I found this cassette tape at work. It was sitting on a counter in the photo department, along with a pile of VHS tapes touting various photographic themes. There’s a terrible liner included with a pleather photo album titled “Photograph Album” on the cover. It’s best to emphasize that this is a photo album of a photo album of a…

To be honest, I really intended to make fun of this relic. The design is garbage, the idea is rather lame, and I see no sign of Paul Simon’s “Kodachrome.” Was it too obvious? No matter, though, since this mix tape overcomes its bland appearance with great 20th century music. You know what they say about judging cassettes by their covers.

Strangely, this 1987 compilation was financed by the California Museum of Photography at the University of California, along with grant assistance from the National Endowment for the Arts. I assume that most of that money went straight into buying the rights to the songs.

Side A

Belle Baker, “If I Had a Talking Picture of You”
Sam Cooke, “Send Me Some Lovin'”
George Jones, “Developing My Pictures”
Elvis Costello, “This Year’s Girl”
Dominoes, “My Baby’s 3-D”
Fats Waller, “You Fit Into the Picture”
The Who, “Pictures of Lily”
Amanda Lear, “I Am a Photograph

Side B

Mighty Sparrow, “Castro Eating Banana”
Grit Laskin, “The Photographers”
Patsy Cline, “She’s Got You”
Plastics, “Copy”
Louis Armstrong, “Laughin’ Louie”
Del Reeves, “Girl on the Billboard”
Kay Starr, “Half a Photograph”
Kinks, “People Take Pictures of Each Other”

There’s one particular song I want to highlight from this list. I haven’t hunted around for a recording of it, but man, these lyrics… ahem. Double entendre city!

The Photographers
by Grit Laskin

Well early Saturday morning, I was strolling in the wood
I came upon a lady who by the wayside stood
And what, pray tell, would such a lass as you be doing here?
I’ve come to take some photographs, said she as I drew near

Said I to her, I do declare, this is a fateful day
For I have come to photograph, the same as you did say
Then I took out my Nikon-F and placed it in her hand
She said that’s quite a camera, sir, you have at your command

My camera so delighted her, she could no more delay
She let me see her camera case, wherein her accessories lay
I’m sure, she said, you have most everything that can be bought
Just let me stretch my tripod out before I take some shots

We photographed from haylofts, and up against the wall
If you’ve not shot on Saturday night, you’ve not photographed at all
She had her shutter open wide, for daylight was all gone
Likewise my naked camera lens, it had its filter on

This lady had experience with cameras, yes, indeed
And I thought her exposures the best I’d ever seen
Although she seemed to tire not as on and on we went
I said I’ll have to stop now, my film supply is spent

She said I’ve had Mirandas, Yashicas and Rolleis
Hasselblad and Pentax, likewise a Polaroid
Fujica, Canon, Nikkormat, a Kodak and the rest
But now I’ve seen your Nikon-F, and surely it’s the best

It’s not every day that you get to witness real, genuine fine art collaboration.

Late one night after shooting an episode of Two Men Becoming Friends, Warren and I stumbled upon the Nebraska State Fair Facebook page. On it was this newly revealed logo for 2010:

Obviously, this logo has a few issues. And several people made sure to point that out with their own Microsoft Paint creations. We had to get in on the action:

The very next day, all logo postings by fans were removed. Perhaps it was mere coincidence, but I believe our artwork hit a little too close to home. We’ll never know.

We just simply won’t make it to 50 degrees today. This is November. The kids with flipflops at the corner Starbucks should either be chastised for situational unawareness or praised for their optimistic spirit.

Oh come on, you know I hate those damn kids.

Read about the reason.

Two words: Munchkin coroner. I feel it’s safe to say that we all learned something today with the passing of “Wizard of Oz” actor Meinhardt Raabe. In a village of tiny people, Munchkin coroners are just the start. No doubt it would have Munchkin street sweepers and Munchkin zookeepers, too.

Buried in the AP obit is this nugget:

Raabe was about 3½ feet tall when the movie was made. He eventually grew to about 4½ feet. He toured the country for 30 years in the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile, promoting hot dogs as “Little Oscar, the World’s Smallest Chef.”

That would normally be enough for one man. But not Raabe.

(Originally posted at The Buzz on pjstar.com)

Yes, another sign of the academic apocalypse: proper nouns are now legal in the next edition of Scrabble.

Mattel, creator of the 70+ year-old board game, decided that capitalized names will drive kids with limited vocabulary toward a game consisting entirely of tiny wooden blocks. Previously, only a few proper nouns listed in the Collins English dictionary were legit.

In the BBC News story, Mattel said there would be “no hard and fast rule over whether a proper noun was correct or not.”

Continuing to justify their decision, they point out high-scoring rappers N-Dubz (17 points) and Jay-Z (23 points.) I counter with folk extravaganza “CrosbyStillsNashYoung.” Just plop down one name each turn, building onto that original construction, and you’ll end up with a whopping 35 points. 105 points if on a triple word score.

The new edition with amended rules hits stores this July.

AFTER WE WENT TO PRESS… Salon.com had this important tidbit of information:

Writing in Slate, Stefan Fatsis, author of “Word Freak: Heartbreak, Triumph, Genius, and Obsession in the World of Competitive Scrabble Players,” told lexicon addicts across the land to call off their dogs. The poorly disseminated real story was that “Mattel, which owns the rights to Scrabble outside of North America, is introducing a game this summer called Scrabble Trickster. The game will include cards that allow players to spell words backward, use proper nouns, and steal letters from opponents.” In other words — it’s just a spinoff. And American Scrabble, which is owned by Hasbro, isn’t even affected.

So nevermind.

(originally posted at The Buzz on pjstar.com)

No.

Perhaps you’re perplexed, begging to ask me “but why not?” And I shall say this: It doesn’t replace or consolidate any gadget I already own. It’s not great at creating content. And it doesn’t multitask (make me coffee.) So be gone, pad of Apple!

TIME magazine summed it up as such: “It mutes you, turns you back into a passive consumer of other people’s masterpieces.” I’m already on that dangerous path with this infrequently updated blog.

What do others say?

• Cory Doctorow: Why I won’t buy an iPad and think you shouldn’t either
• Danny O’Brien: CD-ROMs and iPads
• B. Imei Hsu: Why you don’t want an iPad
• Charlie Brooker: I hate Macs

Yet we all know that I’m a sucker for these things (see Nook.) As antidote, I’m watching the following video on eternal repeat.

Full disclosure: I own several Apple products.