a wilderness of machines

Crisp Mix

2011-12-14T01:41:00.006-05:00

Shannon and the Clams - All I Want for Christmas is You
2.

Electric Six covers "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch"
6.

2011-11-09T15:13:00.003-05:00

words

Hey, Who Ate Up All My Apple Butter?

2011-10-28T00:53:00.001-04:00

Alphyn Classic Wearcom Jeans

2011-10-22T18:08:00.006-04:00

We all love pants and phones, but who's got time for both? Now you can, with the Alphyn Classic Wearcom Jeans. (TM) Their patented technology allows you to store a phone in a pocket of your jeans, something you've surely never been able to do before! Classic indeed! Another great idea brought to you by Facebook sidebar ads!

The Life of Steve Jobs PSA

2011-10-20T02:15:00.003-04:00

2011-10-18T14:06:00.005-04:00

also, maybe you heard about the 100 year starship symposium that wrapped up earlier this month in orlando. I've been trying to find some record of the stuff discussed there and so far this is the closest I've gotten. Oh and here's a writeup Slate did of the event.

Son of Blog

2011-09-12T08:57:00.002-04:00

Hey, why limit yourself to just one blog (this is the only one you read right!?)?

Crunchholdoh: The Blog

In My Young Glory

2011-08-31T22:04:00.003-04:00

THIS IS A STATE OF MIND. BREAD AND GROOMED THROUGH THE ORDER OF NATURAL SELECTION. THIS IS GODS PRODUCE. I THINK WE ARE GOING TO BE ALRIGHT.

what's going on with the tuna fish sandwiches, the pb&j?

2011-08-29T21:38:00.002-04:00

2011-08-26T21:59:00.004-04:00

it's possible that the suggestions in the sidebar might be just as necessary (though less comfortable. The elephant man vid is a guy with a medical condition, i would pass on that one).

2011-08-24T15:41:00.003-04:00

You gotta love Rolling Stone: the Red Hot Chili Peppers will never cease to seem youthful and fresh and exciting to them. Also how "Watch the Throne" is mentioned on the same top inch of the cover, just after the slightly more relevant Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and the late George Harrison. Also their website for its many pop-up ads.

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier

2011-08-24T01:39:00.003-04:00

Worth the $18 just for name-dropping Adenoid Hynkel and Montana Wildhack, but the fact that it casts James Bond and Emma Peel as villains, features Alan Moore writing pretty excellent Beat prose in the voice of Sal Paradise, uses the fucking Golliwog as a character, and comes with 3-D glasses for viewing its spectacular conclusion, makes it maybe Moore's most ambitious comic.

Polish Spider-Man

2011-08-22T14:17:00.000-04:00

Shadow Cities

2011-08-17T16:21:00.014-04:00

Maybe you already know about this but I just heard about "Shadow Cities" yesterday. It was described to me as a multiplayer game for the iphone where you assume the role of a mage and cast spells by writing symbols or "runes" onto the screen of your phone. Your physical location is taken into account with the gameplay and your goal is to become the most powerful mage in your neighborhood by completing quests and doing battle with mages from opposing sects. Not that I think I'll have the time to try it out in the near future, but it seems like an inevitable, potentially addictive development in mobile device gaming and the whole MMORPG scene. The New York Times recently did an enthusiastic writeup on it, but for more nuts and bolts "Gamezebo" has a pretty decent getting started guidethat gives some idea of the gameplay as well as a more critical review. There is a trailer for the game up on youtube but it's pretty cheesy and mostly useless.

1993... (A Merman I Should Turn to Be)

2011-06-25T12:59:00.000-04:00

Spirit on the Water

2011-06-15T17:28:00.001-04:00

It really gets going around 1:25

Screen Shot Sunday?

2011-06-05T14:50:00.002-04:00

London Looks to keep Vuvuzelas out of UK in 2012

2011-05-27T14:10:00.007-04:00

Another good AlJazeera Story

"and go faster than astronauts"

2011-05-18T02:01:00.005-04:00

The flying men of Yungas valley - Programmes - Al Jazeera English

side note: check out what the guys shirt says at the 5min mark

YOUR FATHER WAS A HANDSOME MAN

2011-05-17T23:32:00.000-04:00

Probably the sickest one I've seen yet.

2011-05-12T00:51:00.000-04:00

"I wasn't going to do this, but somebody said it would be a good idea if we said something about that ending. I really wasn't going to go into it, but I'll just say this...when I was going to Stanford University's graduate film school and was 23 [years old], I went to see Planet of the Apes with my wife. When it was over, I said, 'Wow...so they had a Statue of Liberty, too.'"
-David Chase on the end of "The Sopranos"

This is not that ending:

pampas rock

2011-05-07T09:04:00.000-04:00

I saw the set from Montgomery and I new the Mobile show was going to rock and it did. I am completely in ah of this band. I have been watching this band live since the AM days at First Avenue but I am sad to say that I am done with Wilco. It is not because of the band. They have just gotten better over time. I even brought my brother to the show who isn't a follower of Wilco and he couldn't believe what he has been missing out on. I am saying goodbye because of a few pampas Wilco fans. I stood up to rock during the show, like you should during a rock concert and few fans behind me threw things at me because I was standing up. I couldn't believe it so I sat down for the rest of the concert while all the other people started to stand up. This is my second show in Mobile and the first show was even worse because nobody stood up.
The only time I have thrown things at people is in a snow ball fight. I can't believe that people have the nerve to throw things at other people who are standing up at a rock concert. This band got its start by playing to crowds that stood the whole time. I have watched Wilco many times (First Avenue, The Orpheam in Minneapolis and The University of Montana Ballroom) and I have stood the whole time. I can't just sit and watch this band while they rock the cowbell so I will say goodbye to Wilco because of a few pampas fans that would rather text than stand up at a rock concert.

- sergio

2011-05-03T18:33:00.000-04:00

And You Watched As Your Brains Rocked Out Through Your Moo-oooooooog

2011-04-29T19:05:00.002-04:00

Jeff Mangum Composes Score for Apples in Stereo Frontman Schneider's Mind-Controlled Instrument

But will we ever get to hear it?
from Pitchfork

Back in September, we reported the (literally) mind-boggling news that Apples in Stereo frontman Robert Schneider had invented a new instrument, the Teletron, that you basically play with your mind. (Or, in Schneider's own words, it's "a circuit-bent Mattel MindFlex toy that enables you to play a Moog synthesizer by varying your thoughts.") Last week, Schneider debuted an original Teletron composition written by Neutral Milk Hotel mastermind and notable recluse Jeff Mangum. (Thanks to James Hindle for the tip.)

In a statement, Schneider explained that he and noise musician Robert Beatty (Hair Police, Three Legged Race, Ulysses) performed Mangum's Teletron piece with Duke University's Dr. Marc Sommer during Dr. Sommer's neuroscience class last week. "Jeff has been generating collage art and experimental music since we were teenagers, so he was a natural composer for the Teletron," Schneider said. So, how exactly does one go about composing music for something like the Teletron? We'll let Schneider take this one over:

"A Teletron score is a collage-like sequence of opposing pages, where the right page speaks to the left side of the brain, which is more logical, and the left page speaks to the right brain, the intuitive side. Two opposing images are to be understood by the reader as a single thought or statement. The images are also projected for the audience to view. The melody played by the synthesizers is completely based on the conductor's thoughts, while Robert and I adjust the Moog filters to taste, each of us playing the role of one side of the brain and reading only one side of the score. Finally, the synthesizers are sent through stereo speakers set up to feed the sounds to corresponding hemispheres of the listeners' brains."

Promising

2011-04-27T17:52:00.001-04:00

From the upcoming "Batman: Arkham City" comic. I'm not normally into promotional tie-ins, but this seems pretty smart...

Who loves ya' BABY!

2011-04-20T11:22:00.004-04:00

a gift from the market...

2011-04-20T11:03:00.002-04:00

Hey it's another informative TRUMPDATE

2011-04-19T16:16:00.004-04:00

1:09 Oof.

Almost relevant:

Party Boy

2011-04-16T08:41:00.007-04:00

Edgar, New Minster Charter; 5th Fucking Century A.D.

I feel like this all shines a pretty telling light on Rupert Murdoch, and Fox News. I don't know much about Australia I guess, it's people, or it's levels of entertainment, but this all is fucking gold, pure fucking gold. The media in it's entirety all rounding their wagons to have the glasses come off! What stellar entertainment, what genius! American problems, are I guess human problems, or at the very least White Anglo-Saxon problems. There's definitely a thread there. Cultural differences? Sure, but all the same sort of push and pull for the sake of "entertainment".

Poor poor Piano Sandbar Boy.

The Pale King

2011-04-10T13:05:00.002-04:00

2011-04-09T17:33:00.000-04:00

Space Moves

2011-04-08T12:29:00.000-04:00

Moe Money, Moe Problems

2011-04-04T22:36:00.001-04:00

MJ LOVE

2011-04-04T17:43:00.003-04:00

How many more times will we come across headlines detailing and weeping for the shortcomings of Michael Jackson's life? I'm not insensitive, if the guy liked soccer then no biggie but this one just seems like a stretch. Also of note is the lil' BK (most likely an import from somewhere in West Africa) they got to dance with the clubs owner. Wow...

From the Washington Post...

Before his club’s 3-0 victory over Blackpool on Sunday, Fulham chairman Mohamed Al Fayed unveiled a statue of Michael Jacksonoutside Craven Cottage stadium in London. A strange combination, indeed — a tribute to the late pop star and a Premier League soccer team. (We know American midfielder Clint Dempsey has got some moves, but can he moon-walk?)

Al Fayed and Jackson were friends and Jackson attended a match in 1999. But was Jackson really a soccer fan? An Al Fayed spokesman told the Wall Street Journal: “When Michael Jackson was a small boy growing up in Gary, Ind., he would spend a lot of time looking out the window at boys playing [soccer] and wishing he could go out and join them, but his father did not allow it. Michael always felt there was something lacking in his life because of it.”

Nonsense, countered a spokesman for a Jackson fan club. “Football? No,” he told the Journal.

Meantime, Al Fayed offered a charming response to Fulham supporters critical of the statue.

“If some stupid fans don’t understand and appreciate such a gift, they can go to hell. I don’t want them to be fans. If they don’t understand and don’t believe in things, I believe in they can go to Chelsea.”

They do. They don't. Yes, they do...

2011-04-01T11:29:00.001-04:00

big news for crunchholdoh

2011-04-01T08:51:00.001-04:00

See for yourself. The big times. peace be the journey

-jonathan

relativity

2011-04-01T08:23:00.000-04:00

"I can guarantee you, or most of you, I guarantee that I have more debt than all of you. With 6 kids, I still pay off my student loans. I still pay my mortgage. I drive a used minivan. If you think I'm living high on the hog, I've got one paycheck. So I struggle to meet my bills right now. Would it be easier for me if I get more paychecks? Maybe, but at this point I'm not living high on the hog."

-Republican representative Sean Duffy on trying to get by on only $174,000 a year (plus benefits)

Trumpdate

2011-03-31T12:09:00.007-04:00

"His mother was a hippie; his father was a guy from Kenya who split... What is he? Baby Jesus?" O'Reilly joked. "There was a sophisticated conspiracy to smuggle this baby back into the country?"

Trump countered that far more nefarious conspiracies were possible.

"I grew up with Wall Street geniuses," Trump said. "What they do in terms of fraud and how they change documents..."

"I have my birth certificate," he continued. "People have birth certificates. He doesn't have a birth certificate. Now he may have one, but there is something on that birth certificate - maybe religion. Maybe it says he's a Muslim. I don't know."

Currently no word on whether, in addition to religion, the alleged birth certificate contains Obama's favorite beer, his credit rating or his golf handicap.

From Wikipedia's "List of Television Shows Considered the Worst"

2011-03-30T18:50:00.014-04:00

Barney & Friends - One specific criticism is: "[H]is shows do not assist children in learning to deal with negative feelings and emotions. As one commentator puts it, the real danger from Barney is denial: the refusal to recognize the existence of unpleasant realities. For along with his steady diet of giggles and unconditional love, Barney offers our children a one-dimensional world where everyone must be happy and everything must be resolved right away."

Australia's Naughtiest Home Videos - The only known series in world television history to be canceled by its network midway through its first airing. Kerry Packer, Australian media magnate and owner of the broadcaster Nine Network, saw the show whilst out at dinner with friends, and reportedly phoned Nine central control personally, ordering them to "Get that shit off the air!" The network complied and immediately replaced it with reruns of Cheers, citing "technical difficulties." Packer arrived at the network the next day and again referred to the show as "disgusting and offensive shit." The show itself largely consisted of videos of animals having sex interspersed with off color jokes from the show's host. The show would not be seen in its entirety until 2008, three years after Packer's death.

Holmes & Yo-Yo (1976) - Holmes & Yo-Yo was universally panned by critics and is #33 on TV Guide's List of the 50 Worst TV Shows of All Time. Many Nielsen viewers claimed they felt "uncomfortable" with the show's often racy humor, most especially episode seven, over 14 minutes of which was Yo-Yo verbalizing (in graphic detail) his desire for genitalia. Although the series lasted only 13 episodes ... the influence of Holmes & Yo-Yo can be felt in other "robot cop" series and films that followed ... [including] Mann & Machine, which used the same premise as Holmes & Yo-Yo, only with a sexy female robot instead of the stout Yoyonovich.

The Swan - The show has been criticized for promoting plastic surgery, a view of beauty packaged and marketed by the fashion industry, and a lack of ethics in preying on vulnerable people. [USA Today] described it as "the most morally bankrupt TV since Al Qaeda's latest press release."

Who's Your Daddy? - For the show's premise, an adult who had been put up for adoption as an infant was placed in a room with 25 men, one of whom was his or her biological father. If the contestant could correctly pick out his or her father, the contestant would win $100,000. If he or she chose incorrectly, the person the contestant incorrectly selected would get the $100,000, although the contestant would still be reunited with his or her father.

Heil Honey I'm Home! - This UK sitcom depicted fictionalised versions of Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun living next to a stereotypical Jewish couple. The show was criticised for being unfunny and distasteful, and was cancelled after a single episode aired.

Cop Rock:

Also noteworthy: Homeboys in Outer Space, Galactica 1980, The Jay Leno Show.

Never Gonna Dance Again

2011-03-30T01:30:00.002-04:00

Apparently SNL ripped these dudes off, too.

Trump

2011-03-29T16:14:00.006-04:00

TRUMP: The fact is they asked me the question. I said I want to see his birth certificate. It's very simple. Somebody asked today, "can I see your birth certificate?" I had it in my hands in less than an hour. People that are born in this country have birth certificates. So I wanted to see his birth certificate.

I mentioned that on "The View." Whoopi, who is a friend of mine, I did a movie cameo for her. Whoopi said if that were a white man you wouldn't be asking that question. I said what does this have to do with race? It has absolutely nothing to do with race.

The fact is if you look at what has happened, with respect to this birth certificate issue, he doesn't have it. He spent millions of dollars on lawyers trying to get out of the issue. They get what is called a certificate of live birth which doesn't have a signature on it and anybody can get a certificate of live birth. It has nothing to do with a birth certificate. And they are really reeling.

Now, they talk all sorts of things. You don't have a doctor or a nurse. Here's the president of the United States, and no doctor, no nurse, nobody has come forward saying I delivered that beautiful baby. There are so many things.

Even if you look at the newspaper, the so-called newspaper article in Hawaii, that was days after he was born. So that wasn't like when he was born. And if you think about a couple of things, whoever took a newspaper advertisement? These were poor people. These aren't rich people. Whoever took a newspaper advertisement to announce the birth of your baby? I don't think you know of anybody. I know of nobody. I know poor people and rich people, but I've never heard of taking a newspaper ad to advertise that you have a baby. So that's one.

And then you have this beautiful governor, a Democratic governor that says 50 years ago he remembers, OK, he remembers when Obama was born. I'll bet he didn't even know the parents 50 years ago. I think it is absolutely insane. What he's doing is taking a bullet for the party by making a statement that I remember.

So I've been into this issue for a couple of weeks and I'm starting to get very concerned. The fact is if you are not born in this country you cannot run for president. If Arnold Schwarzenegger wanted to run for a president -- he's a friend of mine, a good man. If we wanted to run for president he can't because he wasn't born in this country.

VAN SUSTEREN: Here's my thought. First of all, I don't know about the article, whether he had to pay for the article or not. As for the birth certificate, frankly, I haven't seen mine in years. I have a passport and the president has a passport having traveled at one time, I had to surrender a birth. And so I suspect that when he got his passport he had to provide a valid birth certificate.

And the other thing too, this is the most incredible -- this doesn't hurt the Democratic Party. This is how they are raising funds. Using all this controversy to say, "please, money" because the Republicans are going after him about his birth certificate.

TRUMP: I don't think it is. I disagree with you 100 percent. I see what is going on over the Internet. I see the questions asked. People have never -- you have to understand, terrible term, the word "birther." A birther is a person that wants -- these are great Americans in many cases, in most cases. They want to see the president was born in this country. They want to see the president actually has a birth certificate.

And I don't think it is helping him at all. And I wish it did help him. To be honest with you, I want him to have a birth certificate because that would mean his presidency is legal. You have to be born in the United States.

I hope he was born in the United States. I hope that he -- I want to get rid of the word "hope." I want to know for sure. I hope that he was born in the United States. And I hope this doesn't become a big issue. But I will tell you, if you look at the Internet and the kind of questions, this is not an issue that is popular for them, believe me.

In Other News: tiny Hats

2011-03-29T13:18:00.002-04:00

thankyou huffington post

Are you surprised? 'cause I'm not.

2011-03-28T01:59:00.004-04:00

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-kill-team-20110327

It's shocking in a graphic, gratuitous way, absolutely disgusting and thoroughly disappointing... but it makes sense. This should all be culturally predictable. Don't you feel it?

Bear Surprise

2011-03-27T09:33:00.002-04:00

[John Lurie's "Bear Surprise"] is considered an internet meme in Russian culture and has been described by Victor Sonkin in the The Moscow Times as having "gained vast popularity with the speed of an avalanche." Its popularity, especially in runet, led to the bear's speech balloon being changed from "Surprise" to "Preved", a made up word that combines the Russian word "privet" (hello or hi) and "medved'" (bear). The title eventually became known as "Preved Medved" (translation "Hello Bear"). - Wikipedia

they're gonna make a big hole

2011-03-25T16:24:00.011-04:00

"Scientists To Drill Deeper Than Ever Before, Hope To Sample Mantle"

slightly longer, but similar article

looking around at moho discontinuity arrived at this eventually:

which you may notice is posted by this guy gwap360. who is quite a character.
thats it for now.

If the humanities and sciences can't get along, we have no future

2011-03-25T09:11:00.004-04:00

"In May 2010, geneticist J. Craig Venter and his team made news by creating the first “synthetic life form,” replacing the genetic code in a bacterium with DNA they’d composed on a computer.

But during a presentation delivered Monday morning at the South By Southwest convention in Austin, Texas, Venter talked about two ways the landmark innovation went wrong.

In order to distinguish their synthetic DNA from that naturally present in the bacterium, Venter’s team coded several famous quotes into their DNA, including one from James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist of a Young Man: “To live, to err, to fall, to triumph, to recreate life out of life.”

After announcing their work, Venter explained, his team received a cease and desist letter from Joyce’s estate, saying that he’d used the Irish writer’s work without permission. ”We thought it fell under fair use,” said Venter."

Craig Venter's Genetic Typo

A Failed Entertainment

2011-03-21T17:16:00.004-04:00

Stephen and I went to see this at the Fine Arts Building on Broad today, its last day in town.
Too bad nobody attempted this one:
"The Joke" - B.S. Latrodectus Mactans Productions. Audience as reflected cast; 35 mm x 2 cameras; variable length; black and white; silent. Parody of Hollis Frampton's 'audience-specific events,' two Ikegami EC-35 video cameras in the theater record the 'film's' audience and project the resultant raster onto screen - the theater audience watching itself watch itself get the obvious 'joke' and become increasingly self-conscious and uncomfortable and hostile supposedly comprises the film's involuted 'anti-narrative' flow. Incadenza'a first truly controversial project, Film & Kartridge Kultcher's Sperber credited it with 'unwittingly sounding the death-knell of post-poststructual film in terms of sheer annoyance.' NON-RECORDED MAGNETIC VIDEO SCREENABLE IN THEATER VENUE ONLY, NOW UNRELEASED

You Are Sooo Good-Looking

2011-03-16T15:58:00.003-04:00

www.christiannightmares.tumblr.com

corporate creativity

2011-03-14T20:51:00.000-04:00

In Agreement.

2011-03-14T19:01:00.003-04:00

"Remixing is like musical prostitution. I think it's really cynical and vacuous; I'm batting offers away like flies. It never used to be like that. Ray Charles didn't need five remixes. The song speaks for itself." - James Blake

"I heard that fucking Radiohead record and I just go, 'What?!'... Them writing a song about a fucking tree? Give me a fucking break! A thousand year old tree? Go fuck yourself! You'd have thought he'd have written a song about a modern tree or one that was planted last week. You know what I mean?" - Liam Gallagher

But Seriously

2011-03-14T15:04:00.007-04:00

http://vladimirputinactioncomics.com/

David Simon

2011-03-10T21:04:00.002-05:00

on Snoop getting arrested:

"First of all, Felicia's entitled to the presumption of innocence. And I would note that a previous, but recent drug arrest that targeted her was later found to be unwarranted and the charges were dropped. Nonetheless, I'm certainly sad at the news today. This young lady has, from her earliest moments, had one of the hardest lives imaginable. And whatever good fortune came from her role in The Wire seems, in retrospect, limited to that project. She worked hard as an actor and was entirely professional, but the entertainment industry as a whole does not offer a great many roles for those who can portray people from the other America. There are, in fact, relatively few stories told about the other America.

"Beyond that, I am waiting to see whether the charges against Felicia relate to heroin or marijuana. Obviously, the former would be, to my mind, a far more serious matter. And further, I am waiting to see if the charges or statement of facts offered by the government reflect any involvement with acts of violence, which would of course be of much greater concern.

"In an essay published two years ago in Time magazine, the writers of The Wire made the argument that we believe the war on drugs has devolved into a war on the underclass, that in places like West and East Baltimore, where the drug economy is now the only factory still hiring and where the educational system is so crippled that the vast majority of children are trained only for the corners, a legal campaign to imprison our most vulnerable and damaged citizens is little more than amoral. And we said then that if asked to serve on any jury considering a non-violent drug offense, we would move to nullify that jury's verdict and vote to acquit. Regardless of the defendant, I still believe such a course of action would be just in any case in which drug offenses—absent proof of violent acts—are alleged.

"Both our Constitution and our common law guarantee that we will be judged by our peers. But in truth, there are now two Americas, politically and economically distinct. I, for one, do not qualify as a peer to Felicia Pearson. The opportunities and experiences of her life do not correspond in any way with my own, and her America is different from my own. I am therefore ill-equipped to be her judge in this matter."

http://www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/browbeat/archive/2011/03/10/david-simon-creator-of-the-wire-speaks-on-felicia-snoop-pearson-s-arrest.aspx

Stoked

2011-03-10T19:56:00.003-05:00

"'Battle: Los Angeles' is noisy, violent, ugly and stupid. Its manufacture is a reflection of appalling cynicism on the part of its makers, who don't even try to make it more than senseless chaos. Here's a science-fiction film that's an insult to the words 'science' and 'fiction,' and the hyphen in between them. You want to cut it up to clean under your fingernails...
"The dialogue consists almost entirely of terse screams: Watch it! Incoming! Move! Look out! Fire! Move! The only characters I remember having four sentences in a row are the anchors on cable news...
"When I think of the elegant construction of something like "Gunfight at the OK Corral," I want to rend the hair from my head and weep bitter tears of despair. Generations of filmmakers devoted their lives to perfecting techniques that a director like Jonathan Liebesman is either ignorant of, or indifferent to. Yet he is given millions of dollars to produce this assault on the attention span of a generation.
"Young men: If you attend this crap with friends who admire it, tactfully inform them they are idiots. Young women: If your date likes this movie, tell him you've been thinking it over, and you think you should consider spending some time apart."
-Roger Ebert

chillwave. bro.

2011-03-08T09:32:00.002-05:00

Screen Shot of the Moment

2011-03-07T10:59:00.001-05:00

I Dream of Sheen

2011-03-06T14:49:00.004-05:00

The other night I dreamt that I went on a long drive through the night with Charlie Sheen. I have no idea why Sheen specifically managed to manifest himself into my mind in such a state, but I usually just try to accept these things as they are. That being said though, I don't normally dream in this way. I don't normally remember my dreams and when I do, figures usually don't come in such a mold.

It was a brisk night, I could feel it intensely on the skin of my arms. I could feel the coolness of breeze cutting against the warmth of the tropical night. It was normal. It was dark, but lit ever so lightly by a sort-of nondescript distilled bluish tone. The light emanated rather beat, and you could see it's luminescence especially clear in the thinner portions of the palm trees. This was not so normal, and I'm not sure what it means.

We walked out of the resort and got into the car. It was some sort Ford, maybe a Bronco? The seats were worn red leather, and the stereo-deck was 'tapes only'. We didn't put anything on, as up to this point we both hadn't said anything, and I don't remember there being any tapes in the glovebox. The dialogue commenced but for the most part I can't remember what exactly was said. A lot of fuzziness here, what's more important was the feeling. The car sped down a two lane road in the night. The palm trees blurred by only capturing still imagery when focused on in specific points while above the stars remained completely still, almost dead. The stars were almost dead. Around this time is when I remember Sheen asking me how old I was and I responded "almost 25". At that he told me I "didn't need to stress" and that life would move "for me and with me". He told me that I had "a long time to go and that I would fade", he reminded me that he wouldn't and soon he'd be gone, but up to that point he had "lived quite peacefully" The most resonating point I remember in our talk was that he said that "insanity hadn't visited my doorstep" until he was "on the morning shows".

From then I don't think anything else was said. Sheen continued to drive, he was driving, did I mention that? We pulled back up to the roundabout of the resort and entered the lobby. From there we separated. On one end of the room stood everyone here, on this blog, plus Jackie P, Starbuck, and some sort of faceless man. He had a face, this is nothing that visually disturbing, but I can't place or remember who it was? I feel like it might have my father, or Jay maybe? I don't know, but at any rate Sheen had awaiting his arrival a group of women all dressed (somehow obviously non-corodinated) in white. They all seemed to welcome his arrival and followed as he walked into the adjacent hall and disappeared from view.

This all somehow made me at least for a morning feel really good about where I'm at. Whether that's the correct reaction to all of this, I don't know but I feel OK.

Serial Comic Books to Follow at the Moment

2011-03-04T17:15:00.010-05:00

If you're so inclined:

1. Batman Incorporated and Detective Comics

Bruce Wayne decided to announce to the public that he is "working closely with" Batman, in order to go around the world finding worthy candidates and training them to be Batmen, in the name of taking his style of justice global. Dick Greyson holds down the fort as Batman in Gotham with Wayne's illegitimate son as Robin. Grant Morrison (Arkham Asylum, All-Star Superman, The Filth) is the head writer on Incorporated.

2. Scalped
A gritty crime drama set on a hellishly depicted present-day Indian reservation. Written by Jason Aaron.

3. Rasl
Alternate dimensions and shit. From Jeff Smith, the writer / illustrator of Bone, which I read a lot as a kid.

4. Boy's Club Five funny animal friends smoke weed and spout catch phrases. Written and illustrated by Matt Furie.

5. Neonomicon
An FBI agent and recovering sex addict uncovers an underground world of depraved H.P. Lovecraft-worshipers. Written by Alan Moore (The Watchmen, From Hell.)

Don't Tell Me I Don't Know What Vietnam is Like

2011-03-03T11:52:00.001-05:00

from John Waters' "Desperate Living."

The Sunset Limited

2011-03-02T19:38:00.001-05:00

A recommendation:

Definitely not the kind of thing a trailer can do justice to, but worth checking out if you can.

video+music

2011-03-02T16:30:00.001-05:00

Strong Tea from Chris Pittman on Vimeo.

Night Moves

2011-02-23T19:52:00.002-05:00

Disappointment 2.0

2011-02-18T19:08:00.001-05:00

TEXT: Hello and greetings from Charlottesville, Virginia, and welcome to my Facebook page! I have a lot of Facebook friends who I’ve never met or haven’t seen in a while – people who live in every corner of Virginia, in other states, and even around the world! Making a video is a great and fun way to reach out to you and for you to get a better idea of who I am and what I’m all about. I hope you enjoyed this video and will show me some love by making a comment and hitting the “like” button! Thank you and have a great day!

THREAT LEVEL MIDNIGHT

2011-02-18T15:51:00.003-05:00

Like I know kitsch is supposedly not as good when it's faked, but "The Scarn" is as good as "Lep in the 'hood, come to do no good," right?

Whet your appetite

2011-02-17T11:16:00.004-05:00

the new crunchholdoh album is done and drops soon. Here's a taste:

[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

We Messed with the Zohan

2011-02-15T20:48:00.003-05:00

The original title of which was: "The Israelis Are Our Heroic Allies, Even Though They Are Ridiculous, Effeminate Jews"

RIP Luis Eduardo, deseo que le conociera mejor

2011-02-13T21:19:00.015-05:00

yo, headphones if u got em

Shoutout my Tio Abuelo, Luis Eduardo, dead a week now (almost exactly). Love to my Abuelita who had to bury a brother the day before her birthday. Not quite sure why this los panchos song except that I've been listening to it nonstop and I kinda remember hearing that he liked it (but who doesn't like los panchos? who? who?). I do anyhow.

Revisionist History

2011-02-13T17:37:00.002-05:00

"'Group!' 'Group!'"

2011-02-10T19:13:00.003-05:00

Columbus was so long ago he might as well have been the fuckin' movies.

I'm actually really happy i missed this start to it all till now

2011-02-07T02:52:00.003-05:00

also on this day: a letter from Arianna Huffington

2011-02-05T12:23:00.002-05:00

"In my view, the most significant discovery of the annotations is that Gravity's Rainbow unfolds according to a circular design. Across the novel's four parts, historical events intersect the Christian liturgical calendar, inferring possibilities for return and renewal, but possibilities that Pynchon's satire hopelessly equivocates. This means that readers might have a novel as elegantly modeled as Joyce's Ulysses and have their deconstructionism too. Indeed, one might well read Gravity's Rainbow as the terrible dynamic of a culture huddling on the brink of nuclear winter."

--A Gravity's Rainbow Companion: Sources and Contexts for Pynchon's Novel by Steven Weisenburger

Mostly for the Ladies

2011-02-01T16:54:00.002-05:00

A compilation of people dancing alone to Ginuwine's "Pony." I mean, doesn't it kind of make you question established notions of solitude?

2011-01-31T14:27:00.003-05:00

Matt Harvey and Leah Beeferman have just started a new online publication called Parallelograms. Heres a blurb about it.

Table Chairs Chef Miami Sandbar

2011-01-29T10:17:00.001-05:00

“Table For 2″ Disappearance Solved « CBS Miami

UPDATE: So the Miami-Dade County’s Department of Environmental Resources Management removed the burning piano (which had recently acquired the moniker "Billy Shoal") and someone mysteriously replaced it with this awesome romantic dinner fantasy, replete with sculpture of Jim Varney to serve you.

The Today Show: What is Internet?

2011-01-28T17:06:00.000-05:00

Boy's Club

2011-01-28T13:24:00.002-05:00

by Matt Furie. Issue four now available wherever finer books are sold.

The Today Show

2011-01-27T19:09:00.009-05:00

So, it should prefaced that I need help, and I probably should just turn the damn thing off, but Nathaniel "Sean John" Waggoner prodded me to do a post regarding my recent forced experiences with NBC's morning program "The Today Show" while working the morning shifts at Strawberry Street. To quote: "It should be filled with all sorts of your bile".

Today, on The Today Show Anne Curry (from a pretty universal western perspective) ridiculed, scolded, and attempted to smash the dreams of a 16-year old Floridian boy who I think quite objectively could be "unique" if not even "spirited". Maybe you guys have already heard about his "antics" down in the U.S. tropics but in case you haven't, Nicolas Harrington and his "cohorts" on New Years Eve set fire to his fathers grand piano. The piano (originally acquired thanks to his fathers connections as a production designer on the Stephen Williams approved, and recommended series Burn Notice) was then loaded onto the family boat, driven out into middle of an "un-reported" Florida bay, and left to wash away on a sandbar. Now to some this act would instantly register as some sort of disposable art-piece, but of course not to Anne Curry and the rest of The Today Show assholes. Instead of commending the obviously ingenuitive and inspired youth in question Ann Curry and the rest of the gang decided to label Harrington as a prankster and imply that he very soon could be a felon for his actions. Nice.

What is wrong with these fucking people. For god's sake. Just yesterday they aired a segment about our countries youth and how peripheral devices, and video game consoles could almost clinically be labeled as an addiction for most. Why is it when a unique case of individuality comes along in the form of a 16-year old the same voices choose to shit on him? I mean who are these animals? I've watched too many episodes of Maury, and an even greater number of Jerry Springer episodes lately to not frame my view of The Today Show in similar ways. They all want to show you a glimpse of the world as they see it. They all want to offer some sort of tailored POV of our culture. The only difference to be found is that Springer,and Maury know that they're trash, they know that they're the carnival, and they're fine with it. It's arrogance, and denial of The Today Show that has really gotten to me. Maybe it's warranted. I mean half of this country still probably think that they give them "real news", but at what point do the Soccer Moms and innocent Buffett fans realize that their world view is fucked. At what point do they find a point of contention that leaves a sour taste in their mouths? It's gonna happen sooner or later and this piano thing has to have been one of them for at least a few idiots out there.

I thought they had hit a low last week when Ann Curry was granted all of her wishes, and got to "live out her dreams on-air". Do I need to go into anymore detail on that one? Why in the fuck would I want to see Ann Curry "live out her dreams on-air"? Do I like having shit rubbed in my face? It's just pure insanity that there are people out there sitting sipping their coffee ignoring the real blessings (and terrors) they have in their owns lives so they can watch Ann Curry play in a marching band. I mean doesn't she have enough already? Do the rich always get richer? I guess it's fine if she and Matt Lauer are unaware of it, but how could you ever even ponder if they are. They have to know whats up because they've got the formula down so well. They love being assholes, because that's what they're good at! That's how they got the job! It all seems to be a fucking game to them, and they're having such a good time doing it. It's not like the network that employs them used to actually deliver "real news". I mean I guess I could understand a level of guilt there, but how do you continue walking down that path? Money? Probably. It's not as if they're all laughing, though. Al Roker, that poor son of a bitch. He has no idea. Every week features almost regularly Al Roker dying on-air. Hey there's a deadly blizzard headed for Boston! Send the black guy there!!! The guy for years now has honed in his skill with such phrases as "Sunday! Sunday!! SUNDAY!!!" or "Here's Whats Happening In Your Neck-of-the-woods", or "It's fucking terrible out here Matt, HELP ME!!!" And to all of these there is a sly smirk from the rest of them and a wink and a nod that the idiot will never learn. Heartbreaking.

So to return to Nicolas Harrington's Piano. I guess it should as no surprise that the folks over at NBC would look at his work with about the same frame of mind as the local archetypical High School Football coach. Everything would of course be seen within the common structures of purpose, practicality, the green movement, and law and justice. There is of course no room for "Art" and "Honesty" in any of that really so I guess I'm blowing a lot of hot air for nothing, but what happened today actually makes me really sad, because I know that kid. I know feeling things, and thinking things that are "right" and having external "rational" and "responsible" forces telling you (or even worse, making you feel) that what you think/feel is wrong. I know that kid, that can't describe for lack of a more expressive vocabulary and self-confidence what really drives his actions. I probably was that kid in some ways, but I of course never did anything so great as to burn my dads piano, lug it out onto a sandbar, and leave it to wash away. This kid did, and he deserves support for such "insanity" when acted upon. Our culture is probably dying in some ways and more and more I think people like Ann Curry want it to. Maybe she's just stupid and hasn't ever had a night of heavy drinking, but I think you learn from such stupidity.

I hope Nicolas Harrington gets into the best art school he can, and continues with his "pranks".

Edit: Enjoy your one-minute fucking commercial with this clip --Nate

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Referential Dreams

2011-01-26T21:31:00.003-05:00

Destroyer - Kaputt from Merge Records on Vimeo.

Man, I've somehow missed "actually listening" to Destroyer for what seems like awhile now. Just saw this video and I think I really like it. I mean maybe the aesthetics are a bit of a sell out, but I really dig it. I mean it seems pretty current, no?

Mr. Rogers and Mr. Haack

2011-01-26T14:37:00.001-05:00

RIP PLEASURE: Bruce Haack - Farad The Electric Voice (Collected Recordings 1969-1982)

2011-01-25T12:43:00.008-05:00

From the liner notes...

"I do a lot with touch - let electricity flow through our bodies and touch each other and the electricity becomes sound - through the speaker-of-the-house. I created Farad - An electronic voice - far out Michael Faraday - anyday - everyday. Farad is programmed by touch and by proximity relays - and Farad is impossible to work with. The human voice is so much better. But in order to tell you what I know, I had to build everything myself." - Bruce Haack (1969)

*The recordings skip a little from here to there (beyond my patience to figure out why at this point) but the stuff is definitely still worth listening to. Hope you guys dig it...

Shout out to MontreBurns1###3 (white bitches)

2011-01-25T07:43:00.003-05:00

2011-01-23T22:58:00.001-05:00

2011-01-23T22:45:00.002-05:00

More from Gravity's Rainbow

2011-01-20T11:41:00.001-05:00

Also: In Memoriam.

Blurbin'

2011-01-17T15:44:00.001-05:00

Just picked up his Super Sad True Love Story, pretty pumped...

swans

2011-01-11T22:21:00.000-05:00

Print Screen of The Moment

2011-01-10T11:00:00.000-05:00

CNN iReport

2011-01-08T20:11:00.004-05:00

"Hasn't been both checked and cleared?" Who the fuck wrote that sentence?

CNN iReport is a thing that lets any idiot post something as a news story on CNN.com. I found it when I found this:
http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-537970?ref=feeds%2Flatest

2011-01-07T05:03:00.002-05:00

My Dog, or a Cylon Agent....!

2011-01-02T22:50:00.001-05:00

"You Know That Lifetime Movie About that Woman...?"

2011-01-02T16:26:00.000-05:00

hockey fights

2011-01-02T11:06:00.002-05:00

What an anomaly in modern sports. I can't really reconcile it's purpose, justification, or continued existence. I mean we are all still animals, but really? I've often enjoyed the idea and context that in American Football all of the athletes energy and purpose is driven towards an intended and precise level of physical contact, whereas Soccer in opposition requires a mastering of restraint and control away from such contact. But here? What is this? What purpose? I mean I guess this sort of thing like a lot of very distant topics "got big in the 90's" But weren't we all a lot more bored then? Is this just the same sort of enjoyable interruption as the random fan off in the stands responding to e-mails on his smartphone? Don't we pay good money for this stuff? I mean did these people really get their's worth? About 3/4th the way through you can actually start to see the attention disorders kick in. Are they still interested? Sure their still standing, but it's not a wild Roman mob anymore. It's a VCU basketball game.

I mean I guess I just don't get it, that's all. Maybe one day Sepie could help me understand.

I dunno.

We Made Sushi

2010-12-31T11:48:00.006-05:00

Using these recipes:
For the rice itself: http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Sushi-Rice
The simple instructions on the bottom work just as well as the complicated, often digressive ones on top, although it does go into the etymology of the word "sushi," which is kind of tight.
For the sushi in general: http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Sushi
I like the video at the bottom of that page, and its awkward "alternative rock" soundtrack. I don't see what's supposed to be so "controversial" about the guy that made Wiki-How, it seems like a pretty innocuous website to me...
Eel sauce:
http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/eel-sauce/Detail.aspx
Tiger sauce:
http://www.grouprecipes.com/32639/dynamite-spicy-sushi-sauce.html
We got everything from Tan-A, but their fresh fish is not sushi-grade, you gotta get frozen.

Check it Out w/ Steve Brule: Brule on Sushi - watch more funny videos

New Shirts.

2010-12-20T14:19:00.001-05:00

The Noise of History

2010-12-19T19:25:00.004-05:00

Cleaning out the attic with my aunt in SF, findin' some good stuff...

A black newspaper circa D-Day:

And best of all, a soul brotha's valentine.
The inside reads:
Most people don't send Valentines
To their 'Brothers,' it is true,
But then most people never met
A real groovy one like you.

That's why I chose this Valentine
It sure means a lot to me,
To know the best darn 'Brother,'
That the world will ever see."

Arms Bleed

2010-12-17T18:02:00.001-05:00

2010-12-15T03:06:00.002-05:00

thanks to my sister for this one

evil must be punished

2010-12-13T18:51:00.000-05:00

bebe

2010-12-13T17:04:00.001-05:00

Plus, a bonus and "quasi-response" to Nate's Putin post.

micro/macro post

2010-12-12T12:11:00.001-05:00

Seinfeld in Oz
Uploaded by renzo433. - Explore more family videos.

Come Weeth Me Beh-Bee

2010-12-11T16:53:00.002-05:00

Like, those backup singers... and KURT RUSSELL...