Joe Crawford
Web developer & user interface engineer
Tinkering with the web since 1996

email: joe@artlung.com · twitter: @artlung
San Diego, California, USA
aka joecrawford.com

July, 2015: 79 posts.

Today’s Hits on Slacker.

Give it a try! Something we are playing with at Slacker:

Maybe 2 days.

Untitled

I looked at this Evel Knievel ad, the back cover of World’s Finest #243 from January 1977, far too much. Probably when we moved to the Philippines it was lost. Maybe to Goodwill? Maybe in a yard sale? Maybe in the trash. I loved comics. And in the Philippines I learned to love Asian media, particularly Giant Robots like Voltes V and Mazinger Z. I learned what Hello Kitty was though I wouldn’t learn the word “kawaii” for 3 decades. Anime joined Batman and Robin, Batgirl and the Peanuts gang in the things I love. This week I’ll be attending San Diego Comic-Con for the I-can’t-even-remember-th time. I’ll be looking out for old favorites and new favorites too. I collected comics for many years but sold them all just a few years ago. I lost all my enthusiasm for such things. I lost my Mother to cancer. It seemed like such enjoyments were useless and not “real” life. I am fortysomething and am pretty much a responsible person. “Adult” behavior seemed at odds with funnybooks.

Luckily I outgrew that phase.

I know I will see some of you at Comic-Con, which will be great. For the first time ever I’ll be dressing up one day (Walter Sobchak), adding another dimension to Comic-Con for me.

Maybe I’ll dress up two days.

From Web Design: The First 100 Years by Maciej Cegłowski:

Tech culture is like a deadbeat who lives on your basement sofa. You ask him:

“When are you going to do all those things you promised?”

“Oh, wait until everyone has a computer.”

“They do.”

“Okay, I mean wait until they’re all online. ”
“They are. Why isn’t the world better?”

“Well, wait until they all have smartphones… and wearable devices,” and the excuses continue.

The real answer is, technology hasn’t changed the world because we haven’t cared enough to change it.

(((To be honest, I gasped at that last line I quoted, sobbed really. We need more human caring and less techno-determinism. It’s hard work to change the world. Get on it.)))

The Grateful Dead: Influences and Influencers

dead

Perhaps you’re interested in learning more about Half Century Phenomenon The Grateful Dead?

I remember several Los Angeles nurses I worked with who dropped everything and went to San Francisco just to BE THERE in the immediate aftermath of Jerry Garcia’s death. The Dead means a lot to a lot of people.

On the net.cultural and intellectual property rights tip – The Dead were pioneers of allowing people to record their concerts and share them with each other decades before Napster existed.

Fascinating band and definitely deserve full attention in your 20th Century Music Appreciation Studies.

R U KIND?

Railroad Crossing

Railroad Crossing, Cardiff (1)

This is the Chesterfield Drive railroad crossing in Cardiff-by-the-Sea; between San Elijo Avenue and the Coast Highway. It’s a beautiful spot. I declared earlier I love trains. Travel and adventure. Going away and returning home. New places and people; and old friends and family. I think I even took Amtrak alone, at least once, as a kid no older than 8, back to San Diego from Los Angeles to visit my grandparents. I know I flew as a kid once or twice. I wish I could remember those trips better. Forgotten or not, fake memory or real, here’s to making new travel memories – no matter if the trips are thousands of miles or just a few klicks up the coast in the same county.

Railroad Crossing, Cardiff (2)

←June 2015August 2015→