Music: New Order Live Review

I would love to see New Order live someday.
New Order: Pitchfork Live Review

Untitled, originally uploaded by Shrez.

NYC. March 2005.

Quotes: Zeal and charity

Never let your zeal outrun your charity. The former is but human, the latter is divine. -Hosea Ballou, preacher (1771-1852)

Music: New CD - The Hold Steady

The Hold Steady - Separation Sunday. Chunky guitar riffs, punky attitude and Craig Finn's shouty lead singing - compelling combo but not convinced. A bit to straight-ahead-rock for me.

Zeitgeist: Sniffing Out the Gay Gene

A good opinion piece from today's NY Times about how our sexuality and sense of smell are connected: Sniffing Out the Gay Gene

Poetry: Publication Submission Response Times

Publication Submission Response Times

Poetry: Silliman's Blog

Silliman's Blog: A weblog focused on contemporary poetry and poetics.

Quotes: Books are bees

Books are the bees which carry the quickening pollen from one to another mind. -James Russell Lowell, poet, editor, and diplomat (1819-1891)

Untitled., originally uploaded by Shrez.

NYC. March 2005.

Zeitgeist: Beyond Red vs. Blue - Political Typology questionnaire

Great story on NPR last night: Beyond Red vs. Blue: Redefining the Political Landscape.
I took the Typology questionnaire. Result: Liberal. It fits.

Poetry: The Poet's Handbook

I found this while looking through the Comstock Review site:
A Guide to Submitting,Publishing and Living Poetry

Art (Theater): Stories That Tell vs. Storytelling

Great article on theater from today's NY Times. Excerpts:
"A great man once said, 'The first duty of a storyteller is to tell a story,' and I believe in that wholeheartedly. Or was it, 'The only duty of a storyteller is to tell a story.' " He could be speaking for the playwright. Mr. McDonagh's view of theater is all about the medium, not the message. Here's Katurian again: "I say, keep your left-wing this, keep your right-wing that and tell me a story!" (I've elided one of Mr. McDonagh's trademark expletives.) "No ax to grind, no anything to grind. No social anything whatsoever."
This is a popular idea at a time when many serious artists seem to have ceded the landscape of ideological entertainment to the likes of Mel Gibson and Michael Moore. It is taken for granted that a movie's opening weekend box office, its stylistic allusions to other movies or the potential romantic alliance of its stars are more relevant topics for discussion than any artistic aspirations it might have. The same mindset infects Broadway, now a tag-along, unhip member of the culture clan, on a smaller scale.
But is this a healthy ideal? Entertainment can, after all, aspire to do more than merely serve up narratives diverting enough to keep us hooked for a couple of hours.

Mr. Shanley has an abiding belief that theater, despite its marginal status in popular culture (or, paradoxically, because of it), can illuminate ethical and spiritual questions that are of both immediate and eternal relevance.
This may strike a discordant note in today's self-conscious, irony-saturated cultural landscape, in which sincerity is automatically suspect. The idea that theater should say something, and not necessarily with a smirk, may seem quaintly old-fashioned. It harks back to the ethos of this country's great theatrical moralist, Arthur Miller, whose dramas grappled, sometimes bluntly, with moral questions of immediate currency.
But it derives from an essential truth about the artistic endeavor. Great writers are driven to write to give enduring form to their perceptions about human life and thought, not just because they have a particular knack for prose or dialogue, style or structure. (Although you wouldn't necessarily know this from reading lavishly praised, extravagantly self-conscious novels that get so much ink - and use so much - today.)

Just before it opened off Broadway last fall, Mr. Shanley decided to append a parenthetical phrase to the play's pleasingly trenchant title: it is officially called "Doubt, a Parable." Mr. Shanley wanted to prod audiences to look beyond the play's surfaces, to experience it not merely as a he-said-she-said drama with narrow topical currency, but also as a broader commentary on the state of the cultural and political discourse in America, and indeed on the dangerous human tendency to take refuge in certainty when the truth may be more complicated and elusive.
After the play won the Pulitzer Prize, Mr. Shanley told The Times, "People who have great certainty can be a force of good, but can also be incredibly destructive." And in an essay he wrote for The Los Angeles Times, which now serves as the introduction to the play's published text, he describes the poisonous cultural environment he was reacting against. "We are living in a culture of extreme advocacy, of confrontation, of judgment and of verdict," he wrote.

And yet Mr. Shanley isn't just writing an op-ed piece in theatrical form. The play gets at a deeper, more universal truth. To be in doubt is not comfortable, as anyone can attest who has ever awaited lab results, fretted over a test score or stood vigil over a silent telephone, awaiting a call. It's a psychological itch, and you want to scratch your way to certainty. But it is often the first step on a path to greater spiritual or moral wisdom, a deeper compassion, a breaking free from constricting dogma.

Quotes: Question with boldness

Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, then that of blindfolded fear. -Thomas Jefferson, third US president, architect and author (1743-1826)

Music: ACL Festival

The lineup for the Austin City Limits Music Festival is out today. Wow! Built to Spill, Bloc Party, Coldplay, Wilco, Secret Machines, Arcade Fire, The Doves. So many of my faves!

Window sprite, originally uploaded by Shrez.

Takeshitadori, Tokyo. December 2004.

Music: New CDs - Niyaz, The Ponys

Niyaz - A great blend of Indian, Iranian and electronic music. Azam Ali, the singer, was born in Iran, grew up in India and then moved to the US. This CD hits the spot for me.
The Ponys: Celebration Castle - The jury is still out on this one. Need to give it a couple more listens. A blend of post-punk and garage. Hmmmm....

Quotes: Friction and art

I read this in Naomi's preface to What Have You Lost?
"The things that cause you friction are the things from which you might make art."

Books: Marjane Satrapi's new graphic novel

I picked up Satrapi's new graphic novel - Embroideries - from Book People.

Books: from Round Top Festival

I picked up four new books by the featured readers at the festival. Lots to read and be inspired by.
Naomi Shihab Nye - Red Suitcase
Marie Howe - What The Living Do
Cyrus Cassells - Soul Make a Path Through Shouting
Nick Flynn - Blind Huber

Poetry: Round Top Poetry Festival

I attended the Round Top Poetry Festival. A series of readings and workshops in the beautiful buildings and environs of Festival Hill. Wow! It was so wonderful to be in this supportive space - with other poets. It was inspiring. Poetry is back in my life and I am so happy about it.

Art (Photos): The Mirror Project - Cigar shop

I took this last week - a cigar shop on the corner of 8th and Congress in downtown Austin. There are a couple other window displays. One has horses and the other has dogs.

8 ball, originally uploaded by Shrez.

6th Street. Austin. March 2005.

Music: New Order, Stereolab, Doves

Three new cds:
New Order: Waiting for the Siren's Call - New release by my fave band
Stereolab: Oscillons from the Anti-sun - 3 cds and 1 dvd of previously unreleased material. Another fave band.
Doves: Live at Eden EP - Only released in indie stores. Could not resist.

Music: Better Propaganda

Tim told me about this music review and download site: Better Propaganda. I have some 'sploring to do.

Poetry: Sudeep Sen

His book - Lunar Visitations - was one of the first few books of Indian poets that I read in the early 90s. http://www.sudeepsen.com/

This or That, originally uploaded by Shrez.

NYC. March 2005.

Books: Self-publishing

Article in today's NT Times: How To Be Your Own Publisher.
Three print-on-demand publishers:
iUniverse
Xlibris
AuthorHouse

Untitled, originally uploaded by Shrez.

Providence, RI. March 2005.

Quotes: Shadow

Shadow owes its birth to light. -John Gay, poet and dramatist (1685-1732)

Technology: The Maccult

Robin sent me this BBC story - Apple a day keeps the music at play - about the cult of Mac. Umberto Eco says Mac is Catholic and Microsoft is protestant.
One week to OSX Tiger!

Art (Theater): Jason SVT on NPR

Jason was on All Things Considered this evening. He was interviewed in a story about regional theaters and talked about his Salvage Vangaurd Theater and how they bring new works to young audiences. Way to go Jason!

Quotes: Night and memory

I cannot walk through the suburbs in the solitude of the night without thinking that the night pleases us because it suppresses idle details, just as our memory does. -Jorge Luis Borges, writer (1899-1986)

Untitled, originally uploaded by Shrez.

Soho, NYC. March 2005.

Art (Film): Animation Show

I saw the Animation Show at the new Alamo Drafthouse South. These three shorts were very good - Hello, When The Day Breaks and The F.E.D.S.

Technology: Blogs are the new reality TV (Flow TV)

Robin pointed me to an article about blogging on Flow TV (it is co-edited by Chris Lucas) - Blogs are the new reality TV. Why do I blog? I link therefore I blog :-)

Art: Letters to an Artist

An article: Letters to an Artist I found on a project management wiki about art and work. It could use some editing, but it has some gems:
"Artists surf their work, riding each instructive wave. They are better positioned to extract the insights continually visiting us all."
"Being an artist is no more just about creating works of art than living is just about thinking. A remarkable array of complementary activities must occur if you are going to usefully create art. For the artists and for the rest of us also, learning to more skillfully shift between the necessary work and our essential work becomes the defining skill in our lives."

Poetry: Billy Collins

Diane and I went to see Billy Collins last night at Hogg Auditorium (UT). He funny, irreverent and wise - like a jester in the court of a king - using humor to snap you out of your complacent reverie.

Design: Prefab homes

FlatPak House - prefab modern
Clever Homes - prefad modern and green
Read about both of these on Treehugger

Boy tshirt, originally uploaded by Shrez.

Takeshitadori, Tokyo. December 2004.

Art (Photos): The Mirror Project - Nice & Spicey

A second submission to the Mirror Project got posted. Woo hoo!

Quotes : Learning

Today's AWAD quote.
Every act of conscious learning requires the willingness to suffer an injury to one's self-esteem. That is why young children, before they are aware of their own self-importance, learn so easily; and why older persons, especially if vain or important, cannot learn at all. -Thomas Szasz, author, professor of psychiatry (1920- )

Technology: Media convergence in Lawrence, KS

This was on Monring Edition today about what a media company in Lawrence, KS is doing to combine their newspaper, online and cable efforts. Go Lawrence! (I went to KU undergrad)

Technology: Mac OSX Tiger out on 4/29

I thought they were going to release "Tiger" later this fall. Glad it is coming out at the end of the month. Read about it on the unofficial google blog.

Yangry, originally uploaded by Shrez.

More Matthew Rodriguez street art. 7th Street, Austin, March 2005.

Ma cherie, originally uploaded by Shrez.

Matthew Rodriguez's street art. Near 6th Street, Austin, March 2005.

Music: New CDs - Fischerspooner & Doug Martsch

Fisherspooner: Odessey - new wavey - good ear candy. Reminds me of 80s stuff I loved.
Doug Martsch: Now you know - I love Built to Spill and this is Doug's solo work - more stripped down and bluesy.

Art: About A Girl - Gallery Lombardi

Robin and I went to check out About A Girl - Pop Music inspires Pop Art. It was neat to discover that I have taken a few photos of Matthew Rodriguez's work around town. See pictures above.

Art: Color, Pattern, Grid - Gajin Fujita

Gajin Fujita had a piece in the AMOA show I saw last weekend - Robin found a couple links and I found one. I like the contrast between Japanese woodblock art and graffiti street art. I really enjoyed the ukiyo-e prints I saw in Tokyo and I have been taking pics of a lot of street art recently.

Quotes: The days....

The days come and go like muffled and veiled figures sent from a distant friendly party, but they say nothing, and if we do not use the gifts they bring, they carry them as silently away. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)
From today's AWAD.

Art / Zeitgeist: Gay-Themed Film Tests Sensibilities in India

From today's NY Times.
Gay-Themed Film Tests Sensibilities in India
Good to see that there is a broader palette of films coming out for the urban audience.

Photos: The Mirror Project - Marine Drive sideview

The Mirror Project is a site where you can submit photo self-portraits of yourself taken in reflective surfaces. I submitted and ....Marine Drive sideview

Scooby Doo Meditator, originally uploaded by Shrez.

Outside Museum. Bombay, December 2004.

Art: Color, Pattern, Grid - AMOA

Zach and I went to the new show at AMOA - Color, Pattern, Grid. Awesome!!! I need to go again.
"Color/Pattern/Grid highlights the richness and diversity of modern and contemporary art in Austin collections. Drawing from the permanent collection of the Austin Museum of Art and from seventeen exceptional Austin collections, this exhibition investigates the wide range of creative responses that both modern and contemporary artists have had to the ideas of color, pattern, and grid."

Art (Theatre): Ghenghis Khan

Robin and I went to see Ghenghis Khan (SVT's new production). A mini opera - three singers, 5 piece chamber orchestra. I am not a fan of the opera, but this was a great show. It had a compelling story that kept me engaged. And the singing was awesome. Well done Jason and Graham! I am a new SVT fan.

Art (Photos): Photobloggies

Photobloggies were announced today. Some good sites I saw:
Daily Dose - won Best of. Neat design. He's married to an Iranian cool.
Joe's NYC: good looking site. I liked the tips he gives on equipment and SW in the About section. Rion - what a well designed site. Great series photos as opposed to on-offs "So, why sets and not single images? Part of why I have stayed with the multiple image format is that there is a power in sequential communication that I enjoy exploring -- multiple images can build a different story than just one image"

Naughty Krishna, originally uploaded by Shrez.

Warden Road, Bombay. December 2004

Technology: NY Times - 2 articles

Is Silicon Valley Similar to Detroit? All reports about the demise of technology are premature. Technology is dead. Long live technology!
A Service That Aims to Make Cold Calls a Bit Warmer Here is a very effective way to use social networking technology.

Technology/Design: EyeArchitect

They designed Tufte's site. EyeArchitect They have built 4 separate architectures to show how the same content can be presented differently on a website. Very effective.

Quotes: Genius steals

Saw this quote on Design by Fire.
The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources. Albert Einstein
Reminds me of what Ed Tufte said at one of his seminars - The intelligent borrow; genius steals.

PSLC Week #7

I thought I was going to have a zippo-nada for the last week of PSLC. But lucky me, as I was driving home from breakfast at Juan in a Million with Peter and others, I saw the Coexistence exhibit on the shores of Town Lake. Great public art.

Art : Movie Club - Silver City

Theresa invited me to Movie Club. We pick a theme and watch a movie every three or four weeks at someone's house and then discuss it. What a nifty idea. No reading like a book club - show up, watch and talk. We watched Silver City.

Vision, originally uploaded by Shrez.

Austin, 5th & Red River. March '05.

Cool tshirts

Tiny factory T's. Some are yummy.

Music: 4 New CDs

Back from NYC and needed my Waterloo fix. Bonanza! 4 CDs. Add to that a bunch of tunes I will scope out on the SXSW site. Bummer that I misseed it this year.
Bloc Party - Silent Alarm: Full lenght release by these punk-funk Brits after a super EP last year. Guud shtuff.
M.I.A. - Arular: Lots of hype for this Sri-Lankan artist. A very infectious mix of dancehall and hip-hop. A bit of a stretch for me since I have very little hip-hop in my collection.
Ada - Blondie: Indie electronica (tech-house). Good melodies and vibe unlike most electronica releases.
Thunderbirds Are Now - Justamoustache: Spazzy post-punk. Some of the songs are catchy. Not sure if I will hang on to this one.

Travel: impersonation

I went to NYC last week and this was in yesterday's NY Times Style section:
"In some ways, travel always holds within it a degree of impersonation. Setting out for distant lands, the traveler not only leaves behind his home - with its utility bills and nosy neighbors - but he can also leave behind his dreary shopworn self." Scott Spenser

Andhra travelogue by Statesman reporter

A good travel article about Renuka Rayasam's trip to see her family in Andhra Pradesh. She is a reporter for the Austin American Statesman.
A visit to old India
Shopping for a sari, India's fabric of life

Nowruz

A good article about Persian New Year - Eid Nowruz - which is today.

PSLC Week #6: NYC & RISD

I went up to NYC with Aunty Faizeh and Parinaz to help her pick a fashion design school.
So, went to the newly renovated MOMA. I really enjoyed the models and drawings section on the architecture and design floor.
Also went to the Met. I spent time looking their Japanese collection, hoping to see some good ukioyo-e. Also spent a bit of time in photography and looking at a Matisse special exhibit.
We drove up to RISD and I really enjoyed the undergraduate exhibit. MOMA and Met were good, but this was fresh, vital, invigorating.
Also went to see Ashes and Snow with Stef the first day I was in NYC. The Nomadic museum it is housed it was incredible. It felt like being in an old cathedral. The photos were good - sometimes a bit contrived - but mostly beautiful.

PSLC Week #5

I was invited to a rehearsal of Salvage Vanguard Theater's Ghenghis Khan - an opera - which opens next weekend. There were about 20 of us there. It was amazing to see and experience the creative process the group was engaged in. The singing really blew me away too. I am definitely going to see it.

Mumbai nightlife

This is a great article from the travel section of the NY Times about nightlife in Bombay. I wrote about some of these places in my last travelogue.

New CDs

Latest release by the Doves - Some Cities. I love their first two cds and this one is a strong third release. More guitarry than the first one. Not as dark as the first or bright as the second.
Adding to my Stereolab collection - Switched on. Early krautrock work. Simple, infectious, driving beats and melody.

PSLC Week #4

2040 Gallery opening of Sky Above Earth Below. Seeing all 7 of Stella's chakra paintings together was incredible.

Xerox Offset, originally uploaded by Shrez.

Near Dalal street, Bombay. Dec. 2004.

Concert Posters
I am missing SXSW this year - bummer - going to be in NYC - cool. Besides all the great bands, I wanted to catch the concert poster exhibition:
Flatstock. Also came across this book: Art of Modern Rock a few months ago. What great graphic work.

Art: PSLC Week #3

City Hall Art Reception (2/24 w/ Theresa).
70 Austin visual artists have contributed their work for the first annual exhibition. It will be up for a year and then rotated. Organized by Mayor Wynn's wife who is a big arts supporter.
What a great show. Eduardo Muñoz Ordoqui's work was haunting. Theresa introduced me to Stella & Brian. Love this city!

Zeitgeist: Green SoCal

So Much Rain, and Southern California Has Never Seen Such Greens by Verlyn Klinkenborg
Articles like this makes reading the NY Times pure pleasure.

Art / Zeitgeist: Day Jobs and the Creative Class

Great article - Creative Capital? - by Michael Erard. Been thinking a lot about art, artists and how they fit into the fabric of the economy. Great insights.

Books / Poetry: A World Between review in Tx Observer

Came across this book review in The Texas Observer of an anthology my poems were in. A few months ago Peter introduced me to the author of the review - Michael Erard - and he knew my name and mentioned reviewing the book. Glad I came across the review. What an insightful review - he is a very good writer.

Art / Quotes: The cause is hidden..

The cause is hidden; the effect is visible to all. - Ovid
From editor's page of Esopus #3
Human attention has its limits. With barely enough time to focus on our own affairs, we're able to spare only fleeting glances at our larger surroundings. The impressions we form are necessarily shallow - and because of that, easily manipulated.
We may rely on religion or science to deepen them, but art has a unique capacity to inform our perceptions by revealing hidden causes. Rather than telling us "how things are," it offers compelling scraps of evidence that coax us into an active role, encouraging us to work out explanations for ourselves, on our own terms. At its best, it asks questions so effectively that the answers - to the extent that they even exist - can seem insignificant.
Tod Lippy (editor, Esopus Magazine)

Art: PSLC Week 1 & 2

Week 1: Andy Goldsworthy show at AMOA. Awesome. I had forgotten how much I liked his work. Also watch part of Rivers & Tides - documentary about him.
Week 2: Life Drawings - Beth Campbell, Danica Phelps and Eric Schnell at Jones Arthouse. Curated by Regine Basha.

Per call Rs 1, originally uploaded by Shrez.

Kala Ghoda, Bombay. December 2004.

Music: MixCD - Transit

Created this mix cd when I came back from Bombay last month.
Transit: The act of passing over, across, or through; passage.

1. Sola Sistim - Underworld
2. Good Day Sunshine- Slowdive
3. Beautiful Mind - Verve
4. Hands Away- Interpol
5. The Pod- Experimental Aircraft
6. Freedom Fighter - Bowery Electric
   
7. The Outernationalist - Thievery Corporation
   
8. Black Milk - Massive Attack

Technology: Google Maps

Another very-very neat looking tool from Google. Wow! Bye-bye Mapquest and Yahoo Maps.
Google Maps
Found out about it on the Unofficial Google Blog

m n m
Originally uploaded by Shrez.

DJ and the M&Ms
Takeshitadori, Tokyo (December 2004)

Art: Another eclectic mag - Cabinet

This one is edited by an Iranian.
(From NY Times Feb 10)
"a journal of art and ideas that is eclectic to the point of eccentricity.
Its contributors, who include artists, scholars and nonacademic intellectuals, roam freely through the arts, sciences and 'culture,' demonstrating what its founding editor, Sina Najafi, calls 'a voracious, omnivorous, polymath and playful relationship to knowledge.' "

Art: Pinky Swear Lenten Club (PSLC)

This is the third annual PSLC. A group of us on the 4th floor at work decided to give up various things over Lent and we have a white board where we put down how we were doing each week. Okay, I am not christian, but I did not want to be left out of the fun.
This year, my entry on the board is "Support the Arts." I will go to a new show (visual, performing, etc.) each week. And not shows/groups that I have already seen. It will be fun to discover something new in the art scene of Austin. Two definites: Gheghis Khan at Salvage Vanguard Theater and the Andy Goldsworthy exhibit at AMOA.

Peeling
Originally uploaded by Shrez.

Design: Yummy T-shirts

What a neat idea for a blog - Preshrunk - all kinds of yummy tshirts. I like this one a lot.

Books: Small Press & Lit Mags

Recently read about Council of Literary Magazines and Presses [CLMP] in the NY Times and it brought back the memory of buying my first Pushcart Prize anthology in '90. I was reading and writing a lot and dreamed of having my own small press/lit mag.

PM Stuff: Blogging and Project Community Compass newsletter

10 Ways To Use Blogs for Managing Projects. Found article linked on Xplane's business blog - bBlog. Lots of other good design related stuff on xplane.
Also found reading some of these Compass newletters refreshing. A more "artful" approach to project management.

Technology / Design: Architecture in the digital landscape

Boxes and Arrows: The design behind the design
Human Factors: resources

Zeitgeist: Why Liberal Education

On the Uses of a Liberal Education As Lite Entertainment For Bored College Students by Mark Edmundson at the University of Virginia. From Harper's September 1997.
Great article that I found when I was reading the reviews of his new book "Why Read"on amazon. Put it on the list of books to read.
"Edmundson dramatizes what the recent identity crisis of the humanities has effectively obscured: that reading can change your life for the better."

Art: Magnificent Mag

Found this amazing magazine - Esopus - eccentric, singular, beautiful. I read about it in the NY Times a couple weeks ago and got my issue in the mail earlier this week.
Building a One-Man Magazine, One Impossible Feat at a Time By DAVID CARR (NYT) 1230 words Late Edition - Final , Section B , Page 11 , Column 2
Esopus magazine is a thing of lavish, eccentric beauty, less flipped through than stared at, forcing readers to reconcile their expectations of what a magazine is with the strange artifact in their hands....

Technology: TechSoup

TechSoup - The Technology Place for Nonprofits

Zeitgeist: What Derrida Really Meant

Excerpt from an Op-Ed piece in yesterday's NY Times by Mark C. Taylor about the father of deconstructionism:
"During the last decade of his life, Mr. Derrida became preoccupied with religion and it is in this area that his contribution might well be most significant for our time. He understood that religion is impossible without uncertainty. Whether conceived of as Yahweh, as the father of Jesus Christ, or as Allah, God can never be fully known or adequately represented by imperfect human beings.
And yet, we live in an age when major conflicts are shaped by people who claim to know, for certain, that God is on their side. Mr. Derrida reminded us that religion does not always give clear meaning, purpose and certainty by providing secure foundations. To the contrary, the great religious traditions are profoundly disturbing because they all call certainty and security into question. Belief not tempered by doubt poses a mortal danger.
As the process of globalization draws us ever closer in networks of communication and exchange, there is an understandable longing for simplicity, clarity and certainty. This desire is responsible, in large measure, for the rise of cultural conservatism and religious fundamentalism - in this country and around the world. True believers of every stripe - Muslim, Jewish and Christian - cling to beliefs that, Mr. Derrida warns, threaten to tear apart our world.
Fortunately, he also taught us that the alternative to blind belief is not simply unbelief but a different kind of belief - one that embraces uncertainty and enables us to respect others whom we do not understand. In a complex world, wisdom is knowing what we don't know so that we can keep the future open."

Technology: Web Engineering Resources

Viewed webinar on Web Engineering. Here are some resources for RSP&A Web Engineering

Art: Kala Fine Art

Contemporary Indian art curated/collected by a friend of Peter's
http://www.kalafineart.com

Technology / Design: KJ Technique for problem solving/prioritization/facilitation

The KJ-Technique: A Group Process for Establishing Priorities

Technology: Interview on Disruptive/Sustaining Innovation (Gartner)

The Gartner Fellows: Clayton Christensen's Interview Part 1

Technology: Content Management Site - The Gilbane Report

Content Management & XML, News, Analysis, Reports, White Papers, & Conferences