December 2009
50 posts
Funny business
This year, I will end the old year with my old friends. I will make them play games with me. I will laugh about old times. I will sleep on an air mattress with too many other people. I will wear the best sweater in the world.
A Home of One's Own
My parents have gone to Costco (where else??) and my sister is out on a run, and so unknowingly, I have turned my old home into my new home:
In my pajamas, I am making oatmeal while singing along loudly to The Beatles Anthology 2. Sunday mornings are the same for me everywhere.
A bone to pick with This American Life
The definition of rape is non-consensual sex. I think non-consensual and unwanted are synonymous, but maybe that’s just me?
paulnatural:
Rape is one of the bad things that can happen, but is “unwanted sex” not a thing either? Can’t two people get drunk, have consensual sex, and then regret the decision after the fact?
ericapolis:
In their recent piece on the #1 party school in America...
A bone to pick with This American Life
In their recent piece on the #1 party school in America (Penn State), This American Life listed the bad things that too much alcohol consumption can lead to, among which was “unwanted sex.” Why the euphemism, Ira Glass? Would you call murder “unwanted death”? Just say it: rape.
“Culture is always characterized by a consistent lag of legal and moral-ethical...”
– Stanislaw Lem, Fiasco
Duck D*ck →
Interesting fact-
The reason female ducks have corkscrew-shaped vaginas is because ducks have a serious rape problem. Ducks with trickier vaginas were less likely to be impregnated by their rapists and could then go on to chose a more genetically fit mate.
maviswillsaveus:
This is a pretty amazing video of a duck ejaculating. Duck penises must grow long and twisty in order to fit inside the...
Three Holiday Cheeses →
A new tasting post!
Watchportraitoftheartistasayoungman:
Jason and I made a video for the Nikon Festival.
Our eligibility for one of the awards is based on views, so if you enjoy it, perhaps you’ll send it along. Or reblog it.
WatchCover of “War In Peace” by Jamie Lidell, Feist
Great Plains Paleontology →
This place is down the street from me. Purportedly, it sells:
Edmontosaurus and Triceratops fragments in gift boxes, with informational cards
Prepared Late Cretaceous vertebrate specimens ranging widely in size and price
Fair trade Just Coffee in one pound bags
Multiple significantly complete Tyrannosaurus rex specimens
Saturday thoughts
In my dream, Gael Garcia Bernal took me to see the sequel to Limits of Control. This is one dream that is impossible to interpret.
Scones are a very dense and filling food. Whoops.
I didn’t finish my scone. For lunch, I didn’t finish my black bean and cheese omelette. Then, I didn’t finish a rotting banana. Today is a day of halves.
One day, those icicles outside are going...
Star Trek's Patrick Stewart to be knighted -... →
!!!!
AHHHHH: On the objectification of women
In this episode of Fresh Air, Terry Gross interviews Tom Ford about his new (and supposedly excellent) film, A Single Man. At the end of the interview, they talk about a few of his ad campaigns from his previous career in the fashion industry. At one point, Terry brings up an ad in which Ford used a naked man. Ford remarks that he’s an “equal opportunity objectifier.” He says...
“High-tech chief executives who don’t play Settlers [of Catan] say they...”
– An Old-School Board Game Goes Viral Among Silicon Valley’s Techie Crowd - WSJ.com
When there are only 4 days left
When there are only four days left until you are to leave your house for an extended period of time (like, say, for the holiday season), food becomes awkward. You have to balance (a) using up all perishables before you leave and (b) maintaining enough of a supply to last until the end. You end up being very creative with whatever is left in your fridge.
Cheese is perishable. I have to finish up...
Read about our tasting of a local Camembert! →
Ahh, a new post on Cheese: A Journey, text + video + picture. Read! Read! Read!
“Listen, I saw N*SYNC in concert at the Rose Bowl, back in the day, and actually...”
– Jessica on Go Fug Yourself: an N*SYNC tangent.
Pandora advice
Pandora is a strange, strange program. Usually, for the first hour or so of music, it plays songs that I like and agree with. After that, though, no matter how intensely I ‘discipline’ it (thumbs up! thumbs down!), it goes into some realm of music that I do not understand or appreciate. However, I have a list of do’s and don’ts that may be helpful:
Do: M. Ward...
Ray on "Up in the Air" @ ThisRecording
pornsoda:
I wrote about Up in the Air here. I did not like this movie!
“Someone suggested to me that I try wearing red shoes, and she said this in a...”
– Garrison Keillor (10 Questions for Garrison Keillor - TIME)
Nothing says Winter like a crackly gospel album,...
The 9th Annual Year in Ideas →
The New York Time’s list of the “noteworthy notions” of 2009. So good.
This is what I feel like today:
I wish group huddles were more socially acceptable.
“We can acknowledge that oppression will always be with us, and still strive for...”
– President Obama, Nobel Remarks - NYTimes.com
Tom Swifties
“I have to go to the hardware store,” he said wrenchingly.
“Would you like a soda?” he asked spritely.
“I want a hot dog,” he said frankly.
(Courtesy of Lorrie Moore’s Community Life)
“If you repeatedly pummel the face of one of the most beloved pop stars making...”
– fourfour on Chris Brown’s new album Graffiti
http://cheeseajourney.blogspot.com/ →
A fellow Madisonite and I have started a blog about our quest to learn about cheese. It involves short posts on cheese facts and blurbs about our weekly tastings of local cheese. Includes pictures and video! Take a look!
Control the Heat, Control the World
Winter arrived in Madison on Thursday, December 3rd. It dropped to the low 20s and promptly began to snow. I wore my brown mittens and reversible rainbow hat.
Winter is different for those of us who live in apartments with “heat included.” It is nice not to worry about the cost of gas, yes, but I also do not have control over the temperature of my house. If I am cold, I put on a...
The Commodore Recordings
Today was a success. I picked up Jelly Roll Morton’s Commodore Recordings (4 sides) on vinyl for $3. See video above.
James Franco on General Hospital and Performance... →
James Franco writes a history of Performance Art. It reads like a term paper.
Snow as an Evaluative Tool
Snow today. I ran in it and learned many things by looking at my footprints. No one else was running and the snow was still falling, which made for the most footprint-able surface in the world.
My stride is very narrow. I almost put my feet along one straight line. My right foot turns out and my left foot does not. This explains the unevenness of my (past) shin splints.
MPL
Public libraries have always had a place in my life. From the The Brookline Public Library, I took out and burned all seven seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation. In the loving arms of the Princeton Public Library, I wrote most of my Senior Thesis. Now, The Madison Public Library is beginning to take its place in my life. Today, I took out:
1. Cheese: The Making of a Wisconsin Tradition
...