Eliott Smith: Strange Parallel
Video below the fold, I can’t seem to get it to not play.
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man buried in pickup
Adam decided to bury his father on his own place in Clay County, the place where he was raised and took over for himself after his parents divorced.
“I started a family cemetery because most cemeteries don’t let you bury a pick-up truck,” Adam said.
His uncle brought over a backhoe. For two days they dug the burial plot. It took another day to disassemble the truck.
“I explained to them what they needed to take off the vehicle,” said Steve Jeffers, owner of the Greene-Robertson Funeral Home in Sutton.
The Chevy was stripped of anything that could harm the environment: the motor, transmission, brake fluid and tires.
The truck was put in the ground. The vault with the casket was then lowered into the bed of the pickup. And it was all covered with dirt.
Adam Dancy said he didn’t mean for it to be an Egyptian burial ritual or anything. If he had, the truck and gun aren’t going to be much use.
“We gave him a truck with no tires. We gave him a gun with no shells,” Dancy said. “He’ll be s-t out of luck.”
work in progress, 25
“The portrait of the girl against a background of white strongly tinged with malachite green, her bodice striped blood red and violet, the skirt royal blue, large yellow-orange dots. The not flesh tones yellowish gray; the hair tinged with violet; the eyebrows and the eyelashes black; the eyes, orange and Prussian blue – a branch of oleander in her fingers, the two hands showing.”
work in progress, 24
He rented a yellow house with room for certain things. A room for sleeping. A room for eating, a room at least to sit, a room for standing, an extra room it seemed.
repairable paint
A team of scientists at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg has developed a polyurethane that heals scratches when exposed to sunlight.
The self-healing coating uses chitosan, a substance found in the shells of crabs and shrimp. This is incorporated into traditional polymer materials, such as those used in coatings on cars to protect paint.
When a scratch damages the chemical structure, the chitosan responds to ultraviolet light by forming chemical chains that begin bonding with other materials in the substance, eventually smoothing the scratch. The process can take less than an hour.
But:
The team tested the compound’s properties using a razor-blade-thin scratch. “We haven’t done any of the tests to show how wide it can be,” Urban said in a telephone interview.
He said the polymer can only repair itself in the same spot once, and would not work after repeated scratches.
“Obviously, this is one of the drawbacks,” he said, adding that the chances are low of having two scratches in exactly the same spot.
is salt an anti-depressant?
While it is easier to say salt is an anti-depressant, and the article does, what the study actually says is rats with a salt deficiency seem despondent.
The tests carried out by US researchers found that when rats were deficient in salt, they shy away from activities they normally enjoy, like drinking a sugary substance or pressing a bar that stimulates a pleasant sensation in their brains.
Psychologist Kim Johnson, who led the research, said: “Things that normally would be pleasurable for rats didn’t elicit the same degree of relish, which leads us to believe that a salt deficit and the craving associated with it can induce one of the key symptoms associated with depression.”
(via sullivan)
Macaques teach young to floss
Female monkeys in Thailand have been observed showing their young how to floss their teeth – using human hair.
Researchers from Japan said they watched seven long-tailed macaques cleaning the spaces between their teeth in the same manner as humans.
They spent double the amount of time flossing when they were being watched by their infants, the team said.
This suggests the mothers were deliberately teaching their young how to floss, Professor Nobuo Masataka of Kyoto University’s Primate Research Institute said.
“I was surprised because teaching techniques on using tools properly to a third party are said to be an activity carried out only by humans,” he told the AFP news agency.
(via hilzoy)
Midlife Banking Crisis
If I “borrow” something from you, at the time I receive it I really, really intend to give it back. It’s still yours — you’ll simply never see it again. When I ask my next-door neighbor if I can use his Husqvarna chainsaw, I always, well, almost never, return it. “Stealing” denotes acquisition through violence or sneakiness; “borrowing” is defined by unreasonable expectations of repatriation.
hillside
We walked along the tracks beneath the Bloomfield Bridge… Pittsburgh is full of steep hillsides and unexpected neighborhoods.
work in progress, 23
Who do people say I am, he thought, was much like the life of a painter — rubbing the meat of his thumb. What it is I think I am wandering, kicking at dirt with his toe. For life of what is imagined goes beyond what is known. He picked up a clod from the road, laid down. Whether on his back or on his stomach. The stars were hidden finally and the ants made roads. The nothingness of clouds annoyed him. He wandered, dusting himself. The stain of the dirt on his thumb, tasted.
A Trip to The Shed
At Rick’s urging, I betook myself to The Shed, where I saw something nasty.
Weekly Picture 144
Mae Picking Flowers, Austin, TX, 3.8.2009
from the comments
“My people” have a cemetery. Well, at a remove or two. The land was donated by the family of the husband of one of my granddad’s aunts. I think that’s it. Any of us can be buried there–anywhere there’s an empty spot that no one else has claimed. For a long time I’ve said I wanted to be buried there in a pine box, which could be delivered in the back of a pick-up as far as I was concerned. Now I couldn’t care less. Bury me there–sure. Cremate me and keep my ashes in the basement or scatter them wherever–sure. If I become entirely dysfunctional, take me deep-sea fishing on the Gulf and let me quietly slip overboard and wait 10 minutes before you tell the crew–sure. I’m easy on this one.
The Last Chronicle of Barset
“And now I remember hearing that somebody gave him a terrible beating. Perhaps it was you?”
“It wasn’t terrible at all,” said Johnny.
“Then it was you?”
“Oh, yes; it was I.”
“Then it was you who saved poor old Lord De Guest from the bull?”
“Go on, Mrs Arabin. There is no end of the grand things I’ve done.”
public service announcement
Fox news took footage from September of Joe Biden quoting John McCain saying the fundamentals of the economy were strong, and used it as a sign that Democrats are now saying that the fundamentals of the economy are strong.
Old man
I saw an old man trip on the sidewalk just now. He got up and acted as if nothing happened. So did I, but he left his teeth behind.
The FBC, Saint Louis
The Fucking Bike Club in Saint Louis is a collection of crazy but good folk who occasionally hang out at my favorite café. The last ride I heard about involved towing a keg 35 miles when they happened to stumble upon a dead coyote and had to take a few pictures.
the dismal trade
as mentioned elsewhere, I’m a funeral director.
Here’s a good description of the embalming process: Part One, Part Two.
What I wanna know is: does this make you uncomfortable? If I walked into a room, would you squirm?
Trust me, I’ve learned to be guarded about telling people what I do at dinner parties and such. Until I get to kinda know someone, I mention something about being in the retail sector. Which I am. I’ve grown weary of “WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT FOR A LIVING??” as a response.
By the way, I also arrange and direct, embalming is only about a third of what I do.
By the way, the answer is “I get to help people through one of the worst times in their life, and they thank me for being a nice guy, which I already am. It’s a cool job.”
Oh, I wish I was a grandiloquent writer like Thomas Lynch.
Max Ernst
I unfortunately don’t have time to take any art courses in college now, so my friends and I have imposed weekly “mandatory art time.” This is a charcoal drawing of mine based on a wonderful Max Ernst piece.
Larry Talbot Consults the Gypsy
“You think I don’t know the difference between a wolf and a man?”
Lon Chaney Jr. as Larry Talbot/The Wolfman and Maria Ouspenskaya as the gypsy Maleva. The Wolf Man (1941).
Cooper Renner,
who, like a turtle, carries his house on his back, must — I say, must! — bid on one of these.
A collection of Romany gypsy caravans are going up for auction next week. Since I was a kid, I have wanted to live in one of these. At least some of the time. You can take your sleek modern minimalism and shove it up your arse as far as I’m concerned. I’m all for wood, warm textures, a horse up front, and the open road.
Posted by Our Own Lucy at lucy takes off.
twitter.com/cwalken
If you look at the top of our website you’ll now notice the latest tweet from Christopher Walken. We have been batting the idea around recently and, considering the recent digg, the timing seemed right. I tested all the usual browser configurations, but if somebody notices anything drop us a line or a comment below. The whole idea is still experimental, so don’t be surprised if something changes in the next week or so.
Also, don’t forget about the Christopher Walken account for our blog.
WE ARE ALL PATTI SMITH
So I caved in and took the “Which punk rock star are you?” Facebook quiz (only because Cooper Renner took it and posted the result, and I always copy Renner).
Turns out I’m Patti Smith. And Renner is Patti Smith. And Brian Beatty is Patti Smith.
We are all Patti Smith.
‘Course, some of us have just a little touch of Sam Shepard.
CWalken
As of 1:42 CDT. 27,549 followers. (Don’t look at me, I’m just reporting.)
work in progress, 22
The idea of a second is arbitrary. The idea, a matter of perspective — he took a piece of mirror and held it in his hand. He looked at his reflection and if a second passed, or if he could divide that into smaller pieces. If those could be inhabited, divided further. If the smallest pieces could be seen to be, if those could be grown accustomed to, then divided — still, with the image in his hand — he blinked, and the idea was lost to him.
