This Small Town Life

• OMG: Adults Read from their Teenage Diaries, recorded live at The Abbey Theater
  

• Beer Break
  • Ska Brewing Co.’s Euphoria is almost gone for the year, the last batch was packaged last week.
  • Steamworks Brewing Co. has a Vanilla Molasses Brown Ale on cask
  • Oskar Blues up in Lyons, CO will release GUBNA, a 10% ABV IPA in cans next month, reportedly released to compete with Ska’s Modus Hoperandi, but they don’t sound like competitors to me (Modus is around 6% ABV).
    

• This Week on the Internet
  • Chatroulette connects you to a random person with both your webcams activated and you can talk or chat. Chatroulolz has screencaps from weird chats/people.
  • NBC Olympics streaming “Boss Button” – When watching the olympics online on NBC’s website they have a “boss button” that you can press to make it look like you’re doing work. This button closes the olympics window and opens a blank spreadsheet. It also makes your computer look like you’re using Windows 7 (regardless of what operating system you’re actually using).
  • Funnyordie.com gets HBO show, “Funny or Die Presents”. Funnyordie.com was founded by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay (film director). It does short web video, some produced by professionals, some not. This will be a 30 minute show on HBO that highlights some of the best web content.
  • School administrator remotely activate webcams on high student laptops at home near Philidelphia. Students were provided with school owned laptops to take home. They noticed the webcams would activate seemingly randomly (led light to show the webcam was on). Students had been asking about this for a year, they were told it was a technical glitch. There has been a class action law suit filed, the lawsuit claims the district administrators used the webcams to document a student they beleived was engaging in improper behavior (in their own home). District staff sent a note to parents this week and said this was caused by security software to track lost or stolen laptops and it has now been disabled. they didn’t acknowledge any wrong doing or the lawsuit.

• On the Small Town Media
  • Arts Perspective Magazine sold to Denise Leslie, Marketing and Communications manager for Music in the Mountains. Leslie’s husband Charles is the director of the Community Concert Hall. Co-founder Heather Leavitt will stay on as editor and art director through Summer, and most likely through 2010. As reported by the Herald.
  • Southern Utes put ethics code on hold. Vote to put ethics code on hold happened Jan. 5th. It was announced in the Southern Ute Drum newspapate Jan. 15th. Reported in the Herald 2/16/10. The article states the tribe is the largest employer in La Plata County, shouldn’t the Herald be watching them more closely?
  • Durango PD release 911 call from bomb threats that closed court house, schools last December, Herald posts audio online. The story ran in Friday’s paper and in the print version they directed readers to the Herald’s website to listen. Good job for the Herald. Oddly enough I couldn’t find any info about this on the City or Police Dept’s website as of noon on Friday. Not press releases, nor links to the audio.
  • Locally produced Cheap Ski Movie had a sneak peek at the Smiley Building this weekend (it premiers in October). The filmmaker Jack Turner and the main characters live here in Durango. Some of the film takes place at DMR. The Herald had a story about it in Friday’s A&E section, but it was written by an AP sportswriter. A&E Editor Ted Holteen did contribute to the story to give it some local info, but the Herald didn’t bother writing their own story about this local movie.

• Music: Teen Angst
  1. Avril Lavigne – Complicated
  2. The Magnetic Fields – I Don’t Want to get Over You
  3. Ryan Adams – Dear Chicago
  4. Counting Crows – Round Here
  5. Beck – Lost Cause
  6. Rilo Kiley – Wires and Waves
  7. The Rentals – Please Let That Be You
  8. Dashboard Confessional – Screaming Infidelities
  9. Elliott Smith – Miss Misery
  10. John K Samson – Maryland Bridge
  11. The Modern Lovers – Astral Plane
  12. Weezer – Why Bother?
  13. The Replacements – Can’t Hardly Wait
      

Jeff Mannix of Durango, Colo. Photo by Kinsee Morlan

February 14th, 2010

• Real. Live. Cowboys.
  

• Beer Moment
  • Ska Brewing Co. DIFF 2010
  • Stone Brewing Co. Old Guardian 2010 Barleywine Released Soon
  • Beernbikes.com and Beer at 6512 Ska Brewing Collaboration Beers Release

• This Week on the Internet
  • Google Buzz
  • Facebook Beacon Settlement
  • Georgian Luge Death Graphic Video and Pictures
  • Google Fiber Optic Network Plans
  • CollegeHumor: Back to the Future Sex Scenes Parody

• On the Small Town Media
  • Durango City Manager Ron LeBlanc held a State of the City address, The Durango Herald did not cover or report on it. Buzztown.com was the only local media with any information about it.
  • Fiber Optic Network to be Deployed in Silverton. Durango Herald reports on contentious issues, but only tells the two sides of the story, leaves readers without much actual information.
    

• Cool Stuff Going on This Week in Durango
  • OMG Adults Read from their Childhood Diaries
  • Manifesto: A People’s Party
  • Women’s Idea Exchange: Speed Networking
  • Roller Races
    

• Music: Love Songs
  
  1. Bright Eyes – First Day of My Life
  2. Devin Davis – Turtle and the Flightless Bird
  3. Huey Lewis and the News – Power of Love
  4. Glen Hansard – Falling Slowly
  5. Adrienne Young and Little Sadie – Home Remedy
  6. The Rugburns – I Want to Learn About Love
  7. The Good Life – Album of the Year
  8. Stars – What I’m Trying to Say
  9. The Magnetic Fields – The Book of Love
  10. The Lucksmiths – Under the Rotunda
  11. The Mountain Goats – International Small Arms Traffic Blues
  12. Hedwig and the Angry Inch – Origin of Love
  13. Nerf Herder – Pantera fans in Love
  14. Bee Gees – To Love Somebody