im actually gonna speak on this panel in beverly hills next tuesday.

i shouldnta accepted because i get back from oregon monday, but its being hosted by these two dudes who i like a lot who are the faces of current tv. max n jason.

i am also doing it because robert greenwald of brave new films is on the panel and i like what they are doing in regards to viral marketing thru inexpensive but pointed videos that are hosted on youtube. you dont have to agree with his politics or agenda, but you should be paying attention to his methods because they are techniques anyone could use.

the panel is called Beyond the Anchor Desk: The Rise of Citizen Journalism, its being held at the paley center which used to be the museum of radio and television.

im not super crazy about being on panels of any sort because half the time i think who the hell am i to be yammering away like some stuffed shirt, but then i look in the mirror and down at the scale and realize my shirt’s stuffed, my pants are stuffed, etc etc. but i do know that part of my responsibilities at my job are to do some of these things a few times a year, and max and jason are good people, so it wasnt allll that hard to say yes, but i did hesitate.

last week i had to put together a dvd video intro about what we’re doing blogwise at the times and i included our user generated section your scene and ICU which our editor russ stanton talked about yesterday in his interview with media bistro. so hopefully that will touch on some of the citizen journalism talking points that they might wanna panel about. who knows.

frankly i hate the term citizen journalism, because if you ask me, blogging isnt journalism, neither is taking pictures of a fire in your neighborhood. to me, journalism is an art that you hone. just because you learn a few chords on the piano doesnt mean youre a musician. likewise just because you publish some crap on a blog doesnt make you a blogger. i also believe blogging is an art. its slightly related to the art of journalism, but it’s different. in some cases very different to journalism.

but those are semantics and tonight i am up late (for me, at least) because i need to create a bio for this panel and i dont know what to say,

tony pierce is a gen-x slacker addicted to the web. he’d rather be blogging or helping people blog. he moved out to california the day after his high school graduation and never looked back. a graduate of u can study buzzed and the daily nexus, tony has been blogging since fall of 2001 and is currently the blog editor of the los angeles times, a job he used to publicly wish for in his personal blog, the busblog. dreams can really come true. hes also a cub fan who believes that this is the year.

think theyd go for that?

tonight the cubs are in town and im going with several coworkers and i cant wait.

– first off, above is my choice for the album cover o the year. the band is called Women. they’re from canada. and the edmonton sun says that it “descends into total, wing-pinning noise, then rises up directly into the clouds with almost blinding hope, the stuff of Christian rock camps, but with stolen beer.” h/t Gorilla vs Bear who even has some MP3s for you to download.

– next we have two new blogs at the LA Times that you should familiarize yrselves with. the first is an outdoors blog called Outposts and our Technology section front has magically transformed into a kickass blog.

– ever wanna walk through the insides of a colon? if you live in or around Irvine you might have already felt like you do that all the time, but now you get to really do it.

– how is it that Liz Phair still looks exactly the same after all these years?

– so did any of you see the Obama speech? yeah whatevs, what about Wonkette’s liveblogging of the Hillary speech – now that was good eatin. my hats off to mr ken layne for not just his coverage but the craziness in his comments. damn those readers crazy

but we should give him props for being the first black person to ever win the dem nom. you dont have to go too far back in my family tree to find slaves or kids of slaves. so in that sense we are living in some mighty impressive times. and clearly change has come to this country.

but you know what i find the most impressive? the creativity of the obama supporters and their knack for partying with the typically boring as f campaign posters. like these:

congratulations senator

now only if he picks ron paul for his vp…

our pal leah (above) has been blogging for almost eight years now, yesterday she continued her role in front of the camera with some pretty interesting looks / poses / outfits. shes not doing so poorly behind the camera neither. thats one talented couple over there in austin.

kingston’s krista is also quite skilled with her camera equipment and delivers some photos from the matt good show from massey hall, as well as some terrifying shots from the CN tower.

sultry suzie just had painful ovarian surgerie but because shes nothing if not energetic she downed her meds and showed some love for the Red Wings, post-op monday before that triple overtime game. forgive us for rooting for the Pens. we just wanted more stanley cup puck.

longtime friend of the busblog, flagrant should really just move in with me. i’ll protecter.

as it stands, no stranger is allowed to know whether or not anyone is here. it needs to be questionable. when i am here alone, there is an unshakable need to maintain the dual state of confusion. perhaps someone is? perhaps not? i cannot know what people think, but want the routine of attendance to appear to have lost its ritualistic formula. also, and i am not clear on the reason, nobody should specifically hear or see me. even when chuck is around, i have not been able to exit this room. i have been free enough to open the door twice, but not enough to step out into the hallway.

consider how obsessive and paranoid this problem of trying to live secretly can get– how it can take up to 25 minutes of tentative slyness to simply slide open a window. this should not compute. whoever wanted inside only desired material goods or information. there was no intention of harming me– yet my existence must be restrained right now.

actually since i only have a one bedroom we should probably try to get a bigger pad. one with a front desk security dude, preferably xbi, a hot tub, a panic room, underground parking, and a camera outside the front door of our place. you think im kidding, but truth is id be an excellent roommate for her. id go out and get her whatever she wanted late at night or in the day. id look around the hallways for evil. and id be around enough for her to hate me.

matt welch has begun a youtube series of white dudes covering prince. this cant end well. although starting off with one of my favorite prince tunes with one of my favorite bands who secretly arent one of my favorite bands but covering prince in pajamas is a good start.

did you know ken layne, when not running and owning wonkette, writes a column for AOL? yup. the other day he wrote about commentors. the half-literate ones of course. bonus points for the scary painting that we all saw in madrid at the turn of the century.

how bad is the real estate market and the economy here in LA? ed mcmahon is in arrears on his $5 million beverly hills crib, writes la times real estate blogger peter viles, who has the #1 blog on the times so far this month.

which means theres a new ICU on the LAT
this video, though, was a reaction to this one from the lady who wanted to hook up with the dude who she ran over with her car

one thing i dont understand is this “lets have coffee” thing. when did that start? are people too freaked out with dinner n drinks? coffee?

any semi-sexual meetup should have the possibility for what the kids call romance, shouldnt it? how on earth are you supposed to even remotely have a shot of said romance if you drank coffee for an hour? where does coffee lead to? do you even wanna kiss someone who has coffee breath?

i just dont get it.

anyways, do you think the young lady should look him up?

watch all the ICU vids here

a gentle reader notified me this afternoon that both of my CafePress books, Stiff and How to Blog were being sold on Amazon.

i was amazed because i specifically avoided selling those books on Amazon because i figured if anyone was interested enough in buying any of my masterworks then they would probably know about me, thus they would know about the busblog.

so i sold those books on this very blog and nowhere else.

How to Blog was one of the first Blooks to sell really well and i had high hopes for Stiff, which i considered to be far superior, but when sales didnt do as well for that one i got pissy (which ive been known to do from time to time) and i stopped sales and vowed never to release that book again.

but then i saw that people are selling Stiff for a higher price than i ever considered, and theyre selling the autographed copies that i shipped off to people who i thought were fans.

so there might be a re-release of Stiff just to flood the market.

stay tuned.

wish i did. but maybe im too dumb.

if something terrible happens to me tonight while i sleep. or tomorrow
while i rock. if someone crashes into my house with a tank
or with a mess of bricks in a sock and pounds me.
ive lived. ive loved. and ive been loved.
i had some of the best girlfriends of all.
i asked each of them to marry me. some repeatedly.
and we all know why the lord hardened their hearts.
and so their lives wouldnt be ruined.
and so i would become a blogrrr. (what joy)
when my truest and i were together i stopped writing entirely.
i had little websites that were mostly pictures and sports and everything dumb.
boringness ontop of dullness sprinkled with shit
because all shed have to do was walk into the room
or do the worm in the kitchen
or take a piss in the quiet of the middle of the night
and id sigh.
loudly so shed hear.
shed crawl back in bed and id say
even the way you flushed was hot,
lets do it.
id take pics when she slept
id take pics when she ate
id take pics when shed say quit taking pics.
i would have never believed in love or true loves or hidden angels
let alone soul mates if it werent for her.
i would have never believed what
real
was if it wasnt for san francisco and the midtown bar
and the dominatrix bartender who poured whatever magic was in that anchor steam that night
the night my truest said ok so is that it between us
and i said pretty much
and she said bs.
she said we’ve only just begun. or maybe that was the carpenters.
either way all the demons in my head that said shes too tall shes too bosomey
shes too sweet shes shiras bff she wears worse clothes than you
shes not the punk rock teen that you think you want
got drunk and shut up and i tooker back to the elegant victorian flat
and that was that for six years straight.
give or take.
christine rene is back from africa
where she saved the world.
im gonna see her in oregon on friday. cuz a week from todays her bday.
i think her parents are gonna let us share a bedroom together.
not sure. but if they dont im gonna sneak into her bedroom.
and im gonna whisper things like this:

and this:

and when shes least expecting it, a little of this shit:

im gonna asker what she learned in africa in regards to esp
mind control, soft breathing
and letting the sexiestness of ones soul float from ones brown eyes
over into the others blue eyes.
and perhaps leak out that ass.
which is why the hand has to cover it up.
like so.

so…

finally.

and guess who got it sent to him a few weeks ago

and has listened to it every damn day?

its awesome, get it, love it.

Ting Tings on tour

June
6 Jimmy Kimmel Live!
7 San Diego, CA – Casbah
9 Vancouver, BC – Plaza
10 Seattle, WA – Chop Suey
12 San Francisco, CA – PopScene
13 Los Angeles, CA – Troubadour
14 Los Angeles, CA – Zero One
16 Toronto, ONT – Mod Club
17 New York, NY – Apple Instore (Soho)
18 New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
19 Boston, MA – Great Scott
20 Brooklyn, NY – South Paw
21 Philadelphia, PA – Popped

rip bro,

dave alvin of the blasters wrote a nice “appreciation” for the bluesman today in the times

the pants’ bf might or might not be cheating on her (my guess is he aint):

ugh man i went into urgent care today cos i felt crappy all week and got a sore throat too but i am so used to feeling run down that i was like whatever another damn cold or something but then i looked at my throat and it was covered in white shit and i yelled OH GROSSSSSSS and regretted it instantly because it made my throat hurt to yell. seriously that might be the grossest thing i have ever seen, my throat covered in patches of nasty ass white spots.

zulieka’s punchline goes something like this:

I’m a complete novice. I’m just licking at glaciers. I lick them to please myself.

raymi on sex and the city:

oh and i’ll have you know that since blog-dissing sex and the city i have gotten in a huge fight with a friend (resolved now) and THREE facebook SATC gifts, two shoes and 1 martini glass. FUCK OFF YOU GUYS!

heh kidding.

basically my take on that show/movie is, you can be a sexy empowered woman and not look to those characters as role models or representatives for how you feel about men and sex and love, i could not ever get into the show, and i think it’s cos i out-yuppied myself when i was a teenager, too many issues of cosmo and tiny skirts and old men skeletons in my closet to care anymore. plus, i’m kind of a slob.

and evidently all of toronto is wearing yellow dresses now, so thanks for that one too.

sass on being told of an impending awkward situation:

She’s like “Sorry Sass, I have bad news. I just talked to JT and he’s coming with The Fifth.”
OH NO YOU DIDN’T just dawn this on me now!
She makes the ‘I’m sorryyyyyyyy’ squinty face, with a shoulder shrug and nothing-I-can-do hands in the air.
Y’know the one that’s supposed to signify ‘Oopsie daisy. No biggie right? You can’t be mad at me if I make my own face ugly for all of 5 seconds’.

erin just wants to wear short dresses and soccer shoes:

i think that is what i’m going to wear all summer. that is what i’m wearing right now and i am eating a bowl of apple jacks. i don’t even like apple jacks and i am not hungry, but eating apple jacks goes with my outfit and i am a slave to asthetics. if only i was eating these apple jacks in a tennis court i could die happy right now. obviously i got a pair of shoes this weekend that are seriously going to change my life. i think they are going to motivate me to take up speed chess. speed chess in the park in short dresses and soccer shoes!

and those are just a few who posted this weekend who i love.

foto by fil