Archive for October, 2008
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[ Comments Off ]Posted on October 8, 2008 by admin in Music
Wednesday, October 8th, 2008It toe tyoot it make u fee-yu wike u too yee-wuhs ode
I haven’t experienced such a profound feeling of Squee since my friend Terry turned me onto Pucca a few years ago. You know those days when the most inspired thing you can think of doing is climbing under your bed and hiding with the dust bunnies, who are probably feeling about as much like facing life as you are? Well, now you can have a soundtrack. Lullatone is both a band and a married couple from Nagoya, Japan. They call the style of their music “Pajama Pop”. I’ll accept that; the childish, music-boxy peacefulness of it almost couldn’t be called anything else. The hand-crafted stop-motion clip at left is a promotional video for their CD Little Songs About Raindrops
Earth From Above – Photos By Yann Arthus-Bertrand
[ Comments Off ]Posted on October 7, 2008 by admin in Clean & Green
Tuesday, October 7th, 2008The big picture. Literally.
On those pesky days when the world begins plunging into financial chaos and despair, it’s probably a good idea to try to remember we live on a REALLY big planet, and very little of it is made of money. As imaginary trillions turn into worthless pieces of paper, maybe some of those imaginary trillionaires will take a break from trying to horde the remnants of their empires, and take a look around. French photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand has been looking around the world since 1994. In an attempt to inspire people to think globally about sustainable living, he has taken astoundingly beautiful photographs from the air in over 150 countries. These are not simply nature photographs; often the subjects are the sad results of industry, technology, or war. Who would think, for instance, that the waste produced by a copper mine could be beautiful? Referring to the resulting collection of images, Arthus-Bertrand suggests: “Though it invites us all to take our own responsibilities, this testimony remains resolutely optimistic. Each portrait, be it of the Earth or its inhabitants, aims at showing the best in order to appeal to what is best in us. For the will to protect is indeed strongest towards that which one has learnt to understand and love.” Which I guess will be a bit of a problem for those who have primarily “learnt to understand and love” their wealth.
Crisitunity: Making The Best Of Impending Global Economic Collapse
[ 1 Comment ]Posted on October 7, 2008 by admin in Lifestyle & Culture
Tuesday, October 7th, 2008***
 This man is not “laughing all the way to the bank”. He’s actually on his way to buy a loaf of bread. |
Since the world’s about to end, I started looking around the Internet for what to do about it. I didn’t find much, so I decided to start a list of my own. If you have any ideas to share, feel free to add a comment. Here’s a start: 1.) Pray. It’s just one of those things poor people do, okay? 2.) Re-acquire a taste for your favorite Ramen recipe from college. 3.) Buy a wheelbarrow. In about a year you’ll need it to carry cash for grocery trips. 4.) Think Big. Start conceptualizing the New New Deal, and move to D.C. while prices are low. 5.) Learn Spanish. It’ll make migrant work much more rewarding. 6.) Learn Chinese. It’s always easier having your country repossessed if you speak the new language. 7.) Get used to your boss yelling things like “Get back down in that mine, filthy coal monkey!” 8.) Walk the 50 miles (the distance USED to make sense, dammit) to the retirement home and ask your grandparents what the hell THEY did when there was no cable. [Originally posted September 21, 2008]
Keeping A Breast Of T-Shirt Folding Methods
[ Comments Off ]Posted on October 6, 2008 by admin in Editorial & Opinion
Monday, October 6th, 2008Yes. I actually said “a breast”.
The t-shirt is a strange garment. Originally meant to be worn under another shirt, it in fact tends to make you look unstylish when you do so. Worn as a primary garment, it pretty much implies a certain social class. I own precisely five t-shirts myself. Three black and two white, mostly to wear under sport jackets. A dated and not very stylish look that I find comfortable. So yesterday as I was folding a couple of my t-shirts, I was wishing I could remember the method from the Asian TV show in clip at left. When I went to look for the clip on YouTube, I found a lot more than I bargained for. I don’t know which bodes worse for our culture – the fact that all these people took the time to make these videos, or the fact that I took the time to post them here. Or the fact that you may actually watch them. So first up, if you didn’t quite catch the method in the clip, here’s a slower version with English narration. Here’s how an engineer does it, but he’s really just making a cardboard version of the real machine. And if you’re a redneck, you would do it like this, except you’d probably rather watch a woman with big boobs take off her shirt to demonstrate.
Talk Stupid, Stupid
[ 2 Comments ]Posted on October 5, 2008 by admin in Comics
Sunday, October 5th, 2008And don’t go nucular on me
