Holy shit.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Requiem
It came to me the other day:
Were I to die, no one would say,
“Oh, what a shame! So young, so full
Of promise — depths unplumbable!”
Instead, a shrug and tearless eyes
Will greet my overdue demise;
The wide response will be, I know,
“I thought he died a while ago.”
For life’s a shabby subterfuge,
And death is real, and dark, and huge.
The shock of it will register
Nowhere but where it will occur.
— JOHN UPDIKE
This poem is taken from John Updike’s forthcoming collection, “Endpoint and Other Poems.”
Were I to die, no one would say,
“Oh, what a shame! So young, so full
Of promise — depths unplumbable!”
Instead, a shrug and tearless eyes
Will greet my overdue demise;
The wide response will be, I know,
“I thought he died a while ago.”
For life’s a shabby subterfuge,
And death is real, and dark, and huge.
The shock of it will register
Nowhere but where it will occur.
— JOHN UPDIKE
This poem is taken from John Updike’s forthcoming collection, “Endpoint and Other Poems.”
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
A thing I love and a thing I hate
This isn't in tune with the spirit of the blog, but someone has to say it: People in Manhattan are out of control with their umbrellas. It is never necessary, no matter how important you are, to carry around a big, patio furniture sized umbrella. That's one of my biggest pet peeves. Get off the sidewalk!
Oh, but then all you have to do is put this song on your ipod and who cares anymore? Lay Low by My Morning Jacket.
Oh, but then all you have to do is put this song on your ipod and who cares anymore? Lay Low by My Morning Jacket.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Recommendations
1) Oreos mixed with cool whip.
2) "Adam Raised a Cain" by the Boss.
3) Ghost Town, strangely. It made me laugh.
2) "Adam Raised a Cain" by the Boss.
3) Ghost Town, strangely. It made me laugh.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
History
This is a crazy panoramic picture of the inauguration - you can zoom in and out and see so much detail, I can't really do it justice with a description.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
President Obama on the 36th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade
On the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we are reminded that this decision not only protects women’s health and reproductive freedom, but stands for a broader principle: that government should not intrude on our most private family matters. I remain committed to protecting a woman’s right to choose.
While this is a sensitive and often divisive issue, no matter what our views, we are united in our determination to prevent unintended pregnancies, reduce the need for abortion, and support women and families in the choices they make. To accomplish these goals, we must work to find common ground to expand access to affordable contraception, accurate health information, and preventative services.
On this anniversary, we must also recommit ourselves more broadly to ensuring that our daughters have the same rights and opportunities as our sons: the chance to attain a world-class education; to have fulfilling careers in any industry; to be treated fairly and paid equally for their work; and to have no limits on their dreams. That is what I want for women everywhere.
While this is a sensitive and often divisive issue, no matter what our views, we are united in our determination to prevent unintended pregnancies, reduce the need for abortion, and support women and families in the choices they make. To accomplish these goals, we must work to find common ground to expand access to affordable contraception, accurate health information, and preventative services.
On this anniversary, we must also recommit ourselves more broadly to ensuring that our daughters have the same rights and opportunities as our sons: the chance to attain a world-class education; to have fulfilling careers in any industry; to be treated fairly and paid equally for their work; and to have no limits on their dreams. That is what I want for women everywhere.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Waltz with Bashir
I've seen a lot of good movies the past few months, but this just might have been the best. It's about memory, morality, and the human experience of war. The way the filmmaker used animation was really incredible too. No one moved when the movie ended. We all just sat in our seats in silence.
Nasan Tur
He created the sculpture "Rien ne va plus" - a roulette wheel that never stops spinning. I don't think I need to spell out the symbolism there, but I liked his description of the "endless absurd loop" and can practically feel the anxiety. Oh life.
He also exhibited photos of the hands of the winners at the 1972 Olympics.
He also exhibited photos of the hands of the winners at the 1972 Olympics.
On the first time he dropped acid
"Acid produced this manic sense of energy and I had to be active. I went to the bowling alley, walked the streets, and took a taxi to the house. That night I was scheduled to give a speech in a movement disco at a church.
"Father Gonyor eyed me strangely. 'Your speech was getting pretty flowery there. What's all the jazz about trailways of life and byways of bliss?' he jabbed."
Abbie Hoffman
"Father Gonyor eyed me strangely. 'Your speech was getting pretty flowery there. What's all the jazz about trailways of life and byways of bliss?' he jabbed."
Abbie Hoffman
Thursday, January 15, 2009
My favorite IMDB review
For Baby's Day Out (thanks Steph)
"This movie is worth checking out. Even though it's predictable, the events that happen as this movie unfolds are funny as hell. Especially the part when Eddie has the baby in his lap under his coat and the police are asking him whether or not he has seen any babies today. The baby lights Eddie's lighter - - the rest you'll have to see to believe. I rated this 10 out of 10 stars, and I agree with the first person who said "Drink your bottle of milk and enjoy this predictable film," because that's exactly what you should do. Don't take it seriously or else you'll miss the point."
I laugh so much about the police asking Eddie if he's seen any babies today. Ha ha ha.
"This movie is worth checking out. Even though it's predictable, the events that happen as this movie unfolds are funny as hell. Especially the part when Eddie has the baby in his lap under his coat and the police are asking him whether or not he has seen any babies today. The baby lights Eddie's lighter - - the rest you'll have to see to believe. I rated this 10 out of 10 stars, and I agree with the first person who said "Drink your bottle of milk and enjoy this predictable film," because that's exactly what you should do. Don't take it seriously or else you'll miss the point."
I laugh so much about the police asking Eddie if he's seen any babies today. Ha ha ha.
Recommendations
Since Stephanie jumped the gun, so will I. Here are my recommendations for this week.
1) Blood oranges
Juice and delicious, and only 79 cents each at your average Brooklyn grocery store. I especially recommend them to people who don't usually like the pulp of oranges, because they have a good texture and are very easy to peel clean.
2) Roberto Bolaño's 2666
What a shame that he had to die! 2666 hops from European literary critics to a fictionalized account of the women murdered in Juárez, Mexico to a reclusive German author, but it is all grounded by Bolaño's obsession with the abyss. It's terrifying, but I can't put it down. In lieu of continuing to make post after post of Bolaño quotes, I will leave you with just one more that I love and that just barely scrapes at how genius this book is.
"Instead of El Obelisco, some called it El Moridero. And in a way they were right, because there was no obelisk and people did die much faster there than in other places. But there had once been an obelisk, when the city limits were different, farther off, and Casa Negras was what might be called an independent town. A stone obelisk, or rather three stones, one set on top of the other, stones stacked in a haphazard column, though with imagination or a sense of humor the stack could be seen as a primitive obelisk or an obelisk drawn by a child learning to draw, a monstrous baby who lived outside Santa Teresa and crawled through the desert eating scorpions and lizards and never sleeping."
1) Blood oranges
Juice and delicious, and only 79 cents each at your average Brooklyn grocery store. I especially recommend them to people who don't usually like the pulp of oranges, because they have a good texture and are very easy to peel clean.
2) Roberto Bolaño's 2666
What a shame that he had to die! 2666 hops from European literary critics to a fictionalized account of the women murdered in Juárez, Mexico to a reclusive German author, but it is all grounded by Bolaño's obsession with the abyss. It's terrifying, but I can't put it down. In lieu of continuing to make post after post of Bolaño quotes, I will leave you with just one more that I love and that just barely scrapes at how genius this book is.
"Instead of El Obelisco, some called it El Moridero. And in a way they were right, because there was no obelisk and people did die much faster there than in other places. But there had once been an obelisk, when the city limits were different, farther off, and Casa Negras was what might be called an independent town. A stone obelisk, or rather three stones, one set on top of the other, stones stacked in a haphazard column, though with imagination or a sense of humor the stack could be seen as a primitive obelisk or an obelisk drawn by a child learning to draw, a monstrous baby who lived outside Santa Teresa and crawled through the desert eating scorpions and lizards and never sleeping."
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Recommendations
Meghan and I decided to start our first weekly feature: recommendations. Check in every Friday to see what we like each week. I don't want to wait until Friday, so I'm going to post mine now. It's funny how I'm writing this as if people beside Meghan and I read this.
1) Make Em Laugh
Great PBS documentary series on comedy in America. Two hour long episodes air each Wednesday for the next few weeks. Tonight's episodes were about outsiders and sitcoms, and the nice thing is that in between the interviews (which spoke to the larger themes and societal patterns challenged by the comedians), they show really fucking funny archival.
2) Soup
It's been keeping me warm for the past few days.
3) The Autobiography of Abbie Hoffman
Energetic, optimistic writing about serious issues.
1) Make Em Laugh
Great PBS documentary series on comedy in America. Two hour long episodes air each Wednesday for the next few weeks. Tonight's episodes were about outsiders and sitcoms, and the nice thing is that in between the interviews (which spoke to the larger themes and societal patterns challenged by the comedians), they show really fucking funny archival.
2) Soup
It's been keeping me warm for the past few days.
3) The Autobiography of Abbie Hoffman
Energetic, optimistic writing about serious issues.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Dancing Plague of 1518
In July of 1518, a woman referred to as Frau Troffea stepped into a narrow street in Strasbourg, France and began a fervent dancing vigil that lasted between four and six days. By the end of the week, 34 others had joined her and, within a month, the crowd of dancing, hopping and leaping individuals had swelled to 400.
Authorities prescribed "more dancing" to cure the tormented movers but, by summer's end, dozens in the Alsatian city had died of heart attacks, strokes and sheer exhaustion due to nonstop dancing.
Authorities prescribed "more dancing" to cure the tormented movers but, by summer's end, dozens in the Alsatian city had died of heart attacks, strokes and sheer exhaustion due to nonstop dancing.
Monday, January 12, 2009
2666
At the same moment the Santa Teresa police found the body of another teenage girl, half buried in a vacant lot in one of the neighborhoods on the edge of the city, and a strong wind from the west hurled itself against the slope of the mountains to the east, raising dust and a litter of newspaper and cardboard on its way through Santa Teresa, moving the clothes that Rosa had hung in the backyard, as if the wind, young and energetic in its brief life, were trying on Amalfitano's shirts and pants and slipping into his daughters underpants and reading a few pages of the Testamento geometrico to see whether there was anything in it that might be of use, anything that might explain the strange landscape of the streets and houses through which it was galloping, or that would explain it to itself as wind.
- Roberto Bolaño
- Roberto Bolaño
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Strange Places
Baldwin Street in New Zealand is the steepest street in the world.
North Korea attempted to build the world's tallest hotel, but had to stop when they ran out of money. Ryugyong Hotel is 105 stories high and has no windows, fixtures, or fittings. There's still a construction crane sitting at the top of the building.
A mine fire has been burning under Centralia, Pennsylvania since 1962.
North Korea attempted to build the world's tallest hotel, but had to stop when they ran out of money. Ryugyong Hotel is 105 stories high and has no windows, fixtures, or fittings. There's still a construction crane sitting at the top of the building.
A mine fire has been burning under Centralia, Pennsylvania since 1962.
Friday, January 2, 2009
How nice is this?
From the NYT Obituary for George Carlin:
"Offstage, he was a kind man who was unusually generous with young comedians. Liz Miele, who is now 23, was 15 when she wrote to 45 comics seeking advice. Two responded: Judd Apatow urged her to study English. Carlin called. He told her to keep writing, always. Four years later, they met for a soda in the lobby of the Carlyle, where he opened his laptop and showed her how he organized thousands of idea files. She sent him progress reports, and he cheered her on until two days before he died."
"Offstage, he was a kind man who was unusually generous with young comedians. Liz Miele, who is now 23, was 15 when she wrote to 45 comics seeking advice. Two responded: Judd Apatow urged her to study English. Carlin called. He told her to keep writing, always. Four years later, they met for a soda in the lobby of the Carlyle, where he opened his laptop and showed her how he organized thousands of idea files. She sent him progress reports, and he cheered her on until two days before he died."
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