xenolinguistic terror!

I've made a crucial discovery. some vigilant soul is out there monitoring the madness that has oft been ridiculed: tattoos featuring logographic lettering. that is to say, getting 'good luck' or somesuch written in Kanji or Hanzi tattooed right above the ol' buttcrack. total class. so mysterious...

The blog is Hanzi Smatter, and its propietors simply field questions from computer users who send a picture of said body ink with a corresponding request for proper reading. the results are what you'd expect: often totally wrong. what's most interesting is the actual semantic content of the tattoo and the writer's conjecture as to how such a result was arrived at. (nice dangling preposition...)

to be fair, this discovery came on the heels of this post at Language Log, the University of Pennsylvania's linguistics blog, dated April of this year (the year of the Crocs ethylene vinyl acetate clog, 2009), confirms what was just as often states as the reciprocal atrocity; legion Chinese citizens inking themselves with western lettering.

a personal favorite

something about the shift from punk rock being a trash art (i.e. using stolen or broken gear, playing illegal shows, actual police interference) to the interminable so-called "pop-punk" and (improperly appropriated) "hardcore" of 21st century teenagers, marked by spectacularized and glamourized versions of its predecessor, leads me to believe that seeing faux-hawked 14 year old kids ruining pretty gear practicing something akin to showmanship is a joy tantamount to that of oedipus realizing he's a motherf***er.

observe:












clearly, there's no shortage.

Be Advised

Greetings,

Over two years of solid raucous, rag-tag efforts have culminated in the establishment of the fledgling wordpress blog for MEOWWW TAPES.

Meowww tapes is a (-n as yet) cassette production label of sorts based in san francisco.

Notable artists on this label don't yet exist, but there are thinly veiled ties to Bloodmouth, the band responsible for the first two inaugural released, Flesh Fog and In Memoriam Colossi , both of which are available from the blog's "releases" page.

All in all, real fun, and a pleasantly orchestrated awkward beginning.