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March 22, 2007
Jean Baudrillard is dead
The controversial philosopher (above) died on March 6, 2007 in Paris at the age of 77.
Patricia Cohen's March 7, 2007 New York Times obituary follows.
- Jean Baudrillard, 77, Critic and Prolific Author
The French critic and provocateur Jean Baudrillard, whose theories about consumer culture and the manufactured nature of reality were intensely discussed both in rarefied philosophical circles and in blockbuster movies like ''The Matrix,'' died yesterday in Paris. He was 77.
Michel Delorme, director of Galilee, Mr. Baudrillard's publisher, announced his death, which he said followed a long illness.
Mr. Baudrillard, the first in his family to attend a university, became a member of a small caste of celebrated and influential French intellectuals who achieved international fame despite the density and difficulty of their work.
The author of more than 50 books and an accomplished photographer, Mr. Baudrillard ranged across different subjects, from race and gender to literature and art to 9/11. His comments often sparked controversy, as when he said in 1991 that the gulf war ''did not take place'' -- arguing that it was more of a media event than a war.
Mr. Baudrillard was once considered a postmodern guru, but his analyses of modern life were too original and idiosyncratic to fit any partisan or theoretical category. ''He was one of a kind,'' François Busnel, the editor in chief of the monthly literary magazine Lire, said yesterday. ''He did not choose sides, he was very independent.''
With a round face and big, thick glasses, Mr. Baudrillard was known for his witty aphorisms and black humor. He described the sensory flood of the modern media culture as ''the ecstasy of communication.''
One of his better known theories postulates that we live in a world where simulated feelings and experiences have replaced the real thing. This seductive ''hyperreality,'' where shopping malls, amusement parks and mass-produced images from the news, television shows and films dominate, is drained of authenticity and meaning. Since illusion reigns, he counseled people to give up the search for reality.
''All of our values are simulated,'' he told The New York Times in 2005. ''What is freedom? We have a choice between buying one car or buying another car? It's a simulation of freedom.''
This idea was picked up by the American filmmakers Andy and Larry Wachowski, who included subtle references to Mr. Baudrillard in their ''Matrix'' trilogy. In the first movie of the series, ''The Matrix'' (1999), the computer hacker hero Neo opens Mr. Baudrillard's book ''Simulacra and Simulation,'' which turns out to be only a simulation of a book, hollowed out to hold computer disks. Mr. Baudrillard later told The Times that the movie references to his work ''stemmed mostly from misunderstandings.''
He was also a fierce critic of consumer culture in which people bought objects not out of genuine need but because of the status and meaning they bestowed.
Born in 1929 in Reims, Mr. Baudrillard later attended university in Paris, earning a doctorate in sociology while teaching German to high school students. He published his first book, ''The Object System,'' in 1968.
In 1986 he published a kind of travelogue called ''America,'' in which he wrote, ''America is the original version of modernity,'' referring to what he considered the almost complete blurring of reality and unreality. To his French readers, he said: ''We are a copy with subtitles.''
He retired in 1987 from the University of Paris X, Nanterre, and then devoted himself to writing caustic commentaries and developing his philosophical theories. Although he shunned most media, he frequently wrote for newspapers.
''The Spirit of Terrorism: And Requiem for the Twin Towers'' was published just a year after 9/11. In it, he argued that Islamic fundamentalists tried to create their own reality; the resulting media spectacle would give the impression that the West was constantly under threat of terrorist attack.
The current American invasion of Iraq is an effort to ''put the rest of the world into simulation, so all the world becomes total artifice and then we are all-powerful,'' he told The Times. ''It's a game.''
Like other postmodernists with whom he was often associated (despite their differences), he was frequently criticized as obscure. ''If the texts seem incomprehensible, it is for the excellent reason that they mean precisely nothing,'' Alan Sokal and Jean Bricmont wrote in their 1998 book ''Fashionable Nonsense: Postmodern Intellectuals' Abuse of Science.''
Mr. Baudrillard was not unaware of the problem. ''What I'm going to write will have less and less chance of being understood,'' he said, ''but that's my problem.''
Are you living in a simulation?
Because a simulation — like rock 'n roll — never dies.
Want proof?
The master speaks here.
March 22, 2007 at 04:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Snack Buoy
From the website:
- Snack Buoy
This floating snack tray with five cup holders and center storage compartment is the perfect way to keep snacks, drinks, sunglasses, and other necessities close at hand while relaxing in the pool.
Made of buoyant, closed-cell foam, its vivid color goes all the way through so it will never chip or fade.
Your choice of color — as long as it's Teal.
19-1/2"D x 4-1/2"H.
Originally $34.95 but now reduced to $19.99.
At that price they'll float right out in a South Beach minute.
The name of this item brings to mind a wonderful anecdote involving Tennessee Williams.
Seems one day he was lounging out by his pool in the Hamptons while his buff houseboy went about his duties, bringing drinks, snacks, cushions, what have you to Williams and a visitor there interviewing him.
Williams said, "That's fine, Vic. You can go now."
The visitor said, "Mr. Williams, I noticed you called him Vic — is that short for Victor?"
Williams smiled, licked his lips and drawled, "No, honey — it's short for victim."
March 22, 2007 at 03:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
BehindTheMedspeak: HEALTHmap.org — Global Disease Alert Map
Kathleen Hom reviewed this new website in Tuesday's Washington Post Health section; her piece follows.
- Before Traveling, You May Want a Checkup
What's New: Now you can satisfy your morbid curiosity and discover what diseases are plaguing your favorite vacation spot before hopping the next flight. Instead of stumbling through a host of blogs and news sites, visit www.healthmap.org, created by Boston epidemiologist Clark Freifeld and research software developer John Brownstein to track disease outbreaks around the world.
The site gathers epidemiological data and news from the International Society for Infectious Diseases, the World Health Organization and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and places it on a map, updated hourly. A fourth source of information is Google News, because "the media reports on disease outbreaks earlier than traditional sources" such as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Brownstein said.
How Does It Work?: The map loads with all countries visible, along with all diseases that have been mentioned in the past 30 days. Red, orange and yellow markers indicate hot spots. You can concentrate on a region or disease by using the zoom feature or scroll menus. Focus on Bolivia, for example, and you'll see an orange marker indicating an outbreak of dengue (bonebreak) fever, tied to recent heavy rains and flooding. Dengue causes fever, intense headaches and joint and muscle pain. Click on the marker, and a pop-up box offers news links showing 118 confirmed cases and 459 suspected cases of the mosquito-borne disease as of Feb. 7. Hmmmm. Maybe we want to put off that trip....
What's Ahead: Freifeld and Brownstein say the site is a work in progress. They plan to add more news links, increase the site's sensitivity to health alerts, fine-tune the map and build multilingual text-processing software. (Currently the site gathers information from English-language sites only.)
March 22, 2007 at 02:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Marcel Wanders Crochet Table
Made of cotton and resin.
12" x 12" x 12".
In Black.
March 22, 2007 at 01:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Mellow Yelo
Yelo (above) is a new holistic space at 315 West 57th Street (between 8th and 9th Avenues) in New York City where you can drop in, tune out and fall asleep if you need a power nap to get you through the remainder of your day.
Here's Christine Muhlke's March 11, 2007 New York Times story about the place.
- Suite Dreams
Somewhere between a power nap and a disco nap lies Yelo. The new sleep spot on West 57th Street is getting New Yorkers to take a load off — in the purely holistic sense. Drop into the futuristic space with or without an appointment (a monitor in the window alerts passers-by to the next available opening, also visible at www.heloyelo.com) and settle into a YeloCab, a patented, high-tech honeycomb where everything from the chair to the temperature (and the Nepalese cashmere blanket) is calibrated to lull you to sleep for 20 to 40 minutes — all you need to boost your productivity and alertness, according to Nicolas Ronco, Yelo’s founder. Ronco, a 39-year-old former business-development executive, admired during trips to Asia how his Eastern colleagues handled stress by taking quick naps during the day. Experiencing reflexology and sleep therapy in Japan and volunteering on an ashram in India taught him the power of calm in the midst of a metropolis. But there’s nothing New Age about the space, which is gender-neutral right down to the hard-to-find products it sells. “We have guys who are embarrassed to come in here,” Ronco says, “but then they buy memberships and stop in before meetings or dinners. It’s better than going home.” An annual membership costs $100 to $500.
212-245-8235 is the number to call.
March 22, 2007 at 12:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
InStant Fill — Fuel your car like a NASCAR driver
From the website:
- InStant Fill™ — Refueling is now quicker and cleaner than ever
Removing a gas cap can be a difficult, dirty task.
And replacing one after you forget about it and drive away can be expensive.
The InStant Fill's trapdoor mechanism accommodates the gas nozzle, eliminating the hassle of removing and replacing the cap each time you refuel.
With the InStant Fill fuel cap, just insert the nozzle fully and squeeze the trigger.
You’ll never touch a fuel cap again!
Four different models fit over 80% of the cars on the road in North America and InStant Fill meets onboard diagnostic (OBD) emission specifications, so it will not trigger the "check engine" light on late model vehicles.
March 22, 2007 at 11:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Tailrank.com — 'Memetracker'
Q. What is Tailrank?
A. Tailrank finds the best content from thousands of blogs so you don't have to!
Should David Sifry and his posse over at technorati be worried?
That's for you and them to decide — me, I pretty much stick to old media.
March 22, 2007 at 10:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Light My Fire Spork
Created by Swedish designer Joachim Nordwall.
backpackinglite.com calls it "freakishly cool," which is a wonderful phrase and bears repeating.*
A hybrid spoon-fork-knife in a single, inexpensive utensil.
From websites:
- Light My Fire Spork
Features:
• Heat-resistant PC material — doesn't get soft in hot/boiling water
• Teflon-friendly — won't scratch precious nonstick titanium cookware
• Machine-washable — but don't wash your fragile down sleeping bag in the same load
• Extremely durable — doubles as a tent stake, catapult and LNP poop trowel (dual use in the latter function at your own risk)
Specifications:
• Weighs 10 grams (less than 1/3 ounce)
• 42mm x 15mm x 170mm (6.7" long)
In Dark Green, Orange, Pink, Transparent, Blue Grape, Green Apple, Yellow Mango and Red Tomato.
Four for $9.99 at Amazon (put Light My Fire Spork in the search box).
*Freakishly cool.
March 22, 2007 at 09:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
