Pants
If a man were to only own three pairs of pants, what would they be?
Whale Poop
headline of the day
Drunk man rescued after chasing goose into river
Tricksters and Hucksters
Andrew’s Žižek post had me thinking all weekend about Tricksters and Hucksters. I would like to compile a list, with, perhaps, Not Sure as a third category. Here’s a quick stab, and if you disagree, and think one or the other should be in a different category, I think the overlap will be good.
quote out of context
Imagine the stench of a refrigerator crammed with rotting carrots and lettuce. Throw in the earthy smell of dirt, half a dozen pairs of teenage boys’ worn-out sneakers and some stinky, stinky cheese.
Cool beans, Maynard
Stanley Kubrick’s Boxes
Josh’s ICP post led me to Jon Ronson’s documentary work, specifically Stanley Kubrick’s Boxes, which can be viewed in its entirety on YouTube.
From Ronson’s 2004 article for The Guardian, “Citizen Kubrick”, upon which the film is based:
We walk past boxes and more boxes and filing cabinets and past a grand staircase. Childwick was once home to a family of horse-breeders called the Joels. Back then there were, presumably, busts or floral displays on either side at the bottom of this staircase. Here, instead, is a photocopier on one side and another photocopier on the other.
“Is this … ?” I ask.
“Yes,” says Tony. “This is how Stanley left it.”
…
Tony takes me into a large room painted blue and filled with books. “This used to be the cinema,” he says.
“Is it the library now?” I ask.
“Look closer at the books,” says Tony.
I do. “Bloody hell,” I say. “Every book in this room is about Napoleon!”
“Look in the drawers,” says Tony.
…
“It’s all about Napoleon, too!” I say. “Everything in here is about Napoleon!”
I feel a little like Shelley Duvall in The Shining, chancing upon her husband’s novel and finding it is comprised entirely of the line “All Work And No Play Makes Jack A Dull Boy” typed over and over again.
from the comments
Y’all know the meaning of “Va Fa Napoli,” right? It literally means “Go to Naples” which essentially means “go to Naples and sleep with a whore so I can kill you before you have time to go to confession.”
everything that is well proven in time is new
I just got notification from Typotheque about Wim Crouwel ‘in his own words’ by Toon Lauwen. In fairness, I have no idea who Wim Crouwel is but this is the kind of book that makes you want to pick it up, lick it, rub it against your face, and read it, regardless.
Wim Crouwel ‘in his own words’ presents a selection of lectures and articles delivered by Wim Crouwel between 1973 and 2006. Crouwel’s texts, who has lectured all over the world, document a lengthy and important career as a designer (professor and museum director) that spans from the early postwar years until the first decennium of the 21st century. The book mirrors a highly committed professional: a pragmatist, critical observer and at some decisive points: a utopian even. The outgoing/diplomatic character of Crouwel, who has always dressed immaculately, is shown in a small portfolio of portraits, made by different photographers over a period of almost sixty-five years.
from the comments
Oh yes, I’m a smeller. I seem to be guided by the brainstem when it comes to odors: It’s as if something reaches me before the smell does. The smell of rich dirt can make me weep–particularly in the fall. I love the smell of ice–natural ice, not refrigerator ice. All herbs command me. I also love the smell of tomato leaves, and plain geraniums (also the scented kind). I’m very fond of the smell of a puppy’s breath; it was Cindy who pointed out that such breath often smells like shredded wheat cereal. Some fabrics smell good when slightly sweated: taffeta and tulle, as in children’s Halloween costumes. And (I’ll stop here) some metals intrigue me: steel reminds me of glaciers, and copper reminds me of old-people smell.
Banksy Simpsons
This week’s Simpsons intro was apparently done by Banksy.
Update: The youtube video has been taken down so I had to embed a Hulu player. My condolences to non-US citizens, but I am sure a targeted Google search will yield you results. Also, Luke Neff found a nice interview with producer Al Jean, “I watched Mad Men last night and I wondered if this was my Don Draper letter to The New York Times. I knew just how he felt.”
headline of the day
Armless pianist plays with toes to win “China’s Got Talent”
in the future, Google will drive our cars
The New York Times reports that “seven test cars have driven 1,000 miles without human intervention and more than 140,000 miles with only occasional human control.” A few highlights:
Robot drivers react faster than humans, have 360-degree perception and do not get distracted, sleepy or intoxicated, the engineers argue.
The car can be programmed for different driving personalities — from cautious, in which it is more likely to yield to another car, to aggressive, where it is more likely to go first.
writing advice
Victor Hugo would write naked and tell his valet to hide his clothes so that he’d be unable to go outside when he was supposed to be writing.
Hey Deron?
What about creamsicles? Orange floats?
“Va Fa Napoli, Hipster”
Pachia Ammos (Παχειά Άμμος, Κρήτη) Crete.
Scent of Citrus
Warning: This post may not be Deron-friendly.
Last week on my monthly run to Dubuque for provisions, I wound up buying not my customary basil-scented version of Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day All Purpose Cleaner but the lemon verbena on account of that was all they had at the Hy-Vee. On the drive back to Galena, the bottle rolled under the driver’s seat, where it remained not only lost for a time but it got squooshed a little and released a concentrated lemon verbena ooze onto the floor of the Element of Surprise.
I worked and worked to flush out the stench.
Read more
quote out of context
Barney didn’t hate anyone, but everyone treated Barney like a flesh piñata.
proto-dinosaur out of context
The Nebula, kinetic sculpture in Dallas
A sneak peek at Reuben Margolin’s kinetic sculpture, the Nebula, currently under installation in the atrium of the Dallas Hilton Anatole hotel.
“Have You Ever Stood Next to an Elephant, My Friend?”
Jon Ronson interviewed Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope, the two members of the Detroit-based rap group Insane Clown Posse, for The Guardian. Ronson seems to enjoy striking the pose of incredulity during the interview, which features the revelation that the rappers are actually Evangelical Christians. Take for example their discussion about the group’s recent and much-maligned single “Miracles“:
One of the ICP road crew locates the video on his iPhone, and it is indeed withering: “The [Miracles] video is not only dumb, but enthusiastically dumb, endorsing a ferocious breed of ignorance that can only be described as militant. The entire song is practically a tribute to not knowing things.”
“Fuck you, man,” says Violent J. “Shut the fuck up.”
“Did you anticipate this kind of reaction?” I ask them.
“No,” sighs Violent J. “I figured most people would say, ‘Wow, I didn’t know Insane Clown Posse could be deep like that.’ But instead it’s, ‘ICP said a giraffe is a miracle. Ha ha ha! What a bunch of idiots.’” He pauses, then adds defiantly, “A giraffe is a fucking miracle. It has a dinosaur-like neck. It’s yellow. Yeah, technically an elephant is not a miracle. Technically. They’ve been here for hundreds of years…”
“Thousands,” murmurs Shaggy.
“Have you ever stood next to an elephant, my friend?” asks Violent J. “A fucking elephant is a miracle. If people can’t see a fucking miracle in a fucking elephant, then life must suck for them, because an elephant is a fucking miracle. So is a giraffe.”
I love Jon Ronson. He’s like a British Hunter Thompson without the demons.
Freudian Slip?
They’ve got Oral on the mind.
(via)
Hollerado — Americanarama
Oktoberfest
Der Spiegel reports that this year’s festivities set another record for alcohol consumption — 7 million liters of beer:
Firstly, and this may come as relief to close observers of Oktoberfest statistics in recent years, items retrieved from the tents this year again included a set of dentures, which had been absent from the list in 2009 for the first time in many years.
One hearing aid was also found, as were a leather whip, a live rabbit, a tuba, a ship in a bottle, 1,450 items of clothing, 770 identity cards, 420 wallets, 366 keys, 330 bags and 320 pairs of glasses, 90 cameras and 90 items of jewellery and watches.
A total of 37 children were also lost.
