday life, and assembling the debris into a rhyming reflection of 2009′s most relatable experiences.

Going for a drive and this time i probably wont come back.
Making mac and cheese and bacon. who up for that late night snack?

How can you match such a sinister, threatening line with another that just snaps you back into the trivialty of every day? Did user 1 just threaten a break-up, or a suicide, and the second person balance it off with gourmet KD?

Rise and shine give God the glory!!!
AND WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT LORI?

Author Terry Pratchett always uses ALL CAPS whenever Death or God is speaking. I imagine God has just questioned Lori’s motives for rising and shining.

I find myself clicking “next” endlessly and continually reading for something profound, or something hilarious, but sometimes even just watching something mundane turn into a rhyme makes the silliness of our daily lives that much more passible.

Birds and the Bees. Why is it called that?
I put on my robe and wizard hat.

Our fictional combination poet is hoping to answer the question by donning the wizard getup, I guess.

Anyway, check this thing out. Try reading entire pages aloud with Shatner-like sincerity, or take turns with friends. I love it right now.

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Here are a few highlights from what he had to say:

• Stories will be “points in time,” but won’t end at publication. (Edits, updates and clarifications would continue to happen after publication)
• Content creators won’t necessarily be on staff at the publication. Nonetheless, curators and editors continue to rule.
• Media won’t stick to just one form. Text, photos, video, music, audio, animation, etc, will all flow together.
• Advertising won’t be the primary method of revenue. Instead, we’ll see publishers marketing the content that’s being written about, contextually and within the article. Brogan writes, “Why not book hotels and flights from my travel magazine directly?”
• Collaboration is key. Why should the editor pick the next cover? Why shouldn’t a reader’s picture of the car crash be the best?
• Everything is modular and linkable. Everything is fluid. If a reader wants the publication to be a business periodical, then he/she won’t have to read a piece about sports.
• Paper isn’t dead, it’s on-demand. Users will be able generate a paper version of the publication when or if they want it. Do-it-yourself publishing.

You can read the full article, plus reader’s commentary, right over here. (Thanks to Kirk LaPointe for the tip — yep, I found out about the “future of news media” via the editor of the Vancouver Sun using Twitter. Perfect.)

From my perspective, I think the next-generation media outlet might just have to be medium-free. That is, it might not be just “a newspaper” or “a radio station” or “a website” — the outlet would use multiple delivery methods, adapted to its subscriber base. Having the fluidity to employ multiple mediums would speak well to the outlet’s core editorial strategy: as long as the content is compelling and well-produced, it should be deployable anywhere.

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Illustration by Zach Bulick

It’s hard to have a conversation about Twitter without having to first talk about how silly it all is: the name, the character counts, the very concept. Same with blogging, or with virtually anything in social media – before you can have any serious discussion around it, you first have to shake your sillies out.

We gotta stop getting hung up on the seeming triviality of it all: as much as it’s a fad, a series of startups with silly names, and a passing phase, it’s also a new medium. Real dialogue is taking place, real connections forming, real business happening. Stop going meta, start thinking about how you can do it better.

This post is a stream of lessons I’ve been learning and ideas that’ve been brewing for a little while as I work with UGM to steer the organization’s social media plans. I ain’t saying I’ve figured out this crazy stuff — just sharing some of the realizations I’ve come to.

SOCIAL MEDIA IS PEOPLE

Social media begins and ends with real-live people, and the minute it’s mistaken for mere technology, that’s the moment it loses its value. That’s especially important for non-profits, where people are at the core of why you do the work you do. You can start monologuing on Twitter or postings videos on YouTube, but at some level, your strategy has to connect with, celebrate and centre entirely around people.

Social media is not about sitting at your computer and simply typing to people. It’s a way to rally people to come together, meet each other and make a tangible difference. As high-tech as the world of social media is, it really just comes down to a lot of traditional principles and values. Networking. Relationships. Connections. The next generation of communication isn’t about staying hidden behind a screen, it’s about using that screen to connect you to real people in real life.

NOISEMAKERS

There are a lot noisemakers out there in social media – prove you’re different by adding value instead of noise. Act like you’re in a living room — impress people with your ability to listen.

Take Facebook as your example: the great worldwide common room, with transparent room dividers segmenting people into social pockets. As an organization, you don’t really belong – not until your brand is seen as adding value to the conversation. On Facebook, people have a hard enough time ignoring ads, the influx of updates from peripheral friends they don’t care about – why should they care about you?

ONCE YOU’VE BUILT IT

“Just being there” isn’t enough – to make social media worthwhile, you need to know why you’re there. For non-profits, is your point to raise money, educate donors, or just establish a reputation? Clarify your intent early – after you’ve allowed yourself enough time to experiment. What are you going to do with your community? If you manage to gather 500, 1000 or 50,000 Facebook friends, how are you going to mobilize them to rally to your cause?

SUBWAY PLATFORMS

No social media strategy should be reliant on a specific platform. Platforms are inherently transient, and businesses have to be nimbler than that. Setting up shop on YouTube or MySpace will bring short-term gains, but in order to last, you have to have a strategy that’s bigger than that – you have to be connected with the people themselves.

FOCUS POCUS

Keep one eye on the clock and the other on your web stats. It’s tempting to spend a lot of time cultivating your relationships online, but it’s all about your bottom line. Why does your organization exist? Make sure that in social media, your audience is being drawn to the core of your work, rather than being overwhelmed by the spectacle of your online strategy

FINDING THE PULSE

Knowing what’s next in social media is easier than you think. My #1 philosophy for technology & trends has always been: “hype kills” (I keep meaning to make a t-shirt that says that). In essence, don’t be an early adopter, but have the same knowledge as one.

• Subscribe to major tech blogs like TechCrunch and Mashable
• Subscribe to major non-profit/social media blogs like Corporate Dollar, Beth’s Blog or the Online Fundraising Blog
• Use Google Trends to witness the rise-and-fall of social networks
• Monitor conversations on Twitter to see what networks are catching buzz

What did I miss? More importantly, what do you think? Let’s talk: leave a comment below.

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Somewhere south of the year 2000, a trio of loud-mouthed white dudes from NYC called the Beastie Boys finished up fighting for their rights to party, and released an album called Hello Nasty. The opening track was a blitzkrieg of hip-hop and hollering that went by the name of Super Disco Breakin’. Leaving no room to breathe, the three MCs spat out two minutes of thoroughly energetic diatribes about making money, drinking coffee, and something about an 808.

Super Disco Breakin’, the original, is filled with party shouts and mixed-up metaphors about pancakes, records and head-hunting. The track cannot be called sincere by even the most Gumby-like truth-stretchers: it is bereft of introspection and completely lacking in melody, and that’s exactly why we like it.

I was compelled by fate itself to transform this 90s rap track into a piano ballad – one that could turn even the coldest, darkest heart into a flourishing rainforest of love. Folks, this is the piano version of Super Disco Breakin’. The money-making anthem has been given a melody, and I have viciously injected this tune with enough sap and sincerity that even the Beastie Boys wouldn’t recognize the song. Please have your ‘kerchiefs at the ready. If the concept itself doesn’t bring you to tears, then having to listen to my Alanis-like voice wailing about the disco certainly will.

Download the file: Kevan Gilbert – Super Disco Breakin’ (Beastie Boys cover).mp3

Super Disco Breakin’: The lyrics

Verse 1:
50 cups of coffee and you know it’s on
I move the crowd to the break of break of dawn
Can’t rock the house without the party people
Cause when we’re gettin’ down we are all equal

Chorus:
Money Makin’, Money Money Makin’
Super Disco, Disco Breakin’
Money Makin’, Money Money Makin’
Super Disco, Disco Breakin’

Verse 2:
There’s no better or worse between you and me
But I rock the mic so viciously
Like pins and needles and words that sting
At the blink of an eye I will do my thing

[Chorus]

Verse 3:
It’s like a needle in the cartridge when the record spins
Like diggin’ down deep in the record bins
Everybody gettin’ down make no mistake
Nothing sounds quite like an 808

[Chorus]

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FLEA MARKET START

It was approaching winter when Rob Snopek carefully loaded up the back of his pick-up truck with over 2000 vinyl records. A collection cobbled together thanks to years of careful searching, lucky finds and generous friends, he was ready to bring his prized albums out of his apartment and into the marketplace.

On this particular Saturday in 2006, he drove his record-laden truck down to the flea market, and threw open the tailgate. “One dollar each,” he said to any buyer or bystander dropping by to bargain. A steady stream of shocked visitors found themselves the new owners of early Beatles albums and mint condition Pink Floyd records, and by the end of the day, Rob’s truck had nothing left in the back except for a few lonely Anne Murray albums.

“I had no idea what any of that stuff was worth,” Rob laughs. “You wouldn’t believe the kind of records I let go for a dollar.”

Over the next year, after posting dozens of “records wanted” flyers up in local Laundromats, Rob’s record collection slowly began to grow again. By the time I came across Snopek’s legendary supply in the autumn of ‘07, the number of records was estimated to be well over 30,000, and his personal reserve was already turning into the new mecca for Vancouver vinyl hounds.

DISCOVERIES

“Private vinyl showroom,” said the ad. “Thousands of records, old and new! By appointment only.” The bizarre combination of words intrigued me. I had been idly collecting records for a few years, and felt I could use a fresh new source, outside the traditional musty thrift stores and overpriced retail shops.

The phrasing of the ad made me cautious. Craigslist has the bad habit of attracting boatloads of creeps, and I wasn’t in love with the prospect of showing up at a “private vinyl showroom” only to discover that private, vinyl and showroom had very different meanings than what I was expecting. I pitched the idea to my friend and fellow vinyl-liker Harrison.

“Why is it by appointment only?” Harrison wanted to know. “Why is it in his apartment? Where did he get all those records?”

“These are very good questions,” I responded. “It sounds like it could be a trap. Maybe he’s an axe murderer.”

“Let’s do it,” Harrison replied. “Could make for a good story. On the news. After we die.”

I picked up the phone to make an appointment. The voice on the other end supplied directions, and said he’d be waiting in the parking lot for us in one hour.

PRIVATE VINYL SHOWROOM

Wearing a denim jacket and blowing cigarette smoke into the October fog, the man was waiting for us as we pulled into the parking lot of a high-rise by Lougheed Mall in Burnaby. I couldn’t have known it then, but the sight of Rob Snopek, king of Vancouver vinyl, waiting at the base of his apartment complex would soon become an iconic sight.

“Hello, great to meet you!” said Rob, extending his hand. He spoke with a faint but implacable Eastern European accent, and his demeanor exuded a hospitable pride as he prepared to welcome us into his showroom. He gestured for us to follow him.

“So what types of records d’you like?” Rob asked, as we darted down down a short cement stairwell. He held the door for us at the bottom, and we stepped into a smokey hallway, the sounds of a sports game and clinking glasses drifting over from a basement bar to our left. “Um,” I said, trying not to give away my lack of education on the matter. “Been really getting into the blues lately,” I tried. Harrison stepped in for the save: “I’m specifically looking for early funk and soul records,” he declared, as Rob unlocked a door across the hall from the bar. We entered another hallway, this one dimmer than the last, and the door shut behind us. “Motown albums, Curtis Mayfield, that kind of stuff. And I’d also love to find anything by Nina Simone or Billie Holiday.”

“Perfect,” said Rob, pausing in front of a set of imposing, medieval-style wooden doors. He swung the doors open, and we stepped inside the Private Vinyl Showroom.

Tables and boxes overtook our vision. From ground level to waist height, along every wall and every spare surface, U-Haul moving boxes had been carefully stacked, tops opened to display the thousands of records within. Some boxes featured filing-style dividers indicating genres or artists, others had Sharpie’d labels on the front. Looking closer, each record had a transparent plastic slip-cover, with a small label in the top right corner. Every record was hand-labeled with the year of its release, the album’s genre, and this particular record’s key features, whether it was “first edition” or “coloured vinyl.” It took a second for the fact to sink in that this entire collection was curated by one individual.

Rob swept his arm across and room. “Dollar bins are under the tables,” he said. “Discs sorted by artists are on the left, and records by genre are right here,” he said, tapping the table in the centre of the room. “These boxes,” — he touched the row of boxes on the right — “contain fresh arrivals I have just finished pricing.” He pointed towards a turntable at the back. “I can put on any record you want to listen to, and if you have any questions or if you are looking for anything, just ask me. Okay?”

Harrison and I moved like magnets towards the boxes. The record collection in front of us was a veritable museum of music history. Like portals into the past, the album art was transporting us into times we never knew. As I flipped through the Jazz section, I saw Ella Fitzergald send a wink in my direction, and nearby in the blues box, Muddy Waters had a serious bone to pick with me. I saw Johnny Cash stomping his foot at Folsom Prison, while Jimi Hendrix was wrestling a guitar that looked like it was on fire, and meanwhile, four hippies were in mid-stride on a British crosswalk.

It only took about twenty seconds for Harrison to find his Nina Simone, and maybe thirty for me to pick out the blues record I wanted, but it took us two more hours to emerge from our trance. Harrison had selected 30 albums to bring home, and was only paying $30 for the whole set. I had found an original, mint condition pressing of Bitches Brew (a timeless Miles Davis double album from 1969), and in addition to Abbey Road and a couple other standouts, my bill came to only $20. For price, variety and style, the private vinyl showroom and successfully upstaged every record-hunting experience I’d had at places like A&B Sound, Beatstreet Records, thrift stores, pawn shops and eBay. I knew I’d be coming back.

ON THE MOVE

From the record player at the back of the showroom, over the speakers around the room, a bassline was keeping a messy band on track. It sounded like surf music meeting James Brown, or maybe like Weezer meets the Clash, on the inside of a tin can. “What is this?” I asked.

“It’s the Blues Magoos!” Rob replied. “1967. British psychedelic garage music. Amazing band. This is the first edition, very rare.”

Rob was not even ten years old when this Blues Magoos vinyl was released, yet he is able to rattle of encyclopedic info on it as if he had been waiting at the record store on the day of its release. He can provide this kind of snapshot on virtually record in his possession, whether it was released last year, or some time in the 1940s. “I have been loving vinyl almost since the day I was born,” Rob says. And it shows.

Since moving from Czechoslovakia (the Slovakia part) in the late 70s, Snopek has remained settled in Vancouver, but his love of vinyl has kept him constantly on the move. “I pretty much have to hunt all the time,” he admits. “I’ve traveled to Alberta, through the States, all over the place, trying to find records.”

Reciprocally, his customers come from as far away from San Fransisco to pick through his collection. Thanks to the web, word of his business has spread faster than his early Laundromat-ads could have done. In recent months, he has sold and shipped batches of over 5000 records to two separate buyers in the States, and still, his collection remains sophisticated and diverse.

It’s hard to find new sources to dig up good vinyl for the showroom, but for Rob, it’s a worthwhile endeavour. Before Rob’s records ever roped in any real revenue, he worked as a GIS Technologist, performing digital mapping in real-time environments. These days, Rob only needs to find the occasional mapping contract to keep him afloat: selling records brings in 90% of his income.

“A lot of people have tons of records, just sitting in their basements, and they just think they’re junk,” Rob laments. “I need to find those people.”

ELEVATOR MUSIC

The gentleman sharing my elevator was eyeing the two records I had tucked under my arms.

“Are those LPs?”

“Yup,” I replied. It was early 2008, and I was just returning from another successful visit to Snopek’s showroom. An Ella Fitzgerald/Oscar Pederson collaboration was my prize discovery, and the other was a Louie Armstrong live double-album.

“Neat,” said Elevator Man, trying to make conversation. “I have a big whole box of records down in storage.”

I wished I had a card to hand him, but all I had was Rob’s name and a story too long for an elevator ride. For all Elevator People of the future, dutifully hoarding un-spun stashes of records, and for those of us on the hunt for vinyl old and new, appointments to drop by Rob Snopek’s showroom can be made over email at robsnopek@shaw.ca.

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Credits:
* Drawings of people: Kevan
* Drawings of food, mountains, airplanes and luggage: Kendra
* Subtitles & live motion: Kendra
* Camera work: Kevan
* Fake snow: The 3-hole punch
* Music: Illinois Street Lounge internet radio

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The ’Tube lets you create custom playlists from any movie on the site. Harnessing this simple feature, I put together my first YouTube playlist. It’s called Please Begin Dancing Now.

Heavily indebted to Bruce Mans’ The New Balaeric podcast, this playlist consists of quirky electronica — danceable indie stuff that you’d probably hear in commercials. In fact, the first track is straight off the recent iPod Touch commercial. This collection ends up being a pretty enjoyable, breezy little list of songs, and I hope you dig this foray into fun and simplicity as much as I have.

The Playlist:
1. Cansei De Ser Sexy – Music is My Hot Hot Sex (Don’t worry, the song isn’t actually sketchy)
2. Project Jenny, Project Jan – 320
3. LCD Soundsystem – Daft Punk Is Playing At My House
4. Le Tigre – Fake French
5. Fujiya & Miyagi – Collarbone
6. Beck – Ghettochip Malfunction (Hell Yes)
7. Death From Above 1979 – Black History Month (Alan Braxe Remix)
8. Justice – D.A.N.C.E
9. Prototypes – Who’s Gonna Sing?
10. Junior Senior – Can I Get Get Get
11. Gorillaz – Kids with Guns
12. Simian Mobile Disco – It’s The Beat
13. LCD Soundystem – Tribulations
14. Datarock – Fa Fa Fa

A quick note: This video playlist contains videos I’ve never actually watched – I can’t vouch for their goodness, or warn you of their badness. I just click play, and let the music rock me into a trance of productivity.

That’s all. Please begin dancing now.

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• Singing songs at the piano but not recording any of them.
• Adding pictures to my Flickr account but not telling anybody about them.
• Discovering great things on the internet but not sharing them.
• Customizing the look and feel of my blog but not writing anything for it.

I’ve decided that if I am ever to survive in this cold, harsh wilderness called blogging, I think I will simply have to come face-to-face with my fears. Slash through this delicate, unproductive silence like Conan the Librarian.

First off, this piano thing. My mini-studio has been languishing like a forgotten child in the corner of my condo for months. Besides the occasional group singalongs to “Hey Jude” when our friends come over, I never actually do anything useful with my piano and microphone and mixing board trio – for instance, hook up my computer to lay down the tracks. So tonight, being Thursday night, I opened up the lid of my laptop, busted open some recording software, and decided to just RECORD whatever the deuce happened to emerge from my fingers and lips.

The resulting improvisation was a slip-shod cacophony of absurdity; a lyrically inept, musically unlistenable, unforgivably painful ballad that I think I will call “Transportation’s Got Me Down.”

No wonder I never do this. I really have nothing else to say about it, other than “Oh sweet heavens please prepare yourselves for this fearful audio experience.” Let’s move on to the Flickr thing before somebody realizes what they’ve just listened to.

It has taken me a while to get accustomed to the idea of purchasing items that are completely and utterly intangible, but I finally went ahead and purchased a Flickr Pro account. With my newfound bandwidth freedom, I have uploaded over 130 photographs from my family’s photo archives. These are archaic shots from the 50s and 60s that document my mom’s upbringing with her eccentric family in the city of Burnaby, and my dad’s fascinating history being raised with his lettuce-farming, six-sibling’d family in Australia. The pictures demonstrate a bygone, now-foreign era that is bewildering to behold. Click here to check it out.

Somewhere else across the vast divide of internet-dom, there are even more intriguing things to discover. One item which has successfully held the interest of both my wife and I for over a week is the new(ish) Google Image Labeler. It’s a game you can play, and it’s also a way to help the search engine. Like a cross between Pictionary and Taboo, you are shown a picture and have to describe what you see. Up to five words will be “off-limits,” but once you and your randomly assigned partner both type in the same words, you score points. Our best score ever placed us at #12 in the day’s top rankings.

You may have noticed that I have introduced a new attempt to attract advertisers to my website. The green rectangle perched on my sidebar is a weak effort to farm out space on my blog to anybody who would like to pay a mere $5.00 Canadian dollars. However, since nobody seems to think this would be a worthwhile investment, I’ve decided to hold a contest instead.

I invite all readers of this post to leave a comment on my blog, and answer this question: if this ad space was yours for free, what would you advertise? You can tell truths, fictions, confessions or lies. At the end of four days time, I will put all of your names into a hat (or maybe a bowl, or perhaps a basket) and draw out one name. The person whose name emerges will receive an entire month of free advertising: any message you wish to cram into the 250 x 90 space is all yours. You can design the ad yourself if you wish, or work with me to create something pleasing.

Alright, that is certifiably all of the mutterings I can muster for one evening. In an attempt to reduce my carbon footprint and help meet Kyoto protocols for blog emissions by 11:30 pm, I’m signing off. See you in the comments!

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I hope that 2007 has brought you a satisfactory sequence of months and weeks. For me, this year has been like attending an auction on the roof of a train: mile-a-minute decisions and actions proceeding with dangerous speed, resulting in an overabundance of unexpected blessings that I keep expecting to fly away.

As advent calendars, Rick Dees and that guy who announces NASA space shuttle launches would love to tell you, there are only 14 days until Christmas. Soon, there will be 13, and depending on when you’re reading this, it might even be Christmas already. Since my impending holidays will involve precarious wintertime road travel, I’d like to give you your Christmas gifts early. Only for the sake of alliteration, I shall not call them “gifts,” but “contributions.”

Christmas Contribution Number 1: A Christmastime Podcast

This 45-minute, 16-track Christmas mix brings you a cheerful smattering of Christmas songs that are both piping-fresh and well-aged. If you are looking for a little bit of seasonal music to spice up your Christmas parties, road trips, work days and iPods, this mix is here to help. It’s called “Yuletide Cheer.”

Tracklist:
1. Ron Sexsmith: Maybe This Christmas
2. Sufjan Stevens: Come On! Let’s Boogie to the Elf Dance!
3. Beach Boys: Little Saint Nick
4. Hawksley Workman: Common Cold
5. The Rat Pack: Have a Holly Jolly Christmas
6. Aimee Mann: Christmastime
7. Otis Redding: Merry Christmas
8. James Brown: Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto
9. Brian Setzer Orchestra: Zat You Santa Claus?
10. The Blind Boy of Alabama (featuring Tom Waits): Go Tell It on a Mountain
11. Son Seals: Lonesome Christmas
12. Chuck Berry: Merry Christmas, Baby
13. Charlie Parker: White Christmas (King Kooba Remix)
14. Erlend Oye: Last Christmas
15. Johnny Cash: Silent Night
16. Sufjan Stevens: O Come, O Come, Emanuel

“Yuletide Cheer” is the name of the mix, and it comes in the form of a podcast. “What on earth is a podcast,” you ask? Well, in this case, it’s one giant MP3 that contains 16 songs, which you can burn to CD, or throw on your MP3 player, or play from your computer.

Click here to download the podcast (41.2 MB).

Christmas Contribution Number 2: Website Remix

Just in time for the holidays, I’ll soon be unleashing a completely redesigned “Kevan Gilbert Online” upon the internet. While the new look won’t exactly be Christmas themed, I decided that ‘twas the season to for some serious website renovations.

Depending on when this Christmas missive reaches your retinas, the new site might already be live. If not, keep your clicking constant and your refreshing rampant, because this site will be “off the hook.” Indeed, it will embody a term I have just now decided to call “profunktionalism.” I haven’t been this excited about the internet since I discovered that you could make sideways smiley faces by combining colons, dashes and brackets.
:-) <----- See??

Anyway, let me tell you about the new look. Thanks to a brilliant WordPress theme by Darren Hoyt called Mimbo, the old Kevan Gilbert Online has been replaced by a tighter, cleaner, shinier version of itself. The site’s design fuses clean professionalism with decidedly hip typography and colour usage, giving it a spit-shine polish that makes things easier to read and funner to click around. I truly hope you like it as much as I do.

Christmas Conclusions

I’m afraid those are all the Christmas contributions I’ve got for us this season. While you can always recycle the old tradition of reading “The Real Story of Christmas” around the family tree, I am essentially all out of yuletide offerings. So in closing, I’d like to wish all of my loyal friends and imaginary readers (or is it the other way around?) the merriest of Christmases, and the happiest of New Years. Download a podcast, click around the new site, and make sure to leave a comment or two.

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The mysteries of addiction and pain, buried inside people, are only explored through dialogue. I don’t have time for that, I assure myself, fumbling with my security pass. I’ll be late for work.

But work often lends itself to distraction, and this week I solved a mystery that has tugging at me since 2006. It’s the mystery of 645 East Hastings Street.

This building, nestled between a drycleaner’s and a clothing shop, is painted a reserved, uninviting gray. From the stucco to the security bars, the paint is like a blanket, covering even the windows. There is no signage — only a touch of graffiti — and the three black digits on the door, reading 645. It’s the cleanest building on this stretch of Hastings, but also the most austere.

645 E Hastings has a twin: a residential building covered by the same heavy coats of triple-thick concrete-milkshake paint. This twin is situated at 640 E Cordova. The narrow alley between Hastings and Cordova finds the rear ends of these two buildings situated diagonally across from each other, trying so hard to blend in.

Rarely does anybody enter or emerge from these twin buildings, save for the occasional vehicle being driven out of the heavily secured garage in the alley. The gray colour makes the buildings incredibly evasive – in fact, it’s such a subtle colour that the buildings are virtually invisible. I’ve often wondered why these buildings exist. What is their purpose? What function requires this much privacy, security and ambiguity? Is it a mob thing, a cult thing, a sex thing?

On Thursday, a lunchbreak stroll with a co-worker brought me through the alley where the mystery buildings connect. For the first time, the rear doors to 645 E Hastings were flung wide open. A young man was painting some very tall doors a very white colour. Inside, I saw white walls, white floors and a white ceiling. One or two workers moved about inside, amongst ladders, shelving and other unidentifiable gear in piles on the floor.

“He’s got an amazing studio space,” said my co-worker, shading his eyes to try and peer inside better.

“Wait, who does?” I asked. “It’s a studio? Whose studio? For what?”

“It’s Jeff Wall,” he said. “Jeff Wall, famous photographer?”

Jeff Wall, Jeff Wall, I repeated to myself, preserving the name until a convenient Googling time arrived. The web search quickly turned into an all-out Internet-wide info-hunting expedition, and I soon learned that Jeff Wall’s technical proficiency, creativity and iconoclasm has been a driving force in the international photography scene for decades.

THE WORK OF JEFF WALL

Born in 1946, Jeff Wall has been creating art in Vancouver, BC since the late seventies. He takes pictures as if he were making an entire film: that is, each photograph is meticulously constructed over the course of weeks, months, and sometimes years.

Wall is known for his giant-sized photographic transparencies mounted on back-lit boxes – think bus-stop ads or X-ray screens. He specializes in elaborately composed shots that look either unfathomably complicated, or confusingly mundane. The shot below falls into the former category. Completed over the course of two years, the final image was composed from 75 different photographs, taken in two different Vancouver cemeteries and within Wall’s own studio. Wall worked with oceanographers to create the tidal pool in the open grave.

The Flooded Grave, 1998-2000
Read more about this image at Tate Modern.

Early in Wall’s career, he began experimenting with documentary-style compositions. Because his lightbox transparencies required large-format prints, a portable camera (in the 80s, at least), couldn’t provide the clarity he required to capture candid moments on the street. Still wishing to catch the genuine, street-level vibe of the occurrences taking place around him, Wall would instead hire amateur actors to recreate street scenes in studio. The shot below, titled “Mimic” is from 1982, and recreates a racist exchange Wall observed on a Vancouver sidewalk.

“The gesture was so small,” explains Wall. “I was interested in the… physical mimesis. The white man was copying the Asian’s body. Mimesis is one of the original gestures of art.”

Wall’s words are what gives his photography added significance. Critics might be less equipped to read into Wall’s work if he wasn’t so actively doing it himself. Having served as a professor at three different colleges and universities (including UBC), Jeff Wall has published a significant amount of essays relating to photography, philosophy and art, and of course, his own work.

Take a look at the photograph below, titled “The Storyteller.” Evidently one of Wall’s most iconic works, it exemplifies his mastery of elaborate set-ups that don’t seem elaborate, but which turn out to be loaded with intentionality and significance.

The storyteller in this image is the woman in the bottom left-hand corner. Wall has stated that this woman represents “the historical crisis of the Native peoples of Canada, whose traditions of oral history have been eroded by modern life.” By setting up the shot in a typically overlooked locale, he emphasizes the distance between Native history and contemporary existence.

Wall’s writing about this work are academic and dense, using words like “archaism” and “figura” in his descriptions. His inaccessibility is charming, illustrating an enchantment with intellectual explorations, but a detachment from popular art. In a way, Wall himself is the Storyteller, passionately providing fervent lectures on photography and art, just off the beaten path.

THE INVISIBLE MAN

Hastings Street is certainly a curious corridor to choose for studio space, but I imagine that the veil of poverty lends itself to considerable privacy. As the annual Eastside Culture Crawl demonstrates, there are plenty of artists who find this part of town to be an ideal venue for their work.

Wall’s obscure studio is incongruous with such a prolific career, but provides such a captivating legend:

“I heard there’s a famous old photographer with a high-tech studio just two doors down from Union Gospel Mission.”

“I heard he lives there too, surrounded by photography gear.”

I don’t know anything about Jeff Wall beyond what I’ve learned this past week. I don’t know if he resides in his studio, if he’s connected to his community, if he ever emerges from the darkroom or the lightbox. But every time I walk past the gray walls, I imagine Wall at work in a situation similar to the one he created with his 2000 piece, “Invisible Man.” With 1,369 illegally connected light bulbs strung together over the ceiling, the subject lives quietly and unobtrusively in a New York cellar, going about his business under the otherwordly glow of leftover lightbulbs, completely separate from the city around him.

EXPLORING MORE JEFF WALL

• Wikipedia always offers fascinating tidbits, including this gem: did you know that Wall’s photograph “The Destroyed Room” was used as the cover shot for a Sonic Youth EP of the same name?
• Read “If You Build It They Will Come,” an article in Time Magazine from February 2007 and written by Richard Lacayo. The revealing essay explores staged photographs and includes Wall in the exploration, calling one of Wall’s shots the “photographic equivalent of a Jackson Pollock drip painting.” (Ouch.)
• TateModern has created an exceptional interactive online exhibit of Wall’s work from 1978-2004, featuring detailed views and write-ups for many of his signature pieces. All of the images I have used in this entry have been borrowed from the Tate site. Visit this page to see read up on Wall’s work and career. Be sure to explore my favourite from Wall’s photographs, called “A Sudden Gust of Wind (after Hokusa)” from 1993:

• My other blog is a Porsche graphic design blog
• Additional awesomeness around the web
• Things That Should Be Invented But Haven’t Been Yet
• Introducing peacedeals.org: Justice has a new name
• The Best Things I Know About Right Now (on Friday, March 23)

“Where can I find that “Optimistic” cover? My curiousity has been undeniably piqued.”

In my initial post, I had described the song as such:

“…it’s actually an inspiring piece of work. If you can put up with the legions of screaming girlies in the background, that is. The tribal-warefare drums carry the crunching guitars, and both provide the perfect rhythmic menace to counteract with whoever-it-is that’s singing in a tortured mini-rockstar wail.”

The song really is a wonder to behold, if for nothing more than the sheer surprise that the MMMBop guys can pull off this sound. I’ve uploaded the track for anybody to listen. Click or right-click to play it or download it:

Hanson – Optimistic (Radiohead cover)

While we’re on the topic of unlikely acts covering Radiohead tracks, I should share with you another. It’s neighbourhood guitar hero, John Mayer, and he’s covering the title track off Kid A. Pitchfork dissed it with a tepid 2.5 out of 5, but the nonchalant review shrugs off this incredible gem far too casually.

The Radiohead original is a virtually arrhythmic drone of digitally distorted vocals over top what sounds like a child’s mobile. It’s a beautiful track, it suits the album wonderfully, but one thing it’s not is “accessible.” Somehow, John “Wonderland” Mayer manages to wrangle a discernible melody line out of it. His multi-layered guitars provide a methodical, wooden strum as the bassline, subtle self-harmonies twisting it into something that’s both more musical and more maudlin than the chillingly dark Radiohead original. I recommend putting this track in the centre of a mixtape that chronicles a slow, downward spiral. Here’s the file:

John Mayer – Kid A (Radiohead cover)

And of course, unless you’ve been sleeping under a rock for the last two days, Radiohead has announced that their very brand new album has just been completed. It’s called “In Rainbows,” and is being released on October 10. And get this: you can pay however much you want for it. PAY WHAT YOU WANT. All I can say is, this is rad news. Read more:

* The official “In Rainbows” website
* In more understandable terms, from Pitchfork

• Super Disco Breakin’ – A Beastly Ballad
• My 5 favourite internet radio stations
• Additional awesomeness around the web
• Swedish people have heartbeats, too.
• The Best Things I Know About Right Now (on Friday, March 23)

1. Walk Score: How walkable is your neighbourhood?

Have you ever stared outside your kitchen window and thought, “Man, I should get outside more,” and then continued to stay seated and not do a damn thing about it? Well, it’s probably because your neighbourhood sucks for going on walks. Check your neighbourhood’s Walk Score – it’s a site that uses the magic of Google to scan your neighbourhood for coffee shops, restaurants, walking routes and parks, and gives you rating that tells you how good (or bad) your ‘hood is for taking a stroll.

Our current location in Airdrie gets a 6 out of 100. Yikes.
Our new neighbourhood in Burnaby gets a 57 out of 100. Sweet.

What’s yours? No need to divulge your home address to the public, but give it a spin and post your result in the comments below. (Note: there will likely be a javascript error that pops up. Just pretend it’s a message that says “Your calculation is complete!”)

2. Detroit without groceries, war without tears

A few months ago, I reported on the death of Detroit: enormous numbers of Detroit’s inhabitants are leaving the city abandoned, desolate and dirt cheap. Now, it seems grocery store chains are pulling out too, leaving the dying city a little closer to the grave.

3. What do you call that glow-in-the-dark insect?

Here’s a surprisingly interesting survey on American dialects conducted by the University of Wisconsin. After polling over 10,000 Americans, the survey provides region-specific, map-plotted answers to questions like these ones:

• What do you call the insect that flies around in the summer and has a rear section that glows in the dark?
• How do you say the final consonant in “garage”?
• Which of these terms do you prefer for a sale of unwanted items on your porch, in your yard, etc.?
• What is “the City”?
• What word(s) do you use to address a group of two or more people?
• How do you pronounce caramel?

4. Find good, affordable art

I love Boundless. I haven’t bought anything off it yet, but my wife and I have spent hours browsing through the selections, imagining what each piece would look like in our house. It’s compelling and addictive, mostly because it’s so fun to use. So you’re looking to buy a piece of art, right? Use the sliders to indicate your price range. Click on a colour swatch to make sure it matches your house. Select the type of piece you want by clicking an icon. Drag the sizer-squares to decide on a minimum and maximum size. Add keywords, if you want, and then start browsing.

If you find a piece you like, post a link to it in the comments below so we can all see it.

5. Talking to robots

Meet Eliza. She’s a chatbot. That means you can talk to her, just like you’re using IM, and she’ll talk back, as if she understands. Only she doesn’t, because she’s a robot.

Originally designed in 1966, Eliza has been adapted for the web for all to interact with. She was initially conceived of as a type of automatic therapist. You input a statement, and she responds to it by rephrasing it in the form of a question. You’ll quickly discover that this type of conversation goes nowhere fast, and tends to end with the human participant feeling much more frustrated than before. Try it out, though, because it’s ridiculously fun. And if you’re feeling somewhat irreverent, I highly recommend trying out iGod, another chatbot– this one offers “repenting made easy.” Yes, you can now chat with God (or at least a reasonable facsimile).

• Pop goes the Radio(head)
• Transportation’s Got Me Down
• The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
• Cargo Law: The Little Website that ROCKED
• Swedish people have heartbeats, too.

• Appropriate Reappropriation: Original, Artful Products You Can Buy Online
• Additional awesomeness around the web
• The Best Things I Know About Right Now (on Friday, March 23)
• Swedish people have heartbeats, too.
• My other blog is a Porsche graphic design blog

When I first slammed into its old school front page, I didn’t expect “Cargo Law” to be anything more than a cobbled-together, behind-the-times, corporate hack-job of a website, filled with uninteresting, unpleasantly patriotic, law-related content. But after being utterly hypnotized by the incredible photos and stories featured on this site, I am now convinced that Cargo Law is one of the most fantastic websites I have ever come across. Make no mistake: this is also one of the most poorly organized, poorly designed, difficult to navigate and outrageously impractical websites I have ever seen, but somehow, the content actually makes up for it.

Cargo Law is a website that keeps track of major shipping disasters, as they are happening, providing pictures, stories, webcam images, stats and fresh updates. It’s been in operation for over 8 years, and is still regularly updated. The website is basically an enormous repository of giant ships running into reefs, ships being assaulted by waves at high sea, ships losing their millions of dollars in cargo overboard, smashing into cliffs, and sometimes, eventually being set free.

The site is edited by three lawyers at Countryman & McDaniel, all of whom have “Esq.” at the end of their names (which is awesome). Their offices are at the LA International Airport, and they have a webcam pointing out their window, which overlooks the runway. This is all essentially useless filler information, just to give you some background about these guys. These lawyers are into shipping — they know their freight and cargo — and the website is a mind-blowing demonstration of what to do when you have very industry-specific knowledge of something obscure: blog the hell out of it.

This feature wouldn’t be complete without photos. Please be amazed:

Carrying Coal To Newcastle

The Date: June 7 2007
The Time: Morning
The Place: On The Australian Coast
Vessel Type: M/V Emerald Bulker
Vessel Name: Pasha Bulker
What happened: Click here to read the whole story (you have to scroll very far down before it begins). Click the picture to see the huge version.

Stack Attack

The Date: June 22 2007
The Time: Morning
The Place: At Port of Trieste
Vessel Type: M/V Ital Florida
Vessel Name: Ital Florida
What happened: Click here to read the whole story.

Disaster in Real Time

The Date: January 18 2007
The Time: Morning
The Place: In The English Channel
Vessel Type: EX-M/V CGM Normandie
Vessel Name: MSC Napoli
What happened: Click here to read the story. It involves millions of dollars in cargo, included BMW motorcycles, beauty cream and bibles, getting washed up on shore and looted by the scavenging locals.

Cargo Law’s website is a navigational puzzle to figure out, but if you can stomach the distinct smell of a website launched in ’99 and maintained by a team of lawyers, the content is its own reward.

• A non-geek’s guide to RSS
• The next-generation media outlet
• Additional awesomeness around the web
• Transportation’s Got Me Down
• How to Avoid Getting Dugg (or is it Digged?)

In lieu of posting my own personally fabricated stories, essays, reviews and/or miscellaneous jib-jabbery, I want to urge you to visit a few highly recommend sites.

First of all, if you don’t already know about Harrison Mooney’s blog, you really need to check it out. Harrison is a friend of mine from Abbotsford, BC. Currently pursuing his Masters in English, he also holds down a job in the admin department of a local community school. In his hard-to-find spare time, he writes leagues upon leagues of well-written, original, captivating content for his blog, “Harrison Exists.”

Here’s a list of some of the very best posts from Harrison since he started blogging in March:

• A track-by-track of review of Kelly Clarkson’s new album
• Harrison’s lists of his favourite actors, actresses, and film directors
• Artifacts of Racism: the Archeaology of Prejudice in American Sports
• The Perverse Emotional Placenta of Adoption
• When I Get Angry (A creative piece by a fifth-grade ESL student)

The sheer amount of words Harrison has produced since March is a marvel on its own, but the fact that about 99% of is actually interesting to read is even more remarkable. His volume of work is prolific, but the problem is, there is only, like, 7 people who read his blog. He should be writing regularly for PopMatters or Pitchfork or something, so come on people, do yourself a favour and subscribe to his RSS feed, or at least visit the site.

Projects from Elbowroom Design

Enough with interesting recommendations for other people’s websites! It’s time to talk about what’s going on with Elbowroom Design.

#1: The Gathering Place is a church in Airdrie, Alberta, and we just finished creating their website. It features a super-functional audio player, a Pastor’s Blog, an events calendar, and an assortment of pleasant video.

#2: Elbowruminations is our graphic design blog, and it’s really fun to read. Recently, we talked about the London 2012 Olympics Logo (twice, actually), furniture from Microsoft, anti-piracy dogs, and Fabricland.

#3: A new portfolio has been created and launched for Elbowroom Design. Featuring all our latest work, it’s best viewed in full screen mode, and best when accompanied by loud “ooohs” and “aaahs.”

• My other blog is a Porsche graphic design blog
• Five finds for a Friday afternoon
• A non-geek’s guide to RSS
• Hype kills: Balance & business in social media
• The Next Big Things

I love Internet radio. I’ve been listening for over a year, and have fallen in love with the diverse streams of music that are beamed onto my computer and into my ears. I’ve discovered thousands of artists I’ve never heard of before, and explored a few different genres that have changed the way I think about music. Unlike traditional FM radio, which play loosely grouped music according to broad style categories, Internet radio is a great way to hear new music within any given genre. And unlike listening to your own household music collection, you aren’t limited by your own DJ-ing skills.

I’d like to point you towards my 5 favourite web radio stations. These are channels that have greatly influenced the music I’ve experienced over the past year. They’re stations that I’ve played throughout my house, throughout my office, and throughout my day, and have proven themselves to be incredibly well-tuned channels. I highly recommend checking them out next time you’re looking for some new music to listen to.

Illinois Street Lounge (by SomaFM)

Tagline: Classic bachelor pad, playful exotica, and vintage music of tomorrow.
Ads: Nope.
Listening through iTunes: Radio > Eclectic > Illinois Street Lounge
Other ways to listen: Check out the official site.

This radio station is an absurd collection of circus music, organ solos, Brazilian pop, and polka music. The playlists are so unbelievably eclectic that they end up being sophisticated, hip and actually fun to listen to. It blends in like electronica or jazz, but when you start listening, you recognize that it’s the strangest music you’ve ever liked.

Favourite moment: A quirky organ + xylophone + accordion cover of “Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps.”

RadioIO Jazz

Tagline: Independent, original jazz
Ads: Every half hour
Listening through iTunes: Radio > Jazz > radioioJazz
Other ways to listen: Sign up for free on the website.

Operated by the ubiquitous RadioIO network, their jazz station is definitely the real thing. From vocal scat solos to piano freak-outs, deft trumpet work from Miles Davis and drum-kit brushes behind it all, this collection of music is the perfect classy background music for dinners, get-togethers, meetings, working or just reading alone.

Favourite moment: Robert Glasper’s 15-minute jazz piano medley of Radiohead’s “Everything its Right Place” with Herbie Hancock’s “Maiden Voyage.”

RadioIOAcoustic

Tagline: A soothing mix of folk, alt-country, pop, rock, jazz and blues
Ads: A few.
Listening through iTunes: Radio > Folk > radioioAcoustic
Other ways to listen: Get the stream from the website.

Another great station from RadioIO, this one takes care of anything you need from the genre of acoustic folk. Flooded with gorgeous contributions from acoustic kings like Tom Waits and unknown folksters I couldn’t name, this station supplies a steady stream of inspired songwriting and intelligent folk music. Really.

Favourite moment: Shawn Colvin’s acoustic cover of Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy.”

Little Radio

Tagline: Little Radio
Ads: None.
Listening through iTunes: Radio > Eclectic > Little Radio
Other ways to listen: From the website.

There are innumerable web radio stations that are begging to become the go-to music hangout for the indie kids. Forget about the clamour; the contest doesn’t matter. Try out Little Radio just because it’s got a cute name. It also has no ads, which is nice. If you’re looking for well-put-together playlists of Pitchfork-endorsed music to throw on just to hear some new tunes and feel like you’re part of the scene, Little Radio will be the perfect little station for you.

Favourite moment: Hearing Wilco’s new song “Impossible Germany” for the first time.

Midnight Blues

Tagline: From early masters to current day.
Ads: Yes.
Listening through iTunes: Radio > Blues > Midnight Blues
Other ways to listen: Click here to start listening now.

I never realized it until last year, but I love this kind of music. The blues music that rages out of this station is mysteriously filled with an ancient magic, boiling over with heartache and pain, carried by angry and dirty guitar riffs, reaching back 80 years to give this tumultuous loneliness a voice. Each guitar solo and screaming black man seems to be invoking some kind of horrible purging ritual, channeling every ounce of emotional pain into their guitars. The playlists are simultaneously so ethereal and earthy that there’s no way to tell if the players are real men or already spirits.

Favourite moment: Listening to this station for nine hours straight between the hours of midnight and 9 am during one of the most intense all-night work sessions I’ve ever experienced.

Closing note:

If you consider yourself a fan of net radio, you should listen up: Internet radio is dying. A bill has recently been introduced which, if it passes, will make most web radio stations go bankrupt. Higher fees and tighter restrictions mean that the majority of current stations will have to close up shop. If you live in the States, visit SaveNetRadio.org to find out what you can do to help.

• The Best Things I Know About Right Now (on Friday, March 23)
• Please Begin Dancing Now (A YouTube Playlist)
• How we didn’t spend our weekend
• The next-generation media outlet
• Swedish people have heartbeats, too.

But first you’ll have to purchase your own domain name and set up all your FTP information, select and install and customize an appropriate WordPress theme, configure a multitude of helpful WordPress plugins, widget and supplements, burn your site’s RSS feed using Feedburner, and prepare your site’s podcast using FeedPlayer, but don’t forget to boost your Technorati ranking, your Alexa ranking and your Google ranking, ensure that your blog is search engine optimized (SEO) for targeted keywords, launch a Google AdWords campaign to bring in extra traffic, send out a regular newsletter to your subscriber list, bring your Blackberry or mobile phone with you to most social engagements to ensure you’re being constantly updated about important developments on the web so you can post about it on your own site and take advantage of new services that might help your site, and ensure that your own RSS subscriptions include feeds from places like TechCrunch, Engadget and Lifehacker.

Additionally, you’ll need to ensure that you stay in close contact with your real-life friends, your family and your significant other, and make sure you allot adequate time during your day to spend time outside, get regular exercise, eat healthily and stick to a consistent workout schedule, while continuing to keep up your day job to ensure you are earning enough money to keep you afloat before your blog makes it big, although you’d be free to take the plunge and quit your job early just to devote more time to optimizing your blog, and don’t forget to document your blog-building adventures ON your blog as you go along to ensure that your progress is well-tracked and that everybody knows how much work you’re putting into things.

By following these helpful steps, you should start seeing results IMMEDIATELY. If you need any evidence, just take this site! Since February, I have devoted over 150 hours to building this website, and I have already made $6.34 in ad revenue alone, and that’s just after three months! I also have an RSS subscriber list that well surpasses 9 (nine) unique subscribers. I have even submitted posts from my site to Digg multiple times, and every post has scored more than 2 diggs each, one of them even getting as many as 5 diggs! Lastly, my credibility has gone through the roof. A brief look at my Technorati ranking shows my site is in the top 300,000 of all blogs on the Internet! And best of all, my level of personal self-satisfaction is at an all time high, knowing that all of the energy, time and creativity that I’ve devoted to my blog is paying off BIG-TIME in the form of deep and sincere online relationships with fellow bloggers, and by the incredible amount of money I continue to make each day. Thank God for blogging.

• Five finds for a Friday afternoon
• A non-geek’s guide to RSS
• My other blog is a Porsche graphic design blog
• Additional awesomeness around the web
• Transportation’s Got Me Down

Option 1: You could take the offending party to court. However, after spending about $5000 and 6 months trying to defend yourself, you’ll soon become overwhelmed by the pettiness, formality and debt that seems to be piling up around you, and forget about the whole thing.

Option 2: You could speak with the other person to sort it out. Great idea, but the last few times you’ve tried that, you wrote an email in ALL CAPS (out of pure fury), she blocked your address, and every time you call, she just hangs up on you.

Option 3: You could take it peacedeals.

Peacedeals.org is a brand new web service, launching today, specializing in online mediation. It’s the much-needed “Option 3” for conflicts that aren’t going anywhere. You sign up for an account, open a case, and send an invitation to the person you’re having a dispute with. Once both of you have carefully explained your sides of the story, a mediator will ask each of you any questions that need to be asked, and then render a fair, objective decision.

Here’s an example case, straight from the site:

As you can see, this is a great way to get both parties talking to in a non-hostile environment, and get the objective insight of a neutral third-party mediator.

In the case of peacedeals, mediators are accepted by application only. The mediators are selected based on their communication skills, understanding of human interaction, and their general education and life experience. The result is a batch of well-adjusted, intuitive and friendly folks available to help anybody out with their troubles. (Disclosure: yes, I am a mediator. And mediators get paid, too. :) )

As for those wishing to open cases, virtually anybody can do so. Cases run from $5 to $75, and fit into a few different categories, from “Settle a Bet” to “Bad Business.” If you’re wondering what type of cases might work for the site, here are a few ideas:

If you’ve got an idea for a case you’d like to open up on peacdeals.org, just read through the Services and Pricing guide (or check out the 10 Keys to Good Case Submission) to figure out what goes and what won’t.

So that’s peacedeals.org. I’ve been peripherally part of the team that’s been developing this for the past 9 months, and I’m excited to see it launch. Today would be a great day to check out peacedeals, since they’re offering 50 free cases on a first come, first serve basis, and also accepting applications for mediators. You can acquaint yourself with the site, meet the mediators, watch some welcome videos from the founder, and if you get there in time, even open up a free case! Sign up while you can still brag about being the first to the site, because peacedeals is about to trigger a revolution in online problem solving. Or something like that.

• Appropriate Reappropriation: Original, Artful Products You Can Buy Online
• Life of Pi movie in the works
• A non-geek’s guide to RSS
• How to Avoid Getting Dugg (or is it Digged?)
• The Greatest Generation Gap Since Rock and Roll

• Private Vinyl Showroom
• The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
• Five finds for a Friday afternoon
• Appropriate Reappropriation: Original, Artful Products You Can Buy Online
• Top 10 Best Movie Trailer Remixes Ever

And while I’m nodding in Harrison’s direction, here’s another link that anybody who likes Saul Williams, race issues and music would enjoy: an open letter from Saul Williams to Oprah Winfrey, on the subject of hip-hop and gangsta chic and its effect on culture.

One last treasure to share: the story of Marcus Montana, the Australian pop-star that never was. In 1989, after an incredibly ambitious advertising campaign that let every single Australian know of the impending arrival of a singer named Marcus, he arrived…only to be booed off stage for being one of the biggest posers in music history. Read the Sydney Morning Herald’s fascinating essay on the life and demise of Marcus Montana.

• How we didn’t spend our weekend
• Swedish people have heartbeats, too.
• Please Begin Dancing Now (A YouTube Playlist)
• My suburban Saturday: A phonecam’d collection of retail art
• The Best Things I Know About Right Now (on Friday, March 23)