February 26, 2001
Addendum to the prior post:

Addendum to the prior post: anyone insane enough to check my figures will note that they don't jive - e.g. there were only 3 posts last February. I obviously don't quite understand the GROUP BY clause, although the information is still generally correct.

Posted by Bill Stilwell at 12:00 AM
Marginalia is now one year

Marginalia is now one year old. I decided look back at some cold hard facts about how good I've been at keeping this site active. I've averaged about 1.25 posts a day, although there's an obvious bulge in the posting rate:
















MonthYear# of posts # of chars posted avg. post length
22000147391527.9286
320003821660570.0000
420006031186519.7667
520006528031431.2462
620005428633530.2407
720006527536423.6308
820005521282386.9455
920004322565524.7674
102000178550502.9412
112000153931262.0667
122000124862405.1667
12001143910279.2857

Some other oddments: average post length has been 464 characters; total number characters posted is 209537.

And while I was going claim "getting busier" as an excuse for the posting rate/size decline, the fact that I'm presenting this information makes a mockery of this excuse. I'll do better, I promise!

Anyway, thanks for reading, and I hope you'll keep doing so.

Posted by Bill Stilwell at 12:00 AM
February 25, 2001
Can't not link to an

Can't not link to an article about marginalia.


Marginalia create a form of extended argument in which the reader has the upper hand, taking over the text. But the text also stakes its claims: it determines (literally) the boundaries within which a reader's reactions are to be constrained.

(This article is about a book I will no doubt be purchasing.)

Posted by Bill Stilwell at 12:00 AM
February 22, 2001
Funny (Requires real player.)

Funny (Requires real player.)

Posted by Bill Stilwell at 12:00 AM
February 20, 2001
Via peterme comes the amazing

Via peterme comes the amazing news that Rick Prelinger is making a portion of his "ephemeral films" collection available online. For those not familiar with Rick Prelinger, he has dedicated his life to archiving education, industrial and advertising films made throughout the 20th century (think of all the school films spoofed in the Simpsons). Very neat stuff.

Posted by Bill Stilwell at 12:00 AM
February 19, 2001
One of my current favorite

One of my current favorite comic strips: Get Fuzzy. I love this Temptation Island slam.

Posted by Bill Stilwell at 12:00 AM
Two part interview with Berke

Two part interview with Berke Breathed, one of my favorite strippers (obscure Bloom County reference!).

Posted by Bill Stilwell at 12:00 AM
February 15, 2001
I am back from a

I am back from a conference in San Jose. It was actually my first conference and made me realize one thing: boy howdy, do I suck at networking. Not being a person fluent in business-language didn't help either. However, I learned lots and got time to think about aspects of my job that I don't often think about it, so it was altogether a good experience.

Posted by Bill Stilwell at 12:00 AM
February 08, 2001
Time to cancel The Simpsons

Time to cancel The Simpsons - it's hard to think of teevee without the Simpsons, but it has been a pretty uneven year for the show thus far.

Posted by Bill Stilwell at 12:00 AM
February 06, 2001
The Silophone Project: Located in

The Silophone Project:


Located in Montréal's old port, Silo #5B-1 was built in 1958 and has been cited by Le Corbusier as a masterpiece of modern architecture. The elevator was used to store grain which came to Montréal by rail and departed by sea. Due to changes in the global grain market the elevator became obsolete and was closed in 1996. Since then it has remained empty and, for reasons of security, closed to the public. The structure, constructed entirely of reinforced concrete, is 200 metres long, 16 metres wide and approximately 45 metres at its highest point. The main section of the building is formed of approximately 115 vertical chambers, all 30 metres high and up to 8 metres in diameter. These tall parallel cylinders, whose form evokes the structure of an enormous organ, have exceptional acoustic properties: a stunning reverberation time of over 20 seconds. Anything played inside the Silo is euphonized, made beautiful, by the acoustics of the structure. All those who have entered have found it an overwhelming and unforgettable experience.

Don't forget to play the silophone. You can even upload your own sounds. It seems like I'm the only person playing it right now, which is a shame. Maybe there are more people during North American daytime.

Posted by Bill Stilwell at 12:00 AM
February 04, 2001
I know The Onion links

I know The Onion links are kind of pointless, but i couldn't resist Marilyn Manson Now Going Door-To-Door Trying To Shock People:


"[Manson] was standing at my front door wearing those fake breasts he wore on the cover of Mechanical Animals," retiree Judith Hahn said. "He said, 'My name is Marilyn Manson, and I'm here to tear your little world apart.' I thought he was collecting for the Kiwanis food drive, so I gave him some cans of pumpkin-pie filling."

Undaunted, Manson and his entourage stepped up their assault on mainstream American sensibilities. On Tuesday, they arrived in the tiny Detroit suburb of Grosse Pointe Farms, where stockbroker Glenn Binford answered his doorbell to find Manson hanging upside-down on a wooden cross as Ramirez performed fellatio on him.

"I just stood there thinking, now there's a boy who tries way too hard," Binford said. "I mean, come on: Homoerotic sacrilege went out in the late '90s."

Posted by Bill Stilwell at 12:00 AM
Other people's wallets. Famous people's

Other people's wallets. Famous people's wallets are boring too. Well, except Bruce la Bruce's:


Contents: Mastercard; American Express card; 2 bank cards; driver's licence; health card; blood-type card (A positive); birth certificate; $205.73 (Cdn.); 50 Polish zloty; American $2 bill; British 5-pound note; 20 rand from South Africa; Bell calling card; Aeroplan card; Advantage American Airlines card; University of Toronto Athletic Centre card; Shopper's Drug Mart Optimum card; 2 German phone cards; hmv CD-club card; Festival membership card for Toronto repertory cinemas; ticket stub for the band Thee Michelle Gun Elephant from The Garage in London, England; Cineplex Odeon courtesy pass for one movie; receipts from Footlight Records in New York, a showing of Fight Club at Union Square in New York, and for airport limousines (2); phone number of a hustler named Zack; flyer for a screening of his film Bruce La Bruce: Bigger By Demand at Blinding Light Cinema in Vancouver; flyer for the after-party of his photographic exhibit at the Helen Pitt Gallery in Vancouver; old flyer from a German club with a picture of Prince in bikini underwear; a condom; a Pikachu sticker with his name and phone number on it (in case his wallet is lost); two photo-booth stickers of LaBruce with a fashion editor he met in Tokyo; business cards from: Sneakers (Toronto bar), Jonah Falcon (man with the biggest penis in America), 99X (a clothing store in New York), I.C. Guys (a gay bar in New York), somebody named Kurt, Sal's Tattoo and Barber Shop in Toronto, and a fake card for Dodi Al Fayed, "Billionaire playbody and royal consort."

Posted by Bill Stilwell at 12:00 AM
PSINet acknowledges assisting spammers. Ew.

PSINet acknowledges assisting spammers. Ew.

Posted by Bill Stilwell at 12:00 AM