January 29, 2012
tweet of the day
When the Canadian border crossing guards asked me where I was from, I was really tempted to say “the internet.”
— Hannah Waters (@hannahjwaters) January 27, 2012
The Six Weirdest Cities People Actually Live In
Look, we’re idiots: None of us knows what, exactly, goes into city planning, but we assume it’s probably a lot of distinguished gentlemen emailing each other about math, statistics and blueprints. But somewhere along the line, somebody accidentally CC’ed the insane asylum, and we wound up with the following civilizations that simply should not be.
(via @tylercowen)
dueling banjos
Drank a half bottle of wine tonight that cost $28 (for the carafe) and tasted EXACTLY like Kool-Aid dosed with brandy. Yes; I’m back in NYC.
— Tim Carmody (@tcarmody) January 29, 2012
Spent too much money tonight on books, booze, and pizza. In other words, happiest guy in the world.
— Frank Chimero (@fchimero) January 29, 2012
January 28, 2012
A Little Skipper…
Reminded me, by way of Jean in Deron’s post.
Seems I’ve failed to embed it. Nor link it for that matter. Nevermind. It isn’t that good. Don’t take up your time.
Fat Man’s Misery
“I’d like a Fat Man’s Misery, easy on the mayo, and a glass of buttermilk. The little lady here will have the Ruins of Karnak and a cup of Postum.”
From the menu of the Mammoth Cave Hotel. (NYPL Restaurant Menu Collection.)
Listening to the Atomic Age
From the Canada Science and Technology Museum, sounds of the Algonquin hand-cranked Geiger counter detecting low-level emissions from another Atomic Age artifact, the Algom Uranium Marketing Sample.
Sounds like geckering to me.
Mapping Twitter Traffic
Eric Fischer has been mapping Twitter traffic in major cities, resulting in beautiful cartographic representations of our information flow. It’s all faintly reminiscent of blood vessels or a network of neurons. I think there’s a metaphor in there somewhere.
(via Animal New York)
quotes out of context
There is determinism, at differing levels, ranging from “it’s tough to come from a broken home” to “lead poisoning is bad for you” to “what if the universe is a frozen four-dimensional Einsteinian/Parmenidean block of space-time?”
When someone conjures up the image of self-important art house films, this must be exactly what comes to mind.
Tough Guy promotes itself as “the safest most dangerous event in the world!”
The chest bandages had to go on every day, which made it hard for her to take deep breaths, and the sailors began to notice that “Jean” never relieved himself with the rest of the crew, always carried a loaded pistol, and never, ever undressed with the others.
Monogamous marriage reduces the competition, making communities more stable and — in terms of cultural evolution — better able to compete against unstable, non-monogamous communities.
Update:
Demetri Martin once joked that life vests protect you from drowning, bulletproof vests protect you from gunfire — and sweater vests protect you from pretty girls.
January 27, 2012
The Psychology of Death and Dying
That’s the name of one of the classes I’m taking this semester. So far it’s truly excellent. Beyond words, really. If I can find a way to post some of our readings without violating copyright, I’ll do it. In the meantime, have you read these? They’re a couple of my favorites.
The Long Goodbye
In those days, extended family cared for the oldest. Now, in an age when family members are separated by hundreds of miles, we leave it up to nursing homes and assisted-living facilities. And the need has never been greater. The fastest-growing age group in America is the eighty-five-and-older cohort. As the population ages, healthcare costs continue to outpace inflation. Many older people have seen a sharp decline in their retirement investments since the 2008 economic collapse and are rapidly losing value in their homes. American political leaders are not preparing adequately for the huge demographic shift caused by the aging of the boomers, who began turning sixty-five in 2011. Many of them are retiring at the same time they are dealing with parents who are still alive.
Costs for long-term care are skyrocketing because only 3 percent of adults carry long-term care insurance. As a result, middle-class people without Daddy’s pension income are bankrupting themselves and then applying for Medicaid to pay for a nursing home in which they may languish for years.
quotes out of context
Some of the overcompensated Rs stuck in the dialect; others didn’t.
I am a living male turtleneck. You are an art teacher in winter. You put your whole head through me
Dreams of vintage Lee’s return go sadly unfulfilled, however, as the film is a long-winded, rambling mess.
Herewith, please find proof that my aesthetic intuitions are superior to yours.
tweet of the day
The app store has a “date night” category and one featured app is called “just the tip” and I was very confused.
— Tim Maly (@doingitwrong) January 27, 2012
Lydia Davis’s Twitter Feed
Friend of clusterflock Mike Topp retweeted a Lydia Davis tweet yesterday, which prompted me to hope she was a regular on Twitter. Alas, this is the entirety of her Twitter feed:
Although I don’t mind them, I feel cut off from all the other people in this country — to mention only this country.
— Lydia Davis (@lydia_davis) November 2, 2009
I would need something like a cowboy in order to get away from thinking.
— Lydia Davis (@lydia_davis) November 2, 2009
I AM SIMPLY NOT INTERESTED, AT THIS POINT, IN CREATING NARRATIVE SCENES BETWEEN CHARACTERS.
— Lydia Davis (@lydia_davis) November 2, 2009
To be exhaustive is, of course, an infinite task: more events can always be inserted, more nuance in the narration…
— Lydia Davis (@lydia_davis) November 2, 2009
Fuck bitches. Get money.
— Lydia Davis (@lydia_davis) November 17, 2009
Of course, there are other ways to read Lydia Davis.
Metta World Peace thanks Jesus Christ that he still has his teeth
So not only did he build the world in seven days and seven nights, but he also said, “OK, let them lose their teeth early, rather than late.”
Deciphering Kubrick’s The Shining
Director Rodney Ascher’s documentary Room 237 examines various interpretations of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining.
“Room 237,” the first full-length documentary by the director Rodney Ascher, examines several of the most intriguing of these theories. It’s really about the Holocaust, one interviewee says, and Mr. Kubrick’s inability to address the horrors of the Final Solution on film. No, it’s about a different genocide, that of American Indians, another says, pointing to all the tribal-theme items adorning the Overlook Hotel’s walls. A third claims it’s really Kubrick’s veiled confession that he helped NASA fake the Apollo Moon landings.
Yes, of course.
(via @coudal)
don’t smile
According to new research on body language out of the University of British Columbia, women find happy men—in this study, men who were smiling in photos—significantly less attractive than men portraying other emotions.
Shit is like fire, if you manage properly, it can cook for you
Jessica Yu directed this short film about Jack Sim, aka Mr. Toilet:
For those without access to a simple toilet, poop can be poison. Businessman-turned-sanitation-superhero Jack Sim fights this oft-neglected crisis affecting 2.6 billion people.
(via stellar)
January 26, 2012
Von Trier’s Antichrist
I finally found the strength to look at it. I didn’t want to look for so long. Finally, I looked this afternoon. Anyone else seen it? Your take?
Wye Oak, Civilian
This is an acoustic version of Wye Oak’s Civilian, shot for They Shoot Music Don’t They.
Update: The original, for comparison. And thanks to Karl Pichotta for the tip.
