BrandonMoeller.com

Here’s the obligatory end-of-the-week post-o-links.

A store sign spotted on the way to Freeport last week.

ART
Sharks + Beer = (Bleep) yeah! : http://fuckyeahsharks.tumblr.com/post/153105566/nickdouglas-fuck-yeah-beer-fuck-yeah-summer

COMMENTS
Third comment : http://www.gardenrant.com/my_weblog/2009/08/omg-wicked-plants-is-the-cover-story.html

GARDENING
How to recycle rain : http://blogs.chron.com/lazygardener/2009/07/recycle_rain.html

The botanical collection : http://www.gardenrant.com/my_weblog/2009/07/the-botanic-garden-collection.html

I would wiggle mine, but it was mauled by a shark : http://blogs.chron.com/lazygardener/2009/08/for_mon83_whats_in_your_escape.html

GEEK + TECH
Smash it open : http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/08/01/why-the-fcc-wants-to-smash-open-the-iphone/

How to Bypass Stupid Voicemail Instructions : http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/29/how-to-bypass-stupid-voicemail-instructions/

Laughing Squid was banned for mysterious reasons for months from Digg, proving Digg is pretty worthless : http://laughingsquid.com/digg-bans-laughing-squid-without-warning-or-specific-reason/

MySpace steps toward open : http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/myspace_to_bet_its_future_on_open_standards.php

FileSoup under seige : http://torrentfreak.com/oldest-bittorrent-site-targeted-by-police-owner-arrested-090804/

WebTrends 9 is out : http://www.readwriteweb.com/enterprise/2009/08/webtrends-9-google-analytics-eat-your-heart-out.php

Die for freedom, but don’t you dare enjoy it yourself : http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/08/marines-ban-twitter-myspace-facebook/

Kill, kill, kill IE6 : http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/08/06/internet.explorer.six/index.html

A little more openness for facebook Pages : http://www.allfacebook.com/2009/08/facebook-opens-stream-further-pages-become-true-twitter-competitor/

The end of the codec wars? : http://blog.broadbandmechanics.com/2009/08/05/the-end-of-the-codec-wars/

Now that’s what I call a remote control : http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10302894-1.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-5

Bring. It. Down. : http://www.bringdownie6.com/bring-down-ie-6.html

IE6 - No More! : http://www.ie6nomore.com/code-samples.html

Transparent PNGs + IE 6 : http://24ways.org/2007/supersleight-transparent-png-in-ie6

A-Z of Free Photoshop Plugins and Filters : http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/08/03/a-z-of-free-photoshop-plugins-and-filters/

Inside the Erskine redesign : http://www.alistapart.com/articles/erskine-design-redesign/

How to redesign your own site : http://www.alistapart.com/articles/redesigning-your-own-site/

HYPER-LOCAL
“Heck, you’ve already reduced the size of the weekday paper to a point the delivery folks are having to add weight to keep people’s copies from blowing away.” : http://loseaneye.blogspot.com/2009/07/chronblog-lets-talk.html

That’ll get their attention : http://www.fbherald.com/articles/2009/07/29/news/doc4a70b8ffe5487069255089.txt

New inspection stickers invoke feelings of cowboy pride, heritage : http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2009/08/new_inspection_stickers.php

No more (kid) culture at the Woodlands Mall : http://blogs.chron.com/woodlands/archives/2009/08/museums_to_clos_1.html

Hail Mary: Nutty Christians vs. Social Science : http://www.texasobserver.org/index.php?/pi/history-the-right-way/

The Smoking Gun vs. the not-so-merry pranksters : http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2009/08/prankster_smoking_gun.php
The right should ‘come to Jesus’ : http://loseaneye.blogspot.com/2009/08/its-time-for-come-to-jesus-meeting.html

MEDIA
Why the AP no longer matters : http://www.boingboing.net/2009/08/02/associated-press-wil-1.html

MOVIES
New Wes Anderson flick, Fantastic Mr. Fox : http://www.29-95.com/movies/story/wes-anderson-totally-wes-andersons-out-new-wes-anderson-trailer

MUSIC
Meridian, JavaJazz merge in a move that makes no sense : http://www.29-95.com/music/story/meridian-javajazz-become-one

Rolling Stone nods Listen Listen : http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/07/30/hype-monitor-listenlisten-ramona-falls-neon-indian

Loving it up while you’re falling down : http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/08/06/aerosmiths-tyler-airlifted-to-hospital-after-falling-from-stage/

Get Tweedy on the phone and over here, stat : http://www.29-95.com/music/story/sigh-another-wilco-tour-passes

NEWS
A Palin divorce? : http://gawker.com/5327957/are-sarah-and-todd-palin-getting-a-divorce

Now we pay you, now we don’t : http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/6557588.html

RECREATIONAL READING
A tribute to Pumpkin : http://seanmorrisseycarroll.blogspot.com/2009/08/orange-jack.html

Portulaca (moss rose) art

GEEK + TECH

• Where’s the $10 million, Google? : http://www.internetevolution.com/author.asp?section_id=466&doc_id=179611
• Be a keyboard ninja : http://lifehacker.com/5321432/how-to-highlight-text-like-a-keyboard-ninja
• “Now the challenge is to keep proving that Mozilla matters.” : http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/technology/companies/26mozilla.html?_r=1
• What is a good standard? An essay on W3C’s design principles by Bert Bos : http://www.w3.org/People/Bos/DesignGuide/introduction.html
• A maker’s schedule : http://www.paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html
• Unlinker Replaces Thumbnails with Full-Size Images : http://lifehacker.com/5323756/unlinker-replaces-thumbnails-with-full+size-images
• Best. Vista. Service. Pack. Ever. : http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/001290.html
• Kill dead-in-the-water apps in Windows with SuperF4 : http://lifehacker.com/5324471/superf4-truly-kills-faltering-windows-apps
• The definitive guide to negative margins : http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/07/27/the-definitive-guide-to-using-negative-margins/
• jQuery vs MooTools : http://jqueryvsmootools.com/
• Microsoft’s biggest threat isn’t Google : http://www.internetevolution.com/author.asp?section_id=561&doc_id=179794
• A strange era indeed : http://gawker.com/5325619/chris-anderson-asshole-interviewee
• Textures + photos = coolness : http://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-use-textures-to-enhance-your-photographs

MEDIA

• AP to index text : http://gawker.com/5321433/ap-to-finally-invent-indexing-of-text-on-internet
• AP and hNews : http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/07/ap-doesnt-know-its-protection-tech-doesnt-protect/
• NPR revamps its website, emphasizing written reporting over audio : http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/27/business/media/27npr.html
• Me likes the NYT Skimmer : http://www.internetevolution.com/author.asp?section_id=705&doc_id=179674
• Two-thirds of internet users have spent time managing their online profiles : http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/social_networks_growing_while_other_social_media_sites_stagnate_and_decline.php

GARDENING

• Plantwoman on the swallowtails : http://www.chron.com/commons/persona.html?newspaperUserId=plantwoman&plckPersonaPage=BlogViewPost&plckUserId=plantwoman&plckPostId=Blog%3aplantwomanPost%3aff52dfa6-02f9-4a5b-b67a-dad233fc0eab&plckController=PersonaBlog&plckScript=personaScript&plckElementId=personaDest
• Swallowtail mating : http://www.chron.com/commons/persona.html?newspaperUserId=plantwoman&plckController=PersonaBlog&plckScript=personaScript&plckElementId=personaDest&plckPersonaPage=BlogViewPost&plckPostId=Blog%3aplantwomanPost%3a1daff255-e32d-4ccd-a24b-27a7cbde7bc6
• What a kook! : http://planetgreen.discovery.com/home-garden/air-conditioning-texas.html
• A self-watering container garden : http://planetgreen.discovery.com/home-garden/selfwatering-container-garden-bin.html

NEWS

• “Ruthless defaulters” unite : http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/weekinreview/26streitfeld.html?_r=1
• Go jerks! : http://physicscentral.com/buzz/blog/index.cfm?postid=3414795237807494042
• Retaliating with truth? : http://www.fortbendnow.com/2009/07/29/39240

COMMENTS

• That’s not journalism : http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2009/07/work_visas_unemployment.php
• Why is Baytown hoarding your personal information? : http://blogs.chron.com/eastharris/2009/07/redlight_cameras_a_new_wrinkle.html

ART

• 2009 live music photos by Pin Lim : http://forestphotography.smugmug.com/Jazz:%20In%20Photos/709276
• Mad Men Yourself : http://laughingsquid.com/mad-men-yourself/

HYPER-LOCAL

• India. China. What’s the difference? : http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/07/cornyns-office-apologizes-for-india-comments-says-he-misspoke.php
• Burka in town Aug. 21 : http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nb/fortbend/news/6546503.html

MUSIC

• The future of album art is Apple? : http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/07/apple-and-labels-hope-to-reinvent-digital-album-as-something-people-buy/

I’m such a scenester.

That’s the feeling I was trying to convey by attending Saturday night’s Buxton 7″ release show at Mango’s on Westheimer.

Proof I'm a scenester: Look at all my summertime scene loot ... Two Buxton 7-inches (Kim joined me for the show), Buxton's A Family Light (up top), and the ArtStorm Summer Exposure compilation.

For those who may not know what Mango’s is, let’s just say it’s that bar next to Helios - the two-story which used to be called The Mausoleum - and Mango’s has it’s own sordid and at times vacant-real-estate history. Mango’s used to be called The Oven, a name that’s a little more apt for all the sweat that poured out of me in the crowded-past-capacity-bursting-at-the-seems-someone-for-the-love-of-god-call-the-freaking-fire-marshall Buxton show.

I didn’t know who the hell Buxton was before the summer started, and then one day - around June 10 to be exact - there I was, poring over my RSS feeds, minding my own business, when all of a sudden out of the blue IndieHouston.org celebrated some new compilation coming out of some local outfit called ArtStorm. The original IndieHouston.org post, which had four embedded songs included with it, has since been removed - replaced later with a post that looks identical on July 8.

The compilation was advertised as super cheap ($4), and so I went to the ArtStorm site, put it in my cart, realized I also needed to cough up shipping ($3), flinched but didn’t yield, and then more than a week later, the CD finally arrived.

Note to ArtStorm, or whoever handles your orders for you: I’m on to you. I send CDs through the mail - a lot - and one CD plus a little bit of packaging (the comp comes in a paper sleeve) costs less than $2. Hope you enjoy handling my extra $1.50, and thanks for the speedy service.

But I digress. It’s an awesome compilation, and I’m really glad ArtStorm cares enough about us Houston scenesters to enlighten us with it. “Doctor” by Buxton has to be one of the catchiest and funnest song I’ve heard all year. And I listen to a lot of songs.

The compilation got me interested in Buxton. So, I checked out their gig (though a mistake for listening to music, I couldn’t really hear what the hell anybody was saying in that place! See my comments on this review here). While waiting for them to come on, I heard Wild Moccasins (read more and download three tracks here and one more track here), and they were freaking awesome. After listening to the aforementioned tracks I downloaded after the show, their lyrics ain’t bad, either. Couldn’t really hear them at the show, though. Maybe I’m old.

But the show allowed me to walk away with Buxton’s new 7″ - including “Feathers” and “Flint” (including a download URL so I can snag the tunes without dusting off a record player that, uh, I actually don’t own) - and I agree with those calling for “Feathers” to be song of the year. Also snagged their 2008 release A Family Light and it’s very impressive. Compared to the new 7″, though, it’s like Summerteeth meets A Ghost is Born. Look at me. Fitting in so well with this whole scene thing.

But we’ll never return to Mango’s for a big show. Maybe lunch. Or a drink. But never something as big as Buxton.

Archive photo from July 22, 2007 : Today, when I picked Corina up for dinner, she asked if we were going to go get pizza, in that kind, not-really-asking tone. Why the hell not?

Here’s a bunch of links I’ve found interesting this week.

• Check out the comments for me heckling the Outlaw Designer about his spelling : http://www.outlawdesignblog.com/2009/talking-shop-episode-getting-published/#comment-8132
• Rules to live by : http://www.zeldman.com/2009/07/02/better-design-through-project-management/
• Because 8 GB (the current capacity of my MP3 player) just ain’t big enuff :http://lifehacker.com/5302056/mp3-quality-modifier-packs-more-music-on-mp3-players
• JQuery Awesomeness :http://flowplayer.org/tools/index.html : Found via new Mozilla’s Open Web Tools Directory : http://tools.mozilla.com/ : And, don’t forget : http://jquery.com/
• Free … as a book : http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/free_it_works_it_cries_it_bites.php : Free is free : http://www.longtail.com/the_long_tail/2009/07/the-priceless-rollout-continues-google-books.html
• Narcissism, anyone? : http://www.buzzmachine.com/2009/07/04/journalistic-narcissism/
• “Everyday baby, when the sun goes down, I get with the fellows I begin to clown, I don’t care what the people are thinking, I ain’t drunk, I’m just drinking!” : http://blog.kir.com/archives/2009/07/albert_collins.asp
• Vanity Fair on Palin : http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2009/08/sarah-palin200908
• Oh, no she didn’t! That peanut! : http://blogs.chron.com/babysteps/2009/07/a_rock_and_other_things_i_wanted_to_crawl_under.html
• How to do what people are doing : http://www.outlawdesignblog.com/2009/2009-web-design-trends-and-how-tos/
• The Internet Is Everything. : http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/07/08/google-chrome-redefining-the-operating-system/
• All in all, eMusic still ain’t a bad deal : http://www.internetevolution.com/author.asp?section_id=697&doc_id=178927 : Or, you can just listen to the music for a lot cheaper - $36 a year :  http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/05/19/pandora-gives-the-freemium-model-a-thumbs-up-with-pandora-one/ : Or, free is still pretty cheap : http://www.slacker.com/
• We are the war(ld) : http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/07/satellite-uncovers-pirate-weapons-haul/
• Conor Oberst + The Mystic Valley Band present “Spoiled” on Letterman, for when “you get everything you’ve ever wanted and you still feel down” : http://stereogum.com/archives/video/conor-oberst-brings-spoiled-to-letterman_078142.html
• Why I don’t want to be famous or “burned out and directionless” : http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/25/magazine/25internet-t.html
• Free typographic XHTML/CSS layouts  : http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/07/08/free-typographic-xhtmlcss-layouts-for-your-designs/
• Download Giant Princess : http://indiehouston.org/houston-music-concerts/houston-music-artists-giant-princess/
• Something to do Saturday : http://www.houstonpress.com/2009-07-09/music/wild-moccasins-buxton-ghost-mountain
• Carefree Rose = Katy Road Pink :http://blogs.chron.com/diggingin/2009/07/rose_ratings.html