Brian Sawyer

Updates from November, 2005 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

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  Brian Sawyer 9:38 am on November 23, 2005 Permalink | Reply  

  New Phone 

  You might have noticed that my posting on this site has become considerably less frequent and much less text-heavy when I actually do post. Unfortunately, the increased limits of my time have turned this page into a glorified photo blog, so I thought it was at least time to get a cameraphone to make it official.

  But it turned out that finding a cameraphone that works with my computer was not as easy as I expected it to be. I didn’t want to invest in a data plan with my mobile service provider (to send pics via email, directly to Flickr or to this blog), which means I’d need to get the pictures off the phone by some other means of connecting my phone with my computer. But it seems that Nokia, Motorola, and the other usual suspects in the cell phone business just don’t make phones that work with Macs.

  My quest required more than a few customer service calls with various manufacturers, the gist of which can perhaps best be summarized by the following composite exchange:

  Me: So, is it true that the RAZR V3 won’t work with a Mac?

  Motorola: None of our phones are compatible with the Macintosh operating system.

  Me: Really? What about the ROKR?

  Motorola: Oh yeah, that. Yes, that one works on Macs, but it’s our only phone that does.

  Me: Hmm… that seems exceedingly odd to me. Given all the hoopla surrounding Motorola’s recent partnership with Apple, it doesn’t make sense to me that your company has made no attempt to make your products actually work with theirs.

  Apple: Ahem.

  Me: Okay, then. That’s all I wanted to know.

  Long story short: though my phone refuses to speak my computer’s language, my Mac has ways of making it talk. So, if you see lower-resolution photos appearing on this site, you’ll know their source.

   

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  Brian Sawyer 9:39 am on November 21, 2005 Permalink | Reply  

  Old Hat 

  When the incumbent’s spousal approval rating reached an all-time low (it had long held on solely on the basis of preserving the status quo), the younger, more telegenic challenger won in a landslide.

  
  Old Hat
  Originally uploaded by Brian Sawyer.

   
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  Brian Sawyer 2:14 pm on November 4, 2005 Permalink | Reply  

  Almost Religious in My Obsession 

  I first became enthralled by religious propaganda during my high school years, when attending a Pro Choice rally in Houston, TX. A woman walked carefully through the crowd, making eye contact with me from across the crowded demonstration area. When she reached me, she reached out to grab my hand, into which she thrust a photocopied (a photocopy of a photocopy of a photocopy, by the look of it) Love Letter From Jesus, saying, “This is for you.”

  Of all the souls in dire need of saving on that day, she picked me out as special. “What a personal touch,” I thought, and I became fascinated with the whole world that surrounds these religious tracts, from conception and design, to printing and distribution methods.

  Since that day, my collection has grown, piece by piece, as I’ve discovered new items, either directly handed to me or left on the ground.

  So, for whatever reason, do you share my obsession for collecting religious tracts? Or perhaps you simply have a passing interest or curiosity in printed fear-mongering propaganda, similar to those who are fascinated by train wrecks? In either case, please feel free share your choice finds in the Flickr group I’ve set up. I’d love to hear people’s stories as well as see their photos.

  Stefanie is discussing. Toggle Comments

   
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    Stefanie 12:19 pm on November 8, 2005 Permalink | Reply

    Hey Brian-

    I have a peice of propoganda in my wallet that I got and kept just because I knew I’d see you this weekend. Remind me about it. Also, let me just say the way that I found your blog was exceedingly random.

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    Courts Carter 12:37 pm on November 13, 2005 Permalink | Reply

    Just time-holed for 2 incredibly pleasant hours on these tracts on Flickr (best way to spend a Sunday morn) and people’s comments give me hope for humanity. So many folks able to see the funny.

    I was raised with these things in our house — so I have a mix of weird nostalgia and revulsion (oh, and some obvious anger, sure) about them. The temerity evidenced in attempting to terrify (brainwash) kids with this load of hokum… sad, and annoying as it seems to work. On the other hand, they’re amazing capsules of compellingly bad art married with some fantastically whack prose and situations (the Satanist/lesbian/witch school teacher bent on converting her zombie-like class with the one “good” kid standing alone against her seems to be a favored plot line).

    Anyway, thanks for getting this started! I suppose you’re also a fan of Dr.Bronner’s Hard Water Castile (perhaps the only writing nuttier than Chick’s amazingly disconnected-from-reality tracts), no?

    Oh, glad you enjoyed my Spaghetti Monster tract. I know I went overboard on the coloring book pages, but the FSM tracts lead inexorably to bad activity book art.

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    Brian 3:05 pm on November 14, 2005 Permalink | Reply

    Carter: thanks for stopping by and commenting, and I’m glad you like the Flickr group. Why not add your FSM tract to the group? I still don’t see it ther.–>