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Build a better mousetrap...
These guys seem to have the new hotness in jewel cases. As seen in AOL snailspam, according to Airbag.
This Agression Will Not Stand, Man
From Lebowskifest.com:Jeff "The Dude" Dowd is so concerned with the future of our country that he is returning to his political roots in New York. The Dude was a prominent political activist in the 60s and a member of The Seattle Seven. The Dude is inviting any Achievers to join him on August 13th before heading to The Knitting Factory to deliver a giant "gift basket" to Madison Square Garden for the upcoming convention.
The basket will include many symbolic items including truth serum, a giant pair of glasses to help them with vision, a copy of the Constitution to remind them of our basic freedoms (c'mon man, this affects all of us), and a bowling ball so they'll have something to do for the next four years.link
Kneel before Dick
Ahh, America. A country where anyone can go to see his leader speak, as long as he pledges loyalty.
Yeah, in their latest dick move, the administration is requiring that attendees to GOP rallies sign an endoresement for George:
An endorsement form provided to the Journal by Random says: "I, (full name) ... do herby (sic) endorse George W. Bush for reelection of the United States." It later adds that, "In signing the above endorsement you are consenting to use and release of your name by Bush-Cheney as an endorser of President Bush."
A Journal reporter, who is a registered Democrat, called to inquire about a ticket Thursday afternoon. He was asked for his name, address and driver's license number but was not told over the telephone that he would need to sign any endorsement form. He got the news after arriving at the Bush-Cheney office.But I guess we should give them a break. They're our last defense against dangerous people out there who hate freedom.
Via Eschaton.
Smells like Teen Nucleotides
The zit has been a plot point of many teen dramas, the subject of countless infomercials starring Angela from Who's the Boss, and is the only skin condition which has been portrayed by John Belushi. But now that it's been sequenced, maybe we've got a fighting chance to wipe the little bastards off the face of the earth, without resorting to drugs that cause suicidal ideation.
Of particular interest here is the fact that the genes in question were actually mistaken for part of the human genome. I guess had there not been a fly in Brundle's transporter pod, he might've ended up slowly transforming into a giant pustule. They could've cast Brando instead of Goldblum. (pft pft, Zeus rest his soul)
This is all via boing boing, fyi.
Intro, Kerry, Outro
Now, I was very impressed with Kerry. I particularly like the not-so-subtle passive aggression: "And I will appoint an Attorney General who actually upholds the Constitution of the United States." Zing! Who could he be referring to?
I also like the fact that he ended with a science riff. This is the kind of guy who will pay attention when his eggheads talk, and remember it later in the episode, a la MacGuyver or the Bloodhound Gang.
But what I'd really like to talk about is the music, as it reflects the spirit of the speech.
Intro, No Retreat, No Surrender: Relentlessly optimistic, this number from the oft politically misinterpreted "Born in the USA" is a semantic smorgasbord. Memes in play include: 1. Vietnam, 2. High school garage band (concerned with the "war outside still ragin'"), 3. Dreaming about the future, 4. Empathy with soldiers. The prime work of the song (and the album as a whole) is to deflate the perceived division between those who served in Vietnam and the anti-war movement, and does so in an idiom unmistakenly associated with the Reagan era.
Outro, "It's a Beautiful Day" Lyrics are a little vaguer here, but we all know Bono, and we can just assume the sentement is properly liberal and preachy. But ooh, it does get transcendent in that bridge, doesn't it? "See the Bedouin fires at night/See the oil fields at first light/And see the bird with a leaf in her mouth/After the flood all the colors came out." Holy Whitman, Batman! We're flying through space here! But it's all Biblical too. It's Biblical space. Biblical space with a hopeful, conciliatory message.
Now, these songs aren't cool per se. They're only moderately less square than "Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow." But this is politics, not a Williamsburg loft party, and the country's not ready for a platform to be introduced with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Rhetorically, though, it's brill.
By placing Kerry's speech within this triptych, the writers suggest that a) the cultural divide of the sixties is reconcilable, through service, optimism, and empathy, and that this was an ongoing trend even in the sixties themselves, b) that this trend is embodied in Kerry's own dual nature as anti-war activist and vietnam war hero, versus the current administration, which represents a dividing force and the worst of both sides (tax-and-spend draft-dodging warmongers), and c) that the present moment offers an opportunity to reconcile both sides, reclaim kennedy-era optimism, and in doing so, reconcile ourselves with the world.
Neat, huh?
But I Grew Strong, and I Learned How to Get Along
You've gotta hand it to the GOP. Their talking points rival mainstream country music in vernacular metaphor. Waffles are Belgian, don't they speak French? And no one likes flip-flops; they leave your heel with abandon, and force a funny walk. But I think really screwed the pooch with this week's talking point, the accusation that the DNC is undergoing an "extreme makeover". Namely:
Americans love extreme makeovers. America is about the extreme makeover.
Queer Eye, The Swan, Extreme Makeover itself. All hits. The Extreme Makeover is the American Dream writ on one's physical person. Reinvent yourself. Go west, young man. Run into a telephone booth and drop your mild-manneredness. Get serious. Beat Ivan Drago after a stirring Survivor montage. Fix up your boat and save your rappin' grandma's farm from the insensitive WASPs. Alex De Toqueville said it best:
Born often under another sky, placed in the middle of an always moving scene, himself driven by the irresistible torrent which draws all about him, the American has no time to tie himself to anything, he grows accustomed only to change, and ends by regarding it as the natural state of man. He feels the need of it, more he loves it; for the instability; instead of meaning disaster to him, seems to give birth only to miracles all about him.
And not only is this an inherent American trait, it's the keystone of the inherent liberalism of America. By drawing attention to reinvention, the talking points cadre unwittingly divorces enterprise from conservatism, and conflates stability with stagnation. So Kerry's moving to the center? Great! That's what most Americans want. Maybe Bush should try it himself. Carson?
Mending Fences
Will Farrell's GWB impersonation is back, and seems a lot more accurate, in this new spot from ACT. Via Metafilter.
Welcome to Wacky Neighbor Mark II
A jazz odyssey. Well, actually, I just converted this thing to Movable Type (from its old custom-coded mess). This is good for several reasons:
- it's more googlable
- it'll ping things that keep track of blogs
- it'll trackback.
Oh -- and a little patience, please... still converting the templates and such.
Also in Strangers With Candy news
Two things I didn't know:
- Bob Balaban, otherwise known as this guy, directed an episode.
- A movie is in production. At which time the aforementioned Guy Blank will be played by Dan Hedaya, otherwise known as Mr. Waturi, otherwise known as this guy. Matthew Broderick, you'll note, is also cast.
Confluence
Confluence.org attempts to photograph and document every land-based intersection of a latitude and longitude degree. There's one 49 miles or less away from you. Swanky! Via Slashdot.
Last Century What-have-you
Ahh. With 4 years of water under the bridge, we can finally put that whole 20th century thing to bed. The best everything from the old 1900s. Via Kottke.
Graders of the lost art
This just warmed the cockles of my heart. This guy had the horrid, modern-era handwriting we all have, until one day his mother bought him a fountain pen. Since then, through practicing while grading his students' homework assignments, he's become one of the greatest calligraphers in the world. Huh.
Any color as long as it's red.
We've heard about China being pirate-happy when it comes to IP, but a whole facacta car? Friggin' sweet. I want a Chery. (yeah, it's freep, but the article's from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. They had a registration page. I don't read freep.)
Are Starfleet Captains Common People?
Remember how I said Shatner and Ben Folds were doing an album together?
Freedom or Evil?
Help Georgie decide whether common everyday items are Freedom or Evil.
Speaking of roadside attractions
The largest ball of paint in the world. The 70% amazes me; it means they sat there long enough to come up with a budget. But I guess you've gotta do something while painting your ball. Thanks, toast.
For the 10 second attention span
Space death adventures. Robots end with a wimper too, apparently. By the way, a link is in order for the Linksquare project, by fishbucket. Fan-freakin' tastic stuff. Who said obfuscation was always bad?
How do you say "Tinfoil hat" in Japanese
Japanese schoolchildren to be RFID tagged. Robots driven by precocious tweens one step closer to reality.
Pac-mondrian
I reckon someone was bound to do it eventually. I'm glad someone did it this nice-like though.
Wacky sells out yet again
So I figured I'd capitalize on 2002's fifteen minutes. New Ashcroft Terror Alert t-shirts.
Amaretto waves
Watch the almonds (not) move. Similar to the one we've covered before (and featured on Ebaum's world), but even trippier. Via Boingboing.
Protect your banana
Bananaguard is a very colorful way to do a task that I had no idea needed doing. I love the site design too. Thanks, Dangle.
Two for the blogroll
Oooh. Cool stuff. I love cool stuff. Via Boingboing, Funfurde, a mod furniture droolblog. And then from them, this guy's coolhunting site. The name comes from Gibson's Pattern Recognition, whose coolhunting heroine always reminded me a bit of BoingBoing's Xeni Jardin, so I reckon that brings us full circle.
Fonzy says heyyyy to the Dems
Who's giving money to whom? Celebrity campaign contributions. Via mefi.
Love in the Time of Herpes
Why haven't I been reading Scrubbles more? I could kick myself if I were so articulated. Case in point: Today he's linked to a complete 1970s brazillian LP. It includes a song called "Airport Love Theme." You'd better believe this is making the regular cheese rotation. As is Balansamba.com, the site from which this album scan comes.
Hungry again in a kilowatt hour.
'If we use the patterns of today, China cannot double its economy,' said Chen Jinhai, director of the Shanghai provincial government's Energy Commission and Environmental Protection Department. 'We would need the energy of Mars or other planets. Our consumption may still be less than the U.S. or Japan, but the key for our future will have to be greater efficiency.'
A little cryptic in its exact meaning. How much energy is on Mars? According to Corky St. Clair, nothing ever happens there. Maybe they mean solar panelling across the entire surfaces. But then why not just at a lagrange point around the sun? Like a precursor to a Dyson sphere, hello? [Reverse snort laugh].
And yeah, also NYT. I read it on the airtrain today.
The politics of open source
The NYT's finally caught a whiff of the political undertones of oss / closed source software wars. In other news, Marshmallow Fluff consumption is set to soar in Manhattan this August.
South of the Border
I'll be gone for the next few days, so probably no new posts unless I'm inspired and in an internet cafe. In the meantime, enjoy this Rock and Roll Hall of Douchebags. (via Everlasting Blort)
