Three random thoughts that ambled through the wonderchickensian mind this evening, ideas that to be honest I'm just too damn lazy to flesh out into real posts. Quality is therefore not assured.
1) How much do I hate that everytime someone mentions a goddamn book, they have to link to Amazon?† When did a glorified shopping mall become the primary maypole around which our discussion of books must dance? (I tried to like allconsuming.net, but it gives me indigestion.)
2) 8 Mile = Quadrophenia strained through a Rocky Balboa cheesecloth.
3) Before radio and television, we are told, people entertained one another - told stories, sang, did little skits, whatever. Nearly a century of the glass teat and all that, electronic opiate of the masses, yadda yadda, passes. Us bloggy types are just returning to a long-lost tradition of making our own damn entertainment for each other, thank you very much, just amped-up, sped-up and woven from a spectrum of sources so kaleidoscopic as to blow the muttonchopped or maidenly minds of our forebears.
And, for a limited time only, a special bonus thought, free with every purchase : reading a Kerouac biography the last few days - 'Subterranean Kerouac' (and no, I'm not going to link to the thrice-cursed Amazon page for it) - I found myself wondering how those Beat types found any time to actually write when they were so busy sucking each other's dicks all the damn time. Crikey.
† the answer, of course, is 'one hell of a lot'.
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Anita Rowland said
Instead of amazon, I'll sometimes link to Glenn Fleishman's very clever isbn.nu. check it out!
February 16, 2003 7:26 AM
stavrosthewonderchicken said
Thanks for that, Anita.
February 16, 2003 10:00 PM
eyeballkid said
I'm only linking amazon because they're paying me to do it. I'm an evil evil evil weblogger. ;)
February 17, 2003 10:29 AM
ralph said
Is it okay to link to Powell's? I like them because they're independent and don't pressure competitors with patent claims like some bookstores out there, but links there still get picked up by pb's Book Watch, which I think is a neat tool.
February 18, 2003 1:04 PM
Ed said
I'm with Stavros. I refuse to link to Amazon anymore, particularly with the wealth of publishing sites and reviews out there. And I fear the IMDB (also owned by Amazon) is turning out to be the same way.
And there are alternatives. Powell's anyone?
February 18, 2003 9:02 PM
y2karl said
I don't have a weblog but when I'm at MetaFilter I go to the publisher or any informative review for a link to a book title. I sneer at Amazon links.
February 20, 2003 9:21 PM
Merlin said
Are Stav/other people opposed to linking to a source for buying the book in general, or is it specifically a distaste for Amazon? Personally, I like a way to quickly add stuff to my wish list (plus Google's always there for broader info).
Still, a more canonical, IMDB-like source would be nice.
OT: PostNuke's "Books" module has a neat pref where you can enter affiliate numbers for numerous booksellers (AMZN and otherwise), then visitors can choose who they please for linky-love.
March 7, 2003 5:51 AM
Will said
Bah! Amazon has good content. When I don't know about a book or an artist, I'll often shoot past Amazon first as a convienient way of checking them out. I wish they didn't use Real for their sound samples, but gernally following somebody's book link to Amazon tells me what I'm looking to find out.
March 15, 2003 9:41 PM
stavrosthewonderchicken said
Good for you, Will. The fact that I choose not to be co-opted should have no bearing on whether you wish to be or not.
March 16, 2003 2:07 AM