Sunday, November 30, 2008

Read George Orwell's Diaries in "Real Time!"

Since August 2008, The Orwell Prize has been presenting George Orwell's diaries in blog form, exactly 70 years since they were originally written! If all goes according to plan, the entries will continue until 2012. As the original diary was begun before WWII and ended several years into the conflict, this will be a very interesting experience to read in real time.
It's not all completely riveting, however. At the moment, the entries consist of a daily count of the number of eggs his hens have laid!

Link:
THE ORWELL PRIZE

(via BoingBoing)
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Sunday, November 23, 2008

The Future of Music?

(two musicians are standing in the unemployment line. It is some time in the future. In order to protect their identities, we will call them M1 and M2.)

M1: So, here we are again.
M2: Yeah, here we are. How long has it been since your last gig?
M1: Quite a while.
M2: Me too!
M1: You know, it's funny. The other day the plumber came by and fixed my toilet. He handed me his bill, and I mentioned that I thought he should do it for free, since I'm expected to give out my music for free. He just laughed. He said something about having gone to trade school, and I pointed out that I went to college to learn music. He didn't like that answer.
M2: Yeah, I'm sure he didn't.
M1: Yeah, I ended up dipping into my savings again so I could pay the bill.
M2: Oh, man. Speaking of giving out music, can you believe it's almost been 2 years since congress abolished the copyright act?
M1: No, it seems like yesterday. One day I was making a living, the next day I was looking in the want ads for day jobs.
M2: You know, my kid asked me the weirdest question the other day. He said "dad, what's an album?" I had to explain to him that people used to get songs in groups, rather than downloading random songs one at a time. He also couldn't understand that people used to pay for it.
M1: Speaking of downloads, how many people have downloaded your newest song?
M2: I think it's more than 500,000 now.
M1: Oh, man! In the old days that would have been a gold record. You wouldn't have been standing in this line!
M2: That's for sure! Here I've got over 500,000 fans on Mybandspacebook, and I had to sell a bunch of my gear to pay this month's rent. What's wrong with this picture?
Announcer: Next please.
M1: Oh, that's me. Well, good seeing you. Take it easy.
M2: Yeah, good luck.
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