The e-Maggedon That Isn’t; How e-Books Aren’t That Scary

This morning, I stood on the train behind a woman reading from a Kindle that was affixed to its leather case by a big green rubber band, looped around twice. Of course, seeing a Kindle or any of its cousins on the train isn’t anything to call Grandma about, but there’s a metaphor of some sort tangled up with all the knotted strands of hair in that rubber band. It also happens that I was involved in a discussion of sorts regarding the e-readers last night, and so it all seemed very apropos.

Orwell talks into can, gets face on Kindle

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Pitchfork Music Festival Preview: Sunday

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Pitchfork Music Festival Preview: Saturday

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Pitchfork Music Festival Preview: Friday

I feel that it is my duty as a Chicagoan to pay some attention to the Pitchfork Music Festival. Saving my jaded, snide remarks for the actual band previews, I’ll say that I’ve been to Pitchfork (previously Intonation) Music Festival several times, and it was a lot of fun. It’s easy enough to make jokes about neon sunglasses and the vast abundance of Sparks (now w/o caffeine, bring yr own cocaine), but by and large it’s one of the better festivals you’ll find, you know, if you’re into that sort of thing. Alas, I won’t be able to attend this year, as I’ve opted to attend a suburban pig roast, as well as Sunday’s White Sox/Orioles game instead, but figured I’d try to help out all those making the trip to Union Park this weekend by providing an overview of all the acts performing.* Enjoy!

Cheers,

EGM

*And I’m here to happily provide uninvited two-cents from the only guy you know who still only listens to reggae and punk rock about bands I’ve never heard! (BK)

**Me too! (TH)

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What We’ve Been Watching: March 5, 2008

Oh, Hi There. We’ve been watching television and movies and things on the internet and we’d like to tell you about them. Consider it an advice column for the socially stunted.

OSCAR NOMINATED LIVE ACTION SHORTS (TH)*

German for "Big Winner"

Spielzeugland (Germany) – A rather pedestrian short about a German boy during the 1930s who’s been told by friends and family that his Jewish friend and piano partner will soon be taken away to “Spielzeugland” (“Toyland”).  There are about 47 flashbacks and flashforwards during the 13-minute film, and shit doesn’t get explained particularly well.  This won the Oscar, which is silly, because it’s a little exploitative, and not particularly well-made or inspired.

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We love people finding us on the internets

You know we love our loyal readership here at Running Downhill, and we’re not here to judge.  However, we are a little concerned that some of you may be barking up the wrong blog tree:

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Rub-a-dub-Dublin

We here at Running Downhill are widely known to be both lovers of music and beer. And loonytunes Jamaican record producers. That is why we love this:

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60 Days of Running Downhill. Take that, Noah.

Since we didn’t receive any congratulatory cards, we here at RD assume there’s some kind of surprise party waiting for us during the weekend. “Party for what?” you say? My, you are good at this. And dedicated. Ok, we’ll play along. “Why, for our two-month anniversary, silly!”

Happy Birthday, RD!

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What We’ve Been Watching: Special September Bumper Edition

We’ve been a little lax here at RD about keeping you up to date on things that we’ve seen. In penance, we present to you a giant-size Bumper Edition of “What We’ve Been Watching”.

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Headlines Schmedlines

Today’s news: All your dreams and aspirations will turn out to be empty weights, dragging you further down into black oblivion. Here’s the good stuff…

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