I
miss Groucho Would Groucho Marx find this funny or not?
ABCNews.com has a link
to a slideshow of pictures of Groucho and his brothers on
its home page as I write this Sunday night. According to the
text, he "died 30 years ago this week." When you get to the
end of the slideshow, you learn he died on August 19,
1977 at the age of 86...
It kinda figures, though. In a time when current events
are badly-scripted cartoons at best, why should the editors
of the home page of a major "news" network Web site bother
to be accurate? At any rate, I hereby dedicate this week's
GRACK! to Groucho's memory and predict with heavy certainty
that one like him will never come again. Satire just doesn't
work well any more, doggone it. Reality's been hijacked!
When the most outrageous thing you can ever imagine being
said has already been delivered straight-faced on the
nightly news, comedy can't gain a purchase. There ain't no
toehold on that sucker, folks. Darn near everything has
moved way, waypast ridicule, with management of the
masses now seemingly complete...
Except IT ISN'T SO, OF COURSE, SO DON'T GIVE IN! The kids
know best on this one. Biologically and spiritually primed
for maximum effect, they just need a little push. (You say
you want a revolution? The icons of liberation you see
pictured here are worthy of your study. Rent all the films
and watch them many, many times. Rewind all the crazy parts
and play them back until you have at least a couple
memorized, then go out and live your life.) There, I gave it
a shot. I'm not done yet, either.
Alive
and well in Alamosa "What is?" Public radio, that's what, and
no one's ever going to hijack the reality of KRZA-FM,
"Relevant radio for the Upper Rio Grande Region." I actually
made it to the interview stage for part-time music director
at the station [read more about this at my FarrFeed
blog at Salon.com]. Unfortunately there's the little
matter of minimum wage and having to commute over 80 miles
each way, but even so, I haven't told them no. For that
matter, they haven't told me yes, so I guess we're
still even at this stage.
The reason I didn't walk away as soon as the station
manager told me what the pay was [sob] is simply
that I loved the place. Just look at the picture down below:
does this look like a radio station to you? Well, it is, and
a damned friendly one at that. The upstairs is the studio,
with CDs lining all the walls (rock and classical are in the
closet). The broadcast booth is tiny as can be, but
everything you need is in there somewhere. The music
director "has" to put it at least six hours of DJ time every
month, but that was what I liked the most! All their DJs
are volunteers, you realize, and I'll bet there isn't an
open slot available. I urge you all to read this "Why
We DJ" essay to get a sense of why the duty turned me
on.
Computer-wise, they have an old Performa that they "only
use for faxes," but the printer (a mint-condition
Stylewriter II) doesn't work and no one seems to know what's
wrong. Picture my hand reaching for the mouse and pulling
back -- "it's just an interview, you moron!" -- oh,
that was hard, I tell you. They have a few PCs networked to
a DSL connection, but when I walked through none were turned
on and making use of all that bandwidth. I saw a DAT
recorder/player upstairs on a rack and started
hyperventilating over what a modern Mac could do in that
environment. I just wanted to move right in and start
helping to take care of the place, you know? God
bless 'em, anyway, the lucky bastards. You don't run things
like KRZA for the money, and if that isn't revolutionary in
these times, I don't know what is.
And
finally, PowerMacs with portholes One of the best things about the new Macs is the
"Roadmaster" tag I've heard in some quarters. If that
doesn't tickle your fancy, then you never drove a
straight-8, that's for sure. Come to think of it, I never
actually did either, though a junior high school friend of
mine in Abilene did take me for a ride in a primo ancient
Packard that his dad had picked up somewhere. (Seats like
flannel-covered sofas but no portholes on the Packard!)
I'd have more to say on hardware news, but since the
column's titled "Vitamins for the Soul" and I feel rather
undernourished by the business of America this week, I'll
just accentuate the positive and say I think the case would
look lots better with round holes, you know?
Round holes with little chrome rings around 'em, there
you go.
"Grack!"
Senior Applelinks editor and columnist John
H. Farr humbly suggests the following links may be of
interest:
Server Racks
Online:
Apple Xserve CompatibleServer Racks and Universal Network Racks 42U KVM Switch Solutions:
High-End Mac and Multi-Platform KVM Matrix switching solutions! Digital Camera
Online:
Great prices on Digital Cameras and accessories! KVM Switches
Online:
Great prices on Mac KVM Switches from the leading manufacturers! LCD Monitors
Online:
Great prices on LCD Monitors from the leading manufacturers! LCD Projectors
Online:
Shop online for LCD Projectors from the leading manufacturers! USB 2.0 Online:
Great prices on USB 2.0 products from the leading manufacturers
KVM Switch solutions for
MACs:
DAXTEN is a KVM switch, KVM extender and monitor splitter specialist for
PC, SUN and MAC applications from name brand manufacturers - offices
worldwide.
The
"Think Different Store: The iPod Accessories Store
- iPod cases, iPod mini, iPod photo, speakers, itrip, inMotion,
Soundstage and all other iPod accessories