March 2010
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Uh oh
I think I am on the verge of proposing a quantitative political communication study involving 4chan. This can only end in tears.
February 2010
“A lot of the time the first “hostile” reblog I see of something is also the...”
– (via tomewing)
If we’re all OK with me being immodest for a bit, I actually have increasingly made an effort here to not do this. I certainly indulged in a lot of that in my early days of Tumbling, but as this became my primary platform and started to see other people as real people, an...
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Bristol Palin to Act on The Secret Life of the... →
“I am thrilled to be on this show and to be a part of a program that educates teens and young adults about he consequences of teen pregnancy,” Palin, 19, said in a statement.
In the story, Palin will befriend Amy, played by Shailene Woodley, at a music program for teen moms.
There’s been a slight rash of stories of late opposing Sarah Palin as a celebrity to Sarah Palin as a successful...
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Planet Earth
Rachel: There is a 300-pound pile of bat poop! And insects eat the poop! There is a whole ecosystem based around bat poop!
Me: Ugh, it’s like the Internet.
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The mixed blessing that is spell check
Meaning to write “surcharge,” a student instead turned in an outline talking about a proposed “sure chard.”
Pitchfork has a Tumblr?!
I was not aware! Following that RIGHT NOW.
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Overheard at the airport
Old guy: Did you cop a feel while you were there?
Teenager: What?
Old guy: Do you not know that expression?
abbyjean asked: how did you and rachel meet? (feel free to ignore if you don't like discussing personal life on the internetz)
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Anonymous asked: Does music criticism have a future and, if so, what do you think that future will look like? On an arguably-related note, what writers have had the biggest influence on you as a critic?
crumbler asked: As my favorite commenter on Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah," did you have strong feelings one way or the other about the cover Justin Timberlake did for the Haiti benefit?
howsyrface asked: Top 5 ways to eat a pig meat?
Ask me anything →
It’s Friday night and I ain’t going anywhere, so ask me something.
Palin's Poll Numbers Hit Historic Lows, Even Among... →
I do hope that between this and the poll showing that the public blames Bush/Wall Street/Congress for the economic crisis and that Obama is still more popular than the GOP, people who talk about politics (whether that be in the media, on the Internet, or in my goddamn politics classes) stop perpetuating the line that Obama has failed to seize public support. He has run into some political...
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“I used to walk down the street like I was a fucking star… I want people to walk...”
– Lady Gaga (via fuckyeahladygaga) (via elisabethdonnelly)
My personal feeling is that you should rarely trust famous people when they give you advice like this. If you do not also take into account the advice of friends of people who did this but failed, it is what you might call sampling bias.
I...
Pho Catch 22
themattsmith:
Pronouncing it the anglicized way, “foe”, is seen as such an Ugly American thing to do.
Pronouncing it the proper way, “fah”, is seen as such a douchey thing to do.
I solve this dilemma (which I only recently became aware of) by ommitting the vowel entirely and just pronouncing it “Fff.”* Granted, this does not help anyone else understand what I am saying, but it...
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Super Bowl ads
Look, I don’t want to be all “if you only watch one major sporting event per year, perhaps your opinions on the ads running during them are inevitably going to be shallow and trite,” but here’s the deal: the only TV programs men watch (in any great number) are sports. That is not a stereotype: that is a Nielson-certified factoid. What that means is that, if you want to...
Anonymous asked: Syracuse to NYC: Drive, train, or bus? Weekend-long trip.
perpetua asked: So I guess you've started to identify as a Seattle resident, huh?
Whither weather?
In the rest of the country’s imagination, the image of Seattle is a stereotype from 15 years ago.* Watching the hyperventilating coverage of SERIAL SNOPACOLYPSI, I wonder if this is not because the weather here is so boring that there’s never any national news coverage of the region. We don’t have flooding like the Midwest (or not very often anyway), we don’t have every...
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Things I learned about myself today
If I wait until the last minute to pick a title for my Very Serious Political Communication Paper*, it will end up being an Of Montreal lyric. Ah well.
* This explains the skewed content here lately, which I apologize for.
New Andrew WK album! →
Well, old AWK album plus a new album for a total of 30-some tracks. Still, I’ll take it. (Also, I’m pretty sure 90% of the people in America who heard Close Calls With Brick Walls read this Tumblr, and not that many people read this Tumblr, so there is still an audience for it. Which is good, because it’s a great album!)
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“In another, milder cross-examination — on “Meet the Press” last weekend — John...”
– Frank Rich, “Smoke the Bigots Out”
Why doesn’t Obama just issue an executive order ending DADT? Because he wants to make the Republicans vote against it.
Let’s talk strategy for a minute. I still think it was the right thing to do to push health care in the first year. ...
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Anonymous asked: Would you ever turn your hand at fashion criticism? I say that because I've enjoyed your posts on music, politics and odds and ends, a sort of diverse array of things I see other critic-esque tumblrs tackle (you know what I mean, right?) but despite the similarities between at least music and fashion- mega-conglomerations, albums selling concerts and endorsements = s/s selling perfume and...
Any questions? →
It’s Saturday night and I am supposed to be working on my paper, so if there’s something you’ve been burning to inquire about, go right on ahead.
Trends I am OK with
“Hey, let’s just make indie rock a showcase for really strong female singers!”
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Speaking of Flava Flavs
How do those with developmental disabilities and advocates for same feel about having Sarah Palin as a spokesperson/defender? Are they happy about that? It seems like, to quote one of the great sages, “the grand bull-moose gold-medal winner of mixed blessings.”
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Hi, everyone else not watching Lost!
I would enable the Ask feature but I just drank a beer with my steak tacos (mmm!) and now I can’t get shit done.
Late in Senate race, financial sector donations... →
(via takethecityandrun)
“Why don’t they just take on the banks?” you ask.
Jaguar Love, 2/1/10, Havana Social Club
75% “This is awesome!” + 20% “Maybe I’m too old for this.” + 5% “Wait, is this crabcore?”
