October 2008
39 posts
WatchHave I mentioned it already? You MUST see Mad Men.
Kottke got obsessed with it a while back. The DMC has had us watching it since day one. I’m sceptical about these things, and something of a cynic (has anyone noticed how on almost a minute-by-minute basis the writers of Heroes appear to be losing brainpower - they’re at the equivalent of a 5 year old writer’s ability right now...
Personhood →
Ah, the sweet misinformed idealism of youth…
“Personhood” being bestowed upon a foetus at conception might very well sound like a catch-all solution to the debate of when a foetus is too advanced to abort (which is really what the “anti-abortion” debate is all about once you exclude the issue of rape). But aside from all the reservations from both sides of the...
Is there a difference?
Richard Scarry.
Jim Carey.
John Kerry.
Carry a bag.
Scar on the knee.
Scared to death.
I hear 3 pronounciations in DMC’s reading, but she insists there are two:
Scar (scar).
Care (Jim Carey, John Kerry, carry, scared).
But I hear a third: Carry (distinct for carry only).
What do you say and what does someone near you hear?
I’m intrigued that I hear something that DMC...
Might as well get it out in the open
No, not that. I’m not coming out. No way, siree. For one, Skankmeister might get his hopes up too much.
If Obama somehow loses next week, I have to emigrate.
I couldn’t handle Palin so close to the presidency. As a foreigner over here with nothing directly invested in the stock market, McCain might have been a palatable president for 4 years had it not been for the campaign...
A vast array of nostalgia
aaronindenver:
mtv finally made a big web splash http://www.mtvmusic.com/
What does it mean?
From the News Page at NPR.
First Headline: Dow Ends Up 889 Points On Expected Rate Cut
Second Headline: Stocks open lower ahead of Fed rate decision
If that contrast is because of the traders, what are they doing? If that conflict is because of the reporters, what are they talking about?
I had an idea the other day based off the simple pattern of drastically altered trading directions...
WatchIf you haven’t watched Mad Men, do it (thanks, DMC).
Voting: How to Hack Voting Machines for Fun and... →
As you read this, you wonder how this is realistically a problem (it takes 7 minutes to perform) but then you realise that it only takes one person somewhere to do this and that it can spread to other voting machines!
Aaaah, living in the future. Who’d trade it for the world?
Boycott! Saigon Grill! →
When I first heard about the Saigon Grill debacle a few years ago it was a large component of my decision to tip delivery staff of restaurants 20%, long the accepted standard for wait staff tipping in New York.
This judgement is fantastic. Interestingly a heavyweight charge still has not been determined by the judge so the fine could go up even more.
There are two brilliant aspects of this...
Visual accuracy →
My top score: 2.48. I should add that’s my only score.
Crocodile Dundee II is distracting me. I probably shouldn’t type that out loud.
Hours of entertainment: Palin as President →
Thanks, Aaron.
On the subject of radio you might not listen to... →
While you’re at it, listen to This American Life, which DMC turned me on to recently. If, like me, you’ve been living in a hole, you might have missed their two parts on the American financial mess. Part 1: The Giant Pool of Money, and Part 2: Another Frightening Show About the Economy.
Ashamed, and the Wizard of Oz. →
The very brilliant Sherman Foundation has pointed me to yet another gem. Well, it’s two gems in one.
The first is this remarkable description of the power contained within Somewhere Over the Rainbow from The Wizard of Oz. Yes, it’s a tune that sticks with all of us, but why exactly? Does it steal our attention and surreptitiously dig into our memories?
Is it really all about being...
“Mr Chambers, a state senator for 38 years, said he filed the suit to make the...”
– Legal case against God dismissed
What on earth is the point of that point?
The law is an ass. To prove anything on the back of an ass is a donkeyride.
Verizon and AT&T Provided Cell Towers for McCain... →
Oh come now, it’s fair enough. He and his visitors need to be able to discuss things - he’s running for president after all…
FDIC means what?
Just a quick thought, but how exactly *does* the government (perhaps the most impoverished entity in the United States) guarantee my bank savings? Will they print me more money when Citibank doesn’t have anything left in its machines?
I don’t know shit, you know, but you know I might know more than the people doing this shit. Not the ones talking about it. The ones doing it.
As far as education, it's overrated.
As far as…
Growing up, the phrase was “as far as <something> is concerned” or maybe “as far as I can see/tell”.
I believe it still is. When people say “as far as the election, I don’t agree with Obama” or “as far as my cat, I think it’s cute” or “as far as a better house, I don’t want one”, a little bit...
“The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the writer”
– Not all of them. Some of them are also mine.
Another example of boilerplate gone awry.
It’s pretty much along the same lines as “save up to 50% or more”. Thoughtless. Not his opinions, I hasten to add, merely the CNN disclaimer.
Watch“My Day, Yesterday”
Interesting in this case, and good use made of Flickr’s 90 second rule, but guaranteed to get really old really soon.
Ways to be OCD in New York →
Perhaps this helps prevent insanity. Maybe it helps you feel somehow superior. I don’t know. I’m sure I do similar things (I do prewalk the subway), but now I have to try to figure them out and draw them.
Palin says what?
Apparently Sarah Palin is disappointed with the McCain campaign’s decision to pull out of Michigan. I don’t support McCain or Palin, and I believe she is a vastly underqualified halfwit, but even I have to agree with her on this. I want Obama to win, but the decision by McCain’s party sends a message to the whole of America that if a political gain can’t be had,...
Flight pattern maps →
Wow.
With the geographic map of worldwide flights, drawing a correlation between daylight hours and the flight density is interesting. The dawn seems to just crap out a splatter of yellow planes in the US. In Europe, they just seem to come out of hiding.
4 more years of Nucular?!
We cannot have another 4 years of Nucular. Folksy or not.
Oh dear GOOOOORDDDDD.
“Just when the debate looked like it might turn into a debate, Sarah Palin did...”
– Nixta
In-between choking and catching his breath during the presidential debate, just after Joe Biden actually talked for once, and Sarah Palin did as predicted here:
“She has an amazing ability to turn a 45-second answer into a folksy story… she’s never been forced to know the...
“I say I say I say, 300 billion and 2 million and hear these numbers, I know them...”
– Senator Joe Biden
US Vice-Presidential debate, October 2nd, 2008
“Blah blah blah yadda yadda yadda.
Gosh darn.”
– Governor Sarah “Michael” Palin
US Vice-Presidential debate, October 2nd, 2008
I feel like I'm watching Peep Show
Watching the vice-presidential nominees debates, I have a strange swirling in my stomach like when I watch Peep Show, or The Office. Or when you watch that movie at home with your parents as a teenager and a sex scene comes on.
Oh my. Oh me.
WatchSee what my good friend (and Lindsay’s BF) Aaron did along with Rob Libetti for a certain Nish Gaveer.
Really good stuff all round.
Original post by Lindsay…
WatchAs promised, here’s the video. Jump ahead to 6:40 (although the whole thing is pretty pretty good).
“My rabbi doesn’t even have the balls to take 2 days for Rosh Hashanah. For...”
– John Stewart on the The Daily Show today, on Congress taking time off for Rosh Hashanah.
It’s too soon for Comedy Central to have posted a video, but search for “Daily Show Rosh Hashanah Utah Florida New York” tomorrow and I’m sure it’ll be there.
Boy, was he furious.