It goes without saying that I love my iPhone. I can geek out on just about any Apple device but the iPhone trumps them all. Yes, when I first heard the rumors circulating early last year that an Apple cell phone was in the works, I dismissed and denied them. “Impossible. That sounds totally stupid and Apple would never do something that totally stupid.” Of course, not only was I staggeringly wrong in my assumptions about the device, but by the end of the keynote I was already coveting one.

Fast forward to March of this year. Although no official word had yet come out that a 3G iPhone was on the way, it was fairly obvious. Nonetheless, the time was right, and I had to move on it, so I bought an iPhone while my window of opportunity was open. I certainly haven’t regretted it, and I admit I’m pleased that the 3G isn’t a revolutionary leap forward. That its most interesting feature — the new software — is fully compatible with the old iPhone means that not only did I not regret not getting a new iPhone this past weekend, it meant that in some sense I did get a new iPhone this past weekend. And it’s what I was waiting for since March.

But, sadly, the most peculiar flaw in the iPhone’s software, for me anyway, endures. Read more »

As you probably know if you’ve read any of my writings here, or have by chance listened to my album, Unnatural Disasters, I have a morbid fascination with North Korea’s never-to-be-completed Ryugyong Hotel. So I was pleased to see that this wondrous failure has achieved a new level of notoriety, having been designated earlier this year by Esquire magazine as “The Worst Building in the History of Mankind.” Sweet. Like the best Onion articles, it’s worth reading to the very last line, but since I can never hold back on a punch line, I’ll save you the trouble: “[The Ryugyong Hotel] is the closest humans have come to building a Death Star.”

Perfect!

A few weeks ago, when I was at a peak of renewed interest in strange places like Centralia, Pennsylvania and Prypiat, Ukraine, I came across this page featuring 7 Deserted Wonders of the (Post)Modern World (and the equally interesting part two) but neglected to link to it. I feel they’ve slighted my personal favorite, Desert Shores, California, but it’s still an interesting gallery.

…is not something you’re likely to get anytime soon.

I’ve written about strange places before, but few places on the planet are quite as strange (or so it would seem, from what little we, on the outside, know about it) as North Korea. And there are few places in North Korea as strange as its capital, Pyongyang. And… perhaps the strangest place in Pyongyang is the one that does not exist (or so I’m guessing the official line goes by now): the Ryugyong Hotel. Read more »

I felt a bit bad, looking back at my last post. Depending on how you read it, it sounds like I’m describing the devastation of the environment and community of Centralia, PA as “random stuff I just love.”

That was hardly my intention, of course. Anyway, I’ll make amends by offering this link to the website for a new feature-length documentary on Centralia that was released this year, The Town that Was. I hope to see it soon.