Dr. Frank's What's-it

Thoughts for the Day

1. "The US has 13,000 career sociologists, a potential for extraordinary intellectual hegemony."

2. "In absolutely negativizing disease, suffering and death, in opposing these to health and life in a mutually exclusive manner, the scientific medical system of knowledge can separate in individuals and in populations what is absolutely bad, the enemy to be eradicated, from what is good, health and life." (Quoted by Ophelia Benson from F.A. Marglin, 'Smallpox in two Systems of Knowledge'.)

x meets y from hell on acid

Lord knows, it's been done before, but this little dictionary of literary "reviewese" is pretty funny.

You could compile a similar list for music "reviewese," of course, and there would be many overlapping terms. They even tend to drop some of the same gratuitous names. The main difference: music reviewers will by and large refer to "your ass" more frequently than book reviewers. Otherwise, it's basically mad lib city.

My favorite one from the article: "(the) name of that young German corporal was Adolf Hitler."

Help me out here...

So we've been kicking around the idea of putting out a "best of Mr. T Experience" compilation some time next year.

Ideally, it should be no more than 16 tracks, and be listenable as an album, rather than an archival series of random popular tracks. Making that selection is going to be pretty difficult. I keep trying to make a list, and find I don't really know where to begin.

So I was wondering: what would you do? Leave your list in the comments, if you've got one.

(Oh yeah, and by the way: word on the street is that Lookout stuff is finally available at the iTunes store, so Zaphod, that's probably your best "Love American Style" solution. It's not on Revenge is Sweet, however.)

"So, this is where revolutionary Marxism comes to die..."

Johann Hari met Antonio Negri for a drink in London, and was able to turn their nutty conversation into this amusing column.

Rock and Roll Monkey Trivia

So here's some more detail on my Euro-shows next week. The Rotterdam Rumble is the big one, but the others should be fun, too.

On the pop quiz thing, I'm supposed to play a medley of rock and roll/pop songs and people are supposed to identify the songs and artists. Here's Stefan's flier for it, which is great as usual.

See you there, maybe.

Tue. August 24: Perron55 in Venlo, The Netherlands Address: Kaldenkerkerweg 55, 5913 AC Venlo (Free entrance)

Wed. August 25:
Club 3voor12 on national radio, The Netherlands
The show will be on air between 10 pm till 1 am and I'll be the guest in the first or second hour. Listen here online.

Thu. August 26:
Rollhaus (skate hall) in Solingen, Germany (doors 7 pm) + first solo gig ever of Will DeNiro of the Zatopeks. Also an additional set at 11pm in Solingen at another skate hall called the Cobra.

Fri. August 27:
First day of the Rotterdam Rumble festival + The Apers + Groovie Ghoulies + many more

Sat. August 28:
Dr. Frank & His Shiny Robot Monkeys
Rotterdam Rumble festival at Waterfront in Rotterdam, The Netherlands + The Yum Yums + many more

Sun. August 29:
Club Rock ‘N’ Roll Highschool in Rotterdam, The Netherlands (5 pm)

Sun. August 29:
Rockaway Beach Popquiz at the Strand Aan De Maas in Rotterdam, The Netherlands (8 pm)
(Free entrance)

I feel bad for us, too

Quote of the day, from Jessica Cutler, in this piece on her inspiring rags to riches story:

"I was only blogging for, what, less than two weeks?" she says. "Some people with blogs are never going to get famous, and they've been doing it for, like, over a year. I feel bad for them."

Honey, I Just Love Your Complex and Meaningful Ways

I got a kick out of this fluffy interview with Ray C. Fair, whose "econometric" analysis has, apparently, predicted the outcomes of presidential elections with greater accuracy than public opinion polling. ("The average mistake of the equation is about 2.5 percentage points," according to Fair.)

Never mind whether or not econometrics is all it's cracked up to be. The funny part is the New York Times interviewer, Deborah Solomon, who can't seem to get her mind around the idea that a guy like Fair might report results that do not advance his own agenda. Fair says he's a Kerry supporter, but his analysis predicts a 57.5% Bush victory. This does not compute. A true Kerry supporter would find a way to make his results predict a Kerry win, wouldn't he? Well, he would if he worked at the New York Times, I suppose.

Favorite "question" from Solomon: "it saddens me that you teach this to students at Yale, who could be thinking about society in complex and meaningful ways."

(via Bill Quick)

Sophisticated Lady

Madonna gave the VIP guests at the launch party for her Re-invention world tour a gift with a personal touch - special cocktails cooled with Kabbalah water.

The singer, who launched her tour in California last month, gave her special guests a drink called Damn, a mixture of gin and lemon-lime soda.

But Madonna insisted that all of the ice cubes in the cocktail be made from pure Kabbalah water.

Intellectually Motivation

Check out Nelly's P.I.M.P. scholars program. Pimp stands for "Positive Intellectual Motivated Person."

I did not know that.

Texted by the Fruit of Another

I guess this kind of counts as a "found" letter. I got a wayward text message on my mobile phone today. I'm not necessarily discounting the idea that it could be a hoax by someone I know whose number I don't recognize, but if it's not that, it was accidentally sent to my number by someone trying to reach someone else in all sincerity. It doesn't quite seem like it could be real, but many of the best things in life don't. Anyway, here it is:

Hi dru its doLL. Dam havent talked to yo ass in like HeLLa days.. WeLL yea hoLLa bac at dis girl one time. Dis be my new ceLL number. Aight then.. Bye cutie!

"A Case of Hidden mass medication upon the unsuspecting public"

No wonder everyone is so bright and chipper in England...

K-School Ate My Brain

Madonna to open Kabbalah school in New York:

The school, to be named the Kabbalist Grammar School For Children - The K School for short - will teach primary age youngsters the beliefs of the Jewish faith.

(via Gawker.)

Just do it

Go here and click on "Poems from my heart."

Still Doin' It

I suppose this topic will eventually become tiresome (and maybe it already has for some) but I'm not quite all the way tired for some reason. This from the popbitch tip sheet/email, via gawker:

"I was getting my makeup done, and it just hit me: I love Nick, but I need time alone. I called my psychic, and I asked her opinion... I went straight to the Kabbalah Centre and got a new bracelet." - Paris Hilton

Switched-on Catholicism

My sister got married last weekend, and a great time was had by all, as far as I could tell. (Congratulations again, kids, by the way, if you ever read this.)

I took quite a few pictures while I was back home, but the only one I feel like sharing with the general public is this one.

Electric offertory candles. $2 to flick the switch and light one of the little flame-shaped light bulbs.

It's Good to be the MEP

Being a musician means constantly kicking yourself for the poor choices you have made in your "life." Or, well, I guess everyone does that. And does everyone also continually find themselves looking longingly at the gainfully employed, no matter how humble or wretched, while saying to themselves: "Jeez, I'm in the wrong racket"?

Well, here's a new racket about which to kick yourself, at least it's a new one for me: Member of the European Parliament.

(via Samizdata.)