Archive for June, 2009
« Older Entries | Newer Entries »Avoid Food While Waiting For Sperm Rider To Load
[ Comments Off ]Posted on June 15, 2009 by admin in Editorial & Opinion
Monday, June 15th, 2009If thumb wrestling is your idea of a workout, we have some fun things lined up to help derail your Monday morning.
  Is this your idea of exercise? |
I’ll probably never have a legitimate reason to say that again in this lifetime, but as a headline for this week’s Monday Demotivators, there’s absolutely nothing gratuitous in the phrase. So let’s get (ahem) rolling. Here’s a game a lot of us fat Americans should try (don’t think you’re fat? Check the NIH Body Mass Calculator first, you might be surprised). Anyway, the object of Sprinster is simply to avoid food. ‘nough said. To help you avoid food, pretty much for the rest of the day, try 5 Fingers Fillet. I think the name is warning enough. Not for the faint-hearted. Who dreams this crap up, anyway, and why, in the name of God, do I link to it? Oh yeah. Revenue. So, moving along. Sperm Rider takes forever to load (did I really just type that?) but there’s something entrancing about piloting a cowboy stick figure who’s riding a huge sperm through an urban landscape to a stripped-down cowpunk soundtrack. I didn’t even care what my score was. Much like in Super Lava Jumper, which tells you “Oops you died. No worries though” when you fail. This, while a boinky late 90′s house soundtrack plays at 120 decibels. If you like pixelated games with crappy soundtracks, you might also want to try Heavy Metal Girl, which is a little less relaxed about your death, and much more intent on providing it. And if love is more your thing, try Romeo, in which (much like life) you round up volumes of Shakespeare that you will never read, while you search for true love. Want my opinion? Go to the cafe. The odds of meeting someone are a lot better there than if you sit here playing dumb Flash games all day. And get some exercise while you’re at it. Maybe start with something easy, like Thumb Wrestling
Don’t Start The Revolution Without Me
[ 8 Comments ]Posted on June 14, 2009 by admin in Politics
Sunday, June 14th, 2009Are you happy with the way things are? If not, are you brave enough to change them?
Are Americans Too Apathetic To Do This? |
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about our social contract, and how the Right of Revolution is written right into the second paragraph of America’s Declaration of Indpendence. Why has this been on my mind? Because I honestly think our system of government is broken. I mean, broken from a citizen’s point of view; from the point of view of those who rule, everything’s pretty much how they like it. The masses are busy watching TV and laboring to buy things they can’t afford, and the power structure is resistant to anything short of a lobby group that’s backed by millions of dollars, or an all out revolution. And things are failing. Education is failing, health care is an atrocity, financial institutions have failed, major industries are collapsing, and even basic civility has taken a major hit over the last 20 or 30 years. So when will we as a collective react? I was inspired a little bit recently when a friend pointed me to a bunch of information about Situationist International, the French movement of the 50′s and 60′s that is credited with motivating the May 1968 wildcat strikes that literally brought France to a standstill. Why? Because in my view, nothing has been more Read the rest of this entry »
Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest
[ 1 Comment ]Posted on June 13, 2009 by admin in Music
Saturday, June 13th, 2009They’re not Grizzly, and they’re not bears. Patrick Daughters’ new video for the Grizzly Bear song Two Weeks is pretty clever though.
If Godley & Creme – whom you would probably only know from their tear-jerking 1985 hit Cry – got together with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and consulted with Depeche Mode and the Decemberists about how to be intellectual and moody, you might end up with something like Grizzly Bear’s latest release “Veckatimest”
Royal de Luxe – Amazing Giant Mechanical Marionettes
[ Comments Off ]Posted on June 12, 2009 by admin in Popular Media
Friday, June 12th, 2009The French performance troupe Royal de Luxe is at it again, this time with a three-story tall deep sea diver in the town of Nantes
This clip gives a sense of the incredible scale of a Royal de Luxe performance |
I often think that I might have been much happier if I had run away to be a carny when I was sixteen, which I very nearly did. My fear of rejection at that age prevented this; I had far too many teeth and didn’t smell funny. But seriously, I’ve had a love of theater, puppets, the circus, the carnival, and the macabre from as early as I can remember. Which is why I instantly fell in love with Royal de Luxe the first time I encountered them in 2006, when I saw this magical clip of a giant puppet girl (I honestly almost weep every time I watch that) from their production The Sultan’s Elephant, set to the song “Décollage” from Balayeurs Du Désert’s Jules Verne Impact. The troupe is still at it, with a new production The Giant Diver (Le scaphandrier géant), which is being presented in their hometown of Nantes at Estuaire 2009 (both of those sites are in French). The picture below is from this nicely assembled overview of the story of the giant diver and his niece. There are many more fantastic photos here on Flickr. Apparently, even when Royal de Luxe does smaller works they’re big; although their show La Révolte des Mannequins had no giants in the cast, it was presented in several cities, in 13 shopfronts, and over 10 days. I can’t say enough about my admiration for these artists, just ponder the scale, impact, and magic of what they’re doing. I hope someday they tour the states; so far they’ve only toured parts of Europe, Chile, and Australia.
♫ Happy Birthday To Us ♫
[ 2 Comments ]Posted on June 11, 2009 by admin in Holidays
Thursday, June 11th, 2009Dissociated Press turns one year old today. Join the party by helping us pick a Best Of. So far, the only person at our party is that macabre animated teddy bear.
Hey, guess who turns one year old today? Yes, it was one year ago to the day that the first post appeared on Dissociated Press, a little blip about the Moog Electric Guitar. Which pretty quickly established one of our first style guide rules: No gratuitous YouTube links! We pondered doing a “Best Of” piece to celebrate today, but after one full year of daily updates, we’ve decided to leave that up to you. Feel free to tell us what you’ve liked or disliked over the past year; we’re about to do a redesign, and value your input. You could browse the sections or archives in the left-hand navigation, or go backwards through all the posts of 2009 or 2008. If you’re a writer or developer, we also recently expressed some wants and needs in the “Editorial & Opinion” section. And of course, we welcome Birthday Donations; so far the only person at our party is that macabre animated teddy bear pictured here. By the way, it’s also my friend Eric’s birthday, check out his amusing and occasionally cryptic site, Physician Heal Thyself.
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