My first ten
I don’t think I have any memories before the age of four. My first ten:
1. Rolling off a table at preschool and hitting the floor pretty hard.
2. After getting upset at two girls in my neighborhood, running back to my mom for comfort and instead being told to toughen up.
3. Playing with Legos on my living room floor in an attempt to delay my family’s move from our house.
4. Grasshoppers and the clear plastic container I kept them in.
5. My grandfather poking fun at me and asking why I was eating fungus while I was eating raw mushrooms.
6. Going to bible class one Sunday, not understanding any of the references, and hating every minute of it.
7. Pink monkey and banana shorts my mother sewed for me.
8. An enormous wrapped present, the size of me, without a name tag under the Christmas tree. Mine? Mine? Mine? Mine?
9. Writing a story based on Zelda.
10. Going over to our friend Mark’s house and watching him and my brother play Nintendo, then finally getting to play the Duck Hunter game.
Quote out of context
The time for you to lose your air virginity is NOW.
Texan as a Second Language
As discovered by a friend visiting Abilene. If you move fast, you can prolly still git some fer cheep.
Today’s xkcd
The Great Sleeping Bear sleeping bag
This is probably the softest bad idea ever.
(via)
Don’t you want to read this?
In this novel, David Larson returns from Vietnam and attempts to find the retarded son of a one-legged sheep rancher in Slut’s Whole, Wyoming.
I would read it so hard.
(via Wikipedia)
The bed intruder
Then, someone made a song out of it.
68 fantastic British names
Gathered from a lifetime of watching BBC credits.
26. Prunella Scales
Quote out of context
Donkeys and zebras don’t usually mate, but zedonks turn up occasionally.
For Cindy
Superhero at dusk
Since we’re on the topic lately, reminds me of those Sprint commercials from a few years back.
(via Gizmodo)
100 Greatest Movie Insults of All Time
This is real good. Here’s a list of all the movies.
Bible apps
The Apple Store now offers a plethora of iPhone applications for Christians who want to “fight back against what they view as a new strain of strident atheism.”
As one developer describes the need for such apps:
Sean McDowell, the editor of “Fast Facts” and some textbooks for Bible students, said he has become increasingly aware of a skill gap between believers and nonbelievers, who he feels tend to be instinctively more savvy at arguing. “Christians who believe, but cannot explain why they believe, become ‘Bible-thumpers’ who seem dogmatic and insecure about their convictions,” he said. “We have to deal with that.”
Of course, there’s also a few apps available for those goddamned, good-for-nothing atheists, too.
Say whiskey
I just got back from two weeks in the Dominican Republic, and one humorous thing I noticed there was that people would say “Whiskey” instead of “Cheese” when smiling for a photo (makes sense since queso makes the wrong mouth shape for a smile). You can consult the Wikipedia list for more phrases used around the world, but this one’s clearly the best:
In Russia, “Ska’zhite Siski” meaning “Say: boobs.” The phonetic production of this word makes a human’s mouth take a shape of a smile and also sounds very funny for the Russians.
Methods of mourning
Dear clusterflock,
Do people mourn publicly anymore? What happened to the days of wearing black armbands and ties after a loved one’s death?
When I was in college, a girl I knew shaved her head after her best friend died. Although that’s an extreme example, there’s something very moving about an individual incorporating visual symbols of mourning into their public life. It commands a pause from people who notice the symbol; almost a moment of silence for that person who has been lost. I respect people’s right to mourn privately, but I think we should bring some of these traditions back and wear our feelings on our sleeves again.
Persistence
(via Fringe)
Metropolis
Dear clusterflock,
Last night I saw the complete Metropolis. It was incredible. The last time I saw Metropolis was several years ago in high school, and I remember liking the movie but not entirely understanding the whole thing. The rediscovered footage fills in many of the gaps in the story, and now it makes so much more SENSE. Plus, the special effects and filming techniques are astonishing for something made in 1927.
Things the world needs more of:
- bosom clutching
- silent movies
The EPA asked James Cameron for advice about the oil spill
The “Avatar” and “Titanic” director was among a group of scientists and other experts who met Tuesday with officials from the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies for a brainstorming session on stopping the massive oil leak.
The xkcd comic today sums it up better than I ever could. Dr. Scientist!
Banksy hits Boston
Street artist Banksy hit Boston a couple of weeks ago with two images on separate Essex Streets in Chinatown and Cambridge. Though there is some speculation that the images may not actually be by Banksy, these works follow others in San Francisco and Los Angeles that appeared around the limited release opening of Banksy’s documentary “Exit Through the Gift Shop” on April 16. “Exit through the Gift Shop” has been the top-grossing film at Cambridge’s independent Kendall Square Cinema since it opened on April 23.
(Via Chris Devers)
Sitting with Marina Abramović
Marina Abramović, a performance artist known for physically-taxing acts in which she often appears in the nude, has an exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art called “The Artist is Present.” In her piece, Abramović sits directly across from a chair that visitors may sit in for as long as they wish. Throughout the day, Abramović sits in the chair while visitors move in and out of the performance, some growing visibly uncomfortable or bored and leaving after a few minutes, while some stay for hours, often coming to tears.
Photographer Marco Anelli is photographing each person who sits across from Abramović and posting them to MoMA’s flickstream. Each portrait states how long the person sat in the chair (the average is about 20 minutes).
You can also see a live feed of Abramović’s performance here. When I watched the video a few minutes before making this post, the chair before Abramović was empty, and she was curled into her lap, crying.
Favela painting
In 2006, Dutch artists Haas&Hahn started Favela Painting, a “community-driven art intervention” in the slums of Rio de Janeiro. With the help of local youths, who are paid for their efforts and taught construction skills, the duo bring brightly-colored murals and other artistic scenes to the poorest areas of Rio.
Their ultimate goal is to paint an entire hillside favela.
(Via Flavorwire)
The wisdom of Rick Moranis
(via NYT)
Rogue satellite threatens cable programming in U.S.
An out-of-control satellite is drifting into the orbit of another satellite that transmits cable programming to the United States.
“They’ll just cruise around the geobelt, drifting wherever they go, potentially causing havoc, when you lose control of them,” says Emmet Fletcher, space surveillance and tracking manager for the Space Situational Awareness Programme at the European Space Agency.
(via AP)
Sleeping soldiers
In 2008, photographer and filmmaker Tim Hetherington lived with an American platoon in the Korengal Valley of Afghanistan, one of the nation’s most dangerous outposts. Since then, he’s released a series of photographs called Sleeping Soldiers, an experimental audiovisual project of the same name, and a full-length documentary produced with author Sebastian Jung called Restrepo, which won the 2010 Sundance Grand Jury Prize. Restrepo is slated for a summer 2010 theatrical release.
(via Foam Magazine)
Let me see your hips shake
By Adam Fuss.
(Via Cheim & Read)
