Archive for October, 2008
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[ Comments Off ]Posted on October 12, 2008 by admin in Popular Media
Sunday, October 12th, 2008Do you want flies with that?
The disturbing video at left is from “Pseudo Anonymous Artist” Banksy’s latest creation, The Village Petstore and Charcoal Grill (do you want flies with that?). The first time I saw Banksy’s work, I cynically thought “Cool. Just what the world needs. Another celebrity graffiti artist”. I’ve sinced changed my tune; his resistance to claiming his fame is kind of admirable. I was especially amused that he chose an Emo Phillips quote for the latest manifesto on his web site: “When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realised God doesn’t work that way, so I stole one and prayed for forgiveness”. Emo should go into politics. Although the Pet Store & Grill will be open from 10am until midnight every day until October 31st, you probably won’t make it to New York to see the exhibit, so Banksy has graciously created a YouTube page with videos of most of the “menu”. You know, I always had a hunch as a kid that there was something that they weren’t telling us about fish sticks.
Hey America
[ Comments Off ]Posted on October 11, 2008 by admin in Editorial & Opinion
Saturday, October 11th, 2008I’m tired of your Ayn Rand-induced stupor.
I’m generally convinced that people don’t really care too much about what I think, but I thought it would at least be fun (and definitely be self-indulgently cathartic) to do an Editorial/Opinion section. This is the first. We’ll see if there are more…
Hey America. I’m tired of your flip-a-coin elections. I’m tired of angry, rich, plane-crashing dwarfs calling articulate black politicians terrorists, and their wives cunts. I’m tired of your incessant insistence that I need a 60″ plasma-screen TV. What, I need to see Bill O’Reilly’s liver spots better? I’m tired of your desperate fascination with reality shows. I’ve got enough reality already. I’m tired of waiting behind you while you make twelve-point turns with your Hummer because not only does your fat ass not fit in IT…IT doesn’t fit in the McDonald’s drive-thru where you anxiously order your aorta-bursting lunch made of inedible corn by-products, and served by impoverished single moms. I’m tired of your obsession with the lives of the vapid children of Hollywood’s aging elite. I’m tired of watching your gut bounce above your Dockers’ waistband. Dockers.The only garment ever designed specifically to make a bloated white man look less like his pants are at war with his stomach. I’m tired of you telling me I need to buy your insurance. Insurance is like giving someone money to protect me from something that’ll never happen so that they won’t when it does. I’m tired of your desperate attachment to your car. Why do you enjoy paying 5 times what something is worth so you can do things you don’t need to do faster? I’m tired of your erectile dysfunction, your bald head, your unhappiness with your breasts…especially you men. I’m tired of your anxiety, insomnia, depression, and the way they make you treat your family. I’m tired of your Ayn Rand-induced stupor; self-preservation is natural. It’s not a virtuous attribute.
Dancing With My Seh-helf
[ Comments Off ]Posted on October 10, 2008 by admin in Lifestyle & Culture
Friday, October 10th, 2008Or should that be dancing Wii-ith My Seh-helf
 The best of all worlds: Taking a self-portrait while dancing alone |
No, it’s not a Billy Idol revival (although my grandma LOVES his Christmas CD), it’s the latest thing in socializing: NOT SOCIALIZING. Also referred to as the silent disco. For a generation accustomed to the idea that someone’s Photoshopped digital camera self-portrait on your personal web page is a friend, what could be more rewarding than not dancing together? What I can’t quite grasp about silent discos and silent raves though, is why you have to go to the club at all. Isn’t there some way you could do this with your Wii? Oh. Of course. Here we have the Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party Bundle
Retinal Torture For Fun And Profit
[ Comments Off ]Posted on October 10, 2008 by admin in Popular Media
Friday, October 10th, 2008Choosy mothers choose animated GIF’s
The image at left is disturbing enough on its own, but viewed this way (don’t click that link before your morning coffee or after too many drinks), is likely to tangle your optic nerves. The gallery of animated image backgrounds in that link was created by James Koehnline, a Seattle artist whose work grew mostly out of the ‘zine culture and groups like the 1980′s Chicago gallery/meeting space Axe Street Arena. He mostly works with cut-and-paste collage work, but clearly has some talent with digital design. This image in particular creeps me out, but I can’t stop looking at it.
Bush Cancels Plans For Capitol Building Fire
[ Comments Off ]Posted on October 9, 2008 by admin in Politics
Thursday, October 9th, 2008Can the president suspend elections because of an economic emergency?
I tend to be a little paranoid, but as William Burroughs said: “A paranoid is someone who knows a little of what’s going on”. You may have heard that the Pentagon, for the first time ever, has dedicated an Army force specifically to securing not some foreign region but instead to the continental United States. This has Senator Patrick Leahy, among others, reasonably concerned. Combined with last year’s National Security Presidential Directive 51, which gives the president unusually broad powers in the event of a “Catastrophic Emergency” (which means “any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions”) sounds a little fishy to me. Combine this with massive market and banking failures, and VOILA! No need to set the Reichstag on fire. The administration can just suspend the elections as soon as the Dow hits 5,000 and the bank runs begin. All of this is unlikely, of course, but I think I’ll be renting a copy of The Siege