January 2009
Getting To (and Staying At) Yes →
This is the woman who teaches the only course I’m taking this semester, which is mentioned in this blog post (though I would have to say that I am a good bit more cynical than everyone else in the class, including the girl who wants to work at the Heritage Foundation). It’s sorta Marc Hogan’s nightmare: a class in which we talk a lot about body language, symbolic gestures, and...
Central New York is bizzaro world
Remember when I said that Syracuse hasn’t been hit by the recession at all? Well, turns out one of our local banks saw its profits go up by 66% in the fourth quarter of 2008. You know, when everything was going to hell?
On the other hand, AIDS is the #1 cause of death for black women under 50 in Onondaga County, so, you know, grain of salt and all.
Kelly Clarkson's appeal is that she is "Bridget... →
Well, if Bridget Jones was insanely talented, sure. It’s easy to forget with Kelly’s whole recent scrappy underdog thing, but eating ice cream and having longings wouldn’t be so interesting if she didn’t have a hell of a voice. For instance, allow me to repost the video of Kelly visiting Rock School:
If Bridget Jones got drunk and went to a metal show, it would end...
VAN FUCKIN HALEN →
lastbutnotleast:
Asteroids, but with bullets coming out of DLR’s crotch.
Holy shit, you guys.
dloosely:
So apparently Obama is pushing to drop the family planning funding from the stimulus bill. Yet, even with this Minority Leader Boehner is still telling Republicans to vote against it. As Matt Yglesias puts it:
As with a lot of Democratic concessions on the bill thus far, what seems to be missing is the “pro quo.” Where are the members of the House saying “yesterday I was inclined to...
filigree:
chronicfail:
Far - Pony
Yes, a rock...
Rothko
dhk:
mark rothko
nudawn:
can someone explain him to me in 3 sentences? i saw sooooo much of his work in DC and it literally makes me want to hurl. i mean, i’m usually neutral about that kind of shit, but his work really annoys me, and it was everywhere.
We favor the simple expression of the complex thought. We are for the large shape because it has the impact of the unequivocal. We wish to...
towerofsleep:
Little Girls - youthtunes
From...
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/27/us/politics/27obe... →
The URL for an article entitled “Defense and No Apologies From Author of Fiscal Bill.” Heh.
“…all my time is taken up at the moment watching 24 or “Powerful Men...”
– Eddie Argos.
This is William Kristol’s last column. →
How much of a has-been is Confessions of a Teen...
So much of a has-been that there is a joke on The Simpsons about him being a has-been:
Ode to Branson Remember the stars you loved yesterday. Where did they go? Did they all pass away? Was it drugs or a car crash, Or face lift gone wrong? No, they’re right here in Branson, and singing this song!
We’re the performers you thought were dead, Like Bonnie Franklin and Adrian Zmed....
My dad sent me an e-mail whose subject was...
Robert Burns is the National Poet of Scotland. And today is a Scottish national holiday in his honor and celebrated all over the world by admirers of Robert Burns and by loyal Scots. There are formal suppers organized by Robert Burns societies, at which the host gives a welcoming speech and then everyone together says the Selkirk Grace, which Burns made famous:
Some hae meat and canna eat, And...
Important news
If you ranked the cities in America least affected by the economic downturn, Syracuse would be #3! Because there was no housing bubble to begin with, you see. Because no one wants to live here.
Yeah, I’m not really jazzed about being back upstate.
Art Brut - “People In Love”
This song...
The Bush Era: Protesting Too Much About Not... →
Uh, yeah, remember that chat I just posted? This was the thing that prompted it.
maura: haha today is totally 'fuck baby boomers' day
me: hahaha
me: not coincidentally it's also the first day of the obama administration
maura: right?
All My Generation Wanted Was A (Pat On The Head... →
Maura on Pepsi’s “My Generation” ad, and how it seems to stop with the 90s.
MTV's Inaugural Ball Tries To Recapture The Spirit... →
About the weirdness of MTV suddenly embracing social activism again and how the country and pop has changed since they hosted Clinton’s inaugural ball. It’s good, read it. I’m sick right now so I can’t make things sound appealing.
P&J
Ballot here, though it’s already changed, of course. (Would probably swap out Britney for Max Tundra, now.) Planning on posting a revised version of the full comments in the next few days, but the Voice did print my conclusion, which I’m not sure even I entirely buy. Nevertheless:
As Tom Ewing has pointed out, popism never convinced most writers to accept the aesthetic interests...
Questions
How can MTV make building a computer lab for Kenyan schoolchildren look insincere? By creating suspense as to whether or not they will be able to connect to the internet, is that an intentionally targeted message to the youth audience?
MTV's Be The Change Inaugural Ball
Oh man, am I writing about this tomorrow. In other news, Kanye’s new look appears to be a sort of sci-fi New Edition.
Inevitable as the dawn →
tomewing:
Almighty Records does not let me down on the “gay disco Hallelujah cover” front.
!!!
Aretha: “You want to know how to wear a hat, Scalia? This is how you wear a hat.”
The circle is closed
Blair’s dad’s boyfriend: You were watching Gilmore Girls all night. Again. Blair: I deserve to get into Yale more than that Rory did.
(from memory, might be wrong)
It’s just the perfect little hat tip, isn’t it? Yes, it’s haha easy pomo metafiction jokiness because Gossip Girl and Gilmore Girls were on the same network, and Blair is a fictional character just as...
America's Song
Just gonna compile these, I think.
Oprah: “We asked musical legends David Foster and will.i.am to join forces…”
Aaaaah will.i.am is singing! Then Faith Hill! Then Seal! Rachel: “There’s nothing more schmaltzy than Seal.”
The giant TVs are showing scenes from the heartland! Where is John Mellancamp right now? Answer: eating his hat!
Then Bono in front of...
Usher just quoted Aristotle!
On Oprah's inauguration day panel tomorrow
Doris Kearns Goodwin and Jon Bon Jovi! Maybe they will make out!
We found out what Obama meant to Justin Timberlake! (“America is cool again. Think on that.”) And later will be the world premiere of “America’s Song” featuring Bono, will.i.am, and a children’s choir! I know! I know! It sounds like an Onion article!
I may have to liveblog Oprah today
First she intercut footage of MLK and Obama! And then she said how excited she was to be with us on the day that MLK’s dream was fulfilled! And then she brought out Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher!
California Finds Public-Works Spending No... →
crazynutjob:
barthel:
crazynutjob:
— People are starting to realize that consumer-oriented jobs just aren’t coming back. Unfortunately, despite the fact that there’s a clear glut of construction jobs, the government spending to prop up that sector is viewed as a positive. Remember kids, there’s always a job in construction.
Why are construction jobs worth spending taxpayer money to save,...
California Finds Public-Works Spending No... →
crazynutjob:
— People are starting to realize that consumer-oriented jobs just aren’t coming back. Unfortunately, despite the fact that there’s a clear glut of construction jobs, the government spending to prop up that sector is viewed as a positive. Remember kids, there’s always a job in construction.
Why are construction jobs worth spending taxpayer money to save, but other jobs are not?
...
The lyrics of Max Tundra's "Nord Lead Three"
I love my Nord Lead Three I know she’ll never cheat on me Her walnut stick is good to feel I like to turn her sandstone wheel She always wears her bright red dress What’s underneath I can but guess How about some hide-and-seek? L’amour de nous c’est platonique One summer in a panelled room I plugged her into someone’s loom The majesty that did occur Made pussycats...
Salman Rushdie got my back
From the Q&A session at Rushdie’s talk at the 92nd Street Y tonight. From memory, so I’m sure this isn’t verbatim, but the gist remains…
Young questioner: Mr. Rushdie, you’ve spoken about how free speech is stifled by religious fanatacism and authoritarian governments. Do you think free speech is also stifled by copyright?
Salman Rushdie: Well…no. I...
Overheard at the Max Tundra show
Rachel: See, I could’ve been a rock star. All you need is bravado. Me: I blame the punk rock boys in South Bend for not encouraging you. Rachel: They said I needed to play an instrument! Me: See, that was before electroclash.
[…]
Me: [regarding the audience] Ah, a sea of sheepishly enthusiastic male nerds. It’s like a boys you could’ve dated instead of me convention.
...
The Lex on Animal Collective
i bit the bullet and listened to a stream of the animal collective album - it’s EVEN WORSE than i thought it would be. not only do i loathe this with every fibre of my being, i can’t hear what anyone would like about it at all. the flattened-out production, whereby everything sounds as if it’s been mixed at the same level, makes me feel physically nauseous, like you’re...
Vivian Girls make it so difficult for me to like... →
britticisms:
It seems like every interview I read focuses on them being “authentic” and “not selling out” and how shitty the suburbs are and people who get their joneses going to Chilli’s or whatever cause they have a shitty day job.
You try to excuse them, because they’re young and they represent that whole urban hipster psyche of authenticating their life experience by using urban grit as a...