Must. Be. AWESOME!!! » pics

Dad used to work out of this old transportation warehouse:

Du4 — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 19:16:20 +0000

Used to be an old ’50s diner in Hattiesburg. #du4roadtrip

Du4 — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 15:25:15 +0000

Taken at Downtown Hattiesburg

Morning on Lake Canebrake #du4roadtrip

Du4 — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 12:43:27 +0000

Taken at Canebrake Country Club

The long yard

Du4 — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 21:43:23 +0000

Melancholy waking dreams as I stumble once again into Hattiesburg. Progress and development have finally come and with it interminable traffic common to heat-bloomed southern towns grown large. The college version of me – Du4.0? – would have loved seeing all of these new things, these new places popping up all over… at last, new playgrounds on which to explore.

It just makes the today me tired.

I sit here in the bar where they named a whiskey & coffee drink after my father, and I cannot help but be consumed by memories of my four year exile in Hattiesburg, this a place in which I often regret getting stuck, but also one I am inevitably glad trapped me given my father’s eventual fate. A lot of good times I passed here with my Dad. However, this site is now marked by tepid fears of encountering locals who I’ve not seen since the funeral…a long yard of doomed smiles, faked well wishes, and eventual murder of the English language. It is southern Mississippi, after all.

Don’t know why I like it. I just do.

Du4 — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 00:38:24 +0000

Taken at Nashville Crossroads

Nashville street jams

Du4 — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 00:36:44 +0000

Different in every city you find them. Not quite buskers. Not quite boners. Just a Nashville trio marked by a passion too few have the joy to experience.

IMG_0848.MOV Watch on Posterous

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Mobilely transmitted; delivered with AWESOME.

Found me a dive bar w/ live blues & Abita! #hellyes

Du4 — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 23:24:41 +0000

Taken at Bourbon Street Blues and Boogie Bar

Station Ident: “My witness is the empty sky.”

Du4 — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 22:22:36 +0000

With that melancholy Kerouac quote, I turn mine eyes west and southwards, saddling a well oiled rubber-footed beast to drive, drive, drive. Firstly, I shall flagellate myself with adventures never before experienced in Nashville and continue Down South to the hellish humidity of Hattiesburg. Strong madness still consumes that town. Perhaps I’ll recount this adventure here as it reveals itself to me.

A mighty welcome to so many of you lovely new consumers to this blog. Traffic whore I am, I value your boundless criticism of the horrors chronicled within. It is only through such murderous sadism that we writers find the divining rods to a life less ordinary.

See you on the road.

This is Must. Be. AWESOME!!! Dot com.

Links of the Week: July 15, 2011 Edition

Du4 — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 14:00:39 +0000

Decades after duty in the OSS and CIA, “spy girls” find each other in retirement

I kind of adore this story about two old ladies living in a retirement home who suddenly remember each other worked for the OSS (the precursor of the CIA) in World War II. The video is hilarious. One of WaPo’s better pieces, I think. More of this, please.

Writers in Hollywood

As I learn more about the world of writing in Hollywood, I’m comforted by the observations of old guard prose scribblers like Raymond Chandler. In this 1945 Atlantic article, Chandler describes the differences between Hollywood scriptwriters and the novelists with whom he counted himself. Chandler’s AWESOME style is on display here, maintained from his fiction writing into this piece. It’s a notable historical portrait as well, rife with comparisons to the Hollywood film scene of today.

The Black Futurists

The World Futurist Society tipped me to this description of an AWESOME looking exhibit at the Sargent Johnson Gallery in The African American Art and Culture Complex in San Francisco. The exhibit features works of black futurists, from science fiction writers to bass players from outer space. People call it “Afrofuturism.”

Homefront and Propaganda In Video Games – What Are They Trying To Tell You?

G4 has a fun list of video games with brief queries about their inherent propaganda value. Most take the form of “war porn” games like Call of Duty, but there are some surprises. I had no idea, for example, that Teh Mad Christians had created a Left Behind video game adaptation where you apparently combat the forces of darkness with… prayer. Kinect that shit up, preacher!

Not Giving Up

Naltorian seer Jamais Cascio delivers a sanguine third option to the debate over how transformative future technologies like AI could either enslave humanity or set us free. Cascio argues that technology is already part of who we are; that Rejectionist and Posthumanist perspectives on bio-technical evolution ignore fungible interpretations of humanity. I enjoy Cascio’s commentary not just because of his unique perspective, but also because of his engaging writing style. This is a man who once briefed a social business crowd on how the future will be made of people, so I find it compellingly AWESOME that the guy’s writing just FEELS GOOD. He’s good people, and you should get there.

Is this the roster for DC’s new Justice League?

We can now confirm that this AWESOME Jim Lee is indeed a portrait of what’s being referred to as the “DCnU” Justice League. Set for debut in just a few short weeks, rumors circulated rampantly about DC Comics‘ relaunch of its entire line of comics. People were horrified, outraged, amazed, and excited for such a crazy turn of publishing events, all circling around the consolidated relaunch of every title to appeal to new readership. DC press releases since haven’t been as encouraging (there’s some good stuff but there’s also plenty of mediocrity) but this image is still something to get excited about.

The new cast of Geoff Johns' and Jim Lee's JUSTICE LEAGUE.

Disorienting Brand Conversions

My Modern Met logo designer Graham Smith makes your brain hurt with these weird brand swaps.

Image via My Modern Met

Anti-grav self portraits reveal the everyday life of a person who can levitate

AWESOME, AWESOME photoblog discovered by io9 of Tokyo photographer Natsumi Hayashi. Hayashi’s self portraits involve a degree of photography legerdemain where she sets up the shot then jumps to capture the effect that she’s actually levitating. It’s a supercool story of someone fudging reality to create abject beauty. The photos below are some of my favorites.

Image via yowayowacamera.com

“Writers in Hollywood,” Raymond Chandler (gointothestory.com)
Ahead of Comic-Con, DC readies readers for new 52 (ctv.ca)
Warner Bros. Comic-Con Booth Will Be ‘On Fire’; Studio to Give Away Tweety-Bird Branded Car at Booth (tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com)

Guitar Porn

Du4 — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 13:44:23 +0000

I have a sickness for AWESOME guitars. I love the design of a supercool Les Paul or the sleek lines of a Firebird. Gold humbuckers and brightly polished Bigsbys dazzle me. During SXSW 2011, I wandered through the guitar show one day and snapped a ton of photos. Here are some of my favorite axes that I discovered that day.

Gretsch had a great display this year. Look at those Bigsby tremolos twinkle.

A special edition Gretsch. Very pretty.

Detail on that special edition Gretsch.

And what really makes this a special edition guitar.

A Fender "Jag-Master," which is supposed to be some kind of weird combo of a Jaguar and a Jazzmaster. Dig the tortoise shell pick guard.

I'm a sucker for sparklies like this.

A vintage 1958 sunburst Fender Stratocaster; a classic.

Not sure what these guitars are, but they look like plastic kid's toys. I'm sure Jack white bought one.

A supercool bass guitar.

A Hofner bass guitar similar to the one Paul McCartney played with The Beatles.

This is my favorite guitar design EVER: the Gibson non-reverse Firebird. Gem Archer, formerly of Oasis and now of Beady Eye, plays these almost exclusively. AWESOME guitars.

I'm not wild about the blonde wood body for this Firebird; I prefer something darker. But it's still a beautiful axe.

Here's a sexy looking 1972 Fender Telecaster Deluxe. You can tell the Deluxes apart by the larger pick guard. Fender recently started reissuing these guitars.

Weird concept guitar: half-guitar, half-sitar!

Cool Fender Jazzmaster.

Didn't catch the brand of this striking concept guitar, but anything with three solid humbuckers has to rock.

Here's a bare bones, stripped down 1967 Firebird in the typical reverse style they're known for. Note the badass wood-grain Flying V with the gold hardware next to it.

Another vintage Firebird with 2 humbuckers and a tremolo. This is the most common Firebird design.

I love the contrast of black body guitars with gold hardware, particularly when it's 3 big blocky humbuckers and a badass Bigsby. Beautiful design.

Another classic Fender Strat. The go-to guitar for Texas bluesmen.

Another odd hybrid guitar made by Fender, the "Jag-Stang."

A super-rad Fender pedal steel.

Fender – Mark Knopfler Stratocaster (fmiyar.com)
My Guitars (charlie10m.wordpress.com)
50 Crazy Kick-Axe Guitars [PHOTOS] (coedmagazine.com)
UK’s First ‘Robot’ Guitar Arrives at Hollywood Music Shop (prweb.com)
Steampunk guitar – for modern rockstars with Industrial edge (punjapit.wordpress.com)
Fender – Ritchie Blackmore Stratocaster (fmiyar.com)
Fender – Dave Murray Stratocaster (fmiyar.com)
Purchasing Your Guitar (jmcartee.wordpress.com)
RUSH – Gibson Introduces The Alex Lifeson Les Paul Axcess (bravewords.com)