Alright, so I was planning this big post about our weekend in New York City and Christo & Jeanne-Claude’s The Gates and the great restaurant we were taken to (Artisanal) and the great time we had in Brooklyn with friends and the new MoMa space but instead I’m just going to say this: NYC kicks ass and you should go there. Or live there.

Also, Josh, I swear I’m sending you those Madlib and Madvillain albums. Really. And thanks for finally getting me to listen to old De La Soul. Buhloone Mind State is so good.

If you were trying to comment and couldn’t, well, now you can. Post away!

As part of our ongoing effort here at Current Configuration to make your life not only better, but also 10% more crunchy, we’re offering you this first installment of what will be an ongoing series of Essential Life Lessons. Kicking off this series will be a critical but even-handed examination of a common misunderstanding that occurs in a realm of many misunderstandings: the bathroom.

Put simply, there is a right way to hang the toilet paper, and a wrong way. Read on to determine the status of your own roll.

Alisa and I saw Constantine last night. This was a particularly tricky movie for me, since I’ve been reading the comic John Constantine: Hellblazer since high school. The first trailer I saw for this flick made it look like revisionist Hollywood dreck. I was very disappointed. First off, Constantine is British and blonde. While these aren’t important per se, when Hollywood votes against a blonde lead, I start to get worried (I smell creative compromise). Also, the action and plot seemed pretty flat. However, the second trailer was much cooler and much more promising (see both here). So, in spite of myself and because of my appreciation for the series, I got excited.

I just watched the trailer for Lego: Star Wars today. This is the greatest thing ever, I swear. On top of that, whoever came up with this idea needs to be promoted. The combination of these two nostalgic power centers into a game creates a white-hot poker of consumer lust that stabs directly into my soft, yielding pleasure center.

I’ve been casually watching this game since I first heard of it a few months ago, but my deep-seated excitement is far from casual. I won’t bore you with my own exposition about what this game actually involves, just check out Gamespot’s hands-on or the official site if you have trouble with more than 1 oz. of information.

A while back, I was contacted by Stephen Coles, one of the editors of the online journal of typography Typographica, about putting some thoughts down about my favorite release or a notable release of 2004. Of course, I eagerly accepted and chose Avenir Next.

Today, Typographica’s Our Favorite Fonts of 2004 was posted. It's a knowledgeable, succinct, and informative list of some of the most interesting and notable fonts of ’04. There are some very talented and significant type designers who’ve contributed, so if you want to put your finger on the pulse of type design and your eyes on its future course, look no further.

While in New York this weekend (more on that soon), I noticed that about every third New Yorker had the distinctive little white ear buds and white cords of the iPod earphones trailing from their ears. In fact, it was so prevalent that I saw a couple actually walking and talking together while listening to their iPods.

I mentioned to Alisa that I was pretty sure iPods were now required by the state of New York, then she pointed out that all I could see most of the time were the ear buds, not the iPod. She also claimed that the earphones are available separately (they are, but only with a remote, so I’m skeptical). So, in light of this new information, I submit that in order to live in New York for more than a year, you are now required to own iPod earphones.

iPod optional.

I’m going to be messin’ with the design of Current Config for a little while, so hold on to your...eyeballs. Hopefully, we’ll all come out of this for the better.

The detention centers at Guantanamo Bay have always bothered me, but perhaps the worst part will be the military comission reviewing the status of those held there. This is the point at which justice can be sought and reason, based on the foundations of our government and legal system, can interecede. The outlook is not good. James Grimmelmann compares trial transcripts from 1554 and Guantanamo Bay. You should check out this brief examination to see the direction our government is unabashedly headed.

The most notable difference in procedure between the commission that tried Nicholas Throckmorton and the one that tried Mustafa Ait Idr is that Nicholas Throckmorton was tried before a jury. The second most notable difference is that Throckmorton was allowed to learn the names of his alleged co-conspirators. It does not speak well of the Guantanamo commissions that they come out on the losing side in a comparison with Bloody Mary’s treason trials.

Thanks to Steve for bringing this to my attention.

Courtesy of my capable and generous host, Current Config is now on MT v 3.14.

Normally I shrug off political bumper stickers, as they are reductionist and empty of anything other than a witty turning of a phrase or a bad pun. However, I saw one on Monday that made my stomach turn and I believe it strikes at a broader problem. The sticker reads:

There are Americans... And there are Liberals.

First off, let’s dispense with this phrase’s legitimacy before we examine the broader issues: A) America is built on the idea of a political system that incorporates a broad spectrum of views, B) Have you heard of voting? Do you understand its purpose and how it works? C) This bumper sticker is devoid of logic.

Now that we’ve dispensed with the phrase, let’s examine the bigger problem here.